Slaves and Masters

Quick recap of last week on household codes.

What comes to mind when you think of the words…slave or master?

Would you ever want to be a slave or a master? Why or why not?

So what kind of slave and master relationship is being talked about here in Colossians?

Colossians 3:22–4:1 HCSB

22 Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism. 1 Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven.

*Mention why the inclusion of 4:1 is here as the Greek shows that Paul has finished a thought there.*

Raced based chattel slavery is not the kind of slavery that is being talked about in the Bible or that existed for the most part in Greco-Roman world in this time. Most of all of the slaves were not slaves from birth, or their whole life, or because of their race. Most were prisoners of war who actually would have been killed if not made slaves. These slaves had legal and social status in the last 1st Century Greco-Roman world. Others became slaves due to social or economic problems such as debt.

The word for slave here in the Greek is Duolos and it can mean subject, servant, or bondservant. It can be transliterated into the English language as slave, subject, bondservant, or servant.

Does this mean the Bible condones slavery or is pro-slavery?

No. There were Old Testament regulations that existed to limit the institution in protection of the slave due to circumstance economics. We should compare Hebrew debt-servanthood (many translations render this “slavery”) more fairly to apprentice-like positions to pay off debts — much like the indentured servitude during America’s founding when people worked for approximately 7 years to pay off the debt for their passage to the New World. Then they became free.

In most cases, servanthood was more like a live-in employee, temporarily embedded within the employer’s household. Even today, teams trade sports players to another team that has an owner, and these players belong to a franchise. This language hardly suggests slavery, but rather a formal contractual agreement to be fulfilled — like in the Old Testament.

Through failed crops or other disasters, debt tended to come to families, not just individuals. One could voluntarily enter into a contractual agreement (“sell” himself) to work in the household of another: “one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself” (Leviticus 25:47). A wife or children could be “sold” to help sustain the family through economically unbearable times — unless kinfolk “redeemed” them (payed their debt). They would be debt-servants for 6 years. A family might need to mortgage their land until the year of Jubilee every 50 years.

Leviticus 25:47 HCSB

47 “If a foreigner or temporary resident living among you prospers, but your brother living near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner living among you, or to a member of the foreigner’s clan,

Exodus 21:2–6 HCSB

2 “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything. 3 If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone. 5 “But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’ 6 his master is to bring him to the judges and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.

The Bible as a whole reveals that human beings are created equally in the image of God ( Gen 1:26-28) and the gospel reveals that God has overcome racial/social/religious divisions at the cross. Because one day people from every nation, tribe, language, and people group will dwell in perfect harmony (Rev. 7:19).

Genesis 1:26–28 HCSB

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

Revelation 7:9 HCSB

9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands.

There were many reasons to putting oneself under the service of another household. Think and remember Joshua chapter 9 with the Gibeonites coming to Joshua and the Israelites to put themselves into servitude to the Israelites in order to live.

Verse 22 con’t - The fact that Paul addresses slaves in this letter is significant. Ancient households were much larger than our modern nuclear family and would have many children, adult children, and slaves. The fact Paul mentions these slaves mean that they were expected to be with the Colossian Christians with their own behavioral responsibilities.

How are these servants to work? Wholeheartedly/sincerity of heart. This phrase in the Greek is really strong and means to be straightforward and honest in your attitude and speech with all of your mind, emotions, and knowledge of right and wrong. All of this is to be done not because of man but because of the fear/reverence of the Lord.

Verse 23 - Whatever we do we are to do it enthusiastically/heartily. This is another strong Greek word, psyche, meaning soul or life. So the thing that brings your body to action, your life or soul, is the type of energy that goes into your work. Why work in such a way? See verse 24.

Verse 24 - Since they knew (were aware of the fact) that they would receive the reward (wage) of an inheritance from the Lord, they are to serve the Lord Christ. This language is reminiscent of both God’s promises in the Old Testament and the promise of the kingdom of heaven in the New Testament. Slaves had very little hope in inheriting anything. Now they can know that a reward is will be given to them. The phrase you are to serve Christ is also key here. Remember we defined slavery earlier to the Greek word duolos. The verb serve here in the Greek is the word Duoleuo which means to serve or to be a slave. So this verse is saying to be a slave to Christ.

Verse 25 - There are wrongdoers. They will be paid back or have consequences for whatever wrong they have done and there will be no favoritism. So slaves are to serve think of their heavenly master and serve faithfully otherwise they will be punished.

Col 4:1 - Because of these things, earthly masters are to supply servants with what is right and fair. Since they too know that they have a Master in heaven. There is now a new dynamic and that there is a master in heaven that both earthly masters and slaves obey and belong to.

Putting It All Together

We are to serve (be a slave to) our Lord (Master) Jesus Christ in everything.

We are to do everything with both enthusiasm (all of our soul) and sincerity of heart (honest in your attitude and speech with all of your mind, emotions, and knowledge of right and wrong) in remembrance to him and in faithful service to others. All because of our reverence for Christ and the reward of our inheritance from God. This kind of relationship is what drives us to live out such drastic changes upon our lives.

1. God is the one who gave man work.

Work is not a result of the fall or a burden of sin but the will of God.

2. Who we work for changes.

Our work is an opportunity from God to serve him and our fellow man. Yes we provide for ourselves and/or our families but the one who we ultimately work for is God.

3. What, why, and how we are to work or do things changes.

It is not enough to work hard when someone can see you and to work for things that will cease or we things we cannot take with us when we die. Why? Because of our reverence for the Lord and the reward of inheritance promised to us by him. Our inheritance is not earthly things or even relationships but salvation and belonging to the kingdom of God. Whatever we do now is in light of this new reality that we have a reward that will never spoil or fade in heaven as our hope.

4. There is also a recognition there is a reward or payment to those who do right and those who do wrong. God knows and will judge/give wages/consequences to those who do right and wrong.

This should bring us comfort, peace, and reassurance in all our circumstances that the Lord sees every injustice, including our own. Our service to our new master Christ should not allow us to belittle or disregard our relationships with other human beings.

5. Our Master in heaven supplies us with what is right and fair.

Slaves and earthly masters ultimately serve the same Lord. This fundamental spiritual reality not only relativizes the earthly relationship between slaves and masters but even sets up the stage to abolish it. We are not slaves and masters in this kind of context but as people of God we all share equally in the reward of inheritance that is given to us by God through faith and hope in Jesus Christ as Lord. This means that among obedient Christians no one has the right to boast in themselves for this reward, claim to have more of this reward than another, try to deny access to God based on their perspective, or claim to have more of this reward than another person. This is not the will of Christ.