Colossians 3:22-4:1 (NIV)
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
The final relationship that Paul addresses in this passage is that of master and slave. Slavery in the Roman Empire was different than it was in our modern world, which was usually, but not always, based on the subjugation of people because of race. In the empire, some slaves were indentured servants, sold because of debt that they or their family had incurred. Others were prisoners taken from nations that had been defeated in war.
The masters had much power over their slaves, including the power to beat them if they failed to perform or if they were dishonest, and even the power to kill them without penalty of law if they actively rebelled or if they ran away and were captured. Even though this slavery was not based on race, it was still far from the way that things were designed to operate in God’s economy, where agape love was to be the rule.
Paul doesn’t directly condemn slavery in this passage, which dismays many people. But slavery was a societal construct in the empire that he had no personal power to change. But Paul realized that as more people came to Jesus and underwent the transformation of heart that is part of the new birth, those social structures would change. But that would take time.
In the meantime, Paul focuses here on how those who are living in the Kingdom of God should operate within those structures. For slaves who are Christians, many of whom were working for non-Christian masters, he urges them to exemplify Jesus even in their servitude. They should be exemplary workers, the best in the household. To rebel, to be lazy, to be dishonest in any way would not bring glory to God or reinforce the cause of the Kingdom, especially if their masters knew that they were Christians. But a Christian slave who was the most honest, the most faithful, the most diligent slave of them all would quickly draw the attention of the master, opening a way for him to come to Jesus himself, which would improve things for everyone.
For those Christians who had slaves, Paul urges them to reshape the whole process in light of their relationship with Jesus. Many, if not most of the slaves in the empire were not Christians, but were pagans brought in from other nations. And, again, a harsh mean, stingy master would do nothing to advance the cause of Christ among them. However, a kind, generous master who provided abundantly for the needs of his slaves and who treated them fairly, especially if the slaves knew that he was a Christian, would open a door to them receiving Jesus for themselves.
The motive that Paul cites for both the Christian slaves and the Christian masters to do this, to operate contrary to the way that things usually worked in the empire, is Jesus. The slaves were to realize that, as members of God’s Kingdom they were actually performing their work for Jesus, not for their earthly masters. And the masters needed to remember that they themselves were slaves of the Master, Jesus, that they were bought with a price, and that they would be held accountable for how they represented Him in this area as well.
Even though we don’t have slavery in most parts of the world today, these principles are immediately transferable to any situation where a difference in power and authority are present. Those Christians who are further down the ladder must perform their duties as representatives of Jesus, as if working not for men, but for Him. And those Christians who are higher on the ladder must be kind and generous to those beneath them as a positive witness to the reality of God’s authority and his Kingdom.
Father, it is easy for us to respond emotionally to the terms “slave” and “master” in this passage, and miss the truth Paul is conveying an the application to our own time. No matter how enlightened and egalitarian our society may become, there will always be hierarchies in which we have to operate – there will be people above us in those structures, and people below us. And in both kinds of relationship, it is helpful to be reminded that we are to always operate as representatives of Jesus, as witnesses of His love and grace. Help me, Lord, to keep that mindset in front of me in everything I do today and in every interaction I have. Amen.