“Slavery was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.”
These words were spoken by Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Davis and many other Confederate plantation owners often used the Bible to justify the institution of slavery. While it is true that that slavery is nowhere expressly condemned in the Bible, it was hardly established by the decree of Almighty God or sanctioned by the Bible. (The Apostle Paul lists slave-trading with a host of other sins in back in I Tim 1:10). Slavery, rather, is one of the tragic consequences of human sinfulness and has been a sad reality in virtually every society in history. It is a shame that so many people, including Christians, have used the Bible in such a way. That is why when we come to passages like I Timothy 6:1-2, we must understand the context in which Paul’s words were written!
Slavery in the Greco-Roman World
Slavery was a fundamental part of the fabric of ancient Greco-Roman society. Some estimate that the slave population in the 1st century constituted approximately one third of the total population. An estimated one million slaves were owned by the richest five per cent of Roman citizens. Most slaves were employed in domestic service in households and likely had an easier life than slaves working the land, or in mines or on ships.Slavery could be very cruel in the Roman Empire, and revolts severely punished, and professional slave-catchers were hired to hunt down runaways, with advertisements containing precise descriptions of fugitives being publicly posted and offering rewards.
Slavery in Greco-Roman world was very different from that of recent American history; it was rarely racially motivated. Most people became slaves through war or economic necessity; although by the time of Paul’s letter to Timothy, the majority of slaves were so by birth. The freeing of slaves was also a common occurrence, but in many cases slavery was preferred over freedom because it afforded security—and in some cases, good positions in a household.
It was somewhat similar to the type of servitude that we see in the BBC/PBS series Downton Abbey, where wealthy aristocratic families would be served by dozens and sometimes hundreds of people in the roles of butlers, maids, footmen, farmers, cooks, chafers, groundskeepers, etc. Even though the employees are relatively free to seek employment elsewhere, most of them stay in their positions for life and many of their children follow in their footsteps. Why would they choose to remain in a life of servitude rather than going out to discover themselves and seek their own fortune? Because it offered safety, security, a steady income, nice clothing, and a warm bed to lay their heads at night.
Nonetheless, slavery was the bottom extreme of the social spectrum and was generally not a desirable status. Slaves constituted a large element of the poor to whom the gospel became good news of acceptance with and freedom before God. The fact that so many early Christians were slaves precipitates the need for Paul to write about how slaves ought to treat their masters. Just because a person had been freed from slavery to sin did not mean that they were freed from their social status in society.
Some people have asked the question, “Why doesn’t the Apostle Paul just condemn slavery?” First, slavery was so engrained in Greco-Roman culture that Paul could not even conceive of a society without it. Also, we have to remember that the primary purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.
In all of I Timothy 5, Paul has been dealing with the issue of how the gospel of Jesus Christ changes a person’s relationships. Christians are to honor widows, take care of their family members, honor pastors and church leaders, and now about how Christian slaves are to honor their masters.
Honoring Our Masters (1-2)
In verse 1, Paul is saying that Christian slaves are to treat their non-Christian masters with all honor and respect. He uses the image of a yoke to describe slavery. Yokes were wooden devices used for pulling a burden, such as oxen or mules pulling a plow through a field in preparation for planting. Just as a yoke was a burden to the animal that bore it, being under the power of another person was a burden to the slave, but Christian slaves were to work hard, be honest, maintain a good attitude, and serve their masters faithfully.
Why should Christian slaves honor their masters? Because of the reputation of the gospel depends on it! “God’s name” is a metaphor for his reputation and “our teaching” is a metaphor for the gospel or the Christian message. Paul appeals to slaves to conduct themselves appropriately under their difficult situation in order that God and his gospel may not be ill spoken by non-Christian masters, who would do so if they thought that God and gospel made slaves less respectful or poorer workers. The Christian slave’s conduct will make an impression on an unbelieving master. If a Christian slave disrespects, disobeys, or is lazy or shows a bad attitude toward his/her master, the reputation of the gospel is compromised with that person. But if a believing slave honors his/her master with the attitude and service of Christ, the master may come to faith in Jesus Christ.
The principle that Paul is advocating was affirmed by St. Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century, when he spoke his now famous quote: “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.”The slave is to preach the gospel to his/her master through actions, attitudes, and work ethic.
In verse 2, Paul addresses the circumstance of a Christian slave under a Christian master. Slaves with believing masters are not to be disrespectful just because their masters are Christian brothers. They are to work even harder for Christian masters because it will benefit all of the other Christians who are in service to the master. Christian slaves should not take advantage of their master’s faith in Christ to serve their own interests. Instead, Paul is calling Christian slaves to look beyond their own interests to the interest of others. If a person’s master is a believer, this makes him/her all the more worthy of loving service.
How should these verses be applied in a time and culture where slavery is outlawed? Well, even though slavery does not exist in the way it did in Greco-Roman times or before the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, these verses still apply to the way we treat people in authority roles over us. Who has authority over you? Well, how about your government officials and your boss at work? Young people, your parents and teachers at school have authority over you?
For those of us who have unbelieving government officials and unbelieving bosses over us, we have the Christian responsibility of honoring and respecting them. Sure, they may pass laws and policies that conflict with our values and beliefs, but we need to respond to them in such a way that will bring honor to the name of Jesus Christ. This will add credibility to the gospel and maybe they will come to faith in Christ!
Most of us here today have had a boss that was difficult to work for; some of you are in that position right now! Maybe you are at the point that you can barely tolerate being in the same room with your boss for 5 minutes. Maybe you disagree with your boss’s leadership style or you can’t stand their personality. God still calls us to treat that person with honor and respect; our hard work and good attitude in such conditions will serve as a witness to Jesus Christ!
And for those of us who are fortunate enough to be in situations where Christians are in authority over us, we must be careful not to take advantage of our mutual relationship with Christ for our own purposes. If your boss is a Christian, you should honor the relationship by working even harder.
John Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Wilson, his family’s housekeeper. It had been a wearying day, and he asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while he had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House. “Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson.” “He is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him.” “Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him.” “No, Mr. President. I work for him, not you. When he called the President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure. “Tell that woman I want her here in the White House.”
That is the way Christ wants us to honor our masters!
In conclusion, I would like to share with you one of the greatest examples I have ever heard of someone honoring their master. It comes from my favorite novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In chapter 40, the old slave Uncle Tom pleads with his evil slave master Simon Legree not to be beaten for refusing to divulge information about another slave’s escape. Tom urges Legree to reconsider, not for Tom’s sake, but for Legree’s. Threatened with pain and death by a man who oppresses and torments him, Tom’s first thought is for his oppressor’s soul. He proves the authenticity of his own faith when he says:
“Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give ’em freely, as the Lord gave his for me. Oh, Mas’r! don’t bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than’t will me! Do the worst you can, my troubles’ll be over soon; but, if ye don’t repent, yours won’t never end!”
None of us have it as bad as Uncle Tom; may we honor our masters!