The Christian’s Reasonable Service

Father, we surrender all to You.  We surrender all because You have given us Christ, who surrendered it all for us.  We pray that You’d be with us tonight.  Send Your Spirit to be with Your people, be with Your Word, that it would accomplish that for which it is given.  We pray this in Christ’s name.  Amen.   

Our text for today in continuing along with this series through 1 Timothy is 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 1 and 2.  This is at the end of what some people call the household codes for the church in Ephesus, as Paul is writing to Timothy.  We had the instructions for the widows, the instructions for the elders, and now the instructions for the bondservants.

1 Timothy 6, verses 1 and 2.  I will stop where the ESV stops, break off a little bit before the end of verse 2.

Paul says this:  “Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.  Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.”

Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy a common verse that you all have heard, a verse that undergirds a lot of our doctrine.  Paul writes this in 2 Timothy chapter 3.  He says all Scripture is breathed out by God.  It is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

These words here in Paul’s second letter to Timothy really bolster a lot of the doctrines that we love as Reformed Presbyterians.  It bolsters the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, the doctrine of inerrancy, of infallibility, and really of the inspiration of Scripture.  It says that all Scripture is breathed out by God.

This is a great thing that we hold to.  It’s a thing that we believe in and we love to hear it read and we love to say it.  Many of you probably have this verse memorized because this Bible is the very Word of God.  It is breathed out by God.  It is inspired by the Holy Spirit.  This is an easy thing to believe when we read passages like Ephesians 1 and 2 or the book of Romans or read through the gospels and see all of the stories and teachings of our Lord.

But when it comes to a passage like the one before us today, here is where our belief in the inspiration of Scripture is put to the test.  What do we do with the text that seemingly endorses slavery?  The word “bondservants” is the root, is from the word “doulos” which many translations render as slave.  This is talking about indentured servitude, about slavery.  What do we do with a text like this when we believe that it is breathed out by God?  It is inspired by God?

Well, there have been different understandings of this, and even in our own country’s history, and our own Christian history in America, a text like this has been misused.  It has been misapplied to support the institution of slavery in America.  I think we can learn something from that where we must be humble in seeing the good Christian men and women who wanted to support inerrancy, who wanted to support the inspiration of Scripture, wanted to take the Scriptures at their word, saw a text like this and said bondservants should regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that should support something like the institution of slavery.

I think we can look back on that with a modern lens and just think how could they possibly think like that, but we must be humble to see that they were trying to do justice to the Scriptures.  But really, it’s a great lesson in valuing the context of the passage.  If we understand the historical and cultural context of when Paul is writing this letter to Timothy, we get a great insight into what slavery and to what servitude looks like in the Greco-Roman era, and that then informs our interpretation and our application of a text like this.

So more so than most other texts in this 1 Timothy sermon, we’re going to spend more time in the context than many of the other passages have needed because knowing the context really helps us to understand the rest of this passage, what this passage is saying, and how we can apply it to our lives today. 

So we’re going to focus.  I’m going to try to keep it quick because I don’t want to bore you all with 30 minutes of Greco-Roman slavery knowledge.  We’re going to try and keep that part short.  We’re going to focus first on the context, then we’re going to move to the content, what is Paul saying in this passage, how does that apply to us, then I was thinking it would be a really Presbyterian sermon if I had a third “C,” so we’re going to do the context, and then the content, and then we’re going to look at our new condition in Christ.

So first the context.  I’m just going to draw a few contrasting points.  I won’t go into a long spiel about Greco-Roman slavery, but just to contrast what many of us know or understand of American slavery and how Greco-Roman slavery differed from that, and how that actually changes the lens of how we view two verses like this.

The first thing to note about Greco-Roman slavery is that it was not race-based.  There were people of all nations, all tribes, that were enslaved in the Greco-Roman era, so it inherently was not race-based as slavery was in America.  It was still slavery, masters still owned slaves.  It was not an ideal circumstance, but it was not race-based.

Second.  Slaves in the Greco-Roman era held various jobs.  It wasn’t just tending the land or keeping the house.  They held jobs such as doctors, educators, writers, accountants, agents, bailiffs, overseers, secretaries, and some were even sea captains.  The slavery class, the economic class of the slave, was said to make up about a third of the world population, so it was part of the workforce, the majority of the workforce were these servants and they served in a variety of jobs.  Again, it does not make it an ideal situation, but it does make it different than slavery as we know it in American history.

The third point, I think this is maybe the most helpful point to understand a passage like the one before us, is that slaves were generally freed by age 30 at the latest.  It was a temporary suffering.  I don’t think that it’s good for it to be done by 30 because I’m 25 and think if I had been enslaved for the last 25 years and still had five years to go, that would feel like a long time, so that’s not, I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but they were almost across the board freed by age 30 with the world ahead of them as free men and women.  So it was a temporary suffering.  It was rarely for a lifetime.

So when we see Paul speak to servants, he is not anticipating that they will be servants for the rest of their lives.  He knows that this is a temporary suffering.  As he does in many letters, he addresses the Christian who are temporarily suffering, whether it’s for a lifetime, whether it’s for a short time, he knows that there is suffering in this world and this, the life of a slave, is part of that suffering.

So there is a brief run-through of some of the context that might help us inform some of what Paul says here in the content in this passage.  We’ll take the first verse and we’ll break it up into a few sections.  Paul says, “Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor.”  He recognizes straight from the jump that these servants are under a yoke.  There is a burden on their backs.  They are carrying a load.  Being a bondservant is not an easy thing.  It is not a good thing but it is a reality for these people and he recognizes that it is a yoke, it is a burden that they bear.

So he says those who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor.  The key word here is “regard.”  Paul knows that the masters of these slaves are likely not worthy of all honor.  There are many who are oppressive, who are brutal, who are not good masters, but he says regard them as such.

This is a strong charge to these slaves who could be in really harsh conditions; some could be in easier conditions, we’ll see that in the second verse, but he wants them to regard their masters as worthy of all honor.  We see this throughout the New Testament, that in the providence of God authorities are in place, under God’s hand, by His power, in His providence, there are those who have authority and there are those who don’t.  Yet the consistent charge to the Christian is to regard their authority as worthy of all honor, even though we know that every single person is a sinner, every single person will have lapses in judgment or failures that might make it seem like they aren’t worthy of honor.  But the charge is to regard them as such because they are in authority, we are subject to them, and that was pleasing to God.

But it’s not just pleasing to God.  He wants the servants to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor for two very specific reasons:  So that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.  This is your Christian witness if you’re an employee and you have a boss, if you are someone who is subject to someone’s authority.  The way you treat your authority has a direct impact on your Christian witness.  Paul is saying I do not want the name of God to be reviled, God does not want His name to be reviled, so honor your authorities in such a way that that is not the case, that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

I was trying to think about some different examples that might be helpful, thinking real-world examples, trying to think biblical examples, and I think the story of Daniel is a really great example of this.  So I’m going to bounce around through Daniel chapter 6, if you would like to turn there, I will read some of the verses so you don’t necessarily have to turn there.

But think about Daniel’s situation.  In the first half of the book of Daniel, it’s the narrative of his life.  We see a few different kings come and go and eventually King Darius is established and Daniel is climbing the ranks.  The kings like him.  He honors them, he’s a hard worker, he gave some interpretations that the king liked so that helped him climb the ranks.  He is given power and authority.

If you look at verses 3 through 5, it says this:  “Then Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.”

I might remind you from this morning of Caleb having a spirit in him that was good for leadership, that was good for a godly, faithful leader to exemplify.  Daniel had an excellent spirit in him.

“And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Daniel was going to be number two to the king.

“Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”

Think of Daniel being under the reign of the king.  If he had said anything, any wrong word, misspoke at all about the king and these men found out, it would be an easy way for him to be punished, even if he was in the confines of his own home, if it was someone that he trusted, if he was just frustrated, had a bad day with King Darius, and he just said something negative about the king, it would be grounds for the king to discipline him as he wanted.  He’s the king.

Yet they found no fault in him, so what do they do?  They devise a plan and they said, ” “We shall not find any ground for complaint against Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.””

Many of you know the rest of the story.  They get King Darius to issue a decree that anyone who prays to anyone besides him for 30 days will be thrown into the pit and they know that they’re going to catch Daniel, because he’s a respectful man, he honors his leaders, but he’s faithful to his God.  So Daniel quietly goes to his home and still prays to his God, he is caught, he’s thrown into the den, but the king is distressed.  He does not want Daniel to be punished but he knows that this decree happened and so even by the decree of the king, he doesn’t want it to happen, Daniel is thrown into the pit.

Then look at verse 19:  “Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.”  He wanted to see is there any chance that Daniel made it through the night.  “As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”  Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever!  My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before Him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.””

Think about Daniel’s response here.  The king who issued the decree that sent him into the pit is here asking if he’s alive, and Daniel, maybe at the most justified time, could have said, “Why do you care, King Darius?  You’re the one who put me here.”  He could really have a sharp word for the king because he’s the one trapped in a pit with a lion.  But still, he regards the king as worthy of all honor.  He does not disrespect the king.  Instead, he shows that he is blameless and so the king then gets him out of the pit and then what does the king do?  At the very end of the chapter, it says that King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth.

He says this:  Peace be multiplied to you.  I make a decree that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for He is the living God, enduring forever.  His kingdom shall never be destroyed and His dominion shall have no end.  He delivers and rescues.  He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.  He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

By Daniel’s faithful service, by the way that he honored the king even despite this terrible condition he was put in, rather than leading the king to revile his God based on disrespect, he did the exact opposite by honoring the king, by being a faithful servant, the king responds with this great statement of praise for Daniel’s God.  Thus far we haven’t heard and we can assume that the king is not a believer, he does not believe in the God of Israel, yet because of who Daniel is, because of his character, because of his witness through his life, the king praises Daniel’s God.

This is what Paul is getting at in 1 Timothy 6.  He wants those who are under the yoke to regard their masters of all honor, not only that the name of God ___ may not be reviled, but actually it’s your Christian witness, it’s your Christian reasonable service to do this in such a way that it might actually lead people to consider who is your God.  If you respect me in such a way, if you honor me in such a way, if you work heartily in such a way, I’m curious as to who your God is.  What is the teaching that has led you to live a life such as this?

So the command is in hopes that God and His teaching would not be reviled, would not be blasphemed, it’s the Greek word blasphemeto, you can see where we get our word blaspheme from.  Another sense of that is he may not be reviled, so that’s a good thing if we don’t lead people to revile our God, but instead actually by our Christian witness, by the way we are in the workplace, by the way we respect our authorities, we can lead people to consider our God, to put their faith and trust in our God, because if Him and His teaching have impacted us in such a way, have impacted you, Christian, in such a way as to work heartily for the Lord and to honor your authorities who would give people reason to consider putting their faith in your God.

Christians, it is not permissible to have a church personality and a work personality, or church vocabulary and work vocabulary.  You can’t leave your Christianity at the door when you walk into your workplace.  If you bear the name of God, if you are a child of God, how you work and how you treat your boss, how you treat your authorities, are a direct witness of your Christian faith.  If you are not a good worker, if you do not honor your authorities, people can call into question either your faith or your God.  Both of those would not be good.

This is your reasonable service as a Christian.  This is the life you are to live as a Christian.  So honor your authorities as you would honor the Lord.

In verse 2, we change our attention, change the focus a little bit, to now thinking some of these slaves might have had good Christian masters, some might have had bad masters, but now we focus on the slaves who have believing masters.  Paul says that they must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers.  This is your brother or your sister in Christ so respect them and honor them as such.  And rather, you actually must serve all the better since those who benefit by your service, by the service of the servant, are believers and beloved.

Here Paul is confronting what is present for new Christians in this era and what I suspect is actually still present in our lives today.  You all are familiar with Paul’s words in Galatians 3 where he says that there is now neither Jew nor Greek, male or female, slave or free, but all are one in Christ Jesus.  So for these early servants, those who were under the yoke as bondservants, if they have a believing master and if they’ve come to faith in Jesus, we might be tempted to think there’s neither slave nor free, so Christian master, why are you treating me as a slave?

And Paul says actually that’s not the right motive, that’s not the right mentality.  If he’s a Christian, if he’s a brother, you can work all the harder for him and you should work all the harder for him because it not only benefits you to be a good worker, it benefits your brother to be a good worker.  It was a temptation for the servants to impose this idea of neither slave nor free on their masters and that they should be freed or at least be treated as a free man.

Although the circumstances are different today, we do not have the slave/master relationship that was the primary economic relationship then, the primary economic relationship now is employee to boss, so although the circumstances are different, I am sure many of you who work for a Christian can sometimes feel the temptation to presume upon their grace, or to presume upon their generosity, because they’re a brother or they’re a sister.  Aren’t they a Christian?  Won’t they give me grace for this?

But instead, Paul says no, that cannot be the mentality.  You cannot presume grace.  Do we go on sinning that grace may abound?  By no means, instead in the workplace, work all the harder because hard work doesn’t only benefit you, Christian, it benefits your boss and your boss, if he is a Christian, he is a believer, or she is a believer, and beloved.  This is the charge to live as brothers and sisters but also to be good workers, or to be good bosses.   

In other sections when Paul is addressing the slave/master relationship, there are charges for the masters to be good masters.  But here it is focused on the work of the Christian, so your work as a Christian, what you do day to day, how you honor your authorities is a direct witness of your Christian faith and it has a direct effect on your boss whether he or she is a Christian or not, but it is to the betterment of your boss if he or she is a Christian for you to render good, faithful service to them.  That is the reasonable service of the Christian life.

Paul addresses here the servant, the bondservants, what he earlier addressed or what we read earlier in Romans was that all Christians who are in Christ are no longer slaves, they are no longer servants to sin, but now you’re servants, slaves to righteousness, slaves to God. 

This is our new condition as Christians, that we all are under a yoke.  We were under the yoke of sin, we were enslaved to it, we were driven by it, but now we are under the yoke of Christ.  What does He say about His yoke?  His yoke is easy.  His burden is light.  For those who have believed in Christ, who have been redeemed by His blood, Ephesians 1 gives us this language and it is actually the language that’s used for the purchasing of slaves in the Greco-Roman era.  If you’ve been bought by Christ, you are a slave to Christ.  You are a slave to the true, great Master, who Himself took the form of a servant, took the form of a doulos, took the form of a slave, and He was the great slave to show us how we as Christians might become servants to Him, that He, although He was humbled and lowly, was exalted to the right hand of the Father and now as we are bought by His blood, we are His people and we are His servants.  

But it is not like the servitude of the Greco-Roman era or the servitude of American history.  This is service under a yoke that is easy and under a burden that is light and under a Master who is delighted in the work of His servants.       

Let’s pray.  Father, we thank You that Your yoke is easy, that Your burden is light, that You have given us Christ as the great example of the suffering servant and that we can live as slaves to Christ because He is our great Master.  Amen.