Reading… and Thinking

All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved.

— 1 Timothy 6:1-2 (NASB)

Cultures change, but divine principles do not. In the culture we live in, there is no (legal) slavery. But that doesn’t mean that these verses have nothing to say to us.

The economy of our culture depends on voluntary servitude (which we call employment) rather than involuntary servitude. But the basic situation is the same: one person works for another person. When we read in the New Testament about slaves and masters, we can easily think of “employees”, and “employers”.

The principles contained in this passage remain true. It is still important that in our role as employee, that we regard our employer as worthy of honor. That is, we are to give honest service, doing our best to do their bidding, without rebelling, without stealing. Why? So that the name of God will not be dishonored, and the teaching of the truth will not be hindered.

If we claim to belong to the Living God, that Christian principles guide our lives, what will someone conclude if we are gossips, or dishonest, or lazy in our work? They will either conclude that this religion of ours is no good (dishonoring God), or that we’re hypocrites and can’t be trusted (hindering our witness).

I’ve seen it happen all my life. People in the workplace have higher expectations of those who claim to be Christian. This is actually wonderful! It is a help to us, when our human nature just doesn’t want to work hard, or is tempted to do something dishonest. The higher expectations of our employers and co-workers will help us to do the right thing.

And when something critical comes up, who will the boss trust? Who has demonstrated honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, the ability to keep something confidential? If we have lived up to our claims to be people of God, our names will come to mind. On the other hand, if the boss wants to do something shady, will they invite us in? Probably not—and once again, we will have benefited from living consistent with our principles.

The other point that Paul makes here applies to those who work for believers. It can happen that an employee who is a fellow believer of the boss may presume upon the spiritual relationship, may feel like they can get away with things others can’t, may forget that there is an employer/employee relationship as well as a spiritual relationship. Paul says that this isn’t right. If we’re working for believers, he says, we should give even better service, show even more honor.

Will the boss always be righteous? Human beings fail. The believing employee has a double obligation–to obey the boss, but above that to obey the Master who is over us all. And the second obligation includes bearing witness to what is right. Even a believing boss may be caught up in something questionable. If that happens, our duty to the greater Master demands that we make God’s principles clear to our earthly masters. This can be difficult to do, but in my experience it results in respect for your integrity, even if you do not win over the boss. If you’re working for someone who will fire people for being too honest, then you need to get a different job anyway!