We are grateful to God that the gospel has brought about the abolition of slavery. Yet, as Paul wrote in a day when slavery was a reality it’s important to understand what God expected of slaves and masters whom He was pleased to convert. If you have any questions about this passage I would encourage you to listen to the sermon here. This is an excerpt from the application section of my sermon.
How do we apply Col 3.22-4.1 to our lives today? Let me suggest three things:
One, this passage teaches us how to respond to difficult circumstances. Similar to those in slavery, we sometimes find ourselves in hard circumstances which it’s beyond our control to change. This text teaches us that when God has us in adverse situations that we can’t change and that, for whatever reason, He’s not changing, we’re to respond in a way that recognizes and submits to His Lordship over the situation. This means we’re to respond with faith and trust in His wisdom, with obedience to what He expects of us in that place, and with a happy resolve to make the most and best spiritual good of where we are for as long as we’re there.
Because, let there be no doubt in your mind, until God delivers you, He expects you, like the slaves to whom Paul wrote, to honor Him right where you are, to work as one enlisted in His service, and to put both your back and your heart into your work. Because neither the injustice of the person over you, nor the difficulty of the work required of you absolve you of your calling to honor God where He’s put you. **Are you serving God, right where you are, with all your heart, or are you childishly pouting over God’s hard providence?
Two, this passage teaches us something about our work. It teaches us that whatever our station is, it’s a stewardship from God; and regardless whether it profits us any in a temporal sense, if it brings honor to God then He’ll see that our needs are provided and that we get more than our wages in heaven. Because this passage teaches us that when we welcome our station as a stewardship from God, not a single duty goes unnoticed by Him and not a single act of obedience will be unrewarded on that Day. Since every one of us is ultimately in God’s service, He’ll see that we receive our inheritance in full (1Cor 15.58). **Can you expect a reward from God for your work? Which is to say, is your work pleasing and honoring to God, or will it be weighed in the balance on that Day and found wanting?
Three, the principles governing slavery have an obvious application to our services of free contract and voluntary employment. Both the one who works and the one who hires are as free as can be before the contract is signed; but once it’s signed, it becomes a bond of engagement with demands and expectations, and rights and duties, similar to what was expected of slaves and masters.
The one who hired himself out and promised to perform a job or render a service is expected by God to work with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord, heartily, as unto the Lord and not for men. He’s not to be a people-pleaser who only works when the one who hired him is watching. He’s to be a God-fearer, who does his work to be seen by God, out of love for God, and renders it as an offering to God.
And the one who hired him is expected by God to treat his worker with justice and fairness out of obedience to the Lord. He’s not to be harsh in the way he treats him, unfair in what he pays him, or unreasonable in what he expects. He’s to treat him as he would be treated, mindful that ultimately they both work under the Lordship of the same supreme Master in heaven. And the result of this will be, not a confusion of who works and who hires, but rather a generous and friendly mutual respect for the services which each renders to the other: the one rendering the labor due, and the other rendering the wages due. **Are you a godly employee to your employer? or a godly employer to your employees? Does your work ethic prove you to be a God-fearing Christian, or does your weekly work ethic call your Sunday faith into question?
**I ended the sermon with a summary look at the picture of a Christian home as Paul presents it in Col 3.18-4.1. I can’t include that summary here and recommend listening to the sermon for that encouragement.
For now, may the Lord remind you that wherever you are, you’re in His service, and therefore may He enable you to serve Him fully, faithfully, and cheerfully, with all your heart.
Ever your soul’s well-wisher in Christ,
Dr. J
