Slaves and Masters

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Anyone who has ever had a less than reputable or arrogant boss (whether they claimed to be a Christian or not) knows how hard it is to serve with a sincere heart. In this case, Paul is speaking to fellow believers in the Ephesian church, bondservants worshiping alongside their masters. Either one or both may have been recent converts and thus immature in the way they treated each other, rather than with the honor due a brother or sister in the Lord. The problem of discord among believers in the workforce is just as real today. Only when we fix our eyes on Christ are we able to honor one another as fellow citizens of the Kingdom of heaven without allowing our sinful pride to get in the way (Ephesians 2:18).

Why would a master, or employer in our case, behave in a threatening way toward their bondservant or employee? Focusing on themselves, a master threatens to get what he or she wants. This is an attempt at being in control. It is animal-like behavior that should have no place among believers in Christ. Jesus, Judge of all the earth, could have come as a king like Solomon, but instead took on flesh and was incarnate as a laborer. He chose the life of a carpenter’s son. Instead of annihilating anyone who would reject Him, He chose patience with the arrogant, ignorant, and uninformed (which was all of us at some point). This is a patience still ongoing—not wishing that any should perish but that all would come to saving faith (2 Peter 3:9). If Christ has been patient with you, who are you to let your anger fly at another?

Paul instructs bondservants to serve their masters as if they were serving Christ. Does that mean we close our eyes and imagine our boss as Jesus? No! It means we know that the One who is in charge of us, body and soul, is the One who is also in charge of them. He is over all, through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:6). It is the Spirit of Christ in you that trains you to bear up under ill treatment, teaches you how to love your enemy, and to pray for the one who persecutes you (Matthew 5:44). And remember that sometimes loving your enemy means telling them why you are leaving.

There is an equality among believers in Christ, for we know that God shows no partiality. Paul told the Galatians, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:27-28). We all hold the same status before Him. We are all sinners saved by the grace of God alone. We also know that many who are first here will be last in heaven (Matthew 20:16). And because God is the owner, author, provider, and sustainer of all things, whatever we have in this life is merely on loan. Anything in your earthly purview has been given to you to steward for a time. Will you steward the resources God gave you in a way that honors Him with what He has entrusted to you, or do you imagine that your little earthly kingdom is of your own making and thus yours to do with as you please? Consider the cost. What you sow, that shall you also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Our passage tells us, “…whatever good anyone does, that shall he receive back from the Lord" (Ephesians 6:8, 2 Corinthians 5:10). I credit Dr. David Powlison with saying, “God is your greatest witness." His eye is always upon us (Hebrews 4:13). He is never inactive. As an employee, if you received no thanks or praise for your work, could you continue knowing only that your Lord alone sees you? As an employer, do you treat your employees the way God says He treats or will treat you?