“All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching. If the masters are believers, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. Those slaves should work all the harder because their efforts are helping other believers who are well loved.”
“How can anyone trust the Bible?” he asked. “After all, isn’t the Bible pro-slavery?” We were talking about what it meant to let Jesus lead your life, and we had gotten as far as accepting the Bible as God’s word. This is where he got tripped up, because the Bible didn’t seem like a very modern book. It certainly didn’t seem like a trustworthy book. So he asked his question and then waited to see what I’d say.
Today’s verses from 1 Timothy are several from among the range of verses that address slaves. First, it is important to note that slavery in Paul’s era had little in common with modern-day slavery or with the slavery of American history. Second of all, note that the verses address slaves, not the concept of slavery. These verses are not written to men and women who have society-wide impact about how to address a social institution. They are written to a community of believers that included some people who were actual slaves themselves. What does it mean to live life by Jesus’ rules if you are a slave? The answer: respect your master. This is powerfully consistent with Jesus’ own teaching that his followers should love their enemies.
Here’s your freedom for today: God’s love can empower us to love the unlovable. From the perspective of a slave, who could be less lovable than a slave-owner? Who could be less worthy of respect than a person who believes that he can own another human being? There is no human reason to show love or respect in a situation like that. From a human point of view, from the perspective of human rights, the slave has every right to hate and disrespect his master. Jesus, however, calls every person in every situation to act out of love. This doesn’t mean acceptance of evil social forces or practices. It doesn’t mean condoning injustice. The challenge is far greater than that: to show the love of the crucified Christ even in the midst of taking a powerful moral stand against evil. Only the power of God can release us to do that.