TAKING OUR FAITH TO WORK – 1 Timothy 6:1-2a

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 23, 2014 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group; July 23, 2014

1 Timothy 6:1-2a

Theme: Timothy is instructed to exhort believers to faithfully honor those for whom they work.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

So far in Paul’s letter to Timothy—a letter that teaches a pastor how he is to see to it that the believers conduct themselves rightly in the household of faith (1 Timothy 3:14-15)—we have considered several areas of conduct. Chapter one focused on evangelistic integrity in declaring the good news, Chapter two on worshipful order in the church’s gathering, chapter three on qualified leadership being sought and established, chapter four on doctrinal purity in the church’s teaching ministry, and chapter 5 on honorable care of its members in various stages of life and service. With chapter six, we begin to consider a new topic—the godly conduct of the believers both within and outside the church walls. And Paul begins this chapter with the relationship of slaves to their masters.

Slavery was a common reality in the New Testament era. Some have estimated that there were more slaves than freemen in some portions of the ancient Roman empire. The teaching of the New Testament declared truths of the believer’s liberty in Christ that set in motion the eventual abolition of slavery in the places where its teaching most took hold (John 8:36 for example). But in Paul’s day, the instruction was that, though a slave should by all means seek to be free if possible (1 Corinthians 7:21), he or she should nevertheless serve faithfully while still a slave. The principles drawn from Paul’s instructions concerning the slave/master relationship should—in our day and in our culture—be translated to the employee/employer relationship. And always, that relationship should be conducted with the higher view of serving Christ. As Paul wrote in Colossians 3:22-4:1; “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

I. THE BELIEVER’S WITNESS TO AN UNBELIEVING MASTER (v. 1).

A. The apostle Paul begins by speaking to the slave’s service to an unbelieving master. (This is made clear by the fact that the very next verse speaks to the believer’s conduct toward a believing master.) Paul begins by saying, “Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor . . .”

1. Note that the relationship is described as one where the “bondservant” is “under the yoke”. This doesn’t sound like a very flattering phrase; since a yoke was a wooden frame used to control working animals. But here, it seems to refer to the sense of a burden of labor (whether literal or figurative) that requires an obligation be fulfilled in a human relationship. A “yoke”, in this sense, might be thought of as a “job description”. There is a sense in which all of us are slaves of Jesus Christ—whether we are working for someone else or not. But here, the focus is on those relationships in which one person must fulfill a duty of work to another. It can apply to literal slaves and literal masters, or it can—by extension—apply to a laborer to a supervisor, or an employee to a boss, or even a student to a teacher.

2. Note also that such as are under a ‘yoke’ of an obligation of labor to someone else is to count their masters “worthy of all honor”. The word for “honor” is the same word as is used in 1 Timothy 5:3 regarding widows, and in 5:17 regarding elders. In those cases, however, the meaning is clearly that of some kind of financial remuneration. But here, it seems best to understand Paul as speaking of respectful submissiveness and obedience to the task. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 6:5-7, “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men . . .” Paul does not say that all “bondservants” who are under any kind of “yoke” at all are to show honor to all “masters” everywhere—as if their service under a ‘yoke’ puts them in an inferior position of obligation to all men. Rather, Paul stresses that they are to specifically consider “their own masters” worthy of all honor.

3. And note finally that Paul stresses that they are to “consider” their masters worthy of all honor. It may be, in one sense, that their masters are the sort of people who are morally or qualitatively unworthy of honor. Nevertheless, the Christian is to “consider” or “reckon” them to be so—whether they are worthy or not. And it may be that the slave is unable—for whatever reason—to show “all” honor. It may be that they fall short of their service. But in the Lord—no matter how short they may fall—they are to “consider” their masters worthy of their all. To “consider” or “reckon” a master worthy of all honor is greater than mere outward service—and becomes a motivation for greater service if possible.

B. The reason Paul stresses this kind of behavior on the part of a slave is, in the end, evangelistic and apologetic; “so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.” Church life does not end in the church building. It is to be taken to the workplace. A failure to do so—that is, specifically, an unfaithfulness and rebellious spirit on the part of a professing Christian in the workplace—is one of the things that most turns people off to our gospel. Paul wrote to Titus and said, “Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Titus 2:9-10; see also 1 Peter 2:18-20). The church is where we preach the life-changing gospel, and the workplace is where we prove that it’s claims are true.

II. THE BELIEVER’S SERVICE TO A BELIEVING MASTER (v. 2a).

A. A believing slave might be tempted to think that, if their master is a believer, then he or she could be excused from the duty to “consider” them “worthy of all honor”. After all, they may think, there’s no need in such a case to maintain a positive witness for the gospel to a believing master. But Paul deals with that situation next when he writes, “And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren . . .”

1. That a believer might be under the yoke of another believer was not an unusual thing. Nor did it mean that the believing master was necessarily obligated—as a part of their Christian faith—to release his believing slave. The relationship that the newly-believing slave Onesimus owed to his believing master Philemon would be an example of this. It’s true that—in Christ—there is neither slave nor free (Galatians 3:28); but that had primarily to do with equality of access to salvation in Christ. It seems that, even after coming to salvation in Christ, the civic obligations still remain.

2. The believing slave (or employee, or student), in that case, is not to look down on or short-change the honor due to a believing master (or employer, or teacher). They are not to use their fundamental equality before Christ as an excuse for doing anything less than their best in the fulfilling of their obligations of labor.

B. In fact, far from merely considering that they may relax their sense of obligation to a believing master, they were to increase it! Paul writes, “but rather serve them . . .”; and the sense of the word translated “rather” here is best understood as “even more”. They certainly are not to show less than their best to an unbelieving master; but they are to show even more conscientiousness toward a master who is a fellow Christian. The fact that we are benefiting a brother or sister in Christ ought to bring out the highest motives of love in us—even when it is a master; and cause us to serve with even greater faithfulness and diligence. As it says in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” This kind of mutual love in Christ is something that this world cannot produce; and causes the unbelievers who see it to want to know our Savior better.