Bondservants and Masters (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Christians have to live within the cultures where they live. Local customs and expectations will affect them to some extent. When we look at the first century situation, we see such an example caused by the existence of slavery. This is not a feature of our society, but it still exists in many parts of the world. Paul knew that that the gospel affected both slaves and masters.

It was common for slaves to disrespect their owners and perform their tasks in a grudging way. We should not be surprised at this because many owners were cruel. Yet there was not very much that could be done about it except for a change of attitude caused by the gospel. Until that social relationship ceased with the passing of time, Christian masters and slaves would have to live within it in a Christian manner.

Slaves were instructed by Paul to remember that primarily they were serving Christ and that if they did so in their households he would give them a great reward. Their contribution was to be done by recognising the authority of their masters and to be performed sincerely without ulterior motives. Of course, that is how a Christian should do any task. While Christian employees are not slaves today, they are primarily serving Christ where they work, and he looks at their hearts and motives in what they do. But today they should not put up with cruel treatment because our society forbids such actions.

Christian masters also had to oversee their slaves in a Christlike way. We may wonder if they should have merely set them free. If that was possible, they should have. But in many circumstances, it would have been cruel to do so because there would have been nowhere for liberated slaves to go, especially as many of them would have been married to slaves and have children to care for. It was better for them if their master acted like Jesus would have done and provided necessary care for them. After all, the master too would be judged by Jesus for how he treated those slaves who were his brothers and sisters in the family of God.

This set of verses is a reminder that the gospel confronts many of the systemic arrangements within a culture. We are familiar with how this happened in the history of our country when the implications of the gospel were worked out in society and provided greater natural freedoms as well as spiritual blessings. But we would be foolish to imagine that all systemic evils have been removed, and we should pray for Christians, even in our society, who find themselves within such sinful confinements, whatever they are.