¹All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. ²Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

The history of slavery in the Western world has created an extreme distaste for any writing on the subject that doesn’t hate the practice. Many in the darker times of Christian history have used these biblical teachings to justify slavery and enforce compliance. God abhors the twisting and misapplication of His Word for self-serving purposes. Paul is not in any stretch of imagination endorsing slavery; he is simply specifying how people should treat one another within the context of slavery.

The message to us today is that there is more to say about slavery than to abolish it. Sometimes it just cannot be eliminated as easily as we would like. Modern slavery exists in the form of human trafficking and forced servitude in different parts of the world. Without diminishing the seriousness of the above, we might extend the definition to economic slavery where people, because of low education and poor social environments, are unable to better themselves economically. Some jobs are essentially slavery when workers have no options for alternative work and are at the mercy of their overbearing bosses. The rubric of slavery contains a broad spectrum of situations.

To be sure, our Christian faith would require us to work on behalf of all people to better their lives by whatever means necessary, whether politically or by force. But what does the gospel have to say to the individuals who are within “the system” and cannot escape? How should they live until the time when they can change their circumstances? That is the message Paul has for Timothy.

Christian slaves (workers) should honor their masters (bosses), even the unruly ones, with the same kind of honor as we are to give elders (1 Tim. 5:17). Christian masters (bosses), as the letter to Philemon shows us, should treat their believer slaves (workers) as brothers in Christ. This would revolutionize slavery in the ancient world and make it look more like a good employer-employee relationship between individuals who have a genuine love for one another. But this change would not come by political mandate, only by the movement of the Holy Spirit in the changed lives and behavior of individuals. Timothy is to emphasize these principles just as much as the rest of Paul’s instructions.

Lord, help me change what I can, but also help me change how I act.