A Hard Teaching for Americans

Slavery is a hard word for Americans to deal with. © Durluby - Fotolia.com

Slavery is a hard word for Americans to deal with.
© Durluby – Fotolia.com

Americans have a thing about slavery. It is offensive to us, it is an embarrassment, it is something hateful, it is a dark past that has never fully unlatched itself from our present, and it is completely and absolutely not-good! It is in opposition to the motto we sing, “Land of the free, home of the brave,” and goes against our founding document that states our belief in the “unalienable rights” of every human being.

This is probably why many Bible translations today changed the word “slave” to “bond-servant.” I have heard pastors explain away Biblical teaching directed to slaves, saying the word really refers to someone who voluntarily submitted to their master. Kind of like an employee.

It makes it sound not so bad that way.

As far as I can tell, when the New Testament writers used the word slave (or bond-servant), they were writing about what we would consider slavery, or human trafficking: a person who was property with no rights. This distinction is important because what the Apostles wrote to slaves is a beautiful expression of how deeply a Christian’s commitment to God must be.

This is from the Holman translation of 1 Timothy 6:1

All who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and His teaching will not be blasphemed. (HCSB)

Now, read that again. The Greek word translated to “respect” means either value or honor. This is an instruction for Christian slaves to not only treat their unbelieving masters with “all respect,” but to consider them worthy of all respect! This has nothing to do with deserving it, either, since these masters were likely quite harsh. Rather, the reason is to protect the name, or reputation, of God.

Who would tell a slave to give their harsh master a high value and deem them worthy of great honor? No one in America, I think. But if you get caught up in the slave/master relationship, you may miss that this has nothing to do with those harsh masters. It is about God, how glorious he is, and how important he is to us.

I asked myself if I take God’s name that seriously. Is the reputation of my Lord and Savior so precious to me that I am willing to honor those who have taken away my rights, abused and oppressed me, bullied me and harmed me? Do I value those who have made themselves my enemy so that I can ensure God’s name is held in high esteem?

How many Americans are willing to hear this? How many Americans who go to church every Sunday actually live this? We Americans believe in our rights, we cling to them and champion them and demand laws protecting them. We even protect the rights of criminals, those who have grossly violated others’ rights. The thought of a loving God wanting a slave to give honor to a vile master is unthinkable to us.

This, however, is what the Bible tells us to do. And it goes much further than teaching us to be good employees. This shows us how far the command to love our enemies must go, and that our Heavenly Father is worthy of so much respect that we give honor to the unrespectable.

I heard a story on the radio of a woman whose daughter was bullied. They responded by praying for the bully and by the end of the year the daughter and the bully were good friends. That is loving our enemies, giving the oppressors enough value to spend time in prayer for them.

Can you think of an example of how to do this in your life?

Blessings! – Shamar Covenant

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.