Submission @ Work (Ephesians 6:5-9)
Since the first time I thought about preaching, people around me have asked when I might give up secular work and pursue the ministry. I didn't really understand what that meant. The world has separated the work that everyone else does and the work of preachers. It's as though the preacher is doing God's work and everyone else is doing worldly work. Isn't that a sad view of the world? If that is true, everyone who is a Christian should also become a preacher. Is that how God sees things? I don't think so, and the passage we are studying today is why I don't believe that.
We have been studying through the application-rich section of Ephesians, and we noticed that all of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ call us to live transformed lives. We live with honesty, integrity, and love toward one another. The last two studies have shown us how we need to submit to one another in our family. Husbands and wives are supposed to give themselves to each other. Parents and children are supposed to give themselves to each other. Submission to God requires us to serve one another in whatever role we find ourselves. Now we will look at the workplace. But, as we open this section, you may be confused.
Bondservants?
Ephesians 6:5--8 (ESV) --- 5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.
Paul uses a word here that means slaves. Why does Paul talk about "bondservants" or slaves? Our society has made the word slave inherently evil. To us, a slave implies an evil and oppressive master. It reminds us of the kidnapping and tyrannical past of the Americas. In the 1800s and 1900s, Americans did tremendous evils in this country, which is condemned in Deuteronomy 24. But now, when we read about slaves in the Bible, we think about slaves in that evil sense when that is not the intended cultural implications. That's why many translators use the phrase bondservants. The reality is that many in the Old Testament and first century weren't slaves like we think of slaves, but they weren't servants like we think of servants either. They were somewhere in between slaves and servants.
The master/slave relationship was as common as the employer/employee relationship. In many ways, these two are similar, but we have changed the terminology. How many of us have entered into a contract where we said we would work for the company if the employer paid for our college? That is a much more watered-down approach to what they did. But it's similar. What about people who play professional sports and sign contracts? It's similar, not the same, but similar. Slaves were contracted workers. But there is a big difference.
The Roman society grew progressively evil, and many mistreated their slaves. The problem lies in the amount of power masters were legally given. Slaves possessed few legal rights, lacked honor, and were subject to whatever their masters deemed appropriate. They were not allowed to own land, and they were considered property. But slavery was not based on racial discrimination. It was a means of economic recovery. Many slaves worked to the point where they could go free from their masters and never be enslaved again.
Obey
So what does Paul say about bondservants? Does he tell them to rebel against the tyrannical system that they find themselves in? Is that what Christ wants? Notice that the words to slaves are similar to his words to children. They are supposed to obey their masters with "fear and trembling." Wait, does he want slaves to be afraid of their masters? I think the words used there are more accurately translated as "reverence and respect." The goal of a slave should be to respect and honor their master's wishes.
Sincere Hearts
Then, notice that he tells them to do this with a sincere heart. When he talks about having a sincere heart, we should consider what an insincere heart would look like. Those with insincere hearts act like they are obeying. They obey with a desire to disobey. They obey outwardly, but in their hearts, they want to do something else. They want to serve themselves, not their masters.
Notice that the following verse describes this insincere heart. He says, "Not by the way of eye-service." In other words, don't be constantly focused on whether or not the master is looking at you to decide whether you will obey or not. Paul doesn't want Christians to be like so many today who work when the boss is around but slack off entirely when the boss is away. They say, "Are you working hard or hardly working?" He wants them to do their work even when the boss isn't looking because they want to obey their master. This may not be the cool thing to do. Everyone around us might call us brown noses because we make them look bad, but Paul calls for this level of obedience.
Then, he uses an interesting parallel to performing eye service. He says, "As people-pleasers." Have you ever known a people-pleaser? Are you one? This sounds like a good thing. Paul wants Christians to please their masters, but it's just not enough. Paul doesn't want us to stop once we get enough done. He wants us to go beyond people-pleasing. The truth is that people around us at work have set a very low standard. We could meet their standard and make our bosses happy. But God wants us to look beyond that. If we are only seeking to please men, our hearts are corrupted.
Bondservants of Christ
At the end of verse 6, he mentions an idea that he spends two verses expounding. He doesn't just say this and leave it to be meditated on. He explains it in intimate detail. Think about why Paul would do that? He wants this to be paid close attention to. Don't read over this.
He says, "As bondservants of Christ... render service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man." Paul first started this idea in verse 5, where he said, "Obey your earthly masters with reverence and respect... as you would Christ." Paul wants those who work under someone else's authority to do so with reverence and respect as though that evil slimy person is Christ. We need to think about this more.
How many of us use the excuse that we have horrible bosses to prevent us from obeying them. They are completely incompetent, and they make our work more difficult. Does that give us an excuse to disobey them? Should we seek our benefit at their expense? If we do nothing and take their money, isn't that stealing? Is that how we work for the Lord? We should see ourselves as slaves of Christ because we are indebted to him. The truth is that we are adopted children, but our mindset should be that we are enslaved to Christ for the excellent help he has given us through the cross.
This is why I say there is no distinction between secular and spiritual. It's all spiritual. Your ministry is in your workplace. The only thing that should drive men to be preachers is a desire to help people know the word and love God more. The benefits shouldn't even be on our minds when we make that decision. So we give our best effort at work as though Jesus is right beside us, watching everything we do because he is.
Reward
The last part of this section tells us that those who do good are promised a reward. The truth is that if they put forth their best effort at work, people will see it, and they will either hate them or love them. They will not fit in with their society. Their masters might love them, but their peers will mostly hate them. But some will see the righteousness of their diligence and want to understand why. This is going to prove highly evangelistic if they give credit to God.
Can't we learn from this? Imagine someone working with all diligence. People will ask, "Why are you doing this?" What if our response is, "I'm working for Jesus." Think of the message that would send. We don't have to preach the Bible and tell people the gospel to minister to them. We can turn their hearts to God by simply living out the life they know they should live. If we keep humble hearts and love people while being extremely hard workers, we will stand out and shine a light for all to see.
The promise of an eternal reward is all the motivation we need. Would we get discouraged when the promotions don't come? Would we be saddened when we don't get the appreciation we deserve? Of course not. We have a better possession and an abiding one. If God promises this, he will deliver it!
Masters
Ephesians 6:9 (ESV) --- 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
The final verse contains instructions for those who are in positions of authority over others. Notice that they only have one verse, but he says, "Do the same to them." What does that mean? The rest of the verse explains. He wants them to stop threatening their slaves. Paul wants masters to render service to their slaves as they would to the Lord. Imagine how revolutionary that would be. We might not realize it, but these verses changed the Roman empire. So many slaves were going free that caesar had to Imagine how revolutionary that would be. Servants loving and obeying their masters resulted in the conversion of masters who serve their slaves. Servants loving and obeying their masters resulted in the conversion of masters who serve their slaves.
Threatening people seems to be the norm. If people don't do what we want them to do, we use whatever power we have to threaten them into submission. We live in a time when employees don't do what they are supposed to do. It's an evil world. How can we change it? Consider that Jesus doesn't threaten, and he calls for us to stop doing that. Masters aren't supposed to Lord it over their employees like elders do not Lord it over the flock. What does that mean? They cannot force people to do what they don't want to do. They must lead by example and be a servant of all instead of being a dictator of all.
I imagine what is happening in Ephesus and throughout the Roman empire is masters submitting to Christ and still treating their slaves like they don't want to be treated. Paul says, "Stop that!" Remember that you are both under the same master in heaven, and he doesn't show partiality to you because you are over your slave. The slave who serves his master well is given greater honor than the master who rules over his slave. The least will be the greatest, and the greatest will be the least in the kingdom of God.
What Do We Learn?
Each of us is in different situations. We might have nurses and doctors, cashiers and managers, accountants and CEOs, or people who work alone or stay-at-home moms. It doesn't matter where you work or what you do. What matters is that you approach your work with the proper perspective. That perspective is that "It's not about me." I'm not here to have an easier life or to reap tremendous benefits for myself. I'm here to serve the Lord with the work God has given me to do.
If we are faithful over a little, he will give us much more.
Those who would be ministers shouldn't be those who can't hold a job elsewhere because of laziness. Those who would be ministers should be those who excel at their work because they want to please the Lord. But at the end of the day, they know there is more profitable work to be done teaching and training people to love God and love their neighbor. That's the motivation people should have to become preachers. It's not about moving from secular work to spiritual work. It's about moving from one form of spiritual work that is indirect to another more direct form. But there is a need in both areas.
This text teaches us that being a Christian is about more than going to church and having a good family life. It's also about waking up every morning and considering the work we do to be an offering to the Lord. That's something we should be excited about, not something we should dread. The rewards for our labor are beyond our imagination. If God was willing to bless us as we read about in the first three chapters for simply accepting Christ, how much more will he bless us for acting like Christ in our homes and our workplaces? He promises to bless us. He will see every struggle, injustice, and heartache we experience when standing out in an evil world. Endure and remain faithful despite the difficulties.
Conclusion
We walk worthy of our calling by working for the Lord every day. It doesn't matter what our position is in life. It is excellent and helpful for some of us to take on the full-time work of teaching the Bible, but we don't all need to do that to please God. We need drive and ambition in whatever our work is, but not for ourselves. We need drive and ambition to do work for Christ and serve others as he did. If you want to serve Christ, it begins at work. Remember that the least will be greatest in the kingdom, and don't act like there is a petition between the spiritual and secular world. God sees it all, and he will reward you for all your diligence. In some cases, the rewards will come in this life, but in all cases, the rewards will be greatest in the life to come.
God's promises are eternal and worthy of our devotion. If you are working for yourself and the temporary rewards you can find on earth, you are missing out on something much greater. Submit to others, but first, submit to the Lord. Give him your heart and enjoy the peace that is beyond our understanding.