Ephesians 6:5-9 – Equal Before God
By Pastor Paul Georgulis
“5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. 9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.” – Ephesians 6:4-9 (New Living Translation)
Some of the language/word usage in this passage is troubling to us today (e.g., slaves, masters). But again, we need to consider the context of when this epistle was written. Paul could no more envision a world without slavery than we can envision a world without the Internet. Slaves played a significant part in Paul’s society. Because many slaves and owners had become Christians, the early church had to deal straightforwardly with the question of master-slave relations. In these verses, Paul neither condemns nor condones slavery. Instead, he tells masters and slaves how to live together in Christian households. In Paul’s day, women, children, and slaves had few rights. In the church, however, they had freedoms that society was denying them.
I imagine that if Paul were writing this epistle today, the language he would use would be to address employees and employers, rather than slaves and masters. The main thing to consider, however, is that Paul’s instructions encourage responsibility and integrity on the job, for both employees and employers. Christian employees should do their jobs as if Jesus were their supervisor. Christian employers should treat their employees fairly and with respect.
Some questions to consider:
Can you be trusted to do your best, even when the boss is not around?
Do you work hard and with enthusiasm?
Do you treat your employees as people, not tools or servants?
Remember that no matter for whom you work, or who works for you, the one you ultimately should want to please is your Father in heaven.
The main takeaway: Although Christians may be at different levels in earthly society, we are all equal before God. He has no favorites. No one person is more important than anyone else.
Prayer:
Father God, we thank you that we are just as important to you as Moses, King David, and even the Apostle Paul were. Thank you for not playing favorites and for loving each and every one of us to the fullest extent. Help us to remember to work hard, and be moral employees and employers. Help us to keep our focus on you, and for everything we do to be for you.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
