Our relationship with our employees/employers should be one that is God-glorifying. We cannot claim to love God, honour our church leaders, respect the members of our church and maltreat our employees/employers. Whatever we do to any one should be done with the understanding that we are doing it for the Lord. As Paul continued his instructions to Titus concerning raising a church that meets God’s standards, Paul also admonished Titus to encourage slaves to serve their masters well. At the time of this letter, slaves were workers bought by a master to work for them. Slaves were assigned several jobs depending on what the master does. Sometimes, slaves would escape from their masters just like Onesimus escaped from Philemon. Some of these slaves also heard the gospel and became believers. Paul admonished the slaves through Titus that their new life in Christ should not be that of rebellion but of obedience. Doing that, they will make the teaching of Christ worthwhile.
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. (Titus 2:9-10)
In Titus 2:9-10, Paul admonish Titus to “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” The following key points are important. First, slaves were to be taught to be subject to their masters in everything. Second, slaves were to please their masters. Thirdly, slaves shouldn’t talk back to their masters. In addition to these, slaves should not steal from their masters. However, by their godliness, slaves should rather show to their masters that they can be fully trusted. According to Paul, such a lifestyle will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. Here, we see Paul redefining the Slave-Master relationship in every way. The popular notions about this relationship in the days this letter was written was not so attractive. Some slaves were fond of squandering their masters’ resources and such slaves, if arrested, were dealt with harshly. Here Paul’s letter was to have a relationship that is not built in the world’s system but on the understanding that in Christ, there is neither slave nor free. A cordial and lovely relationship between a slave and the master cancels the societal perceptions of this relationship.
Similarly, we have also been called to demonstrate Christ wherever we go. Our workplaces are very important marketplaces for evangelism. We may not have the pulpits to preach at work, but by our lives and approach to our work, we should make it obvious for all to know that we are different. We should learn to appreciate those who are our leaders. Serving in love and humility is not a sign of weakness. We should stay away from malicious people, wicked co-workers, and serve with all diligence as if working for the Lord. We should not make room for people to doubt our faith. Our conversations should be seasoned with salt. We should be trustworthy in all our ways. We cannot promote Christ with our words and promote the devil by our lifestyles. That is living two different lifestyles. As we desire to make Christ known everywhere and everyday, our workplaces should also experience the love of Christ through us. If Jesus was your manager, would you have served Him like you are serving your current manager? If your answer is NO, you still need to have a change of mind.
Come blog with me 