Slaves or Employees - Making the Truth of God Attractive
And so next up, Paul shows Titus how he should teach the slaves in his congregation. Verses 9 and 10: “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 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.”
Biblical Work Principles
Now, some people criticize Paul for not condemning slavery. Others applaud Paul for the way he would encourage slave owners to be kind and never cruel, which was very countercultural, and also the way he included slaves in the church, where others would just despise them and treat them horribly.
In either case, thank God we've come a long way from the days of slaves and slave trading—thanks largely, by the way, to the efforts of faithful Christians in the 18th and 19th centuries.
But then again, there is the terrible modern slave trade in human trafficking, and there are people who are fighting hard to bring an end to that, thank God.
Faithful in Work
What do we make of Paul's words here? I found it helpful to see his words to the slaves as words to us as employees or workers in general today.
Paul says that we must be subject to our masters or our employers, and try to please them and not talk back or steal, but be trustworthy. Think about your life—wherever you work or wherever you are at the moment. Are you such a person? Are you respectful to those above you, not stealing from them, and known as trustworthy to them?
Here's the kicker: Paul says that if we do our work in a trustworthy and respectable way, we’ll actually make the teaching about God attractive. Did you see that in verse 10? That’s amazing.
Your Work Matters
You see, some people think that only church work is sacred. That’s not true. Whatever it is you do, it is sacred. God has placed you where you are to be an ambassador and a witness for Him.
Every year, when Shereen sets up her classroom before school starts in January, I go with her and we pray all around her classroom. And it always strikes me that this classroom is a sacred place. The work of God gets done here. Shereen comes to this place to do what God has called her to do. It’s sacred. It’s as sacred as a chapel in my mind.
And so hear me: Wherever you work, or wherever you do what you're called to do, do it as a witness for God. Do it in such a trustworthy and respectful way that God looks attractive to the people around you. Let your principles and your work ethics be so good that your faith kind of shines through.
In fact, this is what the Transforming Work course is all about. I'm running it on Zoom the first Wednesday of the month for the next 8 months. It's all about showing you how to be a disciple in your workplace. I’d love for you to join, and you can message me if you would like to, because our workplaces are sacred.
Thank God we’re not slaves to our employers. But let’s do our work—whatever it is we do—in such a way that our trustworthiness, our excellence, our kindness, and all about us point people to the God we serve and make His truth attractive to them.
