1. Christian Employee’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:5-8
First, as with the first two life-relationships, the subordinate partner is addressed first and then the one who is responsible for leadership (wives/husbands; children/parents; employees/employers.
Next, the command is stated: “Employees obey.”
True to form, Paul amplifies this command.
1) We obey with “fear and trembling.”
2) We obey with honesty or “singleness of heart to the Lord.”
Paul further elaborates on how to work with sincerity and not duplicity or hypocrisy. Obey “not with eyeservice as menpleasers.” This is the case when we produce quality work when the Boss is watching but slow down when he steps out of the room.
The contrast “but” is doing our best work all the time “as the slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” The positive attitude in 6:6 is expanded in 6:7: “Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” We can have a positive work ethic when we realize ultimately we are serving the Lord at work.
The work station is our mission station. Most believers have more contact with unbelievers at work than at church. When world renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren was overseeing the construction of his most famous work, St Paul’s Cathedral in London, it is reported that a stranger came to three of his workmen who were all employed on the same job. The stranger asked each worker, the same question, “What are you doing?” Growled the first man, “I’m breaking rocks.” The second said, “I’m earning a living.” But the third replied, “I’m building a cathedral.” All three were witnesses but only one was a good witness.
Paul writing to Titus states this same truth pointedly in Titus 2:9-11: “Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”
Finally, Paul states the motivation for this positive Christian attitude of Spirit-filled submission.
The motivation for work has to be more than a paycheck which Paul now declares in 6:8: “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”
Diligent workers who work for the Lord with a positive attitude can be rewarded at the end of each day with a sense of satisfaction. Proverbs 14:23: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” There is dignity in work whether the employer recognizes your accomplishment or not.
Paul stresses, however, the future reward of Christian workers who diligently labor for the Lord with a positive attitude. Paul is probably referring to the future Judgment Seat in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
“This future certainty rests not on the tense but God who makes the promise. This is important because masters sometimes promised freedom but never kept their promise. A story in Tacitus illustrates….He tells of the murder of a famous senator by a household slave…because the master had refused to manumit the slave on a previously agreed price … In other words, the slave served with ill will” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians. Pages 810-812).
Before we move in the text to the employer’s responsibility, answer this question, “What kind of worker do you think Jesus was when he worked as a carpenter with His foster father, Joseph?” Was Jesus ever late for work? Did Jesus do sloppy work? Was Jesus easy to work with?
2. Christian Employer’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:9
Now, the partner responsible for leadership is addressed: “And you masters” and by extension to employers today.
There are fewer verses on the employer’s responsibility because there were fewer masters than slaves, not because the master’s responsibility was less important.
The command: “Do the same things unto them.”
Employers are to act on the same principle as the employees. If the employees are to render service to their employers as “unto the Lord” then the employers are to treat their employees as the Lord would. For example, when Boaz came to the field to greet his employees, he greeted them in the morning with the words, “The Lord be with you” and his employees responded, “The Lord bless you.”
The amplification: “Forbearing threatening.”
“This prohibition is appropriate, for there was a proverbial statement that ‘all slaves are enemies’ because masters were tyrants and abusive. Abuse was displayed in various ways such as threats of beating, sexual harassment of female slaves, threats to sell the male slaves ‘away from the household so as to part him forever from his loved ones’ to name a few” (Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians, page 814).
Even today there are two kinds of abusive bosses 1) The incompetent superiors who possess the ability to make their failures look like the fault of others. These bosses are negative and discouraging 2) The intolerant superiors who are over qualified workaholic perfectionists who think the work place cannot survive without them. These you can never satisfy.
The motivation: “Knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”
Paul refers to the future Judgment Seat again. This time it is the accountability of the employer to his Master in heaven who is also an impartial Judge.
How did Jesus lead His 12 disciples?
1. Jesus prayerfully hired them (Luke 6:12-13).
2. Jesus extensively trained His workers for three years. There was no hiring without proper training.
3. Jesus corrected them when they were wrong. He did not let problems go unaddressed (Luke 22:31-34). Jesus was not only the model worker but the model leader for each of us believers to emulate in our workplace. Just as Jesus depended on the Spirit of God to empower His humanity (Luke 4:18) so must we be Spirit equipped to live harmoniously for the glory of God in our place of employment.
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Week 10: The Bible Institute on Ephesians: Slaves and Slave Owners, Part 4
Posted: January 4, 2010 in Ephesians Class, SermonsTags: Christian employers, Harold W. Hoehner's Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, Sir Christopher Wren
To review, Paul has instructed concerning the
1. Christian Employee’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:5-8
First, as with the first two life-relationships, the subordinate partner is addressed first and then the one who is responsible for leadership (wives/husbands; children/parents; employees/employers.
Next, the command is stated: “Employees obey.”
True to form, Paul amplifies this command.
1) We obey with “fear and trembling.”
2) We obey with honesty or “singleness of heart to the Lord.”
Paul further elaborates on how to work with sincerity and not duplicity or hypocrisy. Obey “not with eyeservice as menpleasers.” This is the case when we produce quality work when the Boss is watching but slow down when he steps out of the room.
The contrast “but” is doing our best work all the time “as the slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” The positive attitude in 6:6 is expanded in 6:7: “Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” We can have a positive work ethic when we realize ultimately we are serving the Lord at work.
The work station is our mission station. Most believers have more contact with unbelievers at work than at church. When world renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren was overseeing the construction of his most famous work, St Paul’s Cathedral in London, it is reported that a stranger came to three of his workmen who were all employed on the same job. The stranger asked each worker, the same question, “What are you doing?” Growled the first man, “I’m breaking rocks.” The second said, “I’m earning a living.” But the third replied, “I’m building a cathedral.” All three were witnesses but only one was a good witness.
Paul writing to Titus states this same truth pointedly in Titus 2:9-11: “Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”
Finally, Paul states the motivation for this positive Christian attitude of Spirit-filled submission.
The motivation for work has to be more than a paycheck which Paul now declares in 6:8: “knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”
Diligent workers who work for the Lord with a positive attitude can be rewarded at the end of each day with a sense of satisfaction. Proverbs 14:23: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” There is dignity in work whether the employer recognizes your accomplishment or not.
Paul stresses, however, the future reward of Christian workers who diligently labor for the Lord with a positive attitude. Paul is probably referring to the future Judgment Seat in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
“This future certainty rests not on the tense but God who makes the promise. This is important because masters sometimes promised freedom but never kept their promise. A story in Tacitus illustrates….He tells of the murder of a famous senator by a household slave…because the master had refused to manumit the slave on a previously agreed price … In other words, the slave served with ill will” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians. Pages 810-812).
Before we move in the text to the employer’s responsibility, answer this question, “What kind of worker do you think Jesus was when he worked as a carpenter with His foster father, Joseph?” Was Jesus ever late for work? Did Jesus do sloppy work? Was Jesus easy to work with?
2. Christian Employer’s Attitude of Submission in Ephesians 6:9
Now, the partner responsible for leadership is addressed: “And you masters” and by extension to employers today.
There are fewer verses on the employer’s responsibility because there were fewer masters than slaves, not because the master’s responsibility was less important.
The command: “Do the same things unto them.”
Employers are to act on the same principle as the employees. If the employees are to render service to their employers as “unto the Lord” then the employers are to treat their employees as the Lord would. For example, when Boaz came to the field to greet his employees, he greeted them in the morning with the words, “The Lord be with you” and his employees responded, “The Lord bless you.”
The amplification: “Forbearing threatening.”
“This prohibition is appropriate, for there was a proverbial statement that ‘all slaves are enemies’ because masters were tyrants and abusive. Abuse was displayed in various ways such as threats of beating, sexual harassment of female slaves, threats to sell the male slaves ‘away from the household so as to part him forever from his loved ones’ to name a few” (Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians, page 814).
Even today there are two kinds of abusive bosses 1) The incompetent superiors who possess the ability to make their failures look like the fault of others. These bosses are negative and discouraging 2) The intolerant superiors who are over qualified workaholic perfectionists who think the work place cannot survive without them. These you can never satisfy.
The motivation: “Knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”
Paul refers to the future Judgment Seat again. This time it is the accountability of the employer to his Master in heaven who is also an impartial Judge.
How did Jesus lead His 12 disciples?
1. Jesus prayerfully hired them (Luke 6:12-13).
2. Jesus extensively trained His workers for three years. There was no hiring without proper training.
3. Jesus corrected them when they were wrong. He did not let problems go unaddressed (Luke 22:31-34). Jesus was not only the model worker but the model leader for each of us believers to emulate in our workplace. Just as Jesus depended on the Spirit of God to empower His humanity (Luke 4:18) so must we be Spirit equipped to live harmoniously for the glory of God in our place of employment.
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