In 1 Timothy 6.1-2, we read the following:

“All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. ² Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.”

Slavery was common in Paul’s day. But it was a different system than what we had here in America. Slaves had legal protections and rights. For example:

• Slaves had rights under Roman law
  • They had the right to marry, though offspring were owned by their owner
  • Accumulate money of their own
  • Purchase their freedom
• Adult slaves could expect freedom usually within 7 years.
• Under Roman law, most adults were freed by age 30

So when Paul says “under the yoke of slavery”, he’s not referring to a system of life-long slavery, but one that was very different than what we had here in America.

The two parties “yoked” together were the slave and his master. A “yoke” is a stabilizing-gear that joins two animals at the neck so they can work together as a team. If one goes one direction, so must the other or they will swiftly reach an impasse.

Our present-day corollary is the employer/employee relationship. “…all who are under the yoke of slavery” would be equivalent today to saying “If you are employed…”.

Paul says: “consider your Master worthy of full respect”. Today, he would say: “consider your manager worthy of full respect”. His command is straight forward: we consider our managers worthy of our full respect – even if they are not – we consider them as worthy of full respect simply because of their position.  It is consideration given: It is not dependent on your manager’s quality of character or purity of life.

Why would Paul command this?

Why do we consider our managers worthy of respect? The answer is found here in the text: “…so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.” Now, the Greek word for “slandered” (ESV = reviled) comes from the word for blaspheme. It means to take something sacred and use it in a way that degrades its’ worth. In other words, we don’t want to slander – degrade – two things:

1. God’s Name
2. God’s Word

Why? Because God’s Name and His Word are Sacred. And here’s the point: We can degrade both by giving less than full respect to our managers. How we treat our managers reveals to ourselves and others how much we value and respect the name of Christ and the Bible.

So, what does this mean for us? Well, we give grace and love to our managers even when they make mistakes. Every manager – every leader – has weaknesses. So, we bear our manager’s weaknesses in love, with grace because we do not want to slander God’s name or His Word. And remember, our managers have to put up with our weaknesses too.

Thomas Á Kempis wrote in his book Imitation of Christ:

Until God ordains otherwise, a man ought to bear patiently whatever he cannot correct in himself and in others…Try to bear patiently with the defects and infirmities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure.

Thomas A Kempis

Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 19.11: “…it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense”.

So, we show respect to our managers by giving grace and love to them even when they make mistakes.

What happens when your manager is a believer – a Christian?

Well, Paul tells us to do – not just a good job for them, but a GREAT job: “Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better…”

We do an even better job for fellow believers who manage us. We don’t take advantage of them – assuming they will be forgiving if we do less than excellent work. We work hard to make sure they have nothing but praise for our work. Why do we do a better job? Because of our mutual love in Christ for each other: “because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.”

Our Christian faith infuses our work relationship with God’s love and respect. Our work relationship is transformed when we work with other Christians. So the principle we have learned from Paul is this: We give our managers full respect because we first respect the name of God and His Word, the Bible.

Bill English, Publisher
Bible and Business