Jesus-Centered at Work (Jesus-Centered Relationships #3)

One of the unwritten rules of public speaking is to never start with an apology. I’m going to break that rule today.

Not because I think I did anything terribly wrong, but because as I worked on this message during the week, I kept bumping into the earlier messages in this series and realizing I fell short. I don’t think I did as good a job as I could have — or should have — helping you see just how radical Paul’s words are in Colossians 3.

What I Should Have Said

Last week we looked at marriage. We read Colossians 3:18–19 and had to deal with Paul calling wives to submit. We talked about that uncomfortable word.

But what I don’t think I explained well is that in Paul’s day, no one would have balked at him telling wives to submit. What would have surprised them was how he stopped short of telling them to obey.

Wives at that time were essentially at the level of a slave. Whatever the husband demanded — he being the master of the home — the wife was expected to do. And yet Paul didn’t go that far. He stopped at “submit to your husbands.”

Even more radical is what he says next: he calls the master of the house, the husband, to love his wife as Christ loved the church. And as we saw last week by dipping into Ephesians 5, the way Christ demonstrated His love for the church was by giving Himself up — dying for the sins of those who would become His bride.

I don’t think I fully explained that Paul’s readers would have expected him to tell the wife to die to herself for the sake of her husband. Paul flipped it. The husband — the higher one in that relationship — was to sacrifice himself and put his wife’s needs first.

Two weeks ago, when the kids were all with us for the fifth Sunday, we looked at parents and children in verses 20 and 21, and saw that parents were told not to provoke their children.

To our Western ears that sounds sensible — of course parents should be kind and lead their kids well. But in that day, children had barely any dignity. Unwanted children were sometimes simply abandoned on the street. Abuse was a horrific problem across the Roman Empire. Children were not valued.

And yet Paul goes so far as to say: parents, don’t provoke your children. Don’t discourage them and beat them down. As a parent, do what you can to lift them up.

Again, he tells the one who’s higher in the relationship to sacrifice themselves and put the other’s needs first. Radical.

Why That Matters Today

I need to point that out today because we’ve now arrived at the topic of slavery. And if we approach this with modern ears, some of it will sound very wrong — and we’ll miss just how radical Paul’s words actually are.

So today I want to show you two things. First, that slavery in biblical times was different from what we know now. And second, that Paul was not propping up the institution of slavery — in fact, if you take what he says here to its natural, Christ-centered conclusion, the entire institution of slavery crumbles and disappears.

And I hope through all of it you’ll still find yourself thankful for who God is and what Jesus has done, and that what you hear today will actually change tomorrow.

Open your Bible to Colossians 3. We’re finishing the chapter starting at verse 22, then grabbing the first verse of chapter 4.

Heavenly Father, as we come to Your holy Word, be our teacher. Help us see how words written to slaves and masters can still shape us here today. Help us not to listen only through our modern ears, but to listen with Your Spirit — that Your Spirit would communicate exactly what You need to say, so we can become the people You call us to be. Do this for Your glory and for our joy. In Jesus’s name I pray it, amen.

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:22–4:1)

“The Bible Promotes Slavery”

This past week I saw a whole conversation on social media about slavery — a group of people with real objections to the Bible arguing that Scripture promotes it. And one of their proof texts was this passage.

The fact that Paul would say “slaves, obey your masters in everything” was, to them, Paul saying slavery is good and acceptable. What they think he should have written is: slaves, escape your masters as fast as you possibly can. Rise up and overthrow them. This is evil.

Let me say something to those who are anti-Bible and believe it promotes slavery: I am genuinely glad slavery bothers you.

I believe humans are made in the image of God. So it is a grave evil for one human being to think they have the right and the audacity to own another human being. That image means they belong to God. They do not belong to me, or to any master.

So I’m glad it bothers them.

However — the slavery of Paul’s day was very different from the slavery we know.

When we hear “slavery,” we think of the chattel slavery of early America. We think of human trafficking happening right now. We picture people forced against their will. And so the objection runs: Paul should be telling them to get out and escape, and the fact that he doesn’t must mean he thinks this is fine.

But Paul doesn’t think slavery is fine. In 1 Corinthians 7 he says flatly that if you’re a slave and can gain your freedom, by all means do it. And he adds that if you’re not a slave, don’t sell yourself into slavery.

That already starts to reveal a difference.

Bondservant, Not Chattel

The word in verse 22 that many Bibles translate “slave” is rendered “bondservant” in mine. I’m using the English Standard Version, and I learned that in their first edition they translated it “slave,” as most Bibles do. But most translations get a window every few years to revise, and the ESV changed this one to “bondservant” because it’s a slightly better rendering.

The Greek word is doulos. It does mean slave. But the slaves of Paul’s day often entered into it willingly. There was no conquering army sweeping in, seizing people at spearpoint, and dumping them in Colossae. Many people willingly stepped into it, or were born into a family already in servitude.

And often they could marry, have children, sometimes even have their own dwelling.

I don’t want to make it sound wonderful. They were still slaves. You have a job and you can leave it and take another one. They couldn’t. They were bound to it.

But some entered willingly. Why on earth would anyone do that?

For some, it was the only way to get food. They might not have been able to find work. They might have had no wealth and no farmland to grow anything. The only way to eat, the only way to have shelter, was to enter this arrangement.

Often they would sell themselves into servitude and receive the payment for their labor up front, as a lump sum — which they’d give to their family so their family could be cared for while they worked off what they’d already been paid.

How Common This Was

Paul has to address slavery because there were an enormous number of slaves in the Roman Empire.

One commentary I read estimated as much as 50% of the workforce was in servitude. Another said there were roughly fifty million people in the Roman Empire, and about ten million served as slaves — which would be about 20%.

I don’t know which is right. But let’s take the conservative 20%.

Imagine if 20% of Waverly worked at the college. That would be two thousand people — more than the entire student body. You’d meet someone in town and just assume, “Oh, you work there,” because it would feel like everyone did. Some of you are looking at me thinking I could have just said John Deere.

The point is that when 20% of a place all works at the same spot, it feels like everyone. In Paul’s day, if 20% of Colossae was in servitude, that’s an enormous number of people trying to figure out how to follow Jesus from that position.

He Wrote to Them at All

I also want to point out that the mere fact Paul takes the time to write to slaves means he sees them as fully human — people whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.

And notice the proportions. In this section of Colossians he writes one sentence to the wife. One to the husband. One to the child. One to the parent. One to the master.

To the servant, he writes three.

He values them at least as much as the others, calling them to live out their faith in an extraordinarily difficult position.

Work in the Lobby Too

So what does Paul want these Jesus-following servants to do?

Verse 22: obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. But notice how — “not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers.”

In seventh and eighth grade I went out for the wrestling team. The basketball teams used the middle school gym, so we used the gym at the old armory. Anyone from a town with an old armory? A few hands.

We’d roll out the mats down there, and as part of our warm-up and cool-down we’d run. But rather than just running in the gym, our coach for some reason had us run out the door into the lobby, east to west across the lobby, back in through the other door, down the length of the gym past the stage, and back out again. That was the loop.

Here’s what happened. Coach would be standing in the gym. And the moment guys got out into the lobby and took a left, they’d start walking. Some of them would wander over to the drinking fountain. They’d dawdle. They’d wait until someone else came through, and then they’d come back into the gym running hard. And then they’d hit the lobby again and start walking again.

I suspect that’s why I was made captain of the wrestling team my eighth grade year. Not because I was the best wrestler — I clearly wasn’t the fastest, and there was nothing impressive about me. It’s just that I didn’t spend as long out in the lobby as everyone else.

Paul is saying: don’t be like my teammates. Don’t do your job as eye-service, trying to impress the coach. Don’t just work hard in the gym. Work in the lobby too — where the coach, where your master, can’t see you. Keep doing what you need to do.

Which is why the next phrase is “with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”

And that fear isn’t living terrified that if you get it wrong God will squash you like a bug. It’s a fear of awe. Of worship. Of deep respect. You’re doing this for God’s glory.

Lift Your Eyes Higher

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23–24)

Watch the pattern Paul has been using.

With marriage, he told the wife to submit to her husband “as is fitting in the Lord.” He lifted her view past her husband and said this is actually about your connection to God.

With children, “obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” Again, he draws their eyes past the parents to God.

He does exactly the same thing here. Servants — you’re not merely serving an earthly master. You’re not doing this for men. You are ultimately doing this for Christ.

He’s lifting their eyes above and beyond their masters. And I think doing so calls them to something greater and gives them a very different motivation.

Each week we’ve also had to note that the person lower in the relationship is only in that position temporarily. Children eventually grow up and move out and reach a point where they no longer obey their parents in everything. Husbands and wives are only married for this earth — there is no marriage in heaven, so a wife’s submission lasts only until one of them dies. Likewise the servant’s service: some had contracts they’d serve out, and even those in perpetual servitude would eventually see either the master die or themselves die.

But their relationship with God continues.

So he’s drawing their attention past all of it: don’t do this merely for men. You are ultimately doing this for Christ.

So What About Me?

You may be listening to this thinking, “Great — I learned something about first-century slavery. What does this have to do with me? I’m not a slave.” Though maybe some of you are thinking, “Well, I’m slaving away at my job.”

Let me point out the similarities.

Many of the servants Paul is writing to entered willingly. If you have a job, then after the interview they offered you a salary, a benefits package, a vacation package — and you agreed to it. You may not love it. You may think you deserve more salary, more time off, better benefits. But you said yes.

And like the bondservants of Paul’s day, you have a boss with certain expectations you’re obligated to fulfill.

So in that sense, you are a bondservant.

Which means I can ask: are you working your job as though Jesus is your boss? Or are you working as an eye-pleaser, a people-pleaser?

Do you work hard when the boss is around and paying attention, and then the moment he isn’t, you’re shopping online, scrolling your phone, chatting with coworkers and accomplishing nothing?

Now, some of you are workaholics, and I need to have an entirely different conversation with you about rest. But for the rest of us, the question stands: am I working as though Jesus is my boss, and not merely this earthly master?

The Strange Sentence in Verse 25

Right after verse 24, Paul tacks on something awkward.

For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (Colossians 3:25)

Because it comes on the heels of instructions to servants, it’s quite possible these words are aimed at them — warning that if they don’t work hard even when the boss isn’t looking, they’ll be repaid for the wrong they’ve done, because God shows no partiality and handles things justly.

That’s very possible. But I suspect something else is happening.

When Paul drew the wife’s attention past her husband to God, that was encouragement. When he told children to look past their parents to God, that was encouragement too.

I struggle to think that God, through Paul, would say to slaves, “Look beyond your earthly master to God — be encouraged! But if you don’t do it right, you’re in trouble.”

Paul is about to turn and address the masters. And part of me thinks his eyes are already turning that direction. I think he’s saying: even if your master is doing wrong — mistreating you, abusing you, failing to appreciate you, ignoring you — God sees it. And He will deal with the wrong, because with God there is no partiality.

We humans hand acclaim and fame and attention to the wealthy, the influential, the powerful, the charismatic, the talented. And God looks at us and sees that we’re all broken. We’re all sinners. At the foot of the cross, the ground is completely level.

So even though their world elevated masters and pushed slaves down, God says: I notice the wrong, and I will make it right, because with Me there is no partiality. You are not better because you’re a master, and not worse because you’re a slave. Jesus died for them all.

I think there’s genuine encouragement here. Just as the Lord saw the Israelites enslaved in Egypt and came to rescue them, He’s saying: I see you in your servitude. I know what’s happening. And I will bring justice.

Masters, You Have a Master

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 4:1)

I used a parallel Bible to see how other translations handle this, and I was surprised at how consistent they were — justice and fairness across the board.

But I got curious and dug into a Greek lexicon. I don’t know Greek, so I was leaning on tools. And I found it fascinating that “justly” carries overtones of virtuously or righteously, while “fairly” can be rendered equally or equitably.

So why should masters treat their bondservants virtuously? Why should they treat them equitably?

Because, Paul says, you also have a Master in heaven.

Have you ever noticed that every authority has an authority over it? You may work somewhere where above you is a manager, above them a director, maybe an administrator, then a president or CEO, then a board, then shareholders. Go into government and you’ll find layer after layer. Every authority answers to some authority.

The only authority with no one above Him is God.

And what does God — the ultimate Master, holding ultimate authority and power — actually do?

He dies. He serves. He rescues. He encourages. He protects. He sacrifices.

So what are earthly masters to do for their bondservants? Love. Sacrifice. Help. Encourage. Minister. That’s the call — to give of themselves so those under them can thrive.

If You’re the Boss

So if you’re a boss, how are you treating your employees? If you have people under you, are they just cogs in a machine to finish the project, get things done, and make the company money? Or are they human beings whom God loves and for whom Jesus died?

Are you considering their work environment? Their mental health? The life they have outside of work? Are you making sure they’re treated justly and fairly — that their salary is fair, that their benefits are fair? Are you doing what you can to lift them up?

What This Actually Does to You

Here’s something interesting. If you go into your job with the understanding that God is your master, you don’t just find joy — you bring joy.

Too often when we hear “God is my master,” it produces fear. Oh no — if I don’t behave exactly right, God is going to bring justice down on me.

But while fear and shame and guilt can be powerful motivators, they only work in the short term. When love is the motivator, you get long-term change.

So if you as an employee see God as your boss — not “He’s going to get me,” but “God is my boss, and I’m thrilled, because He loves me” — it changes everything.

You see God’s love for you through the cross. And you also recognize that God gave you this job, at this time, so that you aren’t unemployed. That alone is cause to praise Him, even in the middle of a difficult job. You may have difficult coworkers — but you have coworkers God has called you to be a blessing to.

When you walk into work not for the boss, not for the bare minimum expected of you, but working as though God is your master, you’ll find greater joy in your job and you’ll bring joy. Your coworkers will be thankful you’re there. Your boss will notice.

Likewise, if a boss comes into work realizing I have a Master over me — and this is what my Master did for me: He put Himself under me, died for me, loved me, helped me, saved me, forgave me — then I can sacrifice myself for the good of those under me.

And if you as a boss take that approach, if you’re motivated by love, you will get far more from your employees than you ever imagined. They won’t be driven by fear or shame or guilt. When they sense your love for them — because you know God’s love for you — they’ll think you’re the greatest boss in the world, and they’ll work for you happily and joyfully.

Whatever You Do

Notice that in both cases — employee or employer, retired or looking for your first career job — Paul is saying the same thing: keep your eyes on Christ. Put Him at the center.

Which is exactly why, right before he launches into this whole discussion of relationships, he writes:

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

How are you supposed to work as an employee? Whether in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus.

How are you supposed to lead as a boss? Everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

If you’re currently looking for work? Everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

If you’re retired and finding yourself in a new season? Everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

A Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we conclude, we turn to You — because we hear the call to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when we’re honest with ourselves, our minds and hearts don’t do that one hundred percent of the time. So I’m so thankful You forgive us. The power of the cross wasn’t only for the big sins; it was for the small ones too, where we ignore You and fail to seek You and live for ourselves in our own way. Keep helping us live this out, so that whether in word or deed we would do everything for Your glory — knowing that doing so leads us to our greatest joy.

Lord, I pray for those in a job that is a struggle right now. They may not like their boss. They may feel unappreciated. They may not like their coworkers or their tasks. They may be frustrated by their pay. Help them go into that job not as a complainer but as Your son or daughter, Your servant — doing the work as though You are their Master. And as they do it as an act of sacrifice and worship, would You give them joy? Would You give them a spark of hope that You see, You know, and You are at work?

For those looking for work right now, help them see You as the Provider — that You will provide the right job at the right time, and that in the waiting You will still provide for them financially, emotionally, and physically. May they see You as Jehovah Jireh.

For those You’ve placed in positions of authority, may they see You as their ultimate authority, and may everything they do in their work be for Your glory and for the good of those under them. Give them a heart like Yours — genuinely seeking to lift up those who work for them and help them succeed, and in doing so, succeeding themselves.

For any of us who haven’t been faithful in these things, keep speaking to us through Your Holy Spirit. May what we’ve heard this morning not be a one-and-done, but continue speaking to us day in and day out, shaping us into the employees or employers You call us to be.

God, thank You too that as we look at this passage about slavery, we can see that these bondservants entered willingly — and that we, in a sense, have willingly entered into servitude to You. Those of us who have grasped this gospel of Jesus dying on a cross for our sins have been brought into relationship with You. We become Your sons and daughters. We join Your family. We join Your church. We move from darkness into light. And in doing so, we’re brought out of slavery to sin into the freedom of Your glorious kingdom — which makes us Your servants.

Help us find joy in that. Help us not see this whole subject of slavery only as the great evil it is on this earth, but also see that the greatest calling is to serve You — because You are a good Master. You are perfect and holy. You are for us, You are with us, and You are working through us.

So help us today to bow the knee, to do what You call us to do, to be people of love and change as we walk into our workplaces. Work in us so that You can work through us. In Jesus’s name I pray these things, amen.