Order....
Ephes. 6:1-9 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] "Honour your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— [3] "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
[4] Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
[5] Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. [6] Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. [7] Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, [8] because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
[9] And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.
What happens when one of the values you hold dear, one that you would run after with all your heart, one which you believe should never, ever compromise because it lies at the heart of everything you believe, comes into conflict with a value or belief that is held by the prevailing surrounding culture? Perhaps you can think of some now – extra marital sex, war, truth telling and honesty…. How do you live out your values, especially when those who are ‘tolerant’ label you prudish and narrow minded at best, and bigoted at worse?
Paul faced such problems when dealing with the growing family of believers. The society of the Roman Empire was highly stratified and rigid. Everyone knew their place in the pecking order. Rich on top, poor at the bottom, men with privileges, women with duties. But the Church and the Christian family brought a new social order of equality and brotherhood. In Christ’s family we are all equal with Jesus as the head. Masters and Slaves in this world held the same status in the eternal kingdom, and Paul believed we should treat each other with love in this.
Remember that this follows on from the passage about submitting to each other. We may have expected Paul to call for Christian masters to free their slaves, but maybe Paul knew that this would lead to conflict with society. Rome liked stability. A small community of radicals causing social tension in the far corners of the Empire would have been crushed. Besides, Paul knew a better way.
Treat each other with love, no matter the conflict, no matter your social situation. Husbands and wives, children and parents, bosses and employees, treat each other with love. Respect, honour and cherish the relationships you have, because that will have more impact than any grand gesture you can make. Paul probably abhorred slavery, but he would have hated violence even more. He wanted revolution, but revolution through transformed hearts not vanquished foes. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, its values planted small in the hearts of men, but the seed grows to become a massive size. Imagine for a minute the people that you are in community with. The values of the Kingdom, the values of love, are planted in each of their hearts. Imagine if those seeds have grown into big trees. It wouldn’t matter what values society held, if people were living loving lives. That’s a revolution that wipes out conflict.
[4] Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
[5] Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. [6] Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. [7] Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, [8] because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
[9] And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.
What happens when one of the values you hold dear, one that you would run after with all your heart, one which you believe should never, ever compromise because it lies at the heart of everything you believe, comes into conflict with a value or belief that is held by the prevailing surrounding culture? Perhaps you can think of some now – extra marital sex, war, truth telling and honesty…. How do you live out your values, especially when those who are ‘tolerant’ label you prudish and narrow minded at best, and bigoted at worse?
Paul faced such problems when dealing with the growing family of believers. The society of the Roman Empire was highly stratified and rigid. Everyone knew their place in the pecking order. Rich on top, poor at the bottom, men with privileges, women with duties. But the Church and the Christian family brought a new social order of equality and brotherhood. In Christ’s family we are all equal with Jesus as the head. Masters and Slaves in this world held the same status in the eternal kingdom, and Paul believed we should treat each other with love in this.
Remember that this follows on from the passage about submitting to each other. We may have expected Paul to call for Christian masters to free their slaves, but maybe Paul knew that this would lead to conflict with society. Rome liked stability. A small community of radicals causing social tension in the far corners of the Empire would have been crushed. Besides, Paul knew a better way.
Treat each other with love, no matter the conflict, no matter your social situation. Husbands and wives, children and parents, bosses and employees, treat each other with love. Respect, honour and cherish the relationships you have, because that will have more impact than any grand gesture you can make. Paul probably abhorred slavery, but he would have hated violence even more. He wanted revolution, but revolution through transformed hearts not vanquished foes. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, its values planted small in the hearts of men, but the seed grows to become a massive size. Imagine for a minute the people that you are in community with. The values of the Kingdom, the values of love, are planted in each of their hearts. Imagine if those seeds have grown into big trees. It wouldn’t matter what values society held, if people were living loving lives. That’s a revolution that wipes out conflict.
Okay folks, off for the weekend - see you on Monday!
posted by Gordon at
9:34 am
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