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Do you think that you are worth your paycheck? Perhaps you think you should be making more than you actually make because you do a job that deserves more. Well, ultimately the way that we work is not in service to men, it's ultimately in service to God.
And the reward that we will receive is far more than we deserve when we understand the text.
You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, wwtt .com.
Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. As we have been studying through the book of Colossians, we've been in Colossians chapter 3, verses 18 through 25 this week, looking at some of the interpersonal relationships that are being described there.
As we start in verse 18, wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 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 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.
So on Monday, we looked at the relationship between wives and husbands. Tuesday was the relationship between children and parents, and then yesterday between bondservants and masters. And we looked at it in the context in which it is given.
The actual bondservant, according to that first century definition of a bondservant, doulos is the Greek word that is used there, and it is a person who is indebted to another and is working to pay off a debt.
It is not a slave, as we understand slavery in America prior to the Civil War. Such a slave was not able to buy their own freedom. And then even if they did somehow, even if they were granted their freedom, they could be enslaved again just because they were black.
But in this situation, a bondservant was probably indebted to someone because they were working off a debt and they could buy their freedom and then become a person who they themselves would own bondservants or they could have property.
They could even run for public office. So it was not the same sort of a situation. But a bondservant still had fewer rights than a person who was free. They were often treated less than human. And Paul wanted to systematically dismantle that institution.
And so one of the ways that he encouraged this is by bondservants thinking of their masters as family and vice versa. A master would treat their bondservant as family. But since the master was granted certain privileges according to the law, then it was still necessary for a bondservant to obey their masters and show respect to their masters.
Paul talks about this in First Timothy, Chapter six, let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
So this is the way that Paul encouraged that respect to exist between bondservants and even the way that masters should respect their bondservants, because ultimately they have a master themselves. And that is the Lord God, whom both the bondservant and the master answers to.
Now, today, we're going to look at this in a little bit different way. So yesterday we looked at it in the context of bondservants and masters, the way that it is to be understood. Today, we're going to look at it in a different kind of context, and that is the relationship between employers and employees.
Now, I don't think that's actually the instruction that Paul is giving here, at least in that context. But there are still some valuable things that we can draw from that when it comes to how we are to learn or engage in the world in which we exist as an employee toward our employers or if we are a person who owns a business, the way that we treat our employees.
So we're going to look at it from that perspective today. Before we continue, though, and before we get into the text, let's come to the Lord in prayer. Our Lord, we thank you for letting us in on the mind of God, getting to know your thoughts according to what we read in the scriptures.
And I pray that we would be taught through this to obey in every way those who employ us, those who we work for, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
And whatever we do, we work heartily as for you and not for men. Ultimately, we are serving the Lord Christ. And let that be our aim and our objective more so than pleasing the people that we work with or work for.
So teach us how we are to understand these things as we come into these scriptures today. And it is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. All right, let's go back to Ephesians chapter six. And actually, if we start back in verse five, if you'll remember the ways that we've been going about looking at this over the course of the week in Ephesians five, starting in verse 15, we have three contrasts and that is followed by three commands.
And then that third command in Ephesians 521, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ branches out into three contexts. And the first context we have is the relationship between wives and husbands.
The second context is between parents and children. And the third one, which we looked at yesterday, is between bond servants and masters. So we want to come back again to that today. Ephesians chapter six, beginning in verse five.
And again, we're going to be looking at this from the perspective of how an employee is supposed to treat their employer and how an employer would respond to their employee. So in Ephesians six, five bond servants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling.
OK, so as an employee, somebody that you work for, how would you respond to them with fear and trembling? You understand that they have the power and the authority to fire you. You have your job because they gave it to you and your ability to make a paycheck is determined by their grace in letting you have that job.
And so you need to respond to your employer with a great deal of respect. And in that respect, you are showing gratitude. You are expressing to them that you are thankful that they are giving you this opportunity to make the money that you make to live.
And I am saying here, as I'm as I'm telling you this, this is any job, any kind of situation, not just working for some major company, not just a career, but even if you are a part timer, even if you're flipping burgers in the back of McDonald's, you're bagging groceries at the grocery store, whatever it happens to be, do all that you do to the glory of God.
So you are doing this serving the Lord Christ, not men. So in everything that you do, as we are to understand in the scriptures, Paul said to the Corinthians, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
As we just read in Colossians chapter three, we do everything as though we are working for the Lord and not for men. So even flipping a burger, you do that to the glory of God making pizzas in the back of Pizza Hut.
You do that to the glory of God stock, stacking boxes in the back of Walmart, driving a forklift, working in a lumber yard, whatever it happens to be, whatever you're doing, plumbing, electrician, an accountant.
You push papers or do you work with your hands more in a construction site, sort of a setting in all of these different jobs and tasks. You do all of this to the glory of God. Do your job as though you are working for the Lord and not for men.
Ultimately, our reward is we understand this the way that it is given in Colossians three and really the way that it is presented in all of scriptures. The reward that we are receiving is not the paycheck that we get.
The reward that we get is the eternal kingdom of God, because your paycheck in and of itself, when you're looking at the number that you get for the job that you do, it may not bring you joy. You may think to yourself, I should be making more money than this.
And maybe the time and the place will present itself where you will be making more than you are making right now. But you still need to be thankful that you're getting anything at all because it's helping you to survive.
And the Lord is providing that for you. As Jesus said in Matthew chapter six in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord knows that you need these things and provides them for you through the job that you are working.
You are being blessed with a paycheck so that you might be able to get the things, pay the bills and do the things that you need to do. So be thankful to the Lord for that. And the paycheck itself. Again, I come back to this thought, the paycheck itself is not always going to be enough to bring you joy.
I'm going to grant you that. So the joy that you have should not be in the paycheck that you make, whether it's a lot or a little. It should be in knowing that our ultimate hope is not in anything in this world.
It is in the kingdom of God, the eternal kingdom of God. So it is our looking forward to that that gives us the joy that we have in working for the things that we do here on this earth, the things that we put our hands to our minds to put our heart into.
We do those things to the glory of God, knowing that all of this is temporary and there is an eternal kingdom that awaits us because we are heirs with Christ Jesus. As we read in Titus chapter three in Romans chapter eight and in other places, heirs of Christ means that we get all of the stuff that the king gets.
And if we are alive in Christ Jesus, we will get to share in his glory. So bond servants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with respect and appreciation and thankfulness, because they are giving you the opportunity that you have.
Do the work that you do with a sincere heart. As verse five goes on, as you would Christ, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man, whatever job it is that you're doing, do it with all of your heart.
You may be getting a very tiny paycheck and you're thinking this is not worth doing the job that I could be putting into this or the heart that I could be putting into it. So because I'm not making enough money to give it that kind of gusto, then I'm not going to do it.
But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, put your whole heart into the job that you do as though you're working for Christ and not for men. Verse eight, knowing that whatever good anyone does this, he will receive back from the Lord.
So you treat your your employer with respect. You treat your fellow employees with respect because the work that you do in this way is going to receive an inheritance back from the Lord. It may not be reflected in your paycheck, but it will be reflected in the eternal kingdom that you inherit in Christ Jesus.
Whether you are a bond servant, an employee or whatever, you are free in Christ. And that is the end of verse eight. So you are free to do the job that you do and do it with joy because you have been saved and rescued in Christ Jesus.
Then after that, Ephesians six, nine, we have the instructions that are given to masters. Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him.
So a boss, an employee has a boss also, and that is God in heaven. We all answer to somebody. All right. So the boss, no matter how high up the chain he is, he's got somebody that he's got to answer to as well.
And that is God, who is both the master of the boss, the employer and the master of the employee as well. Now, where we see in verse nine, masters do the same to them. This means that a master even needs to consider his bond servant or an employer needs to consider his employee with fear and trembling, not because the employer is afraid that the employee can do anything to them.
But knowing that God who is in heaven is watching the way that you are treating people. Are you treating them with kindness? Are you treating them the way that Christ has treated us with patience and mercy and love?
And that is the way that we should show toward our employees, those of us who are employers in some way. I, myself, an employer before I became a pastor, I was a manager of a business. And so I had people that I hired.
I had people that I fired. I had to do that as well. So I've worked in that kind of an atmosphere before. I know what that is like. But even in the instances where I had to let somebody go from their job, I was very respectful, tried to be very respectful and help that person to understand.
And really, they treated me with kindness, all things considered. I don't think that I was ever mistreated by any of my employees. I had a situation also where two employees were squabbling between one another.
One just didn't understand that the other one had a problem with them. And so I had to kind of coach between the two of them and with one person helping them to understand they needed to show mercy to another.
So I've been in that particular situation as well. And so, employers, you need to be mindful. You need to be considerate. You need to be empathetic of your employees. Know the things that they are going through.
Don't just bark orders, OK? Stop threatening. That's what we have there in verse nine. Stop your threatening. You could probably bark at your employees and nobody's going to think any different of you.
They're like, well, sure, he's an employer. That's the way that they treat their employees. But you need to treat your employees even as an employee would look at you with fear and trembling. So you should think the same way about them as well, because you serve God in heaven.
Be sincere in the way you deal with your employees, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as a servant of Christ Jesus, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is an employee or an employer.
You can see that those instructions in verses five through eight apply to the boss as much as they apply to the employee. OK, now let's go back to Colossians chapter three. We'll wrap this up by looking at the context that we have there.
So in Colossians three, starting in verse twenty two, bond servants obey and everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye services, people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Very similar instruction than as to what we just read in Ephesians chapter six. Whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive your inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong that he has done and there is no partiality. Now, verse twenty five in the context with everything else that is given, if an employee steals from their employer, they're going to have to answer for that.
And it is it is very common practice for employees to steal from their employers, particularly when it comes to the amount of time that they log versus the amount of time that they actually work. If you are padding your time card, you're stealing, you are a thief.
And so you need to when you punch in, you get to work. When you punch out, you're done with work. OK, so actually working according to what they are paying you for. Otherwise, you are robbing your employer.
So if you mistreat your employer, you are cheating your employer. This is wrong and you will be paid back for the wrong that you have done. And there is no partiality, as we read there in Colossians three twenty five.
Now, Colossians four one is the instruction that we see for masters. So we're even getting into chapter four a little bit here today. Masters treat your bond servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
So as we apply this to the employer employee sort of relationship, employers treat your employees with fairness and treat them justly, pay them what they earn. Like if they've done the job that you think is worth this amount of money, pay them that amount of money.
Before I became an employer of a business, I was actually self-employed and I had employees under me in that particular business that I ran. And there were times when I paid them what I knew that they had earned, even if it meant less for me.
And so if you know that an employee has done that job that is worth that amount of money, pay them that amount of money. That's just and that is fair and treat all your employees the same. If you're going to treat one one way because of the work that they do, don't withhold the same sort of generosity from another employee just because in your mind you just like this person better than that person.
Be fair, be just and be fair with those who are working under you, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. Let's do all things as for the Lord and not for men. God, hold us accountable to this and give us the conviction of your spirit so that when we work, we are working in a way that is pleasing to the Lord and help that be our motivation in our service.
And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching and we thank you for including us in your Bible learning.
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