1 Timothy 6:1-2 - Honoring Employers

Amen. Well, it’s good to be with you. To those who might be guests with us, you’re hanging out with us, typically post-Easter, you pick up a couple of people that are like, “Hey, I want to come hang out and maybe reconnect with the Lord.” If that’s you, we are just so thankful that you chose to come and worship with us. My name is Brad Bell. I’m one of the elders and a lead pastor here.

I want to tell you just a little bit about our church, and then we’re going to be in 1 Timothy chapter 6. One of the uniquenesses here at The Well—and you heard it a little bit already—is that we want to help people connect to God and to each other, and we want to do that in every neighborhood. What that means for us is we want to be about the gospel. If this becomes a home for you, you’re going to constantly hear of who Jesus is and the work that He has done and is doing in our life. We also want to connect to each other. You heard Matt talking about his community group, his life group that he’s a part of, that they’re now going on the mission field with. We would really love to see folks get connected to one another because we need each other. It may not be that we need someone today, but when life happens, it’s good to know you’ve got people who can support you. So we want to help people connect to each other, and we want to do it everywhere—in every neighborhood. That simply means we want to be on the move: every Section 8 housing complex, every gated community, every dorm room, every roach-infested college apartment, everywhere, all over our city and all over the world. We’d love to just be about what Christ is about.

One of the other uniquenesses here is that we teach through the Bible in what’s called expositional teaching. It’s a fancy way of saying we take way too long and just go verse by verse through a book of the Bible! We happen to be in 1 Timothy. So if you have your Bibles, turn there. If not, Google it. 1 Timothy, chapter 6. We’re going to cover two verses here tonight. It’s a shorter text, but it’s going to take about the same time to get through it because there are some really interesting things here.

Life in the Household of God

Just real quick, if you’re new with us, we’re talking about a letter written to a young pastor named Timothy in the city of Ephesus, a major city in modern-day Turkey. It was written by the Apostle Paul, who came to faith in Christ in Acts chapter 9 and wrote about two-thirds of your New Testament. The purpose of the letter is actually laid out in chapter 3 of 1 Timothy, where Paul says, “I’m writing these things to you so that if I am delayed, you would know how one ought to conduct themselves in the household of God.”

1 Timothy 3:15 (NASB)

but in case I am delayed, [I write] so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

Simply put, 1 Timothy is kind of an owner’s manual for what it means to do life as a follower of Jesus in the context of a local church in an ungodly city. We find a lot of connecting points just in terms of that context. The book has covered the importance of sound doctrine and sound biblical teaching, the importance of godly servant leadership through the roles of elders and deacons, and the importance of the family as a means of grace that God uses to care for those in need, specifically widows in our community.

Now we come in chapter 6 to a very practical issue where we have to understand the historical context in order to understand what it says—and what it doesn’t say. As modern readers, we tend to read our own history into the text.

Let’s read these two verses together:

1 Timothy 6:1-2 (NASB)

All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and [our] doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these [principles].

“All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.”

Understanding the Ancient Context

When we come to the issue of slaves in verse 1, we naturally read into that our understanding of the horrific atrocity of slavery in our nation’s history. But let me give us some historical context of what that meant in the Roman world of the first century.

In Roman history, there were four primary social classes. The first were called patricians. Patricians were the wealthy landowners, the ruling class, and the political elite. If you wanted any role in government, you had to belong to that class. There was virtually no upward mobility. The only chance you had was to marry into it, and even that was often considered illegal if you were not born of that class. You were born into it, you were stuck in it, and there was really no hope to change it. If you were born a patrician, life was good because your family had all the money, held all the power, controlled the government, owned the businesses, and owned the land.

The second class were called plebeians, or plebes. They were not as wealthy. They were typically the foot soldiers in the army—patricians served in the cavalry on horseback, while plebeians were on foot. In the community, plebeians were small business owners, artisans, shopkeepers, innkeepers, or owners of modest plots of land. They could not run for public office, and they could not marry outside of their class.

The third category were freemen. Freemen were former slaves who had either purchased their freedom, which was possible under Roman law, or had been granted freedom by their owners. They were not allowed to run for public office. They were typically craftsmen who worked with their hands—traders, small farmers, midwives—doing more menial labor.

The lowest class in the Roman Empire were slaves. Their treatment ranged dramatically depending on location and the character of their master. Some were in benevolent household arrangements where they assisted with the business, educated the children, managed travel, and cared for the family’s daily needs. Others were treated severely as cheap, disposable labor. Regardless of whether a slave found themselves in a benevolent situation or a brutal one, slaves had no legal rights. None. They could not vote, they could not speak in public assemblies, and they could not legally own property. They had no power or societal privileges.

Furthermore, Roman slavery was not primarily ethnic. When we think of slavery today, we rightly think of race-based chattel slavery, primarily the enslavement of African peoples. But ancient Roman slaves were primarily prisoners of war—and since Rome conquered everyone, slaves came from every ethnicity and background. Additionally, people frequently sold themselves or their children into indentured servitude to pay off debts they could not afford, agreeing to serve for a set period before becoming freemen.

Slavery was common all over the ancient world. It is a tragic symptom of the dehumanization that entered the world through sin. Over the centuries, slavery mutated. In the fifteenth century, it became explicitly ethnic, focused on African peoples and driven by poverty and human greed. Slaves were kidnapped, stripped of their humanity, and transported across oceans. About ninety percent of the slaves brought to the Western Hemisphere landed in South America and the Caribbean, while early colonial America developed the horrific industry of chattel slavery, where human beings were treated as personal property. That lasted for two hundred and fifty years, enslaving an estimated four million human beings.

Even after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, the generational trauma and dehumanization continued in sophisticated forms like segregation and Jim Crow laws. Sadly, we must acknowledge that many who held slaves and defended segregation were professing evangelical Christians. A couple of years ago, I visited the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., where they had an exhibit on the “Slave Bible.” I wanted to know: how could anyone claiming to follow Jesus justify owning another human being? When you look at those historic artifacts, you see that they literally cut out passages from Scripture. They reinforced verses about obeying masters, but completely removed verses about our equality and freedom in Christ. They perverted the gospel.

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that every human being shares equal dignity, worth, and value before God.

Acts 17:26 (NASB)

and He made from one [man] every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

God made from one man every nation and every ethnicity. We are one race: the human race. While professing Christians have not always lived up to that truth, the biblical invitation is clear: to reflect the love of Christ to all nations. And even though legal chattel slavery was abolished in our nation, modern forms of human trafficking and forced labor remain an evil reality across the globe today in places like North Korea, China, and India.

The Gospel Renovation of Hearts

We have to understand this historical backdrop so that we don’t read modern race-based chattel slavery into 1 Timothy 6. When we hear the word “slave,” an understandable anger rises up in us because of our history. But Paul is addressing the first-century Roman social structure.

1 Timothy 6:1 (NASB)

All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and [our] doctrine will not be spoken against.

Paul writes that those under the yoke as slaves are to regard their masters as worthy of honor so that God’s name and doctrine won’t be spoken against. The Bible explicitly condemns kidnapping and human trafficking.

1 Timothy 1:10 (NASB)

and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,

Yet Scripture rarely seeks to dismantle societal structures through political violence or immediate revolution. Instead, the gospel works through the renovation of the human heart. If you transform the hearts of the individuals who comprise a system, you inevitably transform the system from the inside out. The gospel redefines the believer’s purpose regardless of their social standing.

1 Corinthians 7:20-24 (NASB)

Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that [condition] in which he was called.

Paul tells the Corinthians that coming to faith in Christ isn’t an automatic “get out of your current circumstances free” card. If you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity; but if not, realize that your identity in Christ redefines how and why you work. You belong to the Lord.

Then Paul addresses a unique dynamic in verse 2: what if your master is also a believer? Does that mean you get special privileges or can slack off because you’re brothers in Christ? Paul says absolutely not. If anything, you should serve them even better because the person benefiting from your hard work is a beloved brother in the Lord.

Employees: Serving the True Boss

Thankfully, we do not have slavery in our culture today. So how does this text apply to our everyday lives?

How many of you are employees somewhere? You work a job. What does that mean? You have financial obligations to meet, so you exchange your time and labor for wages to provide food and housing for your family. You arrive when you’re told to arrive. You take lunch when you’re permitted. You’re given a specific job description. If you want a month of vacation but only have two weeks, you can’t just take off. In a modern sense, you operate under the authority and behest of an employer. The difference is that you are protected by labor laws, and if you don’t like the job or the wages, you can give your two weeks’ notice and go work down the street.

How many of you are employers? You’ve taken the financial risk to build a business and hire people. You set the schedules, manage workloads, evaluate performance, and determine compensation. In a modern context, you carry the mantle of authority.

So when we look at passages dealing with masters and servants, the primary modern application points directly to employers and employees.

For those of us who are employees, here is the first truth to remember: you don’t ultimately work for your boss; you work for the Lord.

Colossians 3:23-24 (NASB)

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Years ago, I worked at a place called Brick House Gym in Denton, Texas. It was a little rusty—the kind of place where you felt like you might catch tetanus just walking through the door! The closing shift employee had a checklist of responsibilities, and one of them was to sweep the entire gym floor. When I was being trained—terrible onboarding process, by the way—the guy training me said, “Look, it says on the list to sweep the whole gym, but nobody actually sweeps the whole gym. Nobody checks. It doesn’t matter.”

As a follower of Jesus, I faced a dilemma. The checklist said to sweep the entire gym. The trainer said nobody cares. What do I do? I realized right then: I don’t work for that trainer. I don’t even ultimately work for the gym owner. I work for King Jesus. And if my job description calls for sweeping the whole floor, I’m going to sweep every single square inch of that floor. Every night I was tired and wanted to cut corners, but I had to say, “Lord, I belong to You. I’m sweeping this floor for Your glory.”

If your job is digging ditches, you don’t dig that ditch just for your foreman. You dig that ditch for the Lord. That means you ought to be the absolute best ditch digger this world has ever seen. You dig it clean, you dig it deep, and you dig it with joy. Nobody else might notice the difference between twelve inches and eighteen inches, but you know that God sees your integrity.

And you know what happens when you dig ditches better than anyone else? You won’t be digging ditches for long. The boss will notice and say, “Teach everyone else how to dig like you do.” That’s called a promotion! If you’re a barista slinging espresso shots, pull those shots with excellence. You go from barista to shift lead, from shift lead to supervisor, from supervisor to manager. And if you aren’t rewarded fairly, you can take that excellence down the street to another company for the glory of God. The gospel gives redemptive dignity to even the most mundane tasks.

Second, our work reflects the image of God because we were created to work. In Genesis chapter 1, before sin ever entered the world, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for creation. Work is not a result of the Fall; the Fall just made work frustrating and difficult. God hardwired human beings with the dignity of labor, whether that work happens inside the home or out in the marketplace.

Third, our work ethic directly honors God.

Ephesians 6:5-8 (NASB)

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

Scripture constantly connects our everyday work ethic with our witness before a watching world. The wisdom of Proverbs reminds us of this over and over:

Proverbs 12:24 (NASB)

The hand of the diligent will rule, But the slack [hand] will be put to forced labor.

Proverbs 12:27 (NASB)

A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man [is] diligence.

Proverbs 28:19 (NASB)

He who tills his land will have plenty of food, But he who follows empty [pursuits] will have poverty in plenty.

Paul put it bluntly to the Thessalonian church: if anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NASB)

For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

Titus 2:9-10 (NASB)

[Urge] bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

When we show up on time, refuse to gossip, avoid cutting corners, and do our work with gladness, we make the gospel attractive to the people working right next to us.

Employers: Stewardship, Dignity, and Ministry

Now, let’s talk to the employers. It isn’t always easy working for a boss, but it’s also not easy being the one who carries the weight of the company on your shoulders.

If you are an employer, first, treat your employees as people who bear the image of God. You are not permitted to lord your authority over them or treat them harshly.

Colossians 4:1 (NASB)

Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

Ephesians 6:9 (NASB)

And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Remember that you have a Master in heaven, and He shows no partiality based on your title or tax bracket. Treat your team with dignity, justice, and respect.

Second, pay your people fairly.

Deuteronomy 25:4 (NASB)

’You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.

Leviticus 19:13 (NASB)

’You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob [him]. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning.

Proverbs 3:27 (NASB)

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do [it].

If you have promised a wage, pay it faithfully. When your business prospers, share that blessing with the people whose labor helped make it possible. Do not withhold good when it is in your power to give it.

Third, recognize that your business is a platform for ministry. We often divide life into false categories: the “sacred” things like Sunday morning church, and the “secular” things like our Monday through Friday jobs. But for the Christian, your vocation is your ministry. Your employees are watching how you handle stress, how you handle money, and how you treat people.

We have business owners right here in our church family who do this brilliantly. Some support local outreaches through their supply chains. We have a local business owner who hired one of our pastors as a workplace chaplain to care for their team’s spiritual and emotional needs. We have companies that organize community service days to rebuild underserved neighborhoods. I even know of a painting company in town that offers bonuses to employees who share the gospel on the clock! When you leverage your business for the kingdom of God, you show our city the generosity and love of Jesus.

Redemptive Value in Every Neighborhood

All of this reminds us that the gospel radically informs our identity in every sphere of life.

Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

When you surrender your life to Jesus, you don’t lose your ethnicity, your gender, or your earthly roles. Rather, the gospel transforms how you live them out. You are not merely a business person who happens to be a Christian; you are a Christian employer. You are not simply an employee who goes to church; you are a Christian employee representing Jesus at your desk, on the job site, or behind the counter.

Employees, how are you doing around the water cooler when people start complaining about the boss? When your coworkers look at your work ethic and attitude, do they see Christ? If you’ve been slacking off or checking out early, would you bring that before the Lord in prayer?

Employers, how are you doing? Do your employees feel valued, respected, and fairly treated? Does your business reflect the generosity and justice of the kingdom of God?

Colossians 3:17 (NASB)

Whatever you do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Whatever God has called you to do—whether you’re studying for an algebra test, raising children, running a corporation, or sweeping the gym floor—you are a missionary planted by God in that exact space. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is learning to bloom where you are planted. If God wants you somewhere else, He will move you. But right now, you have an opportunity to make the gospel visible right where your feet are.

There is no divide between the sacred and the secular. Every customer interaction, every phone call, every spreadsheet, and every staff meeting is an opportunity to put Jesus on display.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for Your Word and for practical guidance on something as everyday as our work. Help us to redeem the time You have given us, both as employees and employers. Remind us daily that it is the Lord Christ whom we serve. Give us the grace to work with excellence, integrity, and joy, so that our lives would make the gospel attractive in every neighborhood of our city. We pray this in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.