Colossians 3:22-25by Dr. Grant C. RichisonTo: Colossians Main Menu To: Grace Notes Home Page Colossians 3:22"Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God."---------- "Bondservants" In Paul's day there were 60 million slaves. They were the work force of that day. Paul never commanded that slaves rise up and revolt against the institution of slavery. He asked that they be the best where they were in the situation they found themselves. Often slaves were the leaders and managers of the Roman empire. God has geared Christianity in such a way that it can work in any situation, under any government and in any culture. There was no society for the prevention of cruelty to slavery. A slave owner could do whatever he pleased without fear of prosecution from the law. They bragged about their roads but slavery was rampant everywhere. Christianity flourished in an environment of slavery. Environment was no hindrance to the dynamic of Christianity. In that atmosphere the gospel flourished. Christianity was a new, small and upstart institution in the first century. The influence of Christianity over time put an end to slavery. When these slaves heard that there was hope in Christ, thousands turned to Christ as their Savior. They had a purpose and someone to live for. The gospel has always appealed to the underdog. They are humble enough to hear it. The self-sufficient have no need of the gospel. Many slave owners came to Christ as well. Evidently some wealthy people did not view themselves as self-sufficient. Thank God some of them come to Christ. When they do they often are great leaders in the cause of Christ. Today the application to this passage would be to the employee in most parts of the world. PRINCIPLE: There is hope in Christ no matter what the circumstance. APPLICATION: Do you find yourself in a situation where you deem there is no hope? Have you considered Christ? He will give you a sense of purpose and peace. A person can become a Christian by 1) recognizing that his sin violates a holy God, even a sin such as pride or anger; 2) by understanding that Jesus Christ paid for that sin by his death on the cross; and 3) placing faith personally in Christ's death for your sin. Will you do that today? ---------- "obey in all things your masters according to the flesh" The central command to the employee is to "obey." They are to obey their "masters" (employers). The quality of the Christian employee should be different from those without Christ. An owner should see the difference immediately. We would think that it would be sufficient that these slaves simply obey but they are to obey "in all things." God does not want us to justify sloppy work. These masters are only masters "according to the flesh." Our true master is Jesus Christ. ---------- "not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers" "Eyeservice" means to serve with a view to impressing others. This person serves his boss in order to call attention to himself. He keeps his eye on the clock. He tries to get by with as little work as possible. God wants us to do our best. "Menpleasers" means to fear the boss. God wants us to work in fear of himself, not men. God wants us to go beyond the watchful eye of our employers. Some people only do a good job when their boss is watching. This is service performed only to attract attention. This is not for its own sake, nor to please God or one's own conscience This pleases men at the sacrifice of principle. When the boss is not watching, they loaf on the job. God wants us to work under his watchful eye. The employee that keeps his eye on the boss and does only enough work to get by, is not the biblical ideal. God wants us to put in a good day's work. PRINCIPLE: God wants us to work at our jobs with faithfulness and efficiency. APPLICATION: God wants us to do our jobs with a sense of significance. This significance comes from service of God. The boss is irrelevant in this kind of motivation. Our job should never become dreary or monotonous with this philosophy of life. God is our ultimate employer. We serve a higher cause. The eye of God is always upon us. It should make no difference if the eye of the boss is upon us. God's eye should govern all that we do at work. ---------- "but in sincerity of heart" "Sincerity of heart" means simplicity, sincerity, uprightness, frankness. "Sincerity" first meant "simple" and then it came to mean "open." It means no ulterior motive. God wants us to work out of a motivation of a genuine heart. This goes beyond working to impress the boss. This person operates with pure motives, singleness of purpose (Eph. 6:5). ---------- "fearing God" "Fearing God" means we work out of a respect for God. God wants us to work at our employment as if we were working for God. We are under the surveillance of God every moment. The quality of our work should reflect that God is watching. One of the names of God in the Old Testament is El Roi, "the God who sees." He is watching whether your employer is in sight or not. PRINCIPLE: The Christian serves his employer from an inner monitor, the monitor of character. APPLICATION: The Christian works from character; he is reliable and trustworthy under any circumstance whether anyone is watching or not. That is what makes the difference between a Christian and a non Christian at work. Colossians 3:23"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men"---------- "And whatever you do, do it heartily" God wants the employee ("bondslave") to serve diligently, not carelessly. God does not want us to attend our employer with displeasure no matter the nature of our employment. "Heartily" means out of the soul. Whatever we do we do it with a genuine attitude originating from our soul. This labor comes from essential character that comes from within. We do not serve out of show. Our work then is not mechanical or perfunctory. We will exert power from the soul at our job or place of employment. We may hate our job but God wants us to look at it as an opportunity to serve him enthusiastically. The Greek uses two different words for "do" in this verse. The first means to work or labor the second word is an advance meaning to work diligently. There is a double stress in this verse upon diligence: 1) "heartily" or out of the soul and 2) "do" with diligence. God expects us to put in whole-hearted day's work at our employment. PRINCIPLE: God wants us to discharge our job with enthusiasm. APPLICATION: Ultimately we honor God when we faithfully do our job. If we do not work with enthusiasm then we are not in God's will. God wants us to do everything at work with a sense of enthusiasm. No work is dreary with this perspective. What a difference from trying to get by with as little effort as possible! Whatever job to which God called us, he wants us to serve him with it. Our work may subsist as a menial job; we may dislike our work. Still God wants us to serve him heartily in that job. He wants us to throw ourselves in our work. Serving the Lord at our job gives dignity to what we do. We may sweep floors, wash dishes, change diapers or empty the trash. We may work at an office where everyone cuts corners and takes long coffee breaks but we break that standard. The Christian does not operate on the same standards as the herd. Our boss is in heaven. Therefore, we throw our heart into our work. All work is sacred before the Lord. Nothing is unimportant that we do when we serve him. ---------- "as to the Lord " When we do our work as unto the Lord, it sets it apart as eternal work. Our true boss is the Lord. We work for him. This gives our work eternal dignity. The Lord is the motivation for our service. ---------- "and not to men" God does not want us to serve our earthly boss exclusively. PRINCIPLE: God is our ultimate employer. APPLICATION: We do not do our job unto the Lord when we take miserable attitudes to work or when we make noises like we are unhappy with the boss and environment. We do not serve the Lord when we loaf when the boss is not looking. We do not serve the Lord when we undermine another employee to get him into trouble with his boss so that we can have his job. We want to move up, so we drop a little negative note about him into the suggestion box. When the boss comes around, we patronize him. Licking the boots of the boss is not the best way to serve the Lord. Kicking people in the teeth below you is not the best way either! Scripture does not recommend these things! If we keep God in view in everything we do at work, we honor God at our place of employment. Colossians 3:24"knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."---------- "knowing that from the Lord " The phrase "from the Lord" is emphatic in the Greek. The ultimate reward comes from God, not from our employer. This is crucial knowledge ("knowing") if we are going to live a qualitative Christian life. ---------- "you will receive the reward of the inheritance" Whether our boss pays us properly or treats us properly, God will reward us in eternity. "Inheritance" means properly an inherited property, an inheritance. In a few cases in the Gospels it means the possession that an heir receives on the death of an ancestor. In this passage, our inheritance is the prospective condition and possession of the believer will receive in the future when Christ returns (Acts 20:32; Eph. 1:14; 5:5; Col. 3:24; Heb. 9:15; I Pet. 1:4). Ephesians 1:18 says that the Christian will be an inheritance to God in eternity. The word "inheritance" implies that reward comes from grace. It is a debt that God will pay because he promised this reward. ---------- "for you serve the Lord Christ" Whatever we do for the firm for which we work we are to count it as service to the Lord Christ. He is the ultimate judge. All our employment is in his sight. He sees whether we loaf on the job or not. This is the only place in the New Testament where Jesus is called "the Lord Christ." This title would have had great meaning to a slave of the first century. The slave serves a person of great dignity. Think of this -- a slave with dignity!! People today go to work and they view it as a rat race. They hate every minute of it. When it dawns upon the Christian that he serves the Lord Christ, his perspective changes entirely. There will be a new quality to his work. PRINCIPLE: The believer will receive full justice in eternity. APPLICATION: We will never receive full justice in this life. We may put in a good day's work and receive no recognition for it. That's life. The standard is still binding that a Christian is to put in a good day's work regardless of the situation. A pay check is just remuneration under our system. However, it is the reward of the Lord that counts. God will spiritually reward believers for faithful employment at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Any thing we do full time is our full time service. There is no such thing as full time Christian service for a few professional Christians. There is no such thing as a second class Christian or a "layman." On the other hand there may be some Christians who "lay" down on the job! Colossians 3:25"But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality."---------- "But he who does wrong " If the Christian employee does not put in a good day's work, then he must reckon with his God. He may hide his sloppy work from his boss but he cannot hide it from God. ---------- "will be repaid for what he has done" Any time we are out of fellowship with God we are not eligible for reward. ---------- "and there is no partiality" God is impartial. He treats people equally whether it be the boss or the employee. Both will stand upon a level playing field before him. PRINCIPLE: God treats his children fairly and without partiality. APPLICATION: God does not possess the fault of one who, when responsible to give judgment, has respect to the position, rank, popularity, or circumstances of men. He respects their intrinsic worth and never respects their conditions, preferring the rich and powerful to those who are not (Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; Jas. 2:1). God will straighten out all wrongs in eternity. God will not favor the employee over the employer or the employer over the employee. Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to: Grace Notes% Warren Doud wdoud@bga.com1705 Aggie Lane Austin, Texas 78757 Grace Notes Web site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/ Anonymous FTP site: ftp://ftp.bga.com/vendors/wdoud/ Grace Notes is a ministry of Village Missions International. |
|
There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. |