Rules for Christian Households
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Colossians 4
1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Dig Deeper
During my time in college when I was playing basketball, our workout regimens were strictly dictated to us. We were told when to work out, how much to do, and we were even given fairly strict guidelines on what we should eat. Under this type of system, we were all in pretty good shape, but it felt very oppressive at times. We had very little freedom at all. Then suddenly I wasn't on the team anymore and I was out of college. I found myself in a whole new world of freedom. I wasn't restricted or governed by the rules and regulations that I had in college. Suddenly, although I had great freedom, I found that I quickly got badly out of shape. It didn't take me long to put on twenty pounds and lose most of the conditioning that I had worked for in college. Clearly, something had to be done. I didn't want to return to the old rules, nor was that even possible, but complete freedom quickly had enslaved me to inactivity and deterioration. What I needed were some guiding principles from which I could operate and exercise discernment. This way I could still have freedom as I lived by those principles but I was not under the old oppressive system either.
We can see this same principle in our own society as a whole. Now days our culture is all about doing what you like. We trumpet complete freedom as though freedom itself is a virtue rather than a privilege. Of course, it is our own brand of freedom. Many things, as result of this freedom, have changed pretty radically in our society in a short time. People have claimed freedom in ways that nobody would have imagined a generation ago. If anyone steps up to question this freedom, they are quickly shot down with the claim that they are trying to drag everyone back into the "stone ages." The one thing that has become obvious, though, is that the more people claim this sort of freedom that doesn't have any sort of guiding principles or responsibility, the more out-of-control and destructive the society seems to become. These short-run freedoms lead to long term enslavement, especially in the realm of relationships, where we tend to be defined by the people in whom we enter with into relationships. The freedom to do absolutely whatever we feel like has become one of the primary idols of our society.
Paul has made it clear to the developing Christian communities in Colosse and other places that they have a freedom in Christ. They were no longer bound by the condemnation and rules of any of the old ways of living. Yet, he knows very well the human inclination to dissolve into chaos, especially if there is not something to control their behavior. Christians are free from the need to be dictated to by harsh rules and regulations that require no thinking or actual transformation of character on one hand, but are also free from the enslavement of the illusion of human-style freedom. Instead, throughout his writings, Paul offers guiding principles to help shape and mold those in Christ into the thinking, discerning, love-motivated life of Christ for which we have entered and are destined.
Addressing the three traditional relationships in the ancient world, marriage, parenting, and slave and master, would not have been that unique. What Paul does, however, that was extremely unique was to not just address wives, children, and slaves, telling them to obey and be subordinate to the ruling party in the relationship. They certainly have responsibilities in the relationship, but so do their corresponding partners, duties that go beyond just being the boss. In essence, Paul is offering up a quick series of guiding principles that will bring order, while still providing freedom, to the primary relationships in the Christian community.
Wives are called to submit to their husbands, a term that has almost become a dirty word in our culture. Submission does carry the meaning of obeying and respecting one in the position of authority, but it does not carry the idea of demeaning oneself and doing whatever someone orders, regardless of how heinous it might be (although this is often what has become the meaning of the word in our world). Husbands, though, are called to love their wives and to not be harsh with them. The obvious question is why the difference? Why are husbands called to love while wives are called to submit or respect? Although the full answer would take more space than is available here, the short answer is that it appears that respect and submission are given to the leading party in a relationship rather than questioning them or working against them. On the other hand, love and concern was the call for those in the position of leadership. The normal expectation in the ancient world for the husband would have been to be the ruler, period. Paul, instead, calls for roles that are not identical but equal to one another in responsibility. The overall aim for both parties was the well-being of the other person. This was true not only in the husband-wife relationship, but also when it came to parents and children, and slaves and masters.
Children are called to show respect and obey their parents in everything, although Paul does not fully discuss here what the limits to that would have been. The assumption is that he is referring to obeying them only in so much as what they are saying pleases the Lord. This obedience is not a one-way street, though. Parents are called to not do anything that would embitter or discourage their children. Children have duties in their relationship but so do the parents. Paul singles out fathers, as they were the ones primarily responsible for overseeing the education and training of their children, but it is implied that Paul is also applying his words to mothers. In Paul's vision of balancing freedom and responsibility, parents restrain their authority by deserving obedience rather than merely demanding it. As children grow older there will be a necessary reduction in the pure authority of the parent, but because they have raised their children in a loving and godly manner, their influence will continue to grow.
As Paul turns to address masters and slaves, many have criticized him for not calling for an abolition of slavery. Two things must be pointed out here. The first is that slavery in the ancient world was not like slavery in American history, with slaves in the ancient world having the opportunity to marry members of the owning family and to purchase their own freedom (although conditions could be harsh for some slaves). The second is that slavery was such an integral part of the economy of the ancient world that to call for it's immediate end would have caused irreparable chaos and would have brought unparalleled persecution on the church for teaching such an idea. The early church did not call for revolutionary power, it sought the transforming power of the gospel. They preached a new life in Christ not a new social order. Paul did, however, set in motion, through the gospel, a process of thinking that, if followed, would eventually bring about the end of slavery in a way that would bring the desired transformation of individuals without ripping society apart.
Paul does offer several significant changes in the status of the slave. They were to serve Christ rather than man; they were to be motivated by their desire to be like Christ rather than gaining the approval of man; and their new reward was the inheritance of being part of the people of God, rather than earthly motivations. Anyone, slave or master alike will be judged for failing to live the life of Christ in regard to their relationships with one another. Just as in marriage, Paul goes beyond just calling slaves to obey, he also gives the masters guiding principles in their relationship. They are, Paul implies, to treat their slaves in the same manner that their Master in heaven has treated them. This is a standard that, when realized, would so radically change the view and practice of slavery that it would bring about its eventual downfall.
At first glance, this section almost seems to be out of place with the rest of the letter, but when we understand it in context of the society in which it was written, we realize how it fits. It not only serves as guidelines for Christian people to set about ordering every aspect of their life in accordance with their life in Christ but when such relationships exist between husband and wife, parent and child, and master and slave, there will be much less problem with disorder and discontinuity in the community life of the body of Christ.
Devotional Thought
Paul's challenge to masters would have brought about such a transformation to slavery that it would have brought it to an effective end. What are some of the injustices in our society or even where you work that you can call for the same sort of transformation through the principles of the life of Christ?
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