Our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us making much of Jesus in the workplace...

At the church where I serve, we are spending our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of our Bibles called the book of Ephesians. And as we go through this letter, our hope and our prayer is that God would enable us to see our true identity, the identity that He designed us to live in, so that we would live our day to day lives in light of our true identity.

This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we look at next section of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus, we will see God reveal to us another timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we see our true identity, the identity that God designed us to live in, so that we would live our day to day lives in light of our true identity. So let’s look at this section of this letter together, beginning in Ephesians 6:5:

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;

Now to fully understand what the Apostle Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what slavery looked like in the first century. You see, slavery in the first century was quite different from slavery in early American history. For one thing, Roman slaves were either taken as the spoils of war or were so because they sold themselves into slavery.

You see, in the first century, there was no such thing as bankruptcy or unemployment. So, if you lived in the first century and were unable to provide for yourself or pay your debts, you sold yourself into slavery as a means of paying off debt and providing for your family. As a matter of fact, the word used for "slave" in the New Testament is a term that in earlier centuries usually referred to one who sold himself into slavery or of those who became slaves as the spoils of war.

In addition, slaves could marry, accumulate wealth, purchase their own freedom, and even run a business. The Roman historian Cicero noted that a slave could usually be set free within seven years and  under Roman law a slave would normally be set free by age 30. As much as two thirds of the Roman Empire were slaves in the first century.

So when Paul is addressing the relationship between master and slaves here, this relationship was much more similar to what we experience today when it comes to our relationships with our employers in the workplace. And in Ephesians 6:5-9, we are going to see the Apostle Paul reveal for us another timeless truth when it comes to our identity as a follower of Jesus.

And that timeless truth is this: Our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us making much of Jesus in the workplace. Just as it was for the members of the church at Ephesus, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, our identity as a follower of Jesus should result in us making much of Jesus in the workplace.

Now a natural question that arises here is "Well Dave, how exactly am I supposed to make much of Jesus in the workplace? What does that practically look like?" If those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And whether you are an employer that supervises and manages employees under you, or whether you are an employee that works for an employer, we are going to see, in what Paul has to say next, exactly how we can make much of Jesus in the workplace.

Now, if you are not sure that you buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing, here's the thing: What the Apostle Paul is going to say here does not apply to you. In other words, you are off the hook when it comes to doing what the Apostle Paul is going to talk about. But if you do not consider yourself a Christian, here is a question that I would like you to consider; If you were to put into practice the principles that Paul is going to share with us this morning in your workplace, what would happen to your workplace experience? Would your workplace become a better place?

 

However, if you are a follower of Jesus, this is not a suggestion. Instead, this is a requirement for anyone who finds their identity as a follower of Jesus. Now with all that in mind, Paul begins this section of his letter by focusing on the employee’s role and relationships within the workplace. Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus who were slaves to be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

Now what is so interesting is that this word obedient, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys the sense of following instructions in a way that subjects oneself to authority. In other words, Paul is commanding those who were slaves to willingly place themselves under the leadership of their masters in a way that follows their leadership.

And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to how employees are to make much of Jesus in the workplace. And that timeless truth is that we make much of Jesus in the workplace when we willing place ourselves under our employer’s leadership. As followers of Jesus, we make much of Jesus when we willingly place ourselves under our employer's leadership by placing our employer first.

Now a natural question that arises here "Well Dave that sounds great, but how am I supposed to place myself under my employer's leadership?” We see Paul reveal the first way that we are to willingly place ourselves under our employer's leadership in the first part of verse 5. Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus who were slaves to be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling. Now the phrase fear and trembling refers to having an attitude of reverence and respect.

Paul here is commanding those who were slaves to have an attitude of reverence and respect toward their earthly masters. And in the same way today, as followers of Jesus, we willingly place ourselves under our employer’s leadership when we serve our employers with reverence and respect. When treat our employers, who supervise and manage use with reverence and respect, we demonstrate our willingness to place ourselves under their leadership.

So here is a question for us to consider: Do you treat your boss, your supervisor, your manager with respect? Or are you disrespectful and irreverent when it comes to how you treat those who are in a position of authority over you at work?

Paul then reveals for us a second way that we are to willingly place ourselves under our employer's leadership in the second half of verse 5. Paul commands the members of the church at Ephesus who were slaves to be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ. When Paul uses this phrase "in sincerity of your heart" this phrase literally means with a sincere heart motivation. This phrase conveys the idea of personal integrity that is expressed in word and action.

If Paul was communicating this phrase in the language we use in our culture today, this phrase would have sounded something like this: make sure that you willingly place yourself under your employer’s leadership with integrity as though Jesus was your boss.” And it is here that we see Paul reveal for us the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we willingly place ourselves under our employer’s leadership when we serve our employers with the right motives. When we work with our employers who supervise and manage us with the right motives, we demonstrate our willingness to place ourselves under their leadership. And followers of Jesus, we should be motivated to work with our employers with integrity in our words and actions.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal three aspects of our motivations that demonstrate our willingness to place ourselves under their leadership…