1 Timothy 6:1, 2 says...
Today's verses are 1 Timothy 6:1, 2, which read,
v.1 - 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.
We have spoken of this before but the slavery mentioned in the Bible is not the same as the cruel slavery of our own history. Slavery was someone serving another, under their authority, for a debt to be repaid. Food, clothing, and housing were provided and many slaves received benefits of education provided by the family they were in submission to.
The yoke was an instrument to harness the power of the oxen to help them work more efficiently. These people who Paul is speaking about to Timothy are Christians who are within the church but also in this position of being in submission to another, under this yoke, to help them pay their debt and move forward through this experience that they are yoked to.
This arrangement can be used to look at our employee and employer relationship today. We are yoked to the job that provides us many benefits beyond just the paycheck that we receive. How we work and how we treat those we work with and especially our employer, matters. We are to give honor to our employers. How do we do this? In the context of this passage, it is under the yoke which was devised to help the oxen work, so we honor them with work that is productive to the task at hand.
When we work this way, the name of God and the doctrine of God are held up in admiration and not in disgust. The work place is a place where many judgments are made on our actions and sometimes our lack of actions. You are known as a Christian, or at least someone who goes to church or is religious. How we work reflects the God we serve and the Bible that we follow. You want how you work to be used by God in witness of Him and not a response to be against Him. You are not at church with other Christians at the moment when you are at work, so your environment has changed but your words and actions of Christ should not change.
v.2 - 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 their principles.
It might be the situation where the employee and the employer are both Christians and maybe both attend the same church. Does this give the employee a reason to think they can slack off or have special privileges to not work as they should because of that relationship? The answer is "no." Rather here is an opportunity for both the employer and employee to show other employees the nature of God and His acted out Word as a witness.
As a employee who is a Christian, we have a role to fulfill and as a employer who is a Christian, we have a role to fulfill. Those roles do not change at the work place if we are both Christians. Our identity as followers of Christ does not change if we are in the house of God or at our place of work. In the house of God we call ourselves brothers or sisters in relationship to our heavenly family. In the work place we are still that but we fulfill the role of employer or employee with the principles of God's ways to work on either level.
Paul tells Timothy to teach and preach their principles. "To preach" means to literally call to one's side so the picture is that Timothy would be shoulder to shoulder with others showing these principles in action. It was not just a sermon said on a Sunday morning but an action Monday morning on the job in submission to another.
I am so thankful for the opportunities given to me by God to work alongside of others in the workplace over the years. Some of my employers have been Christians and some have not. It allowed me to live out on a regular basis my faith in Christ to the family created on the job site. It put a yoke on me to work to complete a job but also a yoke to make my faith real away from the comfort of my church family and setting. A lot of ministry happened in the field and in the barn and at the scheduled delivery stops and at the dry cleaners. My fellow employees were watching very closely at how I was working and what I was saying. Would they have a great view of God and His Word in regards to my work actions or a lesser one? Something to chew on today. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provision that You provide and that we need to work for it. That work is good for us. It is more than just a paycheck, but the disciplines applied that allow us to show You and Your Word through our work. Help us to see the reflection that we are giving at the work place and correct it to be honoring of You so others can know of You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.1 - 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.
We have spoken of this before but the slavery mentioned in the Bible is not the same as the cruel slavery of our own history. Slavery was someone serving another, under their authority, for a debt to be repaid. Food, clothing, and housing were provided and many slaves received benefits of education provided by the family they were in submission to.
The yoke was an instrument to harness the power of the oxen to help them work more efficiently. These people who Paul is speaking about to Timothy are Christians who are within the church but also in this position of being in submission to another, under this yoke, to help them pay their debt and move forward through this experience that they are yoked to.
This arrangement can be used to look at our employee and employer relationship today. We are yoked to the job that provides us many benefits beyond just the paycheck that we receive. How we work and how we treat those we work with and especially our employer, matters. We are to give honor to our employers. How do we do this? In the context of this passage, it is under the yoke which was devised to help the oxen work, so we honor them with work that is productive to the task at hand.
When we work this way, the name of God and the doctrine of God are held up in admiration and not in disgust. The work place is a place where many judgments are made on our actions and sometimes our lack of actions. You are known as a Christian, or at least someone who goes to church or is religious. How we work reflects the God we serve and the Bible that we follow. You want how you work to be used by God in witness of Him and not a response to be against Him. You are not at church with other Christians at the moment when you are at work, so your environment has changed but your words and actions of Christ should not change.
v.2 - 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 their principles.
It might be the situation where the employee and the employer are both Christians and maybe both attend the same church. Does this give the employee a reason to think they can slack off or have special privileges to not work as they should because of that relationship? The answer is "no." Rather here is an opportunity for both the employer and employee to show other employees the nature of God and His acted out Word as a witness.
As a employee who is a Christian, we have a role to fulfill and as a employer who is a Christian, we have a role to fulfill. Those roles do not change at the work place if we are both Christians. Our identity as followers of Christ does not change if we are in the house of God or at our place of work. In the house of God we call ourselves brothers or sisters in relationship to our heavenly family. In the work place we are still that but we fulfill the role of employer or employee with the principles of God's ways to work on either level.
Paul tells Timothy to teach and preach their principles. "To preach" means to literally call to one's side so the picture is that Timothy would be shoulder to shoulder with others showing these principles in action. It was not just a sermon said on a Sunday morning but an action Monday morning on the job in submission to another.
I am so thankful for the opportunities given to me by God to work alongside of others in the workplace over the years. Some of my employers have been Christians and some have not. It allowed me to live out on a regular basis my faith in Christ to the family created on the job site. It put a yoke on me to work to complete a job but also a yoke to make my faith real away from the comfort of my church family and setting. A lot of ministry happened in the field and in the barn and at the scheduled delivery stops and at the dry cleaners. My fellow employees were watching very closely at how I was working and what I was saying. Would they have a great view of God and His Word in regards to my work actions or a lesser one? Something to chew on today. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for the provision that You provide and that we need to work for it. That work is good for us. It is more than just a paycheck, but the disciplines applied that allow us to show You and Your Word through our work. Help us to see the reflection that we are giving at the work place and correct it to be honoring of You so others can know of You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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