Paul here addresses slaves. This sort of discussion is fraught today, both because of our country’s shameful history with slavery and because of the 40 million people still enslaved around the world today.
But it was fraught in Paul’s day as well. Jesus made it clear that he was here to bring freedom, and Paul’s other letters make it clear that there is no distinction between slaves and masters. But in the social order of the ancient world, slavery was assumed as a part of life, and if Christians had been openly supporting a slave revolt, the empire would have crushed it. As in previous verses, Paul is instructing about how to live out the truth of Christ and His kingdom without scaring the pagans around them that they were out to destroy civilization. Ultimately, the goal of Christianity was to sow the seeds that would overturn the whole rotten edifice.
So there is a huge difference between what the people Paul was writing to were dealing with and what we deal with in our own, voluntary situations, but there are lessons we can take.
Elsewhere, Paul had other messages for slaves. In Philemon, Paul commends an escaped slave to his master as a brother in Christ – someone who could have been executed under the law. In 1 Corinthians, he encourages them to gain their freedom if possible.
Here, though, he encourages submission – doing what they are instructed, and doing it with a good heart. Elsewhere, he tells slaves to work as if for Christ. He specifically instructs slaves not to steal, suggesting that, not surprisingly, this was a real temptation.
The Old Testament has a couple prominent stories of slaves who refrained from taking advantage of their masters and who worked for their true Master, in the stories of Joseph and Daniel. Both of them were faithful both in their secular and spiritual responsibilities, and both were used to demonstrate the glory of God.
Paul calls the slaves of Crete to do much the same, so that they too can “adorn the doctrine of God.”
What does this all mean for us today? It certainly does not mean we should be passive in the face of injustice. Like Christ, we are here to bring freedom to the captives and liberty to those in bondage.
But we are all slaves to one extent – in Romans, we are reminded that we are all slaves to either sin or Christ. Even if we rebel, ultimately we are submitting to one master or another.
The early Christian preacher John Chrysostom had this to say about this passage:
If they see their slave, who has been taught the philosophy of Christ, displaying more self-command than their own philosophers, and serving with all meekness and good will, he will in every way admire the power of the Gospel. For the Greeks judge not of doctrines by the doctrine itself, but they make the life and conduct the test of the doctrines.
This remains true today, so let our life and conduct prove out the truth of the doctrines we hold to.
– Sermon Notes, Mahlon Friesen, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, November 17, 2019