All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters
worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be
slandered. Those who have believing masters should not show
them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should
serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow
believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves… 1 Timothy
6:1-2
There
are certain levels of abuse that cannot be tolerated. If you are being physically or sexually
abused, then you need to take action and contact someone.
However,
if you are being mentally abused and maybe even discriminated against, Paul
says to consider your options as an employee.
In
our world, we scream for our “rights,” but in Paul’s time there was no such
thing. Slaves had no rights and the master
had every right to do whatever he wanted.
Even in that situation—unlike our employee/employer scenarios today—Paul
said give your master full respect.
Remember, Jesus said to “love your enemies” and in His day, those
enemies could kill you.
Paul
said in these verses to put up with the abuse for a greater cause. It would be great if you had a loving
Christian boss. Rarely is that the case
and, sadly, some Christian bosses are horrible examples of Christ.
As
an employee, begin by asking yourself a question—do you want your unbelieving
boss to accept Jesus Christ as his/her savior?
If you so, then act like a loving, caring, forgiving Christian, an
example of someone that boss needs to see to understand the love the Jesus
Christ. Every day will be a challenge,
yes. You will feel overlooked,
unappreciated, ostracized, but then again, what will your boss feel like in
hell for eternity?
Pray
and fast for that boss. Put on the armor
of God every day. Fight for that bosses’
salvation while showing the best earthly respect you can. You were given that job for a reason.