Kingdom Culture, Part Three
One of the oft-repeated criticisms of Christianity is that the Bible appears to support slavery. (Spoiler alert: It doesn’t.) In the Old Testament, God provided rules for owning and maintaining slaves. In the Gospels, Jesus did not speak out against the practice, at least not directly. By the time we get to Paul’s letters, we find instructions like, “Slaves, obey your human masters in everything” (Colossians 3:22).
On the surface, God’s Word seems to be telling us that a certain type of strict, no-compromise hierarchy is just fine. Some people should be at the top, issuing all the commands, while others should be at the bottom, taking orders without question. If slavery can be upheld, certainly domineering work situations can.
Is your boss a jerk? Suck it up, and do what he says, because Scripture tells us, “Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ” (Ephesians 6:5).
Now, of course, most Christian leadership gurus would say that because business owners and CEOs get to enforce their will freely, they ought to be kind about it. Though they would never use these words, they advocate for something of a benevolent dictatorship wrapped in a servant-leadership veneer. It comes tied up with Scripture verses and Christian sentiment—maybe even a mid-week Bible study—but it’s not markedly different than the world’s approach to work relationships.
In my mind, I hear Jesus’ words about Gentile rulers and the dark powers who hold sway over them, and then I hear, “Not so among you” (see Mark 10:42–45). There has to be a better way—a Jesus way—to approach all of this. And that’s exactly what we find in the New Testament, not coincidentally from Paul, the same apostle who wrote that slaves should obey their earthly masters. He had some personal experience with the slave-master relationship.
Philemon was a friend of Paul’s and a leader at the church in Colossae. In fact, the church met in his home. And he was also a slaveholder. To us, this might sound strange. He a member in good standing in the local congregation despite the fact that he owned a human being. Again, this would seem to suggest that the Bible—and God, by extension—is just fine with slavery. But nothing could be further from the truth. The gospel contains within itself the power to overturn wicked institutions like slavery (and oppressive work situations) without a bloody revolution. Philemon, and his slave, Onesimus, provide the perfect test case.
One day, Onesimus ran away from Philemon and headed to Rome. It was there that he connected with the apostle Paul, who was under house arrest at the time. Paul led Onesimus to the Lord, but rather than encouraging him in his life post-slavery, he urged Onesimus to return to Colossae and to his master, Philemon.
It sounds insane to us today. Slavery is wrong, and Onesimus got away. How could Paul send him back? Because Paul knew that freedom in Christ is real freedom, whether you’re a slave or a slave master. And here’s the gospel in it, the mustard seed that grows and spreads and topples every evil thing. Paul wrote to Philemon:
I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.… Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. (Philemon 12, 15–16; emphasis added)
Slavery makes no sense in God’s kingdom. How can one son of the King own another son of the King? How can someone who’s been set free become a slave? How can someone who’s been made new return to the ways of the world and dominate another image-bearer of God? They can’t. The only way forward is as brothers.
Paul knew Philemon would care for Onesimus and consider his best interests, and he knew that Onesimus would do the same for Philemon. Philemon still had authority over Onesimus, but because of Christ he could no longer lord it over him. Onesimus still had his responsibilities to tend to, but because of Christ he could do them out of kindness to Philemon. That’s how Paul could, with a clear conscience, put the two men back together.
Slavery was still a fact of the ancient world, but in Christian circles it was hollowed out by the gospel. So, my question is, why haven’t work relationships in our day been radically transformed by the same good news?
Right about now, someone is saying, “Modern employment isn’t the same as slavery.” True. It’s not a direct parallel. But if the gospel can change an institution as entrenched and dehumanizing as slavery, shouldn’t it more than enough to alter a Fortune 500 company in Manhattan or the small business across town?
Throughout history, Christians have been change agents, transforming society from the inside out. We pioneered hospitals. We championed literacy and education. And yes, we ended chattel slavery in the West. But when it comes to something as basic as how we put food on our tables, we have accepted the world’s ideas about work without question. We have become social Darwinists. It’s might means right and the survival of the fittest. He who has the gold makes the rules.
There’s a better way. And no, it’s not some hippie socialist experiment where we abandon all the titles and give everyone the same pay. Rather, it’s following the way of Jesus, where service is the path to greatness. It’s trading raw power for selfless love, indifference for kindness, and the corporate ladder for the shared table. It’s choosing the path that leads to the greatest human flourishing over the one that leads to the healthiest bottom line, though by God’s grace, sometimes those paths are one and the same.
The gospel is powerful enough to do all this.
We can’t wait for the world to get things right. The change needs to start in organizations that claim the name of Christ—our churches, our ministries and non-profits, our businesses. We must transform corporate culture into kingdom culture, business as usual into business as kingdom opportunity. In a world where many people spend the majority of their waking lives merely enduring their jobs, we have something better to offer—and it’s something that smells an awful lot like Jesus.
In the next post, we’ll look at how God Himself described leadership under the tag-team influences of dark spiritual powers and our own sinful desires, and how He offered His people a better option.
Check out my latest books:
The Unlikely Intrusion of Adams Klein (The TimeFall Trilogy, Part 1)
Pages of Joy // John Greco 
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