A tremendous gift…
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” -Ephesians 6:5 I often wonder about what some of the first century slaves were like. I imagine a Carthaginian or Persian general that was caught in battle and now he’s a slave. Most of these slaves, if they weren’t born slaves, were captured in battle or some kind of overthrow of regional governments. So, you have these people that were born with a sense of pride and a deep sense of dignity and even power, and now they’re scrubbing bathrooms, they’re being spit on, and they’re underfed. I think about some of these people becoming Christians. And the Apostle Paul writes to them and he gives them a tremendous gift. He says that if you can get away from slavery, do it. Paul hates slavery. God hates slavery. It’s stealing. But Paul
