God’s Word changes Societies by Changing People

Paul deals with an important social issue. Philemon is a Christian leader in the church at Colossae. He is also a slave owner. Onesimus is one of his slaves who has run away to Rome. In Rome he meets up with the apostle Paul and Paul teaches him the gospel. Onesimus believes the gospel and becomes a Christian; he has converted to Jesus Christ. And now Paul is sending the slave back to the slave owner with a letter in his hand telling the slave owner how he is to receive his runaway slave. The message of this letter, if it is believed and put into practice, will change the way that slavery was practiced in the first century Roman Empire. What I want us to see from this letter is that the message of the Bible changes societies by changing people. Commentators are confounded when they come to this little letter, by the fact that it is written in the context of what we regard as one of the most difficult social maladies in human history. Yet, despite that context, Paul does not address slavery directly. Why does  he not say slavery is evil? That is the question commentators ask. Why does he not command Philemon to send Onesimus away as a free man? Well, the answers that have been offered to those questions can be grouped into three different categories. Some have suggested that Paul was simply short-sighted, that he did not understand himself the full implications of the gospel message that he preached and wrote about. For example, in Colossians 3:11, in that companion letter to the letter to Philemon that went at the same time to that church, Paul writes this: here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all. And so some said that Paul here lays out the foundation to show that anything like human slavery is amoral, evil and needs to be rejected; that he himself just did not see the implication—but now we are in a position to see it better than he was. Well, we must reject that way of interpreting the Scripture in trying to wrestle with this question because it suggests that we are wiser than Paul and the other New Testament writers. It is to suggest that what they did, under the inspiration of the Spirit, is simply to lay out a trajectory of what we are to believe and how we are to live, and now we who are in a more enlightened position, are able to carry out the implications of their writings far better than they could!

This view of seeing the Bible as falling short in its morality is becoming more and more popular in Christian circles in our day. We must reject it, because it puts us in the position of declaring what Paul and the other New Testament writers should have said, or judging what they really meant. This line of reasoning is dangerous, because it gives the appearance of being biblical. It starts with biblical text, but then it extrapolates beyond biblical text and in reality, it makes our own sensibilities, the final determiner of what is right or wrong. This is precisely the line of reasoning that is being used by many in our day to advocate for women pastors, and others to advocate for homosexual Christianity as normal. It is a dangerous way to think. Others have answered the question by saying that you must read between the lines of what Paul actually writes in order to see and understand that he really does regard slavery as evil, but he can not come right out and say so because of the first century Roman context and the prevalence of slavery in that Empire. Estimates are that at least a third of the people living in the Empire were involved in slavery in some capacity. We must reject this interpretation as well, because while using the Bible, it fails to submit  to the authority of the Bible. Let me just go on record and say, you can justify all kinds of crazy stuff from Scripture if you just focus on the white spaces, if you exegete the spaces between the words—and you can come up with anything you want to! John Calvin gives us wise counsel here that I want us to heed this morning. He says, the Word of the Lord is the sole way that can lead us in our search for all that is lawful to hold concerning God, and is the sole light to illumine our vision of all that we should see of him. The moment we exceed the bounds of the Word, our course is outside the pathway, and there we must repeatedly wander, slip and stumble. Then he concludes, we must speak where the Scripture speaks, we must keep silent, where it is silent. That is good counsel. To go as far as the Bible goes, no further, to be willing to be ignorant where God has not spoken.

The third answer to the question of why Paul does not condemn slavery, and the one that I find most satisfying and the most faithful to the authority and sufficiency of God's Word, is that we must remember that the point of the whole Bible always is operating when we are interpreting any one part of the Bible. The Bible is concerned primarily with the most serious problem that faces every person in society, and that is mankind's estrangement from God because of sin. Therefore, the Bible's main message, one message, always is the gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus. Paul does not directly call slavery evil, because slavery is not primarily his concern in this letter. He is primarily concerned about the gospel and seeing the gospel operate in these two men who are now brothers in Christ. He wants to see the gospel put on display in their new relationship. This is always his concern every time he writes about slavery in the New Testament. For example in Ephesians 6:1–24, he says,

bondservants [slaves] obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him. (Ephesians 6:5–9)

Or, in Colossians 3:1–25, in the letter that went at the same time to the church where Philemon was a member, Paul writes,

bondservants [or slaves], obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ, but the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:22–4:1)

Notice what Paul says to the church in Corinth, because it reflects even more his attitude as an apostle of Jesus Christ who understands the primary message of God's revelation to the world:

each one should remain in the condition in which he was called; were you a slave when called, do not be concerned about it, but if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a slave, is a freed man of the Lord. Likewise, he who was free when he was called, is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price, therefore, do not become bondservants or slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7:20–23)

Because of America's dark stain in history with slavery, slavery that was based upon the wicked sin of racism, it is hard for us sometime to go back and read the Bible and take the Bible for what it says about this subject because we so quickly want to read back our own history and experience into the Scriptures. The Bible simply does not condemn slavery in each and every situation. It certainly condemns man-stealing, slave-trading, as 1 Timothy 1:10 makes abundantly clear. It condemns the abuse of slaves, or regarding them as somehow less than fellow imagebearers of God. But it does not condemn slavery as a universal evil at all times. If it did, we can be sure that Paul would have rebuked Philemon and would have told him to release Onesimus. He would have called for repentance. So much of American slavery was fraught with abuse and terrible mistreatment of African Americans, and we sometimes just assume that when the Bible speaks of slavery, that it is talking about the same kind of slavery we see in American history. Furthermore, we find it difficult to grapple honestly with this subject in Scripture because we have come to value freedom and individual liberty so much, that again, we tend to assume the Bible values freedom and individual liberty as much as we do. But if you read the Bible carefully, you will be forced to admit that being a slave, or a free person, is not nearly as important as being made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. That is precisely what God said, through Paul, to the church at Corinth.

America’s history with slavery is why some people find Paul's words so offensive. Look at them again - were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Now as an American, or someone who has lived in America for a while, if you were a slave, how would you like somebody telling you not to be concerned about it? Would that not just go against the grain as a free people who love liberty? Well, freedom and liberty are wonderful blessings of God, but they are not the greatest blessings of God. Do not be concerned about it, Paul says, but if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity. When Onesimus showed up in Rome and found the apostle Paul, Paul's greatest concern for him was not the fact that he was a slave. Paul's greatest concern for Onesimus was that he had a never-dying soul that is going to spend eternity somewhere; he was concerned that Onesimus needed a Savior; he needed to come to know and trust Jesus Christ and be made right with God.¹

Tom Ascol