Servant Evangelism: A Biblical Perspective on Slavery

A fool's mouth is his devastation, and his lips are a trap for his life. (Prov 18:7)

Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Prov 18:21)

Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.

As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. (Prov 26:20-21)

I said, "I will guard my ways so that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are in my presence." (Ps 39:1)

A person's speech is one of the clearest indications of what is in a person's heart. The servant of Christ will be polite in speech, especially when talking to and about his boss. This is the practical application of the gospel to the details of life, even our speech.

Be Principled in Your Service

Titus 2:10

In addition to "not talking back," slaves are not to be found "stealing" or "pilfering" (NKJV). The servant of Christ is not a thief! Rather he is a man you can trust when you are not around. He is honest, dependable, a man of integrity. He does not take what belongs to another while justifying in his mind that he has earned it and that he deserves it.

This servant will go the extra mile in maintaining his financial accountability. There will be no inflated expense accounts, falsified time sheets, or unauthorized use of his employer's resources. From a paper clip to a corporate jet, he will conduct himself with absolute honesty and273 integrity. After all, he serves Christ, and he would never think of stealing from Jesus.

Be Public in Your Sincerity

Titus 2:10

In contrast to "not talking back or stealing," the servant of Christ is to demonstrate "utter faithfulness." The conjunction "but" denotes a strong adversative, an emphatic rejection of what goes before it: "Not stealing but showing faithfulness." The word "demonstrating" means to show forth. The idea is that our faithfulness and fidelity to our masters is evident and visible to all. Our trustworthiness, reliability, and dependability are continually on display. No one needs to be looking over our shoulder. We are known for our loyalty and integrity. Others may cheat the boss but not us. Others may betray the boss but not us. Others may become embittered at their boss, especially if they serve a tyrant or bully. But not us. As servants of Christ, in stark and remarkable contrast, we will put on public display the gospel's transforming power that enables us to bless rather than curse, to serve rather than steal.

Be Praiseworthy of Your Savior

Titus 2:10

Being a faithful, honest, gracious, kind, and submissive servant has a noble end: to "adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything." This kind of servant makes beautiful and attractive the teaching of God our Savior, and he does this in everything and in every way. Though he is a slave or servant, the one under authority makes gorgeous the things of God by his productive, pleasing, polite, principled, public service. It is indeed a praiseworthy service as it puts on display the character of God shining forth from one of His children. Hayne Griffin is right on target when he says,

The effect of individual Christian behavior on unbelievers should not be underestimated. Inevitably, unbelievers judge the gospel message by the lives of those who embrace it. As we live and identify ourselves as Christians, we can make the gospel message attractive and credible by our godly attitudes274 and behavior. However, if we are perceived as unloving and hypocritical, we provide unbelievers with good reason to be skeptical about the power of the gospel. Paul's exhortations, both to these Cretan groups and to Christians of every age, should alert us to the tremendous importance of being in reality what we profess in word. (Lea and Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, 308)

In commenting on this verse, Spurgeon writes,

The life of the Christian, even if he is a servant, is to be an ornament of Christianity. Christ does not look for the ornament of His religion to the riches or the talents of His followers, but to their holy lives, "that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things." ("Adorning the Gospel," in Metropolitan Tabernacle, 41:275)

This is godliness that is worthy of the praise of our Savior.

Conclusion

Why does Paul provide this charge to those who are under the authority of another? I think the answer is easily given. Without the mind of Christ, the filling of the Spirit, and a spiritual perspective on now and eternity, we will be,

to a Savior we say we adore.

When you are in the position of disadvantage, when you are the servant rather than the master, then you will discover if your faith is real and your profession genuine. It will not be by accident that you are in this position. A sovereign God put you there so that, by your life, those who see you will also see the beauty of your Lord, the beauty of Jesus as you serve others just as you would Jesus.275

Reflect and Discuss

The following is taken from Anderson, "Slavery and the Founders."
     When America was founded, there were about half a million slaves. Approximately one third of the founders had slaves (George Washington and Thomas Jefferson being the most notable). Most of the slaves lived in the five southern colonies.
     Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin (both signers of the Declaration of Independence) founded the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery in 1774. Franklin saw slavery as "an atrocious debasement of human nature," and Rush went on to head a national abolition movement.
     John Jay was the president of a similar society in New York and said, "To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not be excused."
     John Adams opposed slavery because it was a "foul contagion in the human character" and "an evil of colossal magnitude." His son, John Quincy Adams, so crusaded against slavery that he was known as "the hell-hound of abolition."
     It's important to note that when these anti-slavery societies were founded, they were clearly an act of civil disobedience. In 1774, for example, Pennsylvania passed a law to end slavery. But King George vetoed that law and other laws passed by the colonies. The King was pro-slavery, and Great Britain (at the time) practiced slavery. As long as the colonies were part of the British Empire, they would also be required to condone slavery.
     When Thomas Jefferson finished his first draft of the Declaration of Independence, it included a paragraph condemning the King for introducing slavery into the colonies and continuing the slave trade. It said: "He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's [sic] most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither." Unfortunately, this paragraph was dropped from the final draft because it was offensive to the delegates from Georgia and South Carolina.