URC Daily Devotion Monday 6 October 2025

1 Timothy 6: 1 – 2

Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed.  Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved.

Reflection
Fortunately, I needn’t worry about how to behave towards someone who has enslaved me nor what advice to give an enslaved person about their relationship with their enslaver, since my church does not include both enslaved people and their “owners” as members, but that’s not the whole story.

Paul, says one recent writer (Dick France), ‘is almost obsessively concerned that the behaviour of Christians should not bring the gospel into disrepute.’ How Jesus’s followers behave towards others affects how people perceive Jesus; how they see God.

All are worthy of our respect for they are creatures made and  loved by God. Some are also our siblings in Christ – fellow family members. You wouldn’t expect to get away with something in the workplace just because your manager is a fellow church member; it wouldn’t be fair to them. And if others got to hear that this is how Christian church members behave …

Of course, what’s true for workers, the humble, and the enslaved also holds good for managers, the mighty and slaveholders. Everyone over whom they have authority is to be honoured as a person beloved by God, and some as fellow members of the Jesus family.

I really wish Paul had been asked to comment about this side of things. I’m sure he would have said that “owners” had to treat their slaves justly since all are God’s fellow creatures, and some are “family” members. If pushed, though, might he not also have questioned whether it is really possible to honour someone if you enslave them?

When a system is intrinsically wrong no amount of good behaviour redeems it. To attempt that brings the gospel into disrepute. Paul’s advice is that there is  a gospel imperative for individuals to behave well towards others. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see some gospel-related wider issues.

Prayer
O God, help us honour all people since they are loved by you, not forgetting our Jesus-family friends. And when it’s needed, give us courage to change anything that would prevent us from doing so. Amen.