Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Is the Gospel Powerful Enough to Bring Contentment?

Recently, in my study of 1 Timothy, I grappled with the teaching in chapter 6 about how Christian slaves should live. It challenged me. Why didn’t Paul come right out and denounce slavery? Why didn’t Jesus condemn it? Why the instruction on how to live as a slave?

The Bible does speak against slavery in several ways. Even in 1 Timothy (1:10) Paul included slave traders with murderers, adulterers, and perverts as rebels who oppose the gospel. In the Old Testament, a fugitive slave wasn’t to be returned to his master, but be given refuge (Deuteronomy 23:15). To kidnap a human and sell him to another was deserving of the death penalty (Exodus 21:14). Mistreatment of slaves was forbidden (Exodus 21:20). Those commands alone show the ungodliness of the slavery practiced in American history, and the human trafficking that occurs today.

Still, the fact that the New Testament focuses more on how to please God as a slave than it does condemning slavery, made me wonder. John Stott addressed it this way: “The main reason is that slavery was deeply embedded in the structures of Greco-Roman society….to dismantle slavery all at once would have brought about the collapse of society.” 

Perhaps a vital truth is being emphasized, over above an obvious evil. Since believers are called to a life of quiet, peaceful obedience (1 Tim. 2:2, Rom. 13:1-2), job #1 for the Christian slave was not rebellion, but pleasing God even in that difficult situation.

If overthrowing social structures is not the first order of business for the church, how does this apply to other issues we face? What about homosexuality? Because the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong, Christians might be tempted to respond by vigorously opposing the removal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, or angrily warring against gay marriage, or by mistreating, denouncing, or ignoring gay people. A more Christ-like response would be to treat homosexuals you know with dignity and love.

The reality is that the power of the gospel should transform you. The gospel is not the weapon to use so that you can forcefully change others, or change your society, or even change your situation. When the gospel transforms you, it will be demonstrated in how you respond to whatever circumstance you are in. That is the message of Philippians 4 “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”