After a longer passage and heavy details about church elders last week, we turn our attention to the matter of slavery. Not an issue that we face directly here in Canada, of course, but underlying the specifics of Paul’s counsel to the Ephesian church are principles around how Christians ought to relate to one another, especially in complex relationships like the master-slave ones of that historical period. The reality is that Christians can be hard on each other for no particular reason. There seems to be a correlation between the level of contempt we display and the closeness of the relationship. We reserve our most intense disrespect and disagreement for those we say we love the most. I’d dismiss this as so much nonsense, but I’ve been a pastor too long to do that. I’ve seen it too often. Christians treat other Christians horribly. And weirdly, this week’s passage (1 Timothy 6:1-2b) on the master-slave relationship is going to help us be less like that. I am looking forward to working on it with you this Sunday.

Series: The Good Fight (1 Timothy)
Message: 15 – Serve All The Better
Text: 1 Timothy 6:1-2b
Todd Dugard
Harvest Bible Chapel
August 3, 2025

We tend to treat those closest to us with the greatest contempt.

I must give careful attention to my relationships with fellow believers…

...honouring those who may be hard to honour (v. 1a)

Though the apostle did not argue against slavery, his teaching in 1 Timothy 6:2a was unheard of in his day. In ancient Rome, slaves obviously had a lower social status. Yet Paul says a slave’s work benefits his master, making him equal to him in the good he can do. Passages like this eventually led certain men in the West to fight for the abolition of slavery, and the gospel’s absence in other parts of the world may help explain why some nations still practice slavery today.
— Ligonier

...ensuring I’m not dishonouring the Lord and his Word (v. 1b)

reviled: Βλασφημία (to blaspheme) – to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation; to defame
— L&N 33.400.

O Lord, everything good in me is due to you. The rest is my fault.
— Augustine

The calling of all Christians is to magnify the supreme lordship of Christ by the way we serve in subordinate lordships.
— John Piper

Q. How and why did God create us?
A: God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.
— New City Catechism

Romans 15:18-20

…always serving as best I can (v. 2a)

1 Corinthians 10: 31b

…knowing we’re bound together in the love of Christ (v. 2b)

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
―Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

John 13:35

Resources:
Christian Slaves and Masters
https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/christian-slaves-and-masters

Our Master in Heaven
https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-ephesians/our-master-in-heaven/

Slavery and Christ’s Supreme Lordship - How to Live Under Human Authority
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/slavery-and-christs-supreme-lordship