Ephesians 6:5-9

          The context for this passage begins back at Eph. 5:15.  Believers are to walk in wisdom being filled with the Spirit.  The believer, with the knowledge of Biblical truth, has the Spirit to help apply that truth in specific situations.  One we have seen this in the home and now in the workplace.  Also the context speaks of submission as an attitude that is consistent with the life where the Spirit controls (5:21).  This was evident in marriage and in the training of children; here the same word and attitude is called for in the relationship of servants and masters.

          The passage relates today to the relationship of an employee with his supervisor or employer.  Note that in v8 the application was said to apply whether he is a slave or free.  We may not use the term slave today in the workplace but we still have a calling to work under the authority of others.

          Vs. 5-8 speak to the one under authority.  He is to be obedient, the same term used of children in 6:1, and also a term used by the centurion in Matt. 8:9.  Again, we shy away from this word in our society, but the believer is called to it at work.  He is to hear (be a good listener) and heed (seek to carry out what he has heard.

          As with children and the rest of Scripture, so here, the servant is to have a good attitude. 

¨     Fear and trembling mean he is to be serious and meticulous about his obedience, knowing that he is accountable.

¨     Sincerity of heart means he has integrity.  Though his master may not know his heart Christ does and this integrity is to be as to Christ.

¨     Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers refers, of course, to the practice of some to work hard only when someone is watching.  Again the correction for this involves the believer’s need to do his work for the Lord and not for men.  The ultimate accountability is with the Lord as He is the One who rewards us (v8).

          Several important cross-references remind believers that this applies when he works for another believer (1 Tim. 6:1-2) and when he works for a master who is inconsiderate or harsh (1 Peter 2:18-20).

          The final verse of our passage applies the principle of submission to the master.  In Paul’s day masters had great authority.  Sometimes it included power of life and death over slaves.  Furthermore the common practice was to be harsh and to take every opportunity to cheat or deprive a slave of wages.  Instead the master is to have the same do-it-for-the-Lord attitude the slaves are to have.  Rather than using harsh threats the believing masters are to submit themselves to their own Master in heaven who is always fair and just.  A reading of Job 31:13-15 gives a good idea of the concerns of a godly master in the workplace.

          Ask the Lord to convict you of unbiblical relationships in the workplace.  Be committed to letting your light shine there as well as everywhere else that fellow-workers might glorify God.