“ Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
-Colossians 3:22-4:1
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BIBLICAL LIVING 101 - Work part 4 (HR & Payroll)
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Last week, we talked about finding the right vocation. This week, let’s dig a little deeper into what the word of God has to say about the Workplace itself, from the perspectives of both employer and employed, to learn God’s way of doing work right - not just morally, as we might expect ( stewardship ) but as EFFICIENTLY as possible!
We already have discovered several key principles so far in this series, here’s a quick recap:
1. HR - No discrimination on type of work by gender. The Lord is an equal opportunity employer and both men and women can work at anything they choose.
2. HR/Payroll - No discrimination in wages by gender. Woman created as equal partner of man to assist in all his work, and given all the same benefits.
3. HR - 1 day per week - MANDATORY time off. Applicable to both employer and employee.
4. A key Insight - A vocation is not a curse, it is meant to be satisfying. Working to feed ourselves also has a beneficial effect - it keeps us so busy, we do not have too much idle time to sin. That, coupled with a limited human lifespan is the Lord’s strategy for minimizing the amount of mischief a person can get up to in his/her lifetime. This reduces, by a LOT, the price to be paid for sin when you consider it includes billions of people!
5. We made a key distinction between 3 things - the heavenly calling/election ( Apostle/Priest ) applicable to all believers , our vocation ( our work for food ) and being individually chosen for a mission ( specific predetermined work for God ). 99.999....% of us do not have to worry about the last one- and even the .001% shouldn’t worry either, because the Lord sovereignly controls.
When we look at employment in the Bible, there are several kinds,
One, what we think is “normal” : work-for-hire/contract labor. “Hired servant”, “laborer”, “daily wage earner “ (and others like it) are terms that are used for this in the Old & New Testaments. These are the ones we will focus on, two other kinds are mentioned for clarity. Servanthood, stewardship, the duties of an employer, are all in view in this first category. Christ came to serve, not be served!
Two, Bonded labor. A person voluntarily enters into a contract to work for a certain period in lieu of the bond-holder providing food and shelter. This is the “missionary”. For most bonded, the call is lifelong. Paul referred to himself as the bond-servant of Christ.
Three, Slave labor. We have been conditioned to think of this as involuntary - it may surprise you to know that it was common for people to voluntarily sell themselves or their children to discharge debts. ( Lev 25:39,47, Matt 18:25 )
Kidnapping or man-stealing to sell as slaves is condemned by God, and is a CAPITAL OFFENCE. Deuteronomy 24:7 (NKJV): “If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.” ( Also check out 1 Tim 1:10, Revelation 18:13 to see that He is CONSISTENT!)
Joseph, ( a type of Christ ) was sold into slavery by his brothers. In Leviticus, we see Christ voluntarily piercing his ear to the door of the doorpost to say , He Loves His Master, and is willing to yield His freedom in His Masters service for the wife and children He has been given. ( Lev 21:5,6 ).
The Law regulates and puts a very “liberal/humane” and JUST set of rules to help Israel set an example to other nations that lacked those scruples. A lot of those principles translate across all 3 forms of employment ( e.g. day off applies to all, including work animals), some are specific to each kind. Slaves could own slaves themselves, and were admitted into all the social and religious privileges of the household ( including priests - their slaves could eat of temple offerings!). In Gal 3:28 God tells us, there is no distinction between slave and free. We cannot go more in-depth here, but it is a very rewarding study, and we have touched on some of those topics in our series on the Law.
Getting back to work let’s discuss salary! After all, isn’t that the thing uppermost on our minds? What about wages?
Jeremiah 22:13 (NKJV): “ Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness an nd his chambers by injustice, — Who uses his neighbor’s service without wages And gives him nothing for his work, “. Laborers are worthy of their hire.Even an ox is allowed to eat from the corn that he is treading ( Profit sharing ? ).
Deuteronomy 24:14–15 (NKJV): “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or -one of the aliens- who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.”
Employers of immigrant labor - are you listening?
Malachi 3:5 (NKJV): “And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness, Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who -turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.”
We told you reading the Word is going to put us either in line with, or opposed to politics. Just the last text alone should give you a view into the perspective our Lord has on the gravity of specific sins -and you can pick your issue - Teachers wages, undocumented labor, immigration/a giant wall/convoy of the needy, welfare, collapse of the legal system due to the systematic infusion of tolerance for lies ( “ I have no recollection “ ), lies in the public/political domain, marriage outside wedlock, and dabbling with spiritual forces we don’t understand. We need to exercise wisdom and discretion, sound judgment, tempered with compassion - when dealing with these issues, and the Word has wisdom for us!
Stand up for what you are rightfully owed, and do your job AS IF God is your boss. ( We know this is unpopular).
Colossians 3:22–4:1 (NKJV): Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
Let us see Christ as boss...
Luke 10:5–7 (NKJV): But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And REMAIN in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. DO NOT go from house to house.”
Christ is instructing His disciples how to do their calling , vocation & mission. A, they are to go out into the world from city to city. B, God will lead them to houses containing “sons of peace”. C, Christ makes sure that the disciples behave as good guests, forbidding them to stay at any other houses. Practical advice ( limited # of peaceful houses ), as well as ensuring that the disciples would demonstrate their words with their walk. Last, but not least, the disciples are allowed to eat WHATEVER is set before them ! Bread and gruel to champagne and caviar. Nothing is excluded, why? Because they are WORTHY of the work they are doing ! https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t4c/1/16/1f642.png");">?
Want more ? ... we will leave you with this.
Romans 4:4-8 (NKJV): “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
In the epistle to the Romans, the apostle lays out the grand doctrine of justification by faith alone, without the necessity of works. That is Path B, which he goes on to expound at length, beyond this verse. In path B, all a person has to do is sincerely believe.
Verse 4 ( the very first verse ) however talks about Path A, NOT addressed in his exposition. Wages of One who is working! He says God reckons these wages as DEBT, OVER AND ABOVE GRACE! Christ’s Wages erase our sin debt - but our loving labors for the Lord are reckoned as work for which WE will receive wages- food in this world, rewards in the next - and the Lord is keeping track of his debts!
Hallelujah!