"All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against."
- I Timothy 6:1
If I'm reading this right Paul is saying that the honor and reputation of the Word of God is more important than the freedom of slaves that are believers in Christ.
Would you agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think.
PS I don't think this is a case for dismissing Christian Social Action
1 comment:
Very interesting.
I was recently thinking about something similar.
James 2:27 - well known verse about "pure religion" being "looking after widows and orphans and keeping oneself unstained by the world." That verse is often used as a proof-text for a social-justice heavy Christianity.
But, thinking of the context. That is James writing to the Jerusalem church. One of the most paradigm changing events in the life of the Jerusalem church (prior to persecution) was Acts 6:1-7 where the widows were not being looked after and the apostles appointed people to look after them so that the apostles could spend their time "giving themselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer."
Soooo.... I was trying to think of if those two related. Maybe if we locate James 2:27 in the context of the experience of the Jerusalem church, we realize that what James was exhorting the church to was caring for the widows and orphans and restraining themselves from sin SO THAT the ministry of the Word could continue. Therefore James 2:27 isn't so much a social justice verse as it is a verse that points us to realize that caring for widows and orphans and staying away from sin is only profitable to the point that it furthers the ministry of the Word.
Thoughts?
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