‹ Back

1 Timothy 6:1 "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed."

 

It is passages like this that many point to when they criticize the Bible and Christianity.* People say things like: How could Paul expect slaves to honor their masters? He's condoning slavery! He's perpetuating a system that treats people as chattel! But Paul is not condoning slavery, he is promoting the Gospel. I wrote about this verse in If You Want Justice, Work for Peace (and Trust God), and I won't go over everything I said there again, but I am noticing this time that Paul says slaves are under "the yoke of slavery." A yoke is something that constrains us and allows others to lead us, perhaps where we do not want to go. It is something human beings naturally tend to rebel against, and if we see others under a very obvious yoke, like slavery, we think that is an easy call - the yoked are the oppressed "good guys" and those yoking them are the oppressive "bad guys". This is too simplistic a view of the world, and is not the truth.

 

Slavery is wrong, absolutely. Can we admit, though, that we are all slaves to something? That we are all born into slavery to sin? That is what original sin is. If one finds it's oneself enslaved, as we all are, how should one behave? That is what Paul is getting at here. Even though he is talking about actual slavery, we can read his words to instruct us as to how to behave under the slavery of our own particular yoke. There are slaves who will use their yoke as an excuse to justify any kind of wicked behavior, up to and including murder. That is wrong, and their behavior should be condemned, even if we understand their anger and resentment, and even if their masters are also worthy of condemnation.

 

We are all yoked to something, we all are slaves to sin. The only One who can free us from our yokes is Jesus Christ, who has a yoke of His own for us, one that is easy, light, and will lead us where we were always meant to be. Jesus did not say He would relieve us of our yoke, but He walks with us as we struggle with it, helping us bear it and leading us in the right way, the way that subverts the intent of the one who thinks he's driving! Jesus took up His own yoke in His Passion and showed us how to walk with ours. He wants us, with His help, to reject the yokes we put on ourselves, like addiction, pursuit of money and comfort, etc., and to accept as crosses the yokes over which we have no control, giving them all over to Him so He can take the burden from our shoulders and use those yokes to bring us and others to His Father.

 

Even the yoke of slavery can be used for good. Paul is telling us how to behave under our yokes for the betterment of our souls and the souls of the ones who have placed them on us. He is not condoning slavery, he is reminding us how Jesus wants us to act under its yoke.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

*For example, I recently heard Bill Maher bring up the Bible condoning slavery as an excuse to think of it as nonsense. The whole discussion is worth listening to, from about 9:21.