Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ

Colossians 3: 22-24

For two days in a row now, we’ve encountered some controversial ideas for us today, In the passage above Paul directs “bondservant” to be obedient to their earthly masters. First of all, most of us would likely take issue with the idea of servants and masters, but notice that Paul doesn’t condone slavery, but he does describe how a servant should respond to his master.

None of us are servants or slaves, but many of us are employees and there we find the application of these verses today.

It has often been said that our true character is exposed when we think we are alone and no one is watching. A person lacking in character puts on a good show for the boss when he is around. He or she is a people pleaser. Have you known anyone like that? Ever been that person?

The solution Paul describes is being a faithful, hard-woking servant whether the master is around or not. We are to work with all our heart as if we are working to please our Lord and that is the point after all.

What kind of employee are you? How would others describe your work ethic? Do you “work heartily, as for the Lord” or just put in your hours to do the bare minimum? It seems to me that these kinds of ethics work their way into every area of our lives. What do you think?