Adorning the Gospel | Titus 2:9-10

What does the average unbelieving man or woman

in America think of the church today? The average

unbelieving man or woman in America, what do

they think of the church today? Some interesting

statistics came out recently from the Pew Research

Center, and I always like to see those types

of reports to see what's happening in our world.

In 2014, 2014, 63 % of Americans held a mostly

favorable view of churches in our country. And

I don't know if that encourages you, but actually

if you think about it, that's not a great number.

Six out of 10, not a great number. But can I

now share with you, it's gotten much worse over

the past 10 years. Much worse. That number has

now fallen to 51%. So just about half of Americans,

let me translate, 170 million people. in this

country no longer have a positive view of the

church. And in a similar trend, which probably

surprises nobody, the reputation of church leaders

has also spiraled down quite a bit. Now, I'm

sure there's all kinds of reasons for this. Part

of it is just this weird era we're living in

where, in general, we are losing trust in our

institutions. You can feel that trend happening

today. But it does make you pause and think,

what have we done or not done as Christians that

have caused our fellow citizens to have this

perception of the church? So in our call to worship

that we read just a moment ago from the Sermon

on the Mount, we heard Jesus say that we are

supposed to be the salt of the earth. Salt of

the earth. That means we're to enhance the flavor

of life in the midst of this fallen world. We're

to be flavor enhancers, showing the people. how

good and precious it is to live a godly life.

But then Jesus said, if that salt loses its saltiness,

its taste, then it's good for what? For absolutely

nothing. Then Jesus wanted to say, look, you're

also the light of the world. That means our lives

should visibly stand out in the midst of darkness.

And that collectively, the church is supposed

to be this city on a hill, this refuge of goodness

for people to look up to and see and say, I want

to be a part of that. And the purpose of all

this, according to Jesus, is really not about

us per se. It's about making the body of Christ

visible. And when people see how we live our

lives together, the idea is that they'd be drawn

to Christ and they would glorify our Father who's

in heaven. That's the purpose. Now, I realize

that God is fully sovereign over salvation, that

he will save whom he will save, but it is also

true that by our testimony, the testimony of

our lives each and every day, God has called

us to play a role in seeing sinners come to saving

faith. Sometimes that just blows my mind, that

he would let us participate in this. The question

is how we become so much like the world that

we've lost our saltiness. Has our light grown

so dim that we no longer stand out? So here's

the point for this morning. If we love the gospel,

if we want to have a platform to share the gospel

with a lost world, then we have to demonstrate,

each one of us, what a saved life looks like.

We have to show the world the beautiful fruits

of a relationship with Jesus. If not, what we

do is we give unbelievers reasons to reject him,

reasons to dishonor our Lord. So this is important

stuff. Grab your Bibles. We're going to Titus

Titus 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. We're back there. Back in Titus after

a couple weeks of celebrating the blessed season

of Easter. And glad to be back in this very practical

chapter. Now, I don't know if you noticed it

or not as we were going through the first portions

of chapter 2, but this idea of representing the

gospel well has already been a consistent theme

in Titus 2. If you remember, Paul started out

by laying out this really important contrast

for us. At the end of chapter one, he talked

about certain men, he called them out, certain

men in the churches of Crete who said, Paul said

this of them, they profess to know God, they

claim to know him, but by their deeds, by their

lives, they what? They deny him. They profess,

they say that they trust in Christ, but by their

lives they deny him. And then listen to this.

Paul says that that disconnect between what they

say and what they do renders them, listen to

the words, detestable, disobedient, and useless,

like salt that has lost its flavor. That's important

for us to see. So the truth is, This hit me as

I was studying. Hypocrisy in the church that

we're all so familiar with today, guess what?

It was present a long time ago, all the way back

to the first century, the early parts of the

church. Hypocrisy was there. Why? Because we're

humans. But then Paul lays out the contrast at

the beginning of chapter two, saying, but as

for you, Titus, I want you to tell the believers

there in Crete that they have to be different.

They can't be like those people. They can't just

say one thing and do another. They've got to

be salty. They've got to be flavorful. They've

got to be beacons of light. And this is how I

want you to do it. And then Paul gives Titus

these instructions. I want you to start by telling

the older men to do this. And then I want you

to speak to the older women and then to the younger

women and the younger men and give them specific

aspects of what a redeemed life should look like.

and command them to live that way. Here's what's

interesting. At the end of each one of those

sections in chapter two, Paul then gives a purpose

statement for each one. I'll put them on the

screen. But if you look at verse five in your

text, after speaking to the older men and older

women, he writes, they should be this way. Why?

So that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Then if you drop down to verse 8, after addressing

the young men and the young women, he writes,

they should be that way so that the opponent

will be put to shame having nothing bad to say

about us. Purpose statements, right? This is

why you should live a godly life. This is why

what you profess should be how you live. And

then today, if you peek ahead to verse 10, we

get a third purpose statement. He wants... this

particular group, to act this way so that they

will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in

every respect. Now, who is he addressing in this

last section? Bond slaves. So look at verse nine.

We'll look at these two verses today. Verse nine,

he says, Titus, I want you to urge bond slaves

to be subject to or submissive to their own masters

in everything, to be well -pleasing, Not argumentative,

not pilfering, fancy word for stealing, but showing

all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine

of God our Savior in every respect. So what we

have here are both negative and positive reasons.

for us to live in a way that is pleasing to God

first and foremost, but second, will draw people

to the doctrine of God. Negatively, we should

live godly lives so that our hypocrisy doesn't

dishonor the word and push people away. Positively,

we should live godly lives so that we shine this

beautiful light on the truth of the gospel. It

couldn't be more clear, right? We see it all

through the New Testament, this principle. Now

I'm going to come back to these two verses because

we're going to work through them very carefully.

But first, I can't just ignore who this is addressed

to in the passage. Bond slaves. So as I promised,

promised this what, four weeks ago? Four weeks

ago? We need to talk about the Bible's view of

slavery. So this has become a very hot topic

recently, just so that you know. What the increase,

the crazy increase in theological podcasts, I'm

literally looking for people who don't have a

podcast these days. They're so... They're so

all over the place. But apologetics being done

now on social media sites like X and YouTube,

it's everywhere. And the boldness of our enemies

in criticizing our faith is also growing. So

you've got this group of hostile people who are

pointing the finger at the Bible and claiming

that God condones of slavery, that he actually

approves of the moral evil of slavery, and therefore

their conclusion is, your God cannot be a moral

God. That argument is all over the place right

now. So it's good for us to be able to understand

the topic, address the subject, both for our

own peace of mind, but also so that we can give

an answer to people who attack the character

of the scripture. So look, I have limited time

today, but what I'm gonna try to do is walking

through a logical perspective on slavery in the

Bible. And we'll start with this very important

statement. Because of sin, We'll start there.

Because of sin and the fallen state of our world,

slavery is absolutely ubiquitous in human history.

It is everywhere. In every history book, in every

civilization, it is as universal and pervasive

as war. Between human civilizations, between

conquest and colonization, every general category

of people on the planet has been on both ends

of slavery. Sometimes having slaves, sometimes

being slaves. You just can't find people groups

that haven't been a part of that. So no, when

people say, you know, the early American colonists

invented slavery, don't laugh at them, but don't

let that stand. It's not even by a long shot,

right? In fact, slavery is not unique to any

single culture or civilization. And this is a

very, very important fact to know. The rules

and the customs of slavery throughout history

were not the same. Depending on the time, depending

upon the culture, depending upon the civilization,

all the customs of slavery look very, very differently.

Each civilization had its own version of slavery,

and therefore, we have to make sure we judge

each one based on those particular customs. By

the way, you should know that slavery has not

disappeared from the earth. It is still with

us in huge numbers. Today, there's somewhere

around 50 million people in the world who are

not free. victims of human trafficking, of forced

labor, of sex work, and a quarter of those are

children. Think about that. Women and girls make

up more than half of the slaves in the world

today. And the biggest perpetrators? Well, the

short list is India, first of all, China, North

Korea, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, and the

Congo. And you might be surprised to know that

the longest running, most expansive slave trade

was run by not Europeans, but Arab Muslims. Very

few people know this. Beginning in the 7th century

and running all the way into the 20th century,

Arab slavers have captured more slaves from all

over the world than any other people group. So

the history of slavery is quite muddy, but it's

been everywhere. Now, the biggest challenge those

of us in the West face when we look at the Bible

and try to discern its position on slavery is

the cultural baggage that we bring to the text,

right? Based on our experience and what we're

taught about slavery in this country. So for

us as Americans, we all have the same picture

in our minds when we think about the slavery

that took place in the American South. during

the colonial period. And that has been drilled

into our heads as students in school, and rightfully

so, because it's a dark stain on the history

of our country and a dark stain on the history

of our people. What took place in the American

slavery experience is called chattel slavery.

Let me try to define that. First of all, it involved

taking people from Africa and forcibly kidnapping

them, often separating them from their families.

taking them out of their homeland, importing

them to a foreign country, just that, imagine

the horror of that, of being forcibly taken and

separated from your loved ones. If they survived

being carried across the ocean, once they arrived,

they were utterly dehumanized, treated as property,

stripped of their rights, subjected to brutal

living conditions, and used as forced labor for

life with no hope of ever being freed. The other

thing that's unique and horrible about the American

chattel system is that it's rooted in racial

superiority and economic exploitation. That's

why we call it such a dark period in our history.

Now, why do I feel the need? I know that makes

us uncomfortable, doesn't it? Why do I feel the

need to share it? Because our enemies, what they

will do is they will cherry pick verses out of

the Bible, rip them out of their historical context,

and then try to say that the slavery in the Bible

is the same thing as American chattel slavery.

But it isn't. Those comparisons are not accurate.

That is so important to understand. So we need

to show people why they shouldn't impose their

conception of slavery and lay it on the scriptures.

Does that make sense? Okay, good. Now, obviously,

the Bible acknowledges the existence of slavery.

It responds to slavery. But there's no justifiable

reason to claim that the Bible approves of slavery.

There's no reason for that. As if it's morally

good or even morally neutral. It's always important

to recognize that when the Bible describes aspects

of human history, it doesn't necessarily mean

divine approval. Did you catch that? When it

describes human history, it doesn't mean divine

approval. So, for example, when actions like

going to war are described in the Bible or divorce

in the Bible or engaging in polygamy, those things

are documented for our edification, but we shouldn't

reflexively say, well, then God must approve

of them or God must condone them. And here's

the truth. There are valid historical reasons

for God making concessions, concessions for such

things at certain times in human history. And

I'll explain as we go along. In terms of the

Old Testament era, it's important to remember

that slave ownership was practiced in the ancient

Near East long before Moses came on the scene.

Long before the law was established, slavery

was everywhere. So the law that was given to

Israel neither instituted slavery nor ended it.

Instead, what God did was he regulated. slavery

through Moses, providing instructions for how

slaves should be treated. Why? So that Israel

would be different from the surrounding nations.

That's a big part of the law, right? And in the

surrounding nations, in fact, in the entire rest

of the world, slaves were absolutely brutalized,

had no rights whatsoever. And the reason for

the concession of slavery in that day was very,

very simple. It was a tool to help the poor survive.

Let me say it again. In many cases in Old Testament

Israel, the reason for that concession was it

was a tool to help people survive under harsh

conditions. It's very similar to the concession

that God gives about polygamy. We talk, why is

there polygamy in the Old Testament? Well, because

in that day, in that context, that history, women

needed the protection and provision of a man

to make it through life. And guess who got killed

in wars? Mainly men. So there'd be fewer men

than women, so polygamy became necessary. Otherwise,

you were going to have women just dying because

they're unable to fend for themselves. So does

God approve of it? Not necessarily. Does he make

a concession for the sake of survival? Yes, he

does. Does that make sense? And the fact is,

in ancient agrarian societies, it was often hard

to survive. So sometimes a person would literally

sell themselves into slavery. They would sell

themselves, what we would call indentured servitude,

for a couple reasons. Maybe to pay off a debt.

Maybe just so they have basic sustenance. And

sometimes a man would have to make a horrible

decision and sell a child into servitude in order

to save the entire family from starving. And

the hope was with the law and the protections

of the law that they could sell that child into

slavery and that child would actually be better

off with a more wealthy family and be provided

for and protected. Now, as I say that, I know

that sounds terrible. To our modern ear, that

sounds awful. But that highlights the exact problem

we have with trying to interpret a text that

is 3 ,500 years old. without laying our moral

standards from our day on top of the text. Now,

what the Old Testament describes is very different

and far better than the American chattel system.

First of all, it was often contractual and temporary.

It wasn't for life. Second, it came with built

-in protections for the servant. For example,

Hebrew slaves were only to serve for six years.

And on the seventh year, they were to be set

free. And you know what? The reality is, in some

cases, they didn't want to be set free. They

wanted to stay there because it was easier to

be a household servant and be provided for by

the master rather than being thrown out there

and having to fend for themselves. So it's more

complicated than the American experience. And

the law made sure that slaves were treated well.

Even when they were released, the law said, if

I release a slave, Not to just send them out

empty -handed. I'm to give them provisions, resources,

so that they don't fall right back into poverty.

So God regulated this carefully. Now, does that

mean there was no abuse in the system? Of course

not. Of course not. Would there have been slaves

that were treated poorly? Obviously, because

that's human nature. Were sometimes slaves taken

in wars, foreigners that were brought in and

treated poorly because they weren't Israelites?

I'm sure that's true. Again, all of that is part

of the sad truth of human nature. The system

isn't ideal. Again, it was a concession that

God made for the fallen world. But still, the

law in Israel provided options for people in

the midst of hardship, and it was far more humane.

than slavery in any other culture of the ancient

Near East. You tracking? This is important. Interestingly,

the Old Testament law is clear, very clear about

one of the most vile characteristics of American

chattel slavery. According to Exodus 21, the

capturing or kidnapping of people and selling

them into slavery was punishable by death. punishable

by death if you kidnap someone and force them

into slavery. And by the way, very few people

know this. This shows up in the New Testament

as well. Paul lays this out in 1 Timothy 1, 9

and 10. He includes in this list of some of the

most grievous sins, including murder, he includes

kidnappers or enslavers as a part of that list.

So any version of slavery that matches what happened

in the American chattel system in the South,

is clearly condemned in Scripture. I have to

say that very clearly. The conditions we see

in the American experience, clearly condemned

in Scripture. Everybody hear that? Okay, good.

Got really serious in here. Now, when we come

to the New Testament era, the historical situation,

again, is unique, and we have to treat it as

unique. Slavery in the Roman Empire was incredibly

widespread. I should have had a map for you on

this, right? This would have been the moment.

Excuse me. So estimates are that, get this, a

third of the people living in the Roman Empire

were living in some form of slavery or servanthood.

A third. Do you know how many people that is?

You've seen how expansive the Roman Empire is.

Many were taken slaves by virtue of being conquered

by Rome. which again separates it from the American

experience. Slavery in Rome was not based on

race or ethnicity. If you were conquered, didn't

matter what color you were, you were gonna be

a slave or a servant. Like the Old Testament

era, some people in the empire volunteered themselves

into servitude because it was either a way to

survive and catch this, in the Roman system,

for some people, it was actually a way to find

more opportunities to better oneself. Yeah, slavery,

to better oneself. So some slaves could be found

working in the fields. That's very common. Some

were trained as gladiators. Some were tradesmen,

able to serve wealthy families by doing a trade.

Many were domestic workers. It's true that many

of the girls became prostitutes. Some were children,

and this was common in the Roman Empire. They'd

been abandoned at birth and left on the streets

to die, and they would be picked up and, air

quotes, rescued into slavery. But at least they

would survive and be cared for. Some were promising

young men who went to elite families and sold

themselves into servitude for the purpose of

learning things like accounting, things like

medicine, things like politics. So the point

is, in the Roman system, there's this wide discrepancy

in what a slave or servant looked like. Some

slaves did nothing but hard labor all their lives.

Others actually became quite wealthy and powerful.

We know stories of slaves who rose up in a household,

ran their master's business, got their own families,

had their own children, their own pieces of land,

and became very powerful within the Roman Empire.

So there was mistreatment, but others were treated

very well. So the conditions you faced as a slave

in the Roman Empire depended upon the personality

of your master and the whims of your master,

and there's this huge discrepancy. from one end

to the other. So when the enemies of Christianity

ask, well, why didn't the New Testament writers

just blanket condemn slavery as a moral evil

and say it must be done away with? That is really

the big question that people are asking. Well,

this is part of the answer. The characteristics

of slavery in that time weren't universal enough

to just allow for one simple sweeping reform.

It just wasn't that simple. In many cases, banishing

slavery at that time would have been disastrous

because the entire Roman economic system depended

on the work of servants. Imagine this. You immediately,

you overthrow slavery in the Roman Empire. Immediately,

a third of the population has no work, nowhere

to go, and no way to provide for themselves.

That type of thing would have been catastrophic.

Millions would have actually starved to death.

if that had happened. So rather than attack slavery

as an institution, what God does is he allows

this concession for the fallenness of mankind,

and then, this is the beautiful part, from within,

he seeks to reorder the relationship between

slaves and masters and to provide certain protections

for his people who are caught up in it. In other

words, we're gonna undermine the institution

of slavery from inside. This seems to be God's

plan. So consider the power of this verse from

Galatians 3. We know this verse, right? Imagine

if you're a slave and you read this. You're all

sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For

all of you who are baptized into Christ have

clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither

Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free

man. Fascinating. So this verse represents the

heart of how the gospel transforms everything.

Being found in Christ breaks down all these man

-made barriers, including barriers of race and

social status. Now, even though that's true,

does that mean that every societal problem is

just gonna be, you know, cease to exist? Of course

not. What it means, though, is that in the kingdom

of God, no person is valued more than another

based on their earthly identity or rank. And

that changes everything. Sometimes we forget

how radically, I'll use the word, radically progressive

the gospel was in ancient times. It transformed

everything. It, through relationships, turned

them upside down and made people think. Very,

very important. Now, we know from places like

Colossians 3 and Ephesians 6 and 1 Timothy 6

and the entire book of Philemon that Paul repeatedly

commands a whole new perspective. for both masters

and slaves, telling both sides, both sides, reminding

them of their obligations before the Lord. And

being more concerned about Christian character

within social structures than overturning them,

Paul commands slaves, first of all, to render

good service to your masters, to be submissive,

to do good work. But then, and this was shocking

for this day, he turns to masters and says, and

you, Christian masters, have to treat your slaves

carefully and humanely. He even warns them in

Colossians 4 .1. He says, masters, grant your

slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you

too have a master in heaven. Ah, lest you think

you're this free man who can do as he wants,

you have a master in heaven who's always watching.

To Philemon, and I recommend you read the book.

It's fascinating. Paul writes and encourages

this friend of his, Philemon, to welcome back

a man named Onesimus, who was a runaway slave.

And the whole theme of the book is biblical love.

Paul calls Onesimus my child. This runaway slave

calls him my child, calls him my very heart.

He points out to his friend Philemon, who is

a slave owner. that this brother, Onesimus, is

now better than a slave. I know he ran away from

you, but now that he's a Christian, he's better

than a slave. He's a brother in Christ. And so

he says to Philemon, I want you to receive him

back like you would receive me. That turns everything

upside down, doesn't it? So all of that was designed

to encourage Philemon, basically, to move towards

setting this man free. So Paul upsets the apple

cart. In terms of just pure practical advice,

Paul mentions to the Corinthian church, to the

slaves there, he says, look, if you got saved

when you were a slave, it's okay to be content

in that position. Serve your master well, but

if you can get free, get free. Good advice, right?

And then he levels the playing field for all

believers, writing this, for he who was called

in the Lord while a slave is free in the Lord.

Likewise, who he was called while free is Christ's

slave. Playing field level. Friends, understand

how radical these words were for that day. How

radically progressive they were. And here's the

thing. The New Testament writers, the New Testament

writers did not see themselves as agents of sweeping

political change or even social change. That

was not their goal. Their aim was transformation

of the human heart, one person at a time, one

body of Christ at a time. That's what they were

after. But of course, over time, those small

changes in the hearts of men and women, in the

hearts of churches, gradually impacts cities

and cultures and countries and policies. And

that's eventually what we see in the abolition

movements in the West. first in the UK and then

in the US. Seeds are planted in the New Testament

that later would grow into movements for freedom

and equality and justice and human rights for

all human beings. So never let our enemies forget

this. The abolition of slavery in the West did

not come out of secularism. It was not a secular

invention. It was a movement led by Bible -believing

Christians. The moral foundation for those things,

freedom, equality, and human dignity comes from

the Bible. Not from the world, from the Bible.

The Bible is the very reason why slavery was

eventually overthrown here in America. Amen?

Okay, deep breath. I know that's a very cursory

look at this issue. And I can see the emails

coming this week. It's good. If you have questions,

let me know. Reach out. We can sit down. buy

me a coffee, right? We can sit down, we can talk

about it. But now we need to get back to Titus

2. Can we do that? Okay. In light of what we

just talked about, let's look again at these

verses as Paul addresses Christian slaves in

Crete, verse 9. By the way, before I do that.

Spurgeon commented on this text. I thought, you

know, it's good to get a Spurgeon quote in here.

Here's what he wrote. He says, which they were.

That's what we're about to get into in verse

nine. Let's look at verse nine again. Paul starts

by writing, hey Titus, I want you to urge or

exhort bond slaves. Now, just stop, I'm sorry,

we're gonna stop right there. I want you to think,

maybe this question comes to mind, maybe it doesn't,

but let me ask it. Does that initial phrase,

urge bond slaves, does that mean that slaves

would have been present in the life of the church

in Crete right alongside men and women who were

free? Absolutely. Does that mean that there would

have been slaves present with people who owned

slaves? Absolutely. The answer is yes. So while

that, because of our American experience, that

is so hard for us to picture, the evidence indicates

that in first century Greco -Roman churches in

the West, they were socially mixed like this.

Both Jew and Gentile, worshiping side by side.

People said it couldn't be done, but it was happening.

And slave and free. worshiping side by side.

Now, was it always easy? Probably not. Were there

probably some issues? Absolutely, because we're

human beings. But it was made possible by the

nature of the gospel. The social status of being

a slave or a master was a secondary issue to

early Christians. What mattered most was they

were found in Christ. So regardless of their

social condition, that's my brother, that's my

sister. It levels the playing field. In fact,

It's likely, and I don't have actual evidence

for this, but it's likely that you could have

a slave, an indentured servant probably, in a

local church who was an elder with spiritual

authority over a slave owner in the church. That's

how radical the gospel was in that day. Just

another proof, by the way, that New Testament

slavery is not the same thing as American chattel

slavery because that would never, ever happen

in the American South. You with me? Okay, now,

when we look at this text, it's really hard to

make application with this because I don't expect

anybody here to ever be a slave. But the church,

gosh, that was bad. I got nothing from that.

The church has traditionally talked about New

Testament passages like this one, and it's in

multiple books. in terms of modern -day employment.

Now, it's not a perfect parallel, right? But

there are some similarities between you or I

taking a job today and somebody in the first

century who would have sold themselves into indentured

servanthood. There are some parallels. It's not

a perfect analogy, but regardless of that, it's

always good for us to consider our lives and

employment. and to ask the hard questions about

whether we're being salt and light in our workplace.

So that's what we're going to do. And this is

where we should start, because here's the thing,

you guys. For most of us, our workplace is probably

going to be the most common place where we find

ourselves in evangelistic situations. That's

probably, for most of us, the most consistent

mission field that we will have. And that means

we all have a huge responsibility to be a testimony

to Christ in those places. Now, I know that the

market's changed in the last 10 years or so,

so I know a lot of you got, used to be, I'm gonna

sound like an old guy, back in my day, we went

to an office to work. It was amazing. Like nine

or 10 hours in an office or at least some type

of place of work. And you ended up spending a

lot of time with your coworkers. A lot of it

was work, but some of it was casual conversation.

opportunity to share the gospel. And so we take

that seriously. And so you should, if you go

to an actual place of work and you haven't thought

about it before, what a mission field you have

right in front of you each and every day. One

of the pillars of our church covenant says this,

we commit to living carefully in the world, recognizing

that we have a special obligation to lead a new

and holy life. And that is uniquely true in the

workplace. We have great opportunities. So within

this passage here in Titus 2, you see five important

principles for servants. So we're going to walk

through them. And as we do, I want you to think

about how am I operating right now in my workplace

or in my sphere of influence? Am I doing these

things that we see in this passage? And before

some of you check out, because we do this, right?

We're like, ah, it doesn't apply to me. Before

you check out, let me address some other situations.

If you primarily work from home, and you're not

doing in -person work with others, you still

have a responsibility here because you still

do have important interactions in your work where

you can shine a light. It might be with clients

or with team members. It might be on the phone.

It might be online. Maybe it's in Zoom communications,

whatever. Do not discount this passage just because

you're not in a traditional working place. In

fact, I would say to you, if you work from home,

you probably need to think outside the box in

terms of how can I create some opportunities

to be with people, right? Because we get siloed

in our home offices, right? We need to be with

people. Why? For the purpose of evangelism, for

our testimony. If you're a stay -at -home wife

slash mom, slash homeschooler, I want to remind

you, you also have a boss. And he's always with

you. I'm not talking about your husband. I'm

talking about the Lord. He's always with you,

your boss. And you have an even heightened responsibility

because the people that you oversee in your life,

those little eyes, those little ears, they see

and hear everything. So nobody gets to check

out on this. You good? Okay, principle number

one. Verse 9, be subject to or submissive to

your own masters. There's the S word again, right,

that shows up in Paul's letters. He likes to

use the word submit because so much of life is

submission. I know in our brains we immediately

go to wives, correct? But we all submit to all

kinds of things all the time. First of all, we

submit to God. But then we also submit to governing

authorities. And we submit to law enforcement.

We submit to the courts. We submit to elders

at church. Yes, wives submit to their husbands.

Children submit to their parents. And here, employees,

we submit to those whom God has put over us in

authority. Now, we've already seen in Titus 2,

the Greek word for subject to is hupotasso. As

I shared earlier, it means to order yourself

under someone of a higher rank. It's a military

term. order yourself under them, hupotasso. So

in the workplace, we voluntarily submit ourselves

to our bosses. How are you guys doing with that?

Good? Sure. Now, the phrase in everything should

be qualified by everything that doesn't require

disobedience to God, right? Or everything that

doesn't violate my conscience based on scripture.

So if your boss orders you to lie, or to go into

dishonest business practices, you have every

right to say, I can't do that. But other than

that, and that's usually a rare occurrence, we're

to do as we're told. Now, as I say that, having

been an employee for many, many, many years in

my life, I know how many thoughts and feelings

come to our mind in terms of the temptation to

disobey those who are in authority over us. We

think things like, well, look, My boss hasn't

earned my respect. Or I don't think my boss really

knows what he's doing. Or I'm pretty sure I know

a better way to do this. Or my boss isn't as

kind or sensitive to me as I think he should

be. Or the tasks I'm given are beneath me. And

then there's the ever -present, based on what

I'm doing, I should get paid more. Okay? Newsflash.

In every... you will ever have on this planet

Earth, there is something to complain about.

Because it's run by human beings. Trust me, I

know this because I've had some awful jobs. Not

this one, by the way. Man, I've been working

since I was 16 years old. I worked as a Little

League umpire. I worked in a machine shop. I

sold shoes in a mall. Whew, stories. I worked

a job installing lamps and ceiling fans. I've

delivered mail. I've worked as a security guard.

I've done so many crazy things. And in every

one of those jobs and more, I had many reasons

to be unhappy. The thing about our culture today

is it tends to feed grumbling. I know social

media is a part of this, right? It feeds grumbling.

We have to be careful with this as Christians.

It feeds, the culture feeds our sense of victimhood.

The response today, back in my day, you just

kind of sucked it up if work was hard. Today,

we run straight to the HR department. Christians,

too. We run straight to it. Now, don't get me

wrong. Sometimes we should take serious issues

and work through that process. But even if we

did run to HR for something, always with caution.

Why? Because our testimony is at stake. It's

not just us. We represent Christ. We're ambassadors.

So whenever possible, you want to work through

grievances and conflicts at work using biblical

principles. But we often don't think about that.

We just respond. And we respond like the world.

And we lose our salt and our light. We want to

use biblical principles. That means even in our

conflicts, we exhibit proper submission. And

we show patience and we extend grace. And we

engage in productive communication, not just,

you know, using our tongues to hurt people or

to complain. All with the hope of showing the

unbelievers around you that you are different

from others. That you don't handle things in

a selfish way or a nasty way like everybody else

in the world. We've got to be salt and light,

even in our conflicts. But submission is at the

center of all that. So let's make sure we understand.

Interesting, when Peter addresses this issue,

here's what he, he adds a condition to this in

his first epistle. He says, servants, be submissive

to your masters with all respect, not only to

those who are good and gentle, ah, but also to

those who are unreasonable. That verse hurts,

right? Because look, it's easy to be submissive

to a good boss, but even when they're unreasonable,

we have an obligation here. And if a first century

slave can do that, you can do that. Because you

actually have an advantage they didn't have.

You can walk away from your job. You can quit.

Now, if it comes to that, if that's what's best,

you need to quit a job. Even taking that step

should be done in a way that is respectful and

submissive so that the world, again, says that

guy or that girl handled that differently. They

have a different boss. Their true boss is the

Lord. They claim this as they worked here. They

profess Christ, and guess what? They lived it

out. It's beautiful. So yes, your job is primarily

about your financial needs, but there is so much

more at stake when you go to work. So much more

at stake than just the practical side of it.

So tomorrow, tomorrow's Monday, right? How many,

we love Mondays? Love them. Tomorrow, I want

you to think differently as you go to work in

whatever capacity you are working. Are you pointing

people to Christ by the way that you work? That's

principle number one. Second one, there it is.

Also verse nine, urge bond slaves to be well

-pleasing. In other words, employees should show

excellence. Do things that are good and acceptable

to the one who has authority over you. Think

right now, the work that you're doing. If your

boss walked in the door, would they say, he or

she works with excellence? Here, his work, her

work is well, good, and pleasing to me. That's

important. The Greek word there, by the way,

for well -pleasing shows up nine times in the

New Testament. Other than this one use in Titus,

it always refers to pleasing God. That's important.

The implication is this. When you work in a way

that is pleasing to your boss, you're working

in a way that pleases the Lord, which Paul explicitly

says in his letter to the Colossians. Look, slaves,

in all things, obey those who are your masters

on earth, not with external service as those

who merely please men. but with sincerity of

heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do

your work heartily as for the Lord rather than

for men. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Do you go to work with that in mind? How excellent

would your work be if you knew that Jesus was

sitting next to you at your workstation? How

excellent would your work be? He is, that's the

point. He is. So how would that affect your attitude

at work if you knew Jesus was right there at

your workstation? Your attitude, how would that

change it? How would it impact your commitment

to the job, about your honesty, about your diligence?

Look again at the passage on the screen from

Colossians 3. Look at those phrases, with sincerity

of heart and work heartily. What does that mean?

That means that our work should be more than

just reluctant compliance. Okay, fine, I'll do

that. Okay, whatever. This is beneath me, but

fine, right? We can get grumpy like that. Work

heartily as to the Lord. Your work should be

done with a sense of responsibility. And can

I, I'll be honest with you, with joy and with

thankfulness, even if you're not loving it at

the moment, with joy and thankfulness, why? Because

God has given you a job and God is providing

for your needs. So turn that thinking around.

He is your supervisor. That's number two. Number

three, urge bond slaves not to be argumentative.

Antilego is the Greek term here, and it just

means speak against. Speak against. It's a compound

word. Christian workers should not be known as

those who verbally undermine those in authority.

That comes in all kinds of forms. We're not to

mouth off to the boss. We're not to directly

talk back to the boss. But more common, We're

not to go behind the boss's back and talk poorly

of him. That's the more, a lot of us don't like

confrontation, so we'll hold our tongue in person,

but man, get into the back room. We used to call

this water cooler talk. Is that phrase still,

it's probably not even used. Remember, Kim? You

remember. What that meant was workers would get

away from the boss and gather in the break room

around the water cooler, and what would they

start to do? Yeah, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,

talk, talk. usually running down the boss or

the company in general, which is so great for

company morale. But what a temptation. We tend

to do that, right? That's not to be us as Christians.

That's not to be us. Again, if you rightly see

Jesus as your true boss behind your earthly boss,

then you're not going to have that rebellious

spirit. I can't tell you how many times in my

life I've seen this with employees. They get

bitter on the job. They don't like their boss.

They don't like being told what to do. So what

do they do? They subtly sabotage the work. They

find ways to resist. They start slacking off

more. They start doing half -hearted work. They

start doing personal things on company time,

right? And grumbling throughout the day. It's

not to be us. We have a higher standard. Paul

addressed this issue when he wrote to the believing

slaves in Ephesus. This is such a good passage.

How many times has Paul addressed slaves? It's

a big deal, right? Slaves, be obedient to those

who are your masters according to the flesh with

fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart

as to Christ. So he repeats what he said to the

Colossians. But listen to this now. Not by way

of eye service. In other words, not only when

your boss is looking at you. You know, they say

the character of a person is when nobody's looking,

what do they do? How hard do they work? Not as

people pleasers, he says, but as slaves of Christ,

doing the will of God from the heart. Okay? So,

look, if there's a proper form or process at

work to air real grievances or make suggestions

about improving work conditions, yes, a Christian

employee is free to do that. But again, always

with wisdom and sensitivity with an eye towards

submission. Again, why? Because your testimony

is at stake. Overall, the Christian in the workplace

should be known for having a cooperative spirit.

They should be known for always seeking the best

of the company that they work for. Being a valuable

team member. Being known as that guy or that

girl who just is upbeat and positive and is working

hard. And by the way, Those things should be

true of us even if our boss is a Christian. Ooh.

Because sometimes we'll go, ah, my boss is a

Christian. I can slack off. Uh -uh. The standard

is even higher. That's a whole other sermon.

Adam at okillbible .com. Number four. We've got

to get through this. Number four. Verse 10 now.

Urge bond slaves not to pilfer. That seems pretty

obvious, right? Don't steal things. But there's

a subtle temptation here. How many of you guys

have ever had a job and over time you start to

feel underappreciated? Every hand should go up,

right? Or underpaid, every other hand. Okay,

good. You feel like the company, you know, I've

had this before. Company's making money hand

over fist. I can barely pay my rent. What happens?

Bitterness. Resentment begins to sink in. And

suddenly the employee finds himself justifying.

Taking advantage of things. Take a little bit

here. Take a little bit there. Maybe play with

the slush fund a little bit. Lie on an expense

account. Don't put in the required hours. Cheat

on my time card. That is all pilfering. It's

pilfering. It's stealing. For the Christian,

we know that God is watching. Not only what we

do, but the motivation of why we're doing it.

And he is our true boss. Listen, when we defraud

our employer, we're sinning against God. You

gotta know that. So this one's about honesty.

Honesty in all aspects of your work. And again,

if you put yourself out there as a Christian,

which you should do, when appropriate in the

workplace, when the day comes that you get caught

cutting those corners, what are unbelievers supposed

to think then? Are they gonna judge you? Yes,

but more importantly, they're gonna judge our

Lord and dishonor Him. So it matters. Last one,

number five. Also verse 10, urge bond slaves

to show all good faith. In other words, Christians

should be faithful and trustworthy. Faithful

and trustworthy. We should be known for this.

Your boss should know that you are loyal to him

and to the company. He should be confident that

if he gives you something to do, you're gonna

get it done. He should know that as a Christian,

you're the type of person that works hard to

come through when he needs it. That kind of worker

is incredibly valuable to an employer, but also,

more importantly, stands out as a light in the

darkness. Just different from the rest of the

world. Bosses notice these things, right? Dave,

others have been a boss, you know. When someone

works this way, they stand out. So if you want

to make a difference in terms of evangelism,

these are the principles. Be salt, be light.

So in summary, we go to work with the idea of

looking right through our employer and into the

face of Christ. Best way to think about it, look

right through him or her and look at the face

of Christ. That's my true boss. And again, remember

that if you go to work and talk about the Lord

and then you fail to do these simple things and

they're not hard, it's really just motivation

of the heart. You can pray that the Lord would

strengthen you for that. Just know that eventually

you're gonna give unbelievers reasons to doubt.

the truth of God's word. And we don't want to

be responsible for that. Okay, got to wrap up.

Final statement of verse 10 is so important.

It's the perfect way to close out this section.

Look back at verse 10. Not pilfering, but showing

all good faith so that they will adorn or bring

credit to the doctrine of God our Savior in every

respect. Now, in one sense, the gospel doesn't

need adornment. Right? It is the good news. It's

the best news that's ever been given to humanity.

And God doesn't actually need our help to save

his elect. But as hard as this is to understand,

he's ordained to include us in that work. He's

allowed us, redeemed sinners like us, to participate

in spreading the good news. And while that requires

us to speak up, our verbal platform for witnessing

is built on the character of our lives. We have

to know that. That's what the word adorn means,

by the way, in the original Greek. It's the verb

cosmeo, which is where we get our English word

cosmetics from. Cosmetics. It refers to, get

this now, arranging something in an orderly manner

so as to enhance its attractiveness. Does that

fit cosmetics? Arranging something in an orderly

manner so as to enhance its attractiveness. This

word was sometimes used in classical Greek literature

to talk about how a jeweler takes a precious

stone and arranges it on a setting so as to show

off the beauty of the stone. It's not about the

setting. It's about the stone, right? And that's

what our lives are supposed to do. We don't draw

attention to ourselves. We make Christ attractive.

We add brilliance and splendor to the truth about

God's word. You and I are the setting that the

stone goes in. Our lives are the setting. Christ

is the precious stone. We want him to look beautiful.

We want him to look attractive. So a Christian

out in the world, humble and submissive, well

-pleasing, not argumentative, honest, faithful

and kind, he or she makes Christ attractive.

And guys, this is all we're called to do. This

is the great thing. We don't save anybody. We

don't. Only God can do that. Our role is to play

our part. We seek to please the Lord. We seek

to be a good ambassador. And then we step back

to see what God does. And he will save whom he

will save. And here's the other cool thing about

this. We don't have to be perfect in this. We

really don't. This is an important principle.

All of us are going to make mistakes, even in

the workplace. We're going to make mistakes.

We're going to be imperfect. We're going to have

a bad day and we're going to lose our cool. We're

going to snap at somebody. Right? Or we're going

to say something in a work environment that we

regret later on. Or we're going to be critical

of our boss. And we're going to want to take

those words back, but they escaped our lips.

Or we're just, you know, we're going to get lazy

and not work as hard as we should. But when we

do that, when we drop the ball in our witness

and it's been compromised, God then gives us

a whole new opportunity. We can go to our boss

and confess that. We can go to our boss and say,

you know what? I haven't been working as I should.

And I know that's not a good reflection of our

Savior. And guess what? Because that is so unusual

in the world today that anybody would ever own

their mistakes and apologize and confess their

sin, that will stand out in a dark world. Does

that make sense? It's a whole new opportunity.

It's actually maybe even a greater opportunity

to witness for Christ to say, I blew it. But

here I am. I want to make it right. And will

you forgive me? That's life -changing stuff.

So even in our mistakes, the Lord can use those

things to glorify himself. And then just one

final truth to encourage you. Sometimes I hear

people say to me, you know, Jeff, when it comes

to spiritual things, I don't feel like God has

really gifted me to do anything in particular.

Like, I feel kind of useless for the kingdom.

But look at this again, this simple command to

just adorn the gospel with your life. Any one

of us can do this. Any one of us can do this.

And when we adorn the gospel this way and make

Christ attractive in the midst of a dark world,

we can see people come to know Christ. We can

see people saved for all eternity by nothing

but a faithful witness. So you may not be able

to get up here and preach or teach a sermon or

whatever, work with children, whatever. You can

adorn the gospel tomorrow in the sphere of influence

that God puts you in. God is able to use any

one of us to draw others to himself and save

them for all eternity. All we have to do is stay

acutely aware of who our true boss is. Amen?

Let's bow our heads. Father, thank you for our

time and the word this morning, Lord, so much

for us to chew on. And God, I know that many

in the body are probably processing through this

issue of slavery and how hard that is in our

world today to look at it and understand how

morally wicked slavery was in the experience

that we have been taught and how wickedness continues.

to spread all over the world, Lord, but help

us to have eyes to see exactly how you have been

gracious to your people in the midst of this

fallen world. And Lord, will you challenge us

even today as we think about the week ahead of

us, even going to work tomorrow, will you challenge

us to think rightly about being ambassadors in

the workplace, that we would be that setting

that... that shows you off as the precious stone.

May we be the city on the hill. May we be salty

employees, Lord, that just flavor life in the

office. Whatever it is, Lord, would you do that

work in us? Challenge us, convict us, Lord, and

just cause us to grow closer to you as we continue

to spread the gospel. Lord, thanks again for

today. We love you. We praise you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, amen.