12 The Christian at Home and Work

After having previously spoken about those things which believers must remove, and then add to their Christian character and life, Paul then began to speak about how the believer should live in and outside of the home.

1 Do All in the Name of Jesus

Colossians 3:17

Paul showed that we should not make a distinction between spiritual and non-spiritual aspects of our lives. The word “whatever” makes it abundantly clear that everything the believer engages in, should be done unto the Lord.

In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul stated that everything the believer does, should be done for God’s glory:

1 Corinthians 10:31

Next, Paul spoke of the need to have a thankful heart. The believer is able to be thankful, because we know that God will cause all things to work together for the believer’s ultimate good.

2 Living for Christ at Home

In this section, Paul shows how believers are to relate to one another in their home lives, all due to their relationship with Christ:

Colossians 3:18-21

Believers are to relate to others, through Christ, in essence being a vessel for the Lord’s relating to that individual.

• Christian husbands should relate to their wives, as a Christian first and then as a husband.
• In a like manner, the Christian wife should relate to her husband, as a believer first, and wife second.
• He then speaks of how believing children, must relate to their parents foremost as believers.

Paul showed the importance of submission in the believer’s life. Unless he or she is in submission to the Lord, there will be little inclination of there being submission to one another.

Because the Lord established marriage and the family (Genesis 2, He certainly has the authority to establish the structure of home life.

The Gospel presented women with freedom which they had never-before experienced. Paul was now showing that there would be responsibilities along with freedom.

Paul was establishing, that although believing wives had new freedom in Christ, it in no way altered the family structure which God had established, being:

1 Christ

2 The Husband

3 The Wife

4 Children

Paul expressed a similar thought when writing the Ephesian church:

Ephesians 5:22

But Paul wasn’t alone with those statements, as Peter said much the same thing:

1 Peter 3:1

Submission doesn’t mean subjugation. The original Greek is far more expressive, using a word which was a military term which means “to arrange under rand”.

This shows how each rank carries commensurate responsibilities. In marriage, the wife is to understand that her husband in essence has a higher “rank” and therefore, she should respect that fact.

Next, Paul addressed believing husbands:

Colossians 3:19

Paul basically gave husbands two basic instructions:

• The first instruction to husbands, is to love their wives.

When Paul wrote the Ephesians on the subject of Christian marriage, he instructed husbands to use Christ’s love for the church as an example as to who they’re to act toward their wives, meaning complete sacrificial love:

Ephesians 5:28-29

While Jesus firmly lead, He did so lovingly, which again is an example the husband should follow.

• The second instruction to husbands is that they’re not to be bitter toward their wives.

However, that is a poor translation, since in the original Greek, Paul used the word <pikrainesthe> which literally means “to make bitter”.

This shows that the passage isn’t speaking about a husband being bitter toward his wife, but rather, not cause her to become bitter.

The fact that a wife is under the rank and authority of her husband, is contrary to her nature, and thus will give her the desire to rebel against his leadership role. This inclination came about after the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden:

Genesis 3:16

The passage is frequently mistakenly understood to be saying that the wife’s “desire” would be for her husband in a physical or sexual way. However, that kind of desire certainly is not wrong, but good and natural.

Paul is speaking about the wife’s desire to usurp the husbands leadership role, therefore supplanting him as leader in the home.

However, when a husband lovingly leads his wife, as Christ does the church, the wife should respond to him with willing submission, just as the church should with Jesus.

• Paul then addressed how believing children are to respond within the home.

He stated that children are to obey their parents in everything. This shows that parents are to have autonomy within the family structure, since they have ultimate responsibility for their children.

Under the Old Covenant, disobedience to one’s parents was looked upon as rebellion, and was punishable by death:

Exodus 21:17

It was Jesus Himself, who presented the greatest example of obedience to one’s parents:

Luke 2:21-52

Next, Paul instructed fathers (but it equally applies to mothers as well) not to “provoke (their) children”.

He used the Greek word <parorgizete> which meant not to exasperate one’s children.

This presents the idea of a parent who only criticizes, but never praises or encourages them.

3 Living for Christ in the Workplace

After having discussed relations within the home, Paul addressed how slaves were to relate to their masters. It should be noted, that over half the population of the Roman Empire were slaves. Therefore, it stands to reason that most of the Colossians Paul was writing to, would fall into this category:

Colossians 3:22-25

While the Bible certainly does not condone slavery, it does address the culture of the day, of which sadly, slavery was a large part.

Since slavery is no longer part of our western culture, much of what Paul discussed, may equate to the modern employer-employee relationships.

Paul’s admonition is that the slave (or modern-day employee) should not only work hard and obediently when they are they are being observed (“eyeservice”).

The Christian employee is to provide sincere and diligent work at all times, out of reverence for the Lord.

Paul then speaks of how the Christian employee is to understand, and be motivated by the fact, that they are ultimately serving Christ by their employment. This sentiment shows how this passage is a companion to Colossians 3:17.

The believer is to work “heartily” for the Lord, showing that we’re not to do so begrudgingly, but we’re to be motivated by an inheritance that we will receive in heaven.

Contrarily, in verse 25, we see that employees with poor performances, shouldn’t expect special treatment because of their faith, but rather they will be subject to the same disciplinary action as are unbelievers.