Others Minded - Workplace

Ephesians 6:5-9

"Work is not, primarily, something one does to live, but the thing one lives to do." Dorothy Sayers, British author and Christian humanist, 1893-1957 (Lord Peter Wimsey detective stories)

Doctrines: vocation, providence, decrees of God, eighth command, 2nd greatest command (love your neighbor)

A. Employees

1. Action

a. obey - same instruction as to children: listen with the intent of following orders 5a

b. do well - for fear of displeasing either employer or Heavenly Father (Col_3:22) 5b

With fear and trembling - That is, with that kind of anxiety which one has who feels that he has an important interest at stake, and that he is in danger of losing it. The reason or the ground for “fear” in this case is in general this: there is danger of losing the soul. Barnes, Php_2:12

c. be loyal - singleness ( ἁπλότης ) of heart 5c

d. be consistent - work diligently whether or not the boss is looking 6a

e. be exemplary - work wholeheartedly 6c

2. Attitude

a. be positive - serve gladly, enthusiastically 7a

b. be humble - as a servant of Christ, as serving Christ 6b, 7b

3. Advantage

a. Christ is the real paymaster 8b

b. The reward is the inheritance of a (full) son, not a slave 8c & Col_3:24

B. Employers

1. Responsibility

a. treat them well - to avoid displeasing either employee or Heavenly Father 9a

b. be loyal - singleness ( ἁπλότης ) of heart 9a

c. be just and equitable, giving each his due; see Col_4:1
d. don't be abusive - using employment as a weapon 9b

“Perform the duty which on your part you owe to them.” What he calls in another Epistle, that which is just and equal, is precisely what, in this passage, he calls the same things. And what is this but the law of analogy? Masters and servants are not indeed on the same level; but there is a mutual law which binds them. By this law, servants are placed under the authority of their masters; and, by the same law, due regard being had to the difference of their station, masters lie under certain obligations to their servants. This analogy is greatly misunderstood; because men do not try it by the law of love, which is the only true standard. Such is the import of Paul’s phrase, the same things; for we are all ready enough to demand what is due to ourselves; but, when our own duty comes to be performed, every one attempts to plead exemption. Calvin on Eph_6:9

2. Accountability

a. Employers serve a higher Master 9c

i. they are not a law to themselves

ii. Their responsibility is also bi-directional

b. their Master doesn't show favoritism 9d

c. Remember what Jesus promised:

NAU Mat_7:2 "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

3. Rabbit trail

a. The same principles apply to other "transactions" as well

b. Stewardship and generosity

C. Employment

1. Be "others minded".

a. It's what God requires. Mic_6:8

b. Employees - consider the best interests of your employer

c. Employers - consider the best interests of your employee

d. Bottom line - you can't expect better treatment from God than you extend to others

2. All is sacred!

a. Ministry isn't a higher calling.

b. All is service - to God and man. Mar_12:30-31

“God is present in all life, with the influence of His omnipresent and almighty power, and no sphere of human life is conceivable in which religion does not maintain its demands that God shall be praised, that God's ordinances shall be observed...
Wherever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand, in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science, he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of his God, he is employed in the service of his God, he has strictly to obey his God, and above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God. Consequently, it is impossible for a Calvinist to confine religion to a single group, or to some circles among men...

To be sure, there is a concentration of religious light and life in the Church, but then in the walls of this church there are wide open windows, and through these spacious windows the light of the Eternal has to radiate over the whole world. Here is a city, set upon a hill, which every man can see afar off. Here is a holy salt that penetrates in every direction, checking all corruption. And even he who does not yet imbibe the higher light, or maybe shuts his eyes to it, is nevertheless admonished, with equal emphasis, and in all things, to give glory to the name of God.” Abraham Kuyper, Calvinism and Religion, p. 53

“But it remained the special trait of Calvinism that it placed the believer before the face of God, not only in His church, but also in his personal, family, social, and political life. The majesty of God and the authority of God press upon the Calvinist in the whole of his human existence. He is a pilgrim... [who] must remember his responsibility to that God so full of majesty, who awaits him at his journey's end. In front of the Portal which opens for him, on the entrance into Eternity, stands the Last Judgment; and that judgment shall be one broad and comprehensive test, to ascertain whether the long pilgrimage has been accomplished with a heart that aimed at God's glory, and in accordance with the ordinances of the Most High.” Abraham Kuyper, Calvinism and Religion, p. 69-70

3. Work isn't a curse!


a. God ordained it as the means he would use to provide for our needs and those of others.

i. God worked and then rested Gen_2:2-3

* We are made in His image Gen_1:26-27

ii. Jesus worked the works of His Father Joh_4:34 Joh_9:4 Joh_17:4

* We are being conformed to His image Rom_8:29

Kirsten Birkett concludes her excellent study “The Essence of the Reformation” (ISBN-10: 1876326093) with these thought provoking words:

“The Reformation was more than an alteration of liturgical and ceremonial practice; it was a new way of looking at the world, which invaded the parish church and the daily life of every parishioner. There was more than a change in ‘religion’; it was a change in thought, in life, and what it meant to be a human being in God’s World.

It was a world in which we can have confidence in God and hope for the future, based on his grace to us in the Christ of the Scriptures, which we receive through faith alone.

Too often since then, these certainties have been attacked and eroded, and continue to be attacked today. Indeed, many Christians are ignorant of the issues, and do not realise that the truths for which the Reformers fought and died are as much under threat now as they were then. Many errors of Roman Catholicism remain uncorrected. Mystical, magical and superstitious versions of Christianity keep re-emerging in different forms.

We do not need to copy the Reformers out of love for history or tradition. Yet we need to learn the lessons of the Reformation, and be reminded that the truth that inspired that generation to protest, and to reform, is still true today.”

Others Minded - Families

Ephesians 6:1-4

Consider how the contemporary understanding of family and roles within the family have changed.

Definition of Family (Webster 1918)

1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.
2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

1 : a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head
5 a : the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children; also : any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family

For something to "make your hair curl" see:
UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child

Just as God designed roles of elders and deacons, husbands and wives, so he also designed and defined the roles of parents and children. Here Paul deals with those roles as well as the spirit in which they are to be lived out.

1. The Context

The big context is: "to the saints who are ...faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph_1:1), "to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ" (Col_1:2). The closer context is "submitting to one another in the fear of God" (Eph_5:21) and "whatever you do, do all in the name of the Lord" (Col_3:17)

Paul first addresses wives, then husbands, then children in his letter to the church!

So these children ( te,knon ) are seen as fully part of the Christian community, able to exercise their Christian obedience in this way and to view their conduct as determined not just by social convention but in the light of their Lord’s will (cf. also 5:10, 17). They are addressed as among those who would hear the letter as it was read at meetings of believers for worship in various households. The text is, however, irrelevant for discussion of the issue of whether infants were baptized as part of households in the early church (cf. also Meyer, 314; Abbott, 176; Gnilka, 295 n. 6). τέκνον, “child,” primarily denotes relationship rather than age and can be used of adults as well as small children. From the context, the children in view here have to be old enough to be conscious of a relationship to their Lord and to be appealed to on the basis of it, but young enough still to be in the process of being brought up (cf. 6:4). Word Biblical Commentary

The children here are presumed to be believers, the offspring of believing parents, all of whom are under the protection of a local church and its elders. This largely answers the question of "what are the limits of obedience? What if parents require ......?" Paul does not teach slavish obedience in all respects at all costs ("in the Lord", "this is right") and he expects children to develop discernment. BUT, a child's first response should be obedience, not questioning of the parent.

2. Filial responsibility

a. hear under - listen attentively with the intent to conform to authority; obey on the basis of having paid attention to

b. the reasons

i. it is what God considers right; it is consistent with what He expects as proved by the fifth command to honor mom and dad. Exo_20:12 Deu_5:16 Mat_15:4 Mat_19:18-19 Mar_7:10 Mar_10:19 Luk_18:20

ii. it is honoring of parents - "It is significant to remind oneself that giving honor or glory is to say that someone is deserving of respect, attention and obedience." TDNT

iii. it is consistent with Jesus' example

The love which Jesus showed to children, when he took them in his arms and blessed them, should induce them, in a spirit of filial faith and fondness, to obey their parents, and to regard with special sacredness every parental injunction. And that obedience, if prompted, regulated, and bounded by a sense of religious obligation, will be cheerful and not sullen; prompt and not dilatory; uniform and not occasional; universal and not capricious in its choice of parental precepts. Eadie

iv. God gave specific children to specific parents

The concept is not included in this text but it still applies. Job_10:10-11 Psa_139:13 To fail to honor parents is to question God's providential care of his creation. To dishonor parents is to dishonor God. God's most wise, loving and good purpose for a child is his parents; the same is true for parents.

"The love of parents to their children is mysterious and immutable, as well as self-sacrificing. It is a form of love which none but a parent can know. A mother’s love is a mystery and a wonder. It is the most perfect analogue of the love of God. As the relation in which parents stand to their children has this close analogy to the relation in which God stands to his rational creatures, and especially to his own people, so the duties resulting from that relation are analogous. They are expressed by the same word. Filial piety is as correct an expression as it is common. Parents stand to their dependent children, so to speak, in the place of God. They are the natural objects of the child’s love, reverence, gratitude, confidence, and devotion. These are the sentiments which naturally flow out of the relation; and which in all ordinary cases do flow from it; so that Calvin is justified in saying that children destitute of these feelings, "monstra sunt non homines." This endearing and intimate relation between parents and, children (which cannot exist where monogamy is not the law), binding all in the closest union which can exist among men, makes the family the corner-stone of the well-being of society on earth, and the type of the blessedness of heaven. The Church is the family of God. He is the Father, its members are brethren." Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology

Side note: disobedience is a mark of the rebellious unregenerate according to Rom_1:28-30: 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

3. Parental responsibility

a. Act as parents - if children are to hear, there must be something of subsance to hear

i. First priority is to be the parent not the buddy

b. Fill the role, carry out the responsibility given by God to parents

i. provide for physical needs - 1Ti_5:8

ii. teach them the ways of God - Deu_6:6-9 Psa_78:4

iii. point them to Christ - Pro_22:6 Mat_19:13-14

c. Work together - mom, dad, the Lord

Along with both the Greco-Roman world and Judaism, it makes fathers ultimately responsible for the religious upbringing of their children. In its exhortation to fathers, Ephesians provides restraints on paternal authority, guarding against its abuse, and focuses instead on the Christian training fathers are to provide. Word Biblical Commentary

4. Specific requirements

a. Do not provoke to discouragement Eph_6:4 Col_3:21

i. provoking to anger, frustration or resentment

ii. common sources:

a) abuse of authority (injustice)

b) unreasonable expectations

c) favoritism

iii. repeated failure to satisfy/please results in absence of motivation, lack of spirit

b. Nourish them (bring them up)

i. training ( παιδεία )

a) the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and
morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body Thayer

ii. admonition ( νουθεσία )

a) to provide instruction as to correct behavior and belief Louw-Nida

b) ethical and corrective instruction in regard to belief or behavior Friberg Lexicon

c) both terms include both positive and negative - what is proper and consequences for what is improper