Slavery

It was at Jersey Airport, a number of years ago. I was in the check-in area. On top of a desk stood a weighing machine. The back of it carried prominently the name of the manufacturing company – a well-known one. Someone had written in big felt-tip pen the letters “SL” in front of it. The result was there for all to see: “SLAVERY”.

I smiled. A little imagination conjured up a scenario. An employee, disenchanted with his work or perhaps just having a bad day, had added the letters to make a point. His conditions of work amounted to slavery, at least as he saw it.

Of course, real slavery, ancient or modern, is usually a much more degrading and oppressive business for the sufferer. A slave was viewed as little better than an inanimate tool. The slave could be abused in almost any way the owner chose – there were few sanctions against it from the law or from society.

In light of this, the way the Bible views slaves and slavery can come as something of a shock. Whom do the writers of the New Testament regard as the king-pin of ancient society? Is it the emperor, at the top of the social pyramid? Or the army general? Or the merchants, or the heads of families, around whom so much of social and household life revolved? No! Believe it or not … it is the slave!

“How can this be?” you ask. Did we in this country not fight a lengthy battle to rid the world of slavery? We are proud of the fact that William Wilberforce, a British parliamentarian, finally steered the Slave Trade Act through to the statute book. This struck the first blow towards ridding the world for ever of the vile practice of slavery. We rightly have a horror of this distasteful trade rearing its ugly head again in the form of people-trafficking, “modern slavery”.

I don’t believe for a moment that early Christian stalwarts like the apostles Paul and Peter ever intended to give the institution of slavery their seal of approval. Yet for them one feature at least about the slave could be an inspiration.

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:18-24 NIV)

If Christian slaves suffered unjustly and yet kept a dignified composure, they gained credit with those around them. Better still, they reflected in a small way the character of their Master. The Lord Jesus was insulted, abused and finally put to death. Philippians (2:7) says that he “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”. He did so in total obedience to God His Father. In His wounds we find healing for our sins. He was subsequently raised from death. In His wake we followers, too, may be raised.

Jesus Christ did not endorse slavery for one moment. Yet He raised slaves to a new level of dignity by the way, slave-like, He handled abuse and unjust suffering. This is a lesson that needs to be learned again in a day when we are so ready to insist on our supposed rights. Don’t get me wrong: nobody is called to be a doormat. But by what right should we expect better treatment than our Master?