Speaker: Greg Sanders

Passage: Titus 2:9-15

BECOMING THE HOUSEHOLDS OF GOD: TITUS 2:9-15

As we finish up, grab your Bibles. We’re going to dive into Titus 2. I’m going to pick up in verse 9. Paul says, “Slaves must obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal. They must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way.”

So, we’ve been in this conversation about what it is to become the household of God. For the first several weeks, we’ve just been talking about what it looks like to live the Kingdom in our homes, which is really the common conversation that Paul’s having with the people of Crete. 

And then Paul will transition, and in this transition, he takes his eyes outside of the inside of the house. How many have been challenged by the how I’m supposed to live the Kingdom in my home conversation? How many have found places you’re like, Oh, this makes me walk a little slower. 

There’s a statement made about David. It’s called the six-step walk, which is when David’s bringing the Ark into the city. He’ll walk six steps and then stop, and he does a sacrifice. I think it’s to be for us, a picture of what it is to live with a certain carefulness to our walk with the Lord, that we’re not just moving headlong in life at our own pace. 

We’re taking time to really assess, how am I living? I think that’s to be the way we live our life, that we are regularly asking ourselves, am I doing this right? And evaluating ourselves. So, Paul’s been doing that with the way we live in our homes. 

DISCERNING SLAVERY IN TITUS 2

And now he transitions, and he’s going to take a look at the outside world, and he starts with this concept that’s really interesting. The word is doulos, and it’s a slave. It’s an owned servant. It’s one devoted to another, to the disregard of one’s own interest. 

It’s a really strong word, and in our culture creates an instant polarization. That’s a word that causes us to maybe choke on it, be like, I don’t know what to do with this verse. I want to be careful as we talk about this. 

How do we discern this? Because obviously, we live in a day where slavery has been determined to be immoral, and rightfully so. And I would argue that that’s largely through the work of the Gospel. 

And I know that there have been atrocious things done in the name of God. That doesn’t mean God did them because people use His name to do stupid things. So, when we’re having this conversation in this verse, we could do one of two things: we could be like, We’re going to shrink back and not talk about it because it’s a tough topic. I think that’s weak. 

I think the answer is, all Scripture is God breathed. It’s capable to help us grow. So, let’s look at it, and let’s ask the question: what can we learn from this? 

So, I think the thing that we have to understand is that we’re looking at a time period in life when, in Roman culture, in the culture of this world, the macro economy was really built upon a concept of slavery, that was a very common concept. 

So much so that they would have seen it as like normal business, and we see it as immoral, and it causes this sense of pulling back. I don’t think that’s wrong. I want us to not try to commingle those two ideas. We’ve got to look at it the way the original hearer would have heard it. 

So, the original hearer in this text that Paul’s talking to would have understood multiple types of slavery in their culture. There were brothel slaves. These were slaves that were mostly propagated by the pagan temples, and they were sex slaves. 

Their life was going to be spent in the pagan temple, doing pagan rituals sexually, and so that’s probably not the slave Paul’s talking to because it’s really hard for us to connect the idea that Paul’s going to say to someone who is in sexual slavery, Go ahead and just stay there and submit. It’s contrary to too many things in Scripture, so that’s probably not what Paul’s talking about. 

There were mining slaves, a business owner would go purchase a large group of a workforce. And we think about that like, Oh, it’s a labor union. It’s not a labor union here. These are people whose lives were exchanged for finance. Some of them would be sold into slavery because they owed a debt they couldn’t pay. 

And in the Roman economy, you could trade your life for debt, and why would you do that? Because it would protect your family from having that debt come back on them. There were others who probably owed a debt, and they never chose to trade their life. They could be arrested or pulled into slavery for that. 

So, it’s a very different culture that we’re dealing with, and we’re not looking at the concept of slavery today. That’s not the goal. What I want to do is define the term so we have our heads wrapped around it properly, so we can apply it to our lives in a different way. 

More than likely, what Paul’s talking to here is what we call household slaves. This was a regular part of the economy where a slave would be purchased, and they would be more like a live-in servant. Don’t think Downton Abbey, nothing like that. This was more someone whose life was very much not their own, and they were living in this condition. 

So, what I want to look at in this is the statements Paul makes. These are really strong statements, so we can get stuck if we’re not careful. I had someone in the last gathering, a young lady walked up. She’s like, I think Paul was wrong. I’m like, Okay, good. Let me know why. We talked through it. 

I said, Okay, what we’re doing is a thing called conflation. We’re conflating two ideas. We can’t do that. We can’t look at this and go, There’s no way this Scripture is right because we know slavery is wrong. 

Paul’s not saying in this slavery is okay. That’s not anything Paul’s saying. Paul’s talking to the person in that condition about what it looks like for them to live the Kingdom. It’s a very different term, I would argue. 

This is a really, really big idea for us because in America, we tend to believe if the situation I’m in is wrong, then I can do whatever I want. Paul will say to them, Your Gospel needs to be on display, even in a bad situation. 

None of us like that, because we’re like, Wait, what are you talking about? My rights are being violated now. Yes, welcome to the Gospel. That’s what Paul’s saying here. We know that more than likely, these are written to household slaves just because of the nature of Crete. Crete is not very well established.

THE EQUALITY BROUGHT BY THE GOSPEL

I don’t want to make slavery the focus. I just want to make some statements about it. Slavery is a very real aspect of the business system of this time. It does not make it okay. We’re not condoning or agreeing with it by discussing it. We know that Jesus has taught us the ownership of another human being is wrong. It’s immoral. Period. There’s no middle ground. 

What we’re doing is looking at a Scripture that was written in a time where that was not the understanding of the day, their business system was built different. So, we have to step back and ask the question: where do we side? 

Well, I would say the place we have to side in today is on this issue of slavery. We’re going to side with the Gospel because the Gospel stepped in and said, All people are equal. The ownership of another person is wrong. 

And throughout the course of history, that has become very clear. Slavery still happens today. Still wrong. But I love where Paul says in Romans, “There is neither male nor female, slave or free.” Paul says in the Gospel, everybody’s equal. 

Think about the communion table. As we were studying this, I had this, I don’t know if it’s a revelation or a moment of epiphany, I realized when we take bread and cup, what we’re doing is living into an early Church reality. 

So, when they came together, they ate a meal. If we were going to do it the way I think we should do it in the church, and I don’t know how to pull it off logistically. How’s that for a setup? We should be having a meal together. 

When we come together as people of God, we should just be putting out tables and hanging out and eating. That’s the majority of what they did together. They studied the Scriptures, they worshiped, and then they broke bread together. Church would be a lot longer, and logistics would be a lot more difficult. However, that is what I believe the actual early Church did. It’s what I believe we should do. I just don’t know how to solve it there. How’s that for a dilemma? 

But when you come together at the communion table, something is being said. No matter what condition you came into this building in, in this building, you are equal. You are absolutely free. Before the Lord, you’re equal. There is no hierarchy, there is no status. You’re not a slave, you’re not an owner; you’re people. 

Think about the power of the communion table, that someone could leave their house as a household slave, and the moment they walk into that gathering, they’re equal. They’re going to sit and have a meal across the table from someone who is, in the regular day, their slave owner. At that moment, they’re equal. 

Ladies in this culture, they were treated like property, by and large. Had very few rights. They walk in, they leave their home in that condition, walk into the church, sit down at the communion table, and they’re equal. They’re at an absolutely equal level. That’s a wild concept. That’s where we should align.

That’s what the Gospel says about humanity: everybody’s equal. We should be working in everything when we see places where inequality is being communicated in the Kingdom, we’re going to work to lift people to equality. That should be our mantra as believers. 

Have you ever wondered what those conversations were like sitting across that communion table? Can you imagine if said slave is sitting across from said owner, and at the equal moment, Hey dude, the way you treat me? Come on. And they’re just having this really honest conversation because at that moment, they’re equal, and there’s no hierarchy. 

That’s what the Gospel does, that I love. The Gospel says, In this worship gathering, you’re equal, regardless of what the culture says outside. And what the Gospel says in this Roman culture is, Yeah, you can have slaves, but in this setting of worship before the King, all people are restored to their equality. I think that’s a wildly radical idea, and that’s what we should really focus on. 

HOW PAUL’S MESSAGE TO SLAVES APPLIES TODAY

Here’s the question at hand: what is Paul truly trying to address in teaching this phrase to slaves? I think what Paul’s dealing with, based on the text, is an attitude of defiance and entitlement within these slaves. 

Now, that’s crazy because instantly we’re like, Well, they have the right to be entitled and defiant. What was going on to them was wrong. But it’s interesting that Paul doesn’t say that. Paul’s statement, based on this teaching, it would appear what he’s saying to them is that they were conflating things. 

They were getting a sense of freedom from Jesus and the equality that Jesus restored to them, and in the worship environment, and they were superimposing that into their daily life role, assuming that that freedom Jesus gave them gave them the right to act differently in their roles. And that conflation resulted in insubordinates and defiance. 

Here’s my concern: I’m not going to talk about slavery, we’re going to talk about being an employee. Why? We already know slavery has been eradicated in our culture at a level of being condoned. It’s called wrong. It’s immoral. There are several watch groups that are out trying to fix that in the world at large. We stand with organizations that are trying to fix that. So, that’s not the issue. 

But we all live in an exchange system because that’s really what Paul’s talking about here. These slaves were exchanging their lives for money. We live in an exchange system, it’s called employment. We exchange our time for money. So, how many would agree with me? 

If Paul has the courage to say this to people who were slaves, who had almost no rights, his statement to us as an employee would be like, Yeah, all this stuff for sure counts. It laterals. This is definitely the way you should approach the way you go to work. 

How many are grateful that you’re not stuck in slavery when it comes to work? That you have a lot of opportunities and rights and freedoms? I think we should all be proud of those things. I think that is one of the benefits of living in a system that gives us protections. I think we should enjoy those things. 

What I want to get at is, if Paul has the courage– audacity might be another term– to say to these slaves, there’s some rules with how you live out the Kingdom in this situation, then we should probably consider those rules apply to how we go to work. 

So, let’s look at what he says. He says slaves must obey. So, if you want, if it’s easier, it’s not Biblical, but you can say employees must obey, because it’s the same concept that he’s talking about. 

What I don’t want us to do is get hung up on this word that was accurate to the time and isn’t accurate for us, and then go, Oh, this doesn’t matter to me, because I think this does apply to us. 

The term must obey is hupotassō, and it means to come under authority, but it carries with it what is most important: it’s a voluntary attitude of coming under authority. What he’s saying is, you shouldn’t come under authority because they make you; you should show up and decide to come under authority. That’s what his statement to them is: he says you should do your best to please them. 

The word phrase means to be fully agreeable and make every effort to please. Paul’s statement to them is, You should show up every day fully agreeable, making every effort to please. He says they must not talk back. The word is to not answer again. 

Catch this one. Think about this in an employment context, not antagonistic or contradicting, refusing to oppose. Huh. Paul’s statement is in that situation, even throughout the arc of Scripture, I would say that the Scriptures taught slavery was not God’s heart. That’s why Paul says in Romans, Hey, before the Lord, none of those stations exist. Very clearly, the Gospel stamp was that’s not God’s heart. 

But Paul will say to people who are in that condition, I want you to be careful to not be antagonistic, to not be contradictive, and to not oppose, not purloining– means, to embezzle or withhold. It’s specifically connected to giving proper effort. 

In other words, Paul’s saying to them, Because you’re in a condition where you know it’s wrong, I don’t want you withholding your effort because you’re mad about your situation. He says they must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. 

The word here means to put on display good faith. What does that mean? It means I’m trustable. Paul says, I want you to live in a way that those in leadership around you and over you know that you’re trustworthy. They don’t have to wonder, can they trust you? 

And then he drops this phrase that they may adorn the doctrine of God. It literally means to ornament, display, or trophy the teachings of God. What Paul says to these slaves, which is crazy, is the way you work and handle yourself under authority creates an attractiveness to the Gospel or an unattractiveness to the Gospel. 

Okay, so he’s dealing with these attitudes with these household slaves that they have with their masters. I want to let go of slave and master conversation and say, can we for a couple minutes look at it and go, I think this applies to our relationship with authority in the marketplace, the way we handle ourselves under authority in the marketplace? 

Because if Paul has the courage to say this to somebody in this condition, I would imagine if Paul was standing here and we’re like, Well, we’re in an employment situation, it’s a little bit different. We agree to money, we agree to terms. And he’d be like, Time out. All of that applies to you, for sure, because their lives were a lot harder than ours. So, my goal is that we look at this as a calling that’s intended to define our workplace authority relationships. 

Paul’s writing to people that are slaves, and I think the situation they were in was awful. And he has the courage to say, You don’t get to respond incorrectly because your situation is awful, because when you respond incorrectly, you hurt the Gospel. 

That means you and I don’t get to respond incorrectly in the marketplace because when we do, we hurt the Gospel. I think that truth leaves us without excuse in the marketplace, that we need to apply what he says to them to how we go to work. We’ve put on the nature of Jesus Christ with how we work. 

But more specifically, as Paul’s going to target– please hear this one– he’s really aiming at how we manage our attitudes in our employment and authority relationships. 

How do I manage my attitude when I’m under authority? I want to remind us that Scripture says all leadership is God-given. Sometimes you get good leaders, and you can grow under them. Sometimes you get bad leaders, and you can grow under them. 

The reality is how you manage yourself under authority is what determines your growth. It’s not about your authority. I wish it were. I wish the Scripture said, When you find yourself a good leader, follow them. I wish that’s what it said. It just doesn’t. 

John Maxwell has a statement that I love. He says, “Your attitude will affect your altitude.” It’s a term from flying an airplane. The attitude of the plane determines the altitude of the plane. But in an emotional and spiritual way, our attitudes determine where we’re going to go in life. 

I would offer that for believers, the number one place we have to learn to manage is between our ears. We gotta manage our attitudes. And all too often, what I think Paul’s dealing with is all too often our emotions– remember we talked about these? Wonderful servants, terrible masters? 

All too often, our emotions and how we feel about something begin to justify our behavior, instead of the discipline that says, I’m a believer under the authority of Heaven. And so, what Jesus says is how I’m going to work. It’s how I’m gonna handle myself. 

HOW WE ARE TO LIVE AS EMPLOYEES

So, I got five things for us based on Paul’s teaching, five things that we are to take into the workplace out of this. You ready? The first thing: when you show up to work, show up and be submitted and obedient. Be easy to lead at work. That’s what Paul’s statement to them is: arrange yourself under authority. Be easy to lead. Show up and be submitted and obedient. 

What does that mean? I would say it goes like this: you take responsibility for knowing what it looks like to be great at your job, and don’t make somebody else tell you what to do. Don’t leave it for them to challenge you. 

Just show up and go, Between me and Jesus, I’m gonna make sure that I’m going to be the best employee possible. I’m showing up. I’m doing my job. I’m coming under authority. I’m going to obey what they’ve asked me to do. 

You know, they only give me a ten-minute break. I think twelve is better, so I’m gonna take twelve. Don’t do that. Be obedient. Put yourself under authority. Be easy to lead at work. 

What’s that mean? Be easy for your bosses to lead. When your boss says, Hey, can you do this week? Absolutely happy to do it. Paul’s statement here is, manage your attitude, as far as it is unto you, with when they want you to do something, make it easy to do. That you have to own– that I have to own– that we show up at work submitted and obedient, easy to lead. 

The second thing I love, when Paul says this, do your best to please them. The second thing here: show up at work, ready to work hard, making every effort to please your boss or your leader. 

You own the responsibility. I own the responsibility of showing up, saying I’m here to work hard. You’re not going to have to challenge me. You’re not gonna have to push me. I’m gonna get mortified if you have to question, Why didn’t I work hard? I’m showing up to do this. Why? Because my hard work is a reflection on my love for Jesus, it’s not a reflection on your leadership. 

Did you know that often we cry out to the Lord for finance, and it’s the wrong prayer? What we should be asking for is the opportunity to work hard because God prospers hard work if you just learn to cry out, Lord, would You bless me with the opportunity to work hard? 

And in every chance He gives you, you work hard, I guarantee you you will be amazed at what happens, because prosperity begins to flow into your life, because there’s supernatural principles that aren’t just always about a dollar-for-dollar equation. It’s about the Kingdom of Heaven. 

So, Paul’s statement to these slaves is, I want you to show up ready to work hard and do whatever it takes to please them. So, to us as employees, the answer is, we show up at work ready to work hard, and we make every effort to please our bosses. 

I don’t even like my boss. That’s not part of the deal. You don’t have to like your leader to serve your leader. You just have to be willing to lay down your sense of offense that causes you to not want to serve them. 

The third thing, I think, is the harder thing for us. Paul will say to these slaves, you must not talk back. That’s a tough one because what he says is, we are to show up as believers. We are to show up to work with a discipline on our communication. 

There are things we’re not willing to say, we’re not willing to talk back, we’re not willing to argue. He says, Here, refuse to be argumentative. 

You’re like, Well, what about if I have a proper channel to talk? Great, if you probably have an IDP process or something like that in your workplace, where you can sit down and talk about how things are going. And when your boss says, Hey, will you give me a sense of how it’s going for you here? If there’s a channel that’s right, talk about it. That’s fine. 

Being argumentative is different. The word in the Greek is to stand in opposition to somebody. It’s this idea of digging your feet in and being stubborn. And Paul says that should never be named on the people of God. They should be really easy to leave. They should show up unwilling to argue. They don’t talk back. They’re just easy-going. 

How many would say most believers I’ve met, they’re just so easy-going? It’s tragic because in our culture right now, believers are generally highly opinionated and can’t wait to tell you about it. 

And Paul’s statement here is that we are to discipline our communication, never willing to talk back. What does that mean? To criticize. Whew. How many of you have been in a break room where roast boss was what everybody was having? Scripture says we’re not to have that. We’re not to partake in that. We are to say, Nope, I’m not to talk back. I’m not to criticize. I have not been permitted before the Lord to be that kind of employee. 

The fourth thing Paul says is we’re to show up to work, and we never steal. We always give our best effort, not holding back. What do I mean by that? Number one: don’t steal. If it doesn’t belong to you, don’t take it well. Should be a benefit of the job. If it’s not, don’t take it. If it’s an outlined benefit and they let you have it, great. If it’s not, it’s theft. We don’t do that as believers. Period. 

But there’s a secondary meaning to it that’s really important. It means to not rob time and effort. It means I show up and I give all of my effort. I give a great effort. I never pull back and hold back because I don’t really feel like doing it. 

Anybody ever worked with somebody who kind of gives a half-hearted effort on the job, like they’re there punching the clock, they’re not really there to care? 

Church, I would say from what Paul teaches here, we, as the people of God, are to show up to work with such an excellence ethic that it irritates everybody else we work with because we’re just working, and we’re here to work because we’re here to say, You know what, I reflect Jesus in the way I work. There’s no chance that I’m taking that moment off. You know what? I don’t want to sweep the floor, but you know what? The Lord told me a workman is worthy. They’re higher. And I’m here and I’m getting paid, so I’m going to work. 

How many ever heard the phrase, “You got time to lean, you got time to clean?” It’s a mental thing that Paul’s talking about, which is to be careful to guard yourself against the entitlement that tells me I don’t need to do that. 

I’m not being taken care of. They’re not paying me enough. Here’s the deal: if you are at work and your attitude is, They don’t pay me enough to work this hard, then get a different job because that reflects Jesus poorly. Because Paul’s answer here is: what’s at stake isn’t your paycheck; what’s at stake is you reflecting the King correctly. 

And the last thing he says is, “In everything you do.” This phrase to them is crazy: “Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way.” In everything you do in the marketplace, put your faith in Jesus on display. It means the way you work reveals what you believe about the Lord. More importantly, it reveals what people are going to believe about the Lord. 

When we do that, like the doulos that Paul’s speaking to, we become God’s trophy in the marketplace, so He can literally go, Look, look at my son, look at my daughter. That’s what it looks like to live the Kingdom. We become something He can point at and hold up and use to reveal His glory. 

CARRYING JESUS IN THE MARKETPLACE

I want to consider this: we spent the first two chapters in Titus, and the thing that Paul’s dealing with is how we handle the Kingdom, how we carry the nature of Jesus in our homes, and now he’s going to transition to how we carry the nature of Jesus in the marketplace. 

If you think about those two places, that’s the majority of our lives, but sometimes I don’t think we consider that. It’s really two places. I need to be worried about how I carry the nature of Jesus in my home, and I need to be worried about how I carry the nature of Jesus in the marketplace, and if I focus on those two things, I’m going to honor the Lord and I’m going to walk right before the Lord. 

These two environments must become the two places that we’re most concerned with how we reveal Jesus. I would offer what I think is a sobering thought: you and I do not have the right as believers to misrepresent Jesus in the workplace. 

And Paul says, the way you work represents Jesus Scripturally. We use all kinds of statements that Jesus purchased us, paid for our life with His precious blood, that we belong to Him. We have all these ownership statements. 

Paul will go as far as to say, I’m a bond slave to Jesus Christ. What’s a bond slave? A bond slave was a slave that had been freed who came back and said, I willingly choose to be your slave. That’s the language of Scripture that refers to our relationship with the Lord, that we belong to Him. 

To that end, I would offer that how we handle ourselves in our workplace is actually about how we’re responding to Jesus’ leadership. It’s not about our bosses, it’s not about our situation. It’s about Him, and Jesus gave two things that I want to highlight as we close, two things that He reveals to us in how He lives. 

The first one was in Matthew 20. It says, “For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, to give his life away as a ransom for many.” Jesus came to serve. He showed up to serve. 

So, here’s my question: when it comes to the marketplace, do you show up to serve? Are you asking the system to serve you? 

The second thing is Philippians 2:5-8. It says that Paul teaches that the attitude of Jesus is to become our attitude. So, what was His attitude? Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. 

He made Himself nothing. He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form, and He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on the cross. See, we read this and we miss the reality that the entire passage is about somebody emptying themselves of rights and choosing to go low all the time. 

I would offer one of the biggest ways that we can survive well and reveal Jesus well in the marketplace is to put on humility and quit claiming our rights all the time. Are you saying I should be abused? No, not at all. I think we live in a wildly great system where there’s channels for that to be dealt with. 

I’m talking about not being entitled. I’m talking about showing up with a servant heart, saying, I’m here to lay my life down, you know what? So what? I outwork everybody around me. So what if I work harder than them? I’m here to reveal Jesus. 

It’s not about whether or not I’m putting in the same shift they are. As a believer, I should work harder than them. I should because I’m an example of Christ, I’m trying to point everybody to Him by the way I work. 

Sometimes we get hung up on our rights. As a child of God, I know who He says I am. I’m redeemed. I’m worth it. You can’t speak to me that way. I would offer that when we allow those things to get in the way of how we work, we’re doing the same thing Paul’s dealing with here. 

We’re conflating our identity in Christ with our responsibility in the marketplace. Our job is to reveal Jesus with how we work. My challenge is simple: if you haven’t considered that the way you show up at work is a major part of your testimony, then you need to consider that. 

If you haven’t considered that the Lord has a lot to say about how you work, then you need to consider that. You need to consider what Paul says here, and take it as a challenge and an admonition and say, Hey, those five things I need to put into practice. 

Be willing to ask yourself: am I living that? Do I show up at work with that attitude? Do I show up to work hard? Am I argumentative? 

But how do I know if I’m argumentative? Are you in a lot of arguments? I mean, if you’re in conflict all the time with your coworkers, you’re probably argumentative. 

Church, we are to put on Jesus and be an example with how we work. What would be the worst thing is, if you know, would it be terrible if the marketplace said, You know, you just can’t really get them to get riled up. They just kind of walk away from arguments. They just do their job really well. Just do their job really well and go home. I don’t really know what’s going on. They just don’t seem like they seem like they’re drawing energy from someplace else. 

Wouldn’t that be the best thing that could happen, that people would lean in and go, Can you explain to me what’s going on with you and this whole faith thing? Because I watch you work, and you are clearly working from a different place. 

Oh yeah, you know, I just realized that everything I do reflects Him. So, I’m not willing to reflect Him bad. You don’t ever have a bad day. I have lots of bad days. I just leave it at the Throne. Do not let your personal emotions inform your work. Let your workplace mentality be informed by the King. 

What if I’m having a bad day? Great. Slug it out with Jesus. I told you about my friend Mike, who says, Me and Jesus use all the words. Go to the Throne room. Have it out with the Lord, tell Him how you feel, and stay there until you can walk out the other side a better person.

And then show up at work and say, You know what? I’m here for you, I’m here to serve you, and I’m here to show you the King. I’m not going to talk about the King, I’m just going to reveal Him with how I work. 

That’s what Paul’s dealing with here, and he has the audacity to say it to slaves. That’s wild. I would argue, if he can say it to them, it for sure applies to us. 

All right. Stand with me, please. You guys will be happy to know that when we looked at this as a teaching team, everybody went, Not it, and I got stuck. So, I really do believe that one of the most important places that revival can happen in the church is how we work. Because the rest of the world is watching. 

When you show up in the marketplace, and you’re going through the same stuff they’re going through, but you’re doing it with this wild grace that just doesn’t seem fair, it causes them to ask you, What’s going on? 

You’re like, Nobody’s asking me what’s going on. Think that through. Maybe you’re not revealing the grace you’re supposed to. It’s not a shaming thing, it’s just a, Hey, let’s just line up with what Jesus calls us to do. 

Alright. Lord, we love You, we honor You. Scriptures sometimes are easy, and sometimes they’re not. Today, they’re not on the other side of that. I think there’s wild blessing on our lives if we learn this. 

So, Lord, as always, if anything I said is not of You, let it fall on the ground and be forgotten. But Lord, would You plant this deep in our hearts? Would You plant the truth of this text deep in our hearts? We love You, we honor You. Jesus’ name, amen.