...we are all children of God...

“18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, 24 since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality.

1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven” Colossians 3:18 — 4:1.

“Freedom of choice” is one of the idols of our time, and the suggestion of regulating or curtailing it is unthinkable for many people. What Paul is offering in this passage is a very brief “Highway Code” for household relationships. It is remarkable for several reasons. Perhaps the first is that he doesn’t just tell wives, children and slaves how to behave. Their duties are balanced by the corresponding duties of husbands, parents and masters. This was every bit as revolutionary in Paul’s day, as what people today often wish Paul had said – for instance, that all men and women are equal!

Paul’s command to wives, for example, has come in for particular criticism. In many Bible translations, the key word is translated as “submit”, and this conjures up in many people’s thinking the image of a downtrodden woman, the victim of her husband’s every whim, unable to be herself, to think her own thoughts, to make a grown-up contribution to the relationship. The fact that there are still some places in the world where women are treated like that is enough to make some people suggest that this is what Paul intended.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as Paul’s parallel command to husbands indicates. Indeed, Paul’s own fellow-workers included women, and married couples, where it appears that the women were, in our phrase, “people in their own right” rather than shadowy figures screened from view by a bossy husband. At the same time, Paul is quite clear that, out of respect for both husbands and wives, that it is love that makes a marriage what it should be, and Paul insists that the roles are reciprocal, not identical.

The more accurate translation is “Wives, be subject to your husbands” but notice that Paul says, “Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord.” In other words, treat your wives as it befits the Lord.

We also must consider the cultural differences that exist throughout the world, including the world in which Paul lived. It was a patriarchal culture that permitted slaves, a cultural reality that exists in many countries today. Today, the concept of slavery in America is repulsive and unacceptable because buying and selling people is just wrong. This is important because it pushes us to remember many things that were once acceptable are no longer so. This reminds us that not every word of the Bible is to be accepted literally.

For my part, I try to live my life, “whatever my task, putting myself into it, and doing it for the Lord” (verse 23) and not for anyone else. I am comfortable letting go of cultural norms in Biblical times, knowing that today we live and look at life differently. I view many cultural and religious norms and habits as having varying benefits and truths when compared to the Word of God.

I look for God’s Word and Presence in the Scriptures, not taking every word as the literal truth.

How about you?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, help us to treat one another as You treat us —

with love and kindness and mercy.

Help us to remember treat others as You treat each of us.

All of us are Your children and belong to your family, the family of God.

Help us, Lord, to respect all races of people

because You created all of them!

Help us respect all children and adults, especially the elderly.

And this we pray in Your Name, Jesus Christ, Your Lord, amen.