An Implicit Statement About Women in Ministry

For almost 150 years the Christian Church has dangerously backslidden towards liberalism and secular humanism. It has done this by ignoring the very plain words of the Bible in favor of the left-wing agenda of abolitionism. It is clear that slavery was a divinely permitted institution that our Lord clearly sanctioned in Scripture for the betterment of society. Slavery runs across the pages of both the Old and New Testament. How any good Christian man or woman could deny the validity of slavery and the social hierarchy involved, which is plainly written on our pages of Scripture, is simply beyond me!

Slavery was not just a Old Testament practice, it was a New Testament one as well. Haven't these liberal, humanist, supposedly "christian" children of the Enlightenment read the Apostle Paul? In the book of Ephesians, right after Paul talks about other social arrangements and relationships, he addresses slavery. He tells slaves to obey their masters with respect and fear (Eph. 6:5)! It also says they are to do this with a sincerity of heart. If you didn't believe Paul when he said it in Ephesians, take a look at Colossians 3:22-24 where he essentially says the same things. And it wasn't just the Apostle Paul who felt this way, Peter did also. Ever read I Peter 2:18-21, you wishy-washy Christians? Peter tells the slaves not only to obey their masters, but to be obedient even when they are harsh and cruel to them (I Pe. 2:18-19).

There are some Christians today who want to just pick and choose what they want to believe. They don't like these passages about slavery so they'd like to just cut them out of the Scriptures. Or worse yet, they bore us with this business about the "historical background" and the "Greek text." Hogwash! I don't need to know any of this whitewashing claptrap about knowing the culture, history and background of the Bible! That would imply that other books or information other than the Bible are needed to understand God's Word! If slavery was good enough for the Apostle Paul and Peter, then it is good enough for me!

It's very obvious these abolitionist Christians are taking their cues from the popular culture. The culture isn't supposed to sway our Christian beliefs. These liberals would rather make friends with the world than with God's Word. Look where we've come. Ever since we gave these coloreds more and more worldly Enlightenment rights, they keep demanding more. It is definitely a sign of the end-times where we have colored pastors preaching up front in White churches. Worse yet, we have descendants from slaves now trying to usurp their proper place in society, in direct defiance of God's word! And some so-called "christians" have the nerve to cheer this on! It's gotten so bad that the liberal media is even fawning over this uppity negro, Barrack Osama or whatever he calls himself, taking seriously this idea that he could run for President! The end-times and the imminent pretribulational rapture must definitely be upon us.

What is so nonsensical about all this is that the Bible already raised the ethical bar with slaves and their masters. Wasn't that enough for them? You find some of the most humane treatment of slaves in the Bible when compared to other religions and cultures. Paul even said in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Now keep in mind that this only means that we are all equal positionally in Christ. Surely, it carries no connotations beyond that and no meaningful applications for other cultural arrangements. But it does show that slaves at least can have salvation.

Don't get me wrong, the stuff about Jews and Greeks does carry more meaning than just being equal positionally in Christ. We know that non-Jews are no longer second class citizens anymore like they were in Jerusalem during the Biblical times of Jesus. But just because Gentiles and Jews are on equal cultural footing doesn't mean that slaves should also eventually be on equal footing with free people. Being positionally equal with Christ should be enough for them. They should be more grateful.

Besides, the Bible never says that slavemasters should be cruel to their slaves. In those same passages I quoted above, masters are told to be nice to their slaves. Paul even urges Philemon, the slave owner, to be nice to his runaway convert slave Onesimus and treat him like a brother when he returns. You see, in the Old Testament, God tells the Israelites to treat slaves better than the surrounding culture did. And in the New Testament, the status of slaves is raised even higher, even showing them positionally equal with free people, at least with Christ. Plus, slaves are afforded a certain amount of dignity that they didn't typically receive from others in that day and age. Clearly, there is a redemptive ethic that spans through the Scriptures. But it is equally clear that this same redemptive ethic should carry no more weight or development in today's 21st century culture than it did then in that 1st century culture. Anyone who says otherwise, and ignores the plain meaning of Scripture, is just being a liberal and letting the godless secular culture tell them what is and isn't moral.

True Bible-believing Christians like me who take the Scriptures seriously know these things. The very words on the Bible are all I need. I don't need to consider this historical-cultural background business. A cultural hierarchy with slaves and masters was a good thing then and I see no reason to say we should change things now. What's next, are we going to say the atonement of Christ is no longer relevant either? Besides, doing all this "Biblical interpretation" stuff these pointy-headed scholars talk about, along with this laborious business of discovering what a text meant then and how it applies today is a lot of work. I really don't feel like putting that much work in, especially when the plain meaning of the text tells me everything I need to know.

If you are a serious Christian and take the plain meaning of the text seriously, then you will stop making excuses for the slavery passages in the Old and New Testaments. Doing so just leads to moral relativism. We need to affirm the goodness of slavery. But it's true that we also need to affirm the goodness of slaves. They are equal in being to us, they just have different roles. My role just happens to be that of a privileged free person. My slave's role as a slave does not make him ontologically inferior to me, in fact, it just complements me. Slaves should celebrate, enjoy, and be grateful for their different roles.

So now, as we enter 2007, we need to reclaim Biblical slavery and see the wonderful and beautiful role that slaves play and how they complement us free people, just the way God surely wants it for all people in all times. If you are a slave reading this, you should not be offended by all this. Rather be thankful for how God has created you and humbly submit and accept your place in society. Doing so will be an awesome spiritual experience for you. I will pray that you stop being rebellious and submit to the wonderful roles available to you as a slave. Remember, you're not less than me, you just have the different societal role as a slave. Praise God!

And to the rest of you so-called "christians," I will pray that God changes your heart and that you begin taking the Bible seriously again. And if you want to take the Bible seriously today in the 21st century, then you need to take slavery seriously. The progress of redemption stopped for these slaves in the late first century with the closing of the Biblical canon. There is no need to add to God's word today (haven't you liberal abolitionist Christians read the warnings in Revelation 22:18-19?!?!). If you want to best apply these the socially redemptive texts and themes in the Bible for those of us living today, then you will urge these slaves to know their proper place and get with the program.

That is by far the best application of God's word for today. It is surely pleasing to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to turn back the clock and rediscover the glorious roles for slaves and their place in a Christ-centered hierarchical society. Amen!