Slavery, False Teachers, and True Contentment - 1 Timothy 6:1-10

Several weeks ago, I said something to the effect that every controversial Christian issue is contained in 1 Timothy and I stand by that statement. And I say that because in the first two verses, Paul addresses another challenging topic: slavery.

Now verse 1 in the ESV, the greek word “doulos” is rendered as “bondservants,” which might make you think he’s talking about indentured servants or something to that effect but really the Apostle Paul is talking about slaves. Interestingly, both the NIV and NASB translations render it as “slaves” or “slavery.” And we know that Paul is talking about slaves because he says they’re under “a yoke” in verse 1.

That is, he’s addressing people who are subservient and under the control of another person, in the same way a beast of burden will wear a yoke in order to plow a field. He’s addressing people who are under the control of a master.

It’s important for all of us to remember that slavery was commonplace in the Roman Empire. Some estimate that as many as one-third of the population was enslaved. There were all sorts of different types of slaves, prisoners of war, debtors, those who were born into it and so on. And it’s true that many slaves were abused but slavery in the ancient world didn’t necessarily mean you couldn’t have a healthy career.

Many slaves owned slaves themselves, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but is true. Additionally, slavery was a pathway to Roman citizenship. One could voluntarily become a slave and after a certain number of years, they’d be set free along with their Roman citizenship - the practice was called manumission. Of course, I’m not excusing the practice in any way - it was an abhorrent evil, rather, the point I’m trying to make is that slavery was ingrained into the cultural fabric of the Roman Empire.

The sad reality is slavery has always been and continues to be a reality of our fallen world. Some estimate that there are somewhere around 50 million slaves in the world today. And it’s not exclusive to third world countries either. Many prominent countries continue to practice slavery. For example, China and India still practice slavery.

I only mention that because whenever the topic of slavery comes up, I think it’s easy for us in the year 2024 to mount our moral high horse and look down our noses at the reality of slavery in the ancient world when slavery continues to persist in our modern world.

But these 10 verses go far beyond the topic of slavery because it strikes at something that is incredibly relatable for all of us right now, and that is contentment. Paul addresses contentment in position, contentment in the church, and contentment with status in these 10 verses.

It’s been several weeks since we were in 1 Timothy. Paul has been addressing various groups within the Ephesian church. He addressed old and young men, young women, widows, church officers, and now he’s addressing those who find themselves under the yoke of slavery.

Contentment in Position (vv. 1-2)

And so it shouldn’t be a surprise since slavery was so common in the ancient Roman Empire that slaves were putting their faith in Christ! Which is exactly what the Ephesian church would have wanted, however, it would have created some interesting social dynamics.

Sometimes I can’t help but laugh, because so many of the things that plague the church now, have always plagued the church. If you’ve been a part of the church for any time, I’m sure you’ve had the privilege of navigating a difficult or awkward social situation. Perhaps you go to church with someone that you work with, and you had a heated exchange on Friday and saw them at church on Sunday. Or you run into someone that you used to date at church. Those are the sorts of difficult situations we might run into, but imagine what it must have been like for slaves in the ancient church!

One of the common questions you and I regularly wrestle with is, how do I faithfully live out my Christian faith in my current stage of life? No doubt, the slaves in the Ephesian church were asking themselves the same question! How do I live out my faith in Christ as a person under the yoke of slavery?

It’s no wonder that the issue of slavery comes up in several different parts of Paul’s letters: he addressed slavery in Ephesians 6, Colossians 3, Titus 2, his letter to Philemon, and of course the passage we’re looking at right now.

At times, I think I face challenging pastoral situations, but I’ve never faced anything remotely close to this. Paul is faced with a difficult pastoral question here: what advice can he give to Timothy to pastorally encourage those within the Ephesian church who were slaves?

Look at verse 1 with me: “Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants [slaves] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.”

Paul encourages slaves to have “regard” and “honor” for their masters. In other words, he encourages slaves to show respect to their masters, particularly unbelieving masters. Why? So that the name of God and the teaching may not be “reviled.”

It seems that some Christian slaves had not only become hostile toward their masters but they were becoming increasingly lazy. And so Paul wanted these Christian slaves to consider what poor ambassadors they had become of Jesus Christ. After all, there was an evangelistic component to their relationship with their master that they needed to take into account.

As a Christian, being a lazy malcontent will always be a poor reflection on Christ. If people know you're a Christian and see that you're lazy and perpetually disgruntled, they may be led to believe that’s how all Christians are. And if they believe that then why would they ever want to know about your faith in Christ?

It’s hard enough to imagine what it must have been like to be a slave with a non-Christian master, but what about slaves who had Christian masters? Talk about a difficult pastoral situation, right?

Paul says, “Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.”

His advice to the slaves who had Christian masters is very similar to those who have unbelieving masters, but he goes one step further doesn’t he? You should render faithful service to them because they are believers.

And it’s easy to see why this might be an issue: a Christian slave might think that they’re entitled to a lighter workload or preferential treatment or that their fellow believer should release them from the bonds of slavery.

Paul is essentially saying, “worry about your responsibility to them, don’t worry about their responsibility to you.”

There’s something quite fundamental to Paul’s advice here: not only is hard work a reflection of your faith in Christ - it’s in your best interest to be a hard worker as well.

Because the more these slaves accomplish for their masters, the more dependent they will be on them, and over time, you aren’t just a body - you're an integral part of what they’re trying to achieve.

But this principle isn’t exclusive to slaves, right? It’s true for all of us to this day. Working hard and rendering faithful service even to those who you don’t believe deserve it is in many ways where the rubber meets the road of your Christian faith.

If you only worked hard for those who you deem worthy, would you ever work hard? It’s a built in excuse for laziness, because you can always say no one is worthy!

And here’s another element to this: a strong work ethic that is marked by honesty and integrity has the unique ability to melt even the harshest masters - and that is Paul’s point. Not only is honest work a reflection of your faith in Christ, it has the ability to improve your relationship with your master, which in turn will improve your working conditions!

And you might read this and think, well Paul is simply telling them to accept their lot in life.

No doubt, Paul challenges our modern sensibilities, because you read this passage and think: Paul you’re blowing your opportunity to write the Christian emancipation proclamation!

By no means is Paul defending the institution of slavery. But rather than making a political argument for why it should be outlawed which could have ended up hurting Christian slaves, he attacks the very ideas that undergird the institution of slavery.

Notice that in verse 2 Paul refers to Christian slaves and their Christian owners as “brothers.” No doubt, there’s a subtle theological message: The slave and the master are both created in the image of God. They’re equal in the eyes of God. There is no hierarchical Christian structure. Therefore, the slave is not your personal property, or inferior to you, no he’s your brother.

This is why passages like Galatians 3 are so powerful! That’s where Paul famously says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

If the foot of the cross is perfectly level, then that must impact the way we treat one another. There are only two classes of people in the world: sinners and those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

I’m sure most of you are aware that many of the greatest abolitionists were Christians. The man who helped end the slave trade, William Wilberforce, was a devout believer.

The 19th century was the period of time where the institution of slavery was effectively broken, and it was largely fueled by the second great awakening.

I bring this up for a reason: the most powerful political and societal reform is a response to major spiritual reform.

We all want to see major reforms take place in the Roanoke Valley, the state of Virginia, and in the United States. If you want to see evil destroyed and righteousness upheld, then you and I need to start praying for the outpouring of the Spirit. If we want our society to change then we need to start praying for a lot more people to get saved.

It reminds me of the lyric from the hymn How Sweet and Awesome is the Place. The first line of the sixth stanza is “We long to see your churches full…”

When churches are full then society will change because spiritual reform produces societal reform. We must pray to that end.

Paul was certainly undermining the institution of slavery, but I think it’s safe to say he didn’t expect for Roman society to change overnight. He was addressing a pastoral situation in the church in Ephesus, and was giving Timothy instructions for how to teach believers who were under the yoke of slavery to live content, peaceful lives in the midst of less than ideal circumstances.

And trying to fulfill your duties to the best of your ability regardless of your position is the most faithful Christian

Contentment in the church (vv. 3-8)

And that’s really what the bulk of these verses is geared towards: maintaining peace and contentment within the church. Not only does Paul address slaves in the church, but he also addresses false teachers here as well.

Look at verse 3 with me:

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.”

Paul now tells Timothy that false teachers who do not teach the words of Jesus are “puffed up with conceit and understand nothing.” These are the same false teachers that Paul warned Timothy about in chapter 1. He mentioned two of them by name, Hymaneus and Alexander, these teachers were obsessed with “myths and endless genealogies.”

These false teachers had their hobby horses. They had their points of particular interest that they focused all their attention on.

I think it was during my first year in seminary, a woman came up to me after church one Sunday and asked me if God ordained Adam and Eve to fall into sin? It’s a good question, but I knew she wasn’t asking it because she was truly interested in my answer. She just wanted to stump a first year seminary student, which wasn’t very difficult to do. But it was a hobby horse topic of hers!

Now to be fair to her, that doesn’t mean she was a false teacher. But Paul makes the point here that false teachers, who are often highly intelligent people and harbor a deep sense of pride, are more in love with their own teaching than the person and work of Jesus Christ.

That’s Paul’s point right? They’re conceited people who weren’t teaching what Christ taught. And guess what? Your teaching has consequences, because the moment you stop focusing on Christ is the very moment you’re no longer building people up in godliness. They were minimizing Jesus.

It should be a red flag when someone in church leadership doesn’t teach the words of Christ. That’s not fulfilling the Great Commission, right? “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…”

False teachers fail to fulfill the primary role of the church.

Paul goes on to give us more characteristics of false teachers. They “...[have] an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

False teachers according to Paul are argumentative, revel in controversy, split hairs, are jealous, divisive, slanderers, with an evil suspicion. They’re also depraved, deprived of the truth, and the last one is the most shocking: these false teachers believe that godliness is a means of gain.

And the reality is godliness is a means of gain! It’s a glorious thing to die to your sin and to live unto righteousness. It’s a wonderful thing to be more and more conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Godliness is a good thing, but in this case, it’s a bad thing.

What Paul is talking about is false teachers who feign righteousness and holiness in order to exploit the church for material gain. They saw the church as a way to build personal wealth. That’s what Paul means when he says they believed that “godliness is a means of gain.”

It’s not exactly clear how they were doing it. Perhaps they were making an outward show of their “religion” and charging outrageous fees for their instruction. Plain and simple, they were exploiting the church for personal gain.

It’s very similar to the prosperity preachers of our day. They preach, health and wealth are signs of faith. Which means, if you’re sick and poor, well that’s a sign of your lack of faith. The parallels really are striking because prosperity preachers have no desire to teach what Christ taught. No, their fundamental desire is to enrich themselves.

One of the primary issues with prosperity preachers and the false teachers that Paul describes in this passage is that they’re dissatisfied with the plain teaching of God’s Word. In their minds, they don’t stand to gain anything from teaching the gospel. Salvation and sanctification isn’t enough! Those things don’t help them personally.

So instead, they’d focus on their theological hobby horses that can benefit themselves. Look at verses 6 and 7.

“...godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

I recently read that after John D. Rockefeller passed away, a reporter asked one of Rockefeller’s close aides how much of his fortune he left behind, and the aide said, “all of it.” It’s a bit of a cliche, but it’s true that once we leave this earth we cannot take anything with us!

Which is why as Paul points out, contentment is so important. In fact, contentment is one of the greatest evidence of God’s work in your life.

It’s what Paul talks about in Philippians 4, “11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

This is precisely what the false teachers in Ephesus didn’t understand. True contentment cannot be attained through material wealth. True contentment comes through Jesus Christ. And when your contentment is in him, then you can withstand the ups and downs of life.

Contentment in Status (vv. 9-10)

Aside from the false teachers lack of contentment, I think we could all agree that our modern culture discourages contentment. Social media fuels jealousy, covetousness, envy, and resentment, because they’re great outlets for people to flaunt their lavish lifestyles.

Look at verses 9-10 with me:

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

I’m sure many of you are familiar with verse 10.

Paul has the false teacher's love of money in mind with verses 9-10, but I do believe there is a wider application to these verses. Your Mom wasn’t wrong when she reminded you at some point that the “love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

And to Paul’s point, money isn’t evil. Money is a necessary part of the world that we live in. Rather, it’s the love of money that’s the problem. It’s your approach to money that can be wrong. It doesn’t really matter whether you have money or not, because both the rich and the poor can be lovers of money.

There’s a movement of young married couples, who both work to refuse having children simply so they can enjoy a certain lifestyle.

They act like they're doing something new and novel, but really they’re just demonstrating their love of money.

That’s an extreme example, but it does seem that finances drive a lot of decisions people make. But the trouble with that is a love of money can lead you to mistreat people, sever relationships, or even compromise your beliefs.

It’s certainly wise to take into consideration the financial implications of a decision, but it can’t be the only thing you take into account. Some things like family and children or even your faith in Christ cannot be solely measured by a return on investment.

For some people, they’re Christian faith has resulted in a negative ROI. You and I have to learn how to be content with our status in life.

Besides money cannot bring you and me lasting peace, joy, and contentment.

Can you honestly echo the words of Paul and say that you have learned in whatever situation how to be content? Do you know the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need? Is it Christ who strengthens you?

That really is the core essence of 1 Timothy 6:1-10. Paul’s message to believing slaves is one of contentment in their position. Fundamental to the false teachers who were popping up in the church in Ephesus was a lack of contentment with ordinary, gospel ministry. In their minds it wasn’t enough. It didn’t serve their purposes.

And so many even today make decisions based upon finances because they want to be perceived a certain way and maintain a certain lifestyle.

And frankly this a warning to all of us this morning: if you lost everything except your faith in Jesus Christ, would that be enough?

If you can honestly say that Jesus is enough, then praise God, because that is a testimony to God’s work in your life. Amen.

Let’s pray together.