14  Submission in the Workplace  (1 Peter 2:18–21a)

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, (2:18–21a)

Today postmodern culture seems to cling to only one basic moral obligation, the sacred duty to provide equal rights for everyone. No one any longer speaks of sacrifice or privilege—only rights, such as ethnic rights, reproductive rights, immigrant rights, homosexual rights, and workplace rights.

If people do not receive what they think personal freedom should give them, they express their grievances in the form of walkouts, strikes, boycotts, and political rebellions. Such protesters are usually motivated by the belief that everyone is equal in every way and entitled to exactly the same things as everyone else.

In the workplace, employees voice their grievances over a lack of “rights” through work slowdowns, “sick-outs, ” protests, or all-out strikes that prevent management from conducting business. Management sometimes responds with lockouts or even termination of the striking employees. Job actions on occasion do result in salary increases and improved benefits for employees, or perhaps a compromise agreement that benefits both sides in the long run.

However, the focus on “rights” in the workplace, whatever the results, is incongruous with the Christian life. Believers are to be concerned instead with obedience and submission to God’s will. When they obey and submit to their superiors, as He commands, they prove that their real hope is in the world to come. David provides an excellent illustration of the submissive attitude God seeks in the context of serving under someone. Once God chose him to replace Saul as king, Saul sought to kill David. First Samuel describes what underlay Saul’s hatred:

In the face of such hostility, David rested in the divine promise that he would be king. Therefore he did not need to demand his right to rule; neither did he insist on vengeance against King Saul. Nevertheless Saul continued to seek David’s life.

Unbelievably, from a human standpoint, David again refused to harm Saul, even though he had another opportunity to strike back at the king. First Samuel 26:6–12 chronicles what happened:

The apostle Paul more specifically articulated the divine principle of granting respect and not seeking retaliation: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Rom. 12:17–19; cf. Luke 6:32–35; 1 Cor. 7:20–21, 24). As discussed in the previous chapter of this volume, neither Peter, Paul, nor any of the New Testament writers ever advocated that subordinates should rise up against their superiors.

In this section, Peter moves from politics to work and commands believers who are servants or slaves to submit to their masters. In broader terms, that means Christian employees are to respect and obey their employers. The apostle issued his command as both a mandate and a motive for submission.

THE MANDATE FOR SUBMISSION

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. (2:18)

The workforce in the Roman world consisted of slaves, and the way they were treated was wide-ranging. Some masters loved their slaves as trusted members of the household and treated them like family. But many did not, because there were scant protections—and virtually no rights—for slaves, who were considered property rather than persons. Slaves owned little or nothing and had no legal recourse to which they could appeal when mistreated. For instance, the influential Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote, “A slave is a living tool, and a tool is an inanimate slave” (Ethics, 1161b). Writing about agriculture, the Roman nobleman Varro asserted that the only thing distinguishing a slave from a beast or a cart was that the slave could talk.

It is safe to say that as the gospel spread throughout the Greco-Roman world most of the converts were slaves. Paul told the Corinthians,

That reality is the reason the New Testament addressed much teaching to slaves (1 Cor. 7:20–24; Eph. 6:5–6; Col. 3:22; 1 Tim. 6:1–2; Titus 2:9–10; Philem. 12–16). They made up a large part of the Gentile church and their place in society raised some important issues. First, believing slaves often assumed that since they had become free in Christ (Rom. 6:17–18; 7:6; 1 Cor. 7:22; 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 6:8; Col. 3:11, 24) they also had a right to freedom from their masters. Second, converted slaves sometimes assumed that certain societal elevation should be theirs because of their spiritual giftedness and leadership in the church. When a slave became a church elder and thus the spiritual overseer of his believing master, the issue of his subordination to that master in the workplace had to be addressed. Under apostolic teaching, the early Christians developed strong and correct convictions on the slavery issues. They did not seek to incite a slave rebellion, but focused on making sure Christian slaves’ attitudes were right. Paul’s letter to Philemon is inspired testimony to the divine will for a slave, who was a brother in Christ, to fulfill his duty to his master.

Servants (oiketai) is from the root meaning “house, ” and thus is the basic term for household servants (cf. Acts 10:7). Most of those servants served in a home or under an estate owner with duties from being farmers who plowed the owner’s field to doctors who cared for his family’s medical needs. Peter’s basic command to them is be submissive (hupotassomenoi, a present passive participle with the sense of a present imperative, meaning “to line up under”). Slaves were to be continually submissive to their masters, the despotai (from which the English word despots derives), who had absolute ownership of and complete control over them (cf. 1 Tim. 6:1–2; Titus 2:9).

The submission of servants was to be rendered with all respect, that is, without bitterness or negativity, but with an attitude of gracious honor. That was a way to show respect to God Himself and to fulfill Peter’s teachings about the fear of God, expressed elsewhere in the letter (1:17 [see the discussion of this verse in chapter 5 of this volume]; 2:17; 3:2; 3:15). God designed the servant-master relationship to ensure safety, care, support, productivity, and the conduct of human enterprise. The earth yields its produce and material wealth to support and enrich mankind through the providence of work relations. This is an institution of God from the Fall onward (Gen. 3:17–19). God has designed a complex of abilities and opportunities, relations and experiences, to allow humans to draw the rich resources out of this planet.

Such a God-fearing attitude is to extend beyond the good and gentle masters even to those who are unreasonable. Good (agathois) means “one who is upright, beneficial, and satisfactory for another’s need.” Gentle (epieikesin) refers to “one who is considerate, reasonable, and fair.” Therefore good and gentle describes a magnanimous, kind, and gracious person, the kind of master to whom it is easy to submit. The kind to whom it is not easy to submit Peter called unreasonable (skoliois), a term that literally means “curved” or “crooked, ” and metaphorically means “perverse” or “dishonest.” (The word is transliterated in medical terminology to describe a twisted condition of the spinal column [scoliosis].)

In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul further stated God’s will on this issue:

In the workplace, employees are to submit to employers as if they were serving Christ Himself. Such submissiveness precludes all rebellions, protests, mutinies, strikes, or workplace disobedience of every kind, even if the employer is unreasonable.

THE MOTIVE FOR SUBMISSION

For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, (2:19–21a)

It should be of little consequence to believers what their circumstances are in the workplace, whether they are chief executive officers or custodians, whether they receive a substantial pay raise or settle for a salary cut so the company can stay solvent. The factor of overarching significance is that they maintain their testimony before the watching world of sinners (cf. Matt. 5:15–16; Mark 4:21; Phil. 2:14–16), and in the workplace that occurs when believers labor with an awareness of God’s glory. Such awareness is the motivation not only for godly behavior and submission on the job, but also for trusting in God’s sovereignty in every situation. Theologian A. W. Pink wrote,

The motivation for believers’ submission in the workplace resides in the short phrase, for this finds favor, literally, “this is a grace.” God is pleased when believers do their work in a humble and submissive way for their superiors (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22; Pss. 26:3; 36:10; James 1:25). It is especially favorable to God when for the sake of conscience toward God a person [believer] bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. Whether it was a slave in Peter’s day patiently enduring brutal treatment, or whether it is a modern-day employee not retaliating against an unkind and unjust supervisor, God is pleased. This is what James referred to as a “consider it all joy” experience by which believers are perfected (James 1:2–4). The greater blessing is actually for the one who suffers.

Conscience toward God refers to the aforementioned general awareness of His presence, which again is believers’ main motivation for submission in the workplace. The word rendered bears up under means “to endure, ” and the term sorrows implies pain, either physical or mental. The Lord wants believers, when suffering unjustly in the workplace, not to falter in their witness but humbly and patiently to accept unjust treatment, knowing that God has sovereign control of every circumstance (Pss. 33:11; 103:19; Prov. 16:1, 9; 19:21; Isa. 14:27; 46:9–10; Acts 17:28; Rom. 8:28–30; cf. 1:6–7; 2 Cor. 4:17–18) and promises to bless.

Undoubtedly many recipients of this epistle endured painful and unjust beatings as slaves. Their masters might have deprived them of food, forced them to work unreasonably long hours, or punished them unfairly in a variety of ways. Unlike modern-day employees in Western industrialized countries, those slaves had no one to turn to for redress of grievances—no union representatives, no government boards or ombudsmen to settle disputes, and no way to file civil lawsuits. They just had to endure whatever painful and difficult circumstances their masters imposed on them—and they did so, much to the glory and honor of God (cf. Matt. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:4–5; James 5:11), which evidenced their heavenly perspective.

Peter pressed his argument with a negative rhetorical question, followed by a positive statement. The implied answer to his question, For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? is, “There is no credit.” Believers who sin deserve chastening (cf. Ps. 66:18; Jer. 5:25; Dan. 9:8; Heb. 12:5–11), and they ought to endure it with patience.

On the other hand, Peter offered the positive assertion, But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. When the believing slaves did what was right some still had to suffer for it, even to the extent of being harshly treated as if they really deserved punishment. This indicates that, among various forms, harsh treatment came physically, by means of repeated, hard blows with the fists or instruments (cf. Mark 14:65). Perhaps some were punished because of their Christian convictions. Again, those who endured such suffering patiently found favor or grace with God. It always pleases Him to see believers faithfully accept and deal with any adversity (cf. 3:14; 4:14, 16; Matt. 5:11–12; 1 Cor. 4:11–13; 2 Cor. 12:9–10; James 1:12).

Peter concluded this section with the amazing statement at the beginning of verse 21, For you have been called for this purpose. Have been called refers to the efficacious salvation call (1:15; 5:10; cf. Rom. 8:28, 30; 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 1:6, 15; Eph. 4:1, 4; Col. 3:15; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 9:15; 2 Peter 1:3). As soon as the Holy Spirit calls people from darkness to light, they become an enemy of the world (John 15:18–19; 1 John 3:13) and a target of unjust and unfair attack as they seek to obey Christ. Paul told Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12; cf. Mark 10:30; John 15:20; 16:33).

It is more important to God that those who are citizens of heaven display a faithful testimony, marked by spiritual integrity, than that they strive to attain all their perceived rights in this world. It is more important to God for believers to uphold the credibility of gospel power than to obtain a raise or promotion in their vocation. It is ultimately far more important to God that believers demonstrate their submission to His sovereignty in every area of life than that they protest against problems at their workplace. Martyn Lloyd-Jones illustrated the value of Christians’ submitting to God’s purpose—the rigor of discipline and trials in everyday life—as follows:

Whenever believers encounter trials on the job, they ought to view them as opportunities for spiritual growth and evangelism. The chief reason God allows believers to remain in this world is so He might use them to win the lost and thereby bring glory to His name. Those who suffer with the right attitude will be blessed in this life and honored later in the Lord’s presence.