A Hard Pill to Swallow (Titus 2:9-10)

There are rare occasions when I study the Bible and I find myself wanting the text to say something different than what it clearly says. This past week was one of those occasions. I was studying Titus 2:9-10 – a text that I’ve looked at before and it said what it’s always said, “Urge slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything . . .” Now, I’m not quite sure why this time was so different, but the reality of Paul’s command for slaves to willingly submit themselves to their masters landed on me with great force; actually with great sadness. I suppose I was sad because I spent some time thinking about the evil brutality of slavery throughout history, especially American history which is close to home for me. And as I did that, Paul’s words just didn’t seem right—that is until I reminded myself of God’s Modus Operandi in Redemptive history.

You see, my unmortified inclination was to hold God to my standard of thinking, which honestly would have dictated the abolition of slavery by Divine decree. Meaning, Christians could have rebelled and fought to achieve their goal, and certainly that’s what it would have taken in order for me to have gotten my way. But I’m a fool, and God is wise. He is in the business of transforming hearts first, which in turn may or may not transform societies. So, in His infinite wisdom, He chose to deal with slavery contrary to human wisdom by calling on Christian slaves to adorn themselves with the gospel of Christ by humbly submitting to their masters, even if they were perverted (cf. 1 Pet. 2:18-20). And that’s the key! God puts His glorious transforming grace on display in and through the lives of His people, and most amazingly through those who find themselves in the midst of horrible circumstances; in this case, slavery.

Yea, I know it leaves many questions unanswered. But when has God ever obligated Himself to answer all of our questions? We do know this though; He is good and He is wise. And if history teaches us anything, it certainly instructs us that the great evils of our times including slavery have in fact been confronted by those who have been transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ. And I have a sneaky suspicion, that when I get to heaven, I’m going to meet a whole lot of redeemed slave masters who came to saving faith in Christ through the inexplicable testimony of a humble slave who didn’t rebel, but through submission adorned the doctrine of God our Savior to the praise of His grace.