Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. – 1 Corinthians 7:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 7, 2014): 1 Corinthians 7

Francois Laurent, a historian and an expert in the theory of law during the nineteenth century, made this charge against the Christian Church with regard to the civil rights movement in his day:

To have done anything toward the enfranchisement of the servile classes, the Church had need of a living sentiment of liberty. But Christianity never had that sentiment: it accepted slavery by consecrating it with its authority. Yes, Christianity did more than accept slavery; it saw it as a Divine institution. It is not enough to say that Christianity does not condemn slavery; it would be more true to say that it sanctifies it.

Bu Laurent’s comment ignores the intense Christian debate over slavery that has existed almost since the time of Christ.  In the days leading up to the American Civil War, it was not unusual to find Pastors who were slave owners and Pastors who opposed slavery within the same Christian denomination – and sometimes who were present together at events and sharing the same stage. And part of the problem between Christianity and slavery is that it is hard to make any kind of judgment from the Christian writings themselves. The reality is that the New Testament was written in a time when slavery was culturally accepted. It did not have to validate slavery, the culture had already given the institution its seal of approval – in fact, more than that, it was a culture that knew of no other way to live. So maybe the bigger question that we need to deal with is simply this; could Christianity have opposed slavery given the historical situation? And that may be a question that we will never be able to answer.

To complicate the problem, we are not even sure how to translate some of the passages in the New Testament that deal with slavery. The way that we have the verse translated, it sounds like Paul is saying that status should not impact Christian life. There can be no argument which states that if only my life was different, I would be able to be a better Christian. Paul is definitely saying that we are called to make a difference in our world regardless of our status in life. God knew who we were, and the challenges that we face, when he called us.

But the second clause appears to state that if a slave can obtain freedom, then that is the path that should be taken. However, it is not the only interpretation. Some argue that it would be a better translation of the verse to phrase it as “even if a chance for freedom arises, make good use of your slavery.” The meaning of the statement is not to discourage slaves from pursuing their freedom, but rather to stress that God has a purpose even for slaves in the midst of unwanted life situations.

So, what was Paul’s stance on slavery? Maybe the best way to describe it is to say that it was a pragmatic stance. There seems to be no doubt that Paul’s personal conviction stood against slavery. All through his writings we find the theme that there should be no slave/free distinction within the Christian Church; that Christ has set us free spiritually, and physically. The word “emancipation” seems to be continually in the mind of Paul, and yet he never says the word.

And there are probably two reasons for Paul’s hesitancy to speak about freeing the slaves. First, slavery was culturally entrenched and to talk about emancipation would have exponentially increased the violence against the fledgling church. But maybe even more importantly, it may have confused the purpose of the young church as more slaves joined to gain freedom without understanding that that Jesus died on a cross to do more than change our physical situation, but rather to change our eternal reality.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 8 & 9