Who knew slavery could be so amazing (Photo: ManojVasanth)
Last week, I shared an introduction to slavery, but I didn’t explain why becoming a slave matters or why Christians should be all over it. That was a mistake – I should have started with this article.
In a era where slavery is marginalized, its benefits go unnoticed… forgotten. Who wakes up in the morning thinking, How can I become a slave today? I write about it, but that’s certainly not me. How could I expect you to care about slavery?
In this article, I’d like to step back and share some of the benefits. It’s not a complete list, but I hope it gives a feel for where I’m coming from.
Just to clear this up, these are reasons to become a slave to Christ. I don’t recommend becoming a slave to anything else, so this list doesn’t necessarily apply to other kinds of slavery. But I think it certainly applies to you.
And now, here are the top 10 reasons to become a slave:
1. God instructed you
“Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up…” -Job 22:22-23
“Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life.” -Proverbs 4:13
I could go on and on. God gave and continues to give instruction so you and I won’t be idiots (or do idiotic things). Listen.
Oh, one more because I like the way it’s worded:
“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge,But he who hates correction is stupid.” -Proverbs 12:1
2. You’re a slave anyway
As Bobby D. sang…
“Well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gunna have to serve somebody…” -Bob Dylan, Gotta Serve Somebody
It’s true.
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” -Luke 16:13
You might as well make a deliberate choice. You might as well make the right choice.
3. Slaves change the world
The people who change the world – not just change but positively impact the world – are slaves. They’re slaves because they dedicate their lives to their pursuit.
Changing the world is a tough job. It doesn’t happen on nights and weekends or Easters and Christmases. Sure, it can start there, but the real world changers give their lives completely, thoroughly… all the time.
That’s what slaves do. And the results are amazing.
4. Slavery is liberating
At first, no one sees this coming – it sounds oxymoronic (perhaps just moronic). 
You almost have to try slavery to know how liberating it is. Here are two ways I’ve felt the liberation:
1. Slaves aren’t responsible for results.
When you’re a slave, it doesn’t matter how the results turn out – or at least you’re not responsible for them. After all, the results come because the plans worked. The master makes the plans – the slave follows them. If the plans don’t work out, the slave’s not at fault.
Slaves enjoy results but aren’t responsible for them.
The slave is only responsible for obeying. Doesn’t sound so liberating… but try it – you’ll see.
2. If you’re a slave to God, then you’re free from sin.
“[K]nowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” -Romans 6:6
Freedom from sin is amazing. I don’t have much else to say about that for now. Again, try it and see.
5. You’ll become more than your puny self
Slaves aren’t individuals – they’re part of their master. As an individual, you’re only as big as yourself, but as a slave, you’re bigger than yourself.
- You carry the master’s reputation.
- You receive the master’s protection.
- You work on the master’s projects.
- And more…
If your master’s lousy – doesn’t have a good reputation, can’t protect, and has meaningless projects – then of course slavey might not feel so attractive. But if you have a spectacular master, you’re part of something spectacular. God is spectacular.
6. People will love you for it
God’s slaves serve others. In all fairness, people will hate you for that more than like you… and certainly more than love you. But the people who do recognize what you’re doing for them will be thrilled out of their minds.
How many movies have you seen or stories have you read where someone saves someone else’s life, and as a result that someone else devotes his or her life to the life saver? Gratitude is powerful.
So sure, not everyone will recognize your life-savingness, but those who do… just imagine. Or don’t imagine… go live it.
7. People will respect you more
Even if no one loves you, they’ll respect your devotion. Not everyone agrees with everyone else – most don’t. But most people do respect those who are totally, utterly devoted to what they believe and what they do.
Slaves are totally devoted.
People trust those with devotion. If you’re not devoted, why should anyone care? But if you say you’re devoted and are, they’ll pay more attention.
8. It’s the only meaningful way to give back
When someone gives so much to someone else, the thankfulness piles up. And when you and I are blessed beyond anything we can imagine, the only meaningful response is to spread that blessing to others. (I love the gratitude echo.)
- Paying back with money isn’t enough.
- Paying back with time isn’t enough.
- Paying back with energy isn’t even enough.
The only meaningful response is to give your life back… and even then, you’re not paying back – that’s impossible. Instead, your sharing back. And that’s more meaningful than any business, quid pro quo transaction.
9. You’ll live your best life now
I love how cheesy this sounds, but like the others, it’s true.
God doesn’t give instruction so He’ll benefit – He gives instruction so you and I will benefit. His instruction is our lifeline. We’re dependent on God – His instruction keeps us safe.
But more than safe, God’s instruction blesses us beyond any life we could build from our own plans.
10. God commanded you
Finally, and this goes all the way back to the top, become a slave because God commanded you. God asks nicely, but if that doesn’t work…
“The fear of the Lord i s the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” -Psalm 111:10
When all else fails, serve the Lord because there’s no other option. You are lost without Him. If Jesus is your Savior, He has to be your Lord. Otherwise, He can’t save you. Depending demands submitting.
For a bondChristian, Jesus is Savior and Lord.
Serving Suggestions:
(1) Become a slave. Nice and practical, right? I’ll followup on this in the coming posts. Subscribe (Email/RSS) to stay in the loop.
(2) What are some common objections to slavery? What are your reasons for avoiding it? I’m working on a post that will answer some of the common problems we have with slavery, so I’d love to get your feedback on this. Perhaps I’ll use some of it in the next part of this series.
(3) For those of you who’ve read all the way to the bottom, this isn’t a serving suggestion – I just want to say thank you.
Twitter Updates
Thank for this post, it is worth living a life totaly consacrate to Jesus Christ and be His servant as we serve others, so that they can see the life of Christ through us.
Thanks Marshall
You’re welcome. Thank you for commenting and sharing. I love the idea of others seeing Christ through us.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
Marshall, I encourage you to consider being a son of God rather than a slave (Galatians 4:6-7). A slave has no freedom, no choice–a slave is taken against his/her will. As sons of God, almost everything that you have written can still apply to us. There is one huge difference though–a slave does not have a vested interest in his master’s business while a son does in his Father’s business.
Thank you for your encouragement – I certainly am a child of God too.
Thank you for the reminder. At some point, I should do a post like this: “Child vs. Slave: A head to head on the benefits of both.” The Bible talks about both, so I like seeing both sides for sure. I don’t think it’s an either/or question… more both.
I tend to go the way of slavery here for a couple reasons. One of them is submission. Children submit (or should) to their parents, but slavery brings that into sharper focus.
The other reason goes back to your point about choice. I like exploring the paradox of choosing to have no choice. Slaves in the traditional sense had no choice, but bondslaves did. Bondslaves chose to serve because they were thankful for their masters. They did have a choice… but they chose slavery, so they didn’t have a choice once they committed.
I love that, and that’s part of the reason I’ve explored slavery here. Again, though, thank you for pointing out the other side. It’s always a good idea to stay in check.
I particularly like what you said about having a vested interest in God’s business. I’ve always thought of it the other way around – that a slave would be more invested… but the son will inherit the business while a slave won’t. That I like.
Wow, I could go on and on. I’ll stop here for now (more specifically on this next week). Thank you for reading and sharing.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
I’m reading and following, but I think the comparison of slavery to Christianity can easily be taken too far.
We tend to look for allegories and analogies in understanding what we are as Christians, and sometimes the effect of sin and human nature on the things we see really warps our perspective. Much of my visibility of slavery includes cruelty, poor conditions, and excessive labor. A slave earns his very privilege of living by the work that he performs. That’s about as contrary to the gospel as could possibly be discussed.
Our salvation and the resulting condition of eternal life was paid for in its entirety by the Son of God. I don’t have to earn it; I couldn’t earn it if I tried. I don’t earn my daily bread by “working hard” for God. God is not some tyrant of whom I have to be afraid. His Son has already taken the punishment for my wrongdoings for me.
While I fully understand the Biblical precedent in light of submission, I’m not convinced that “slavery” is the right word for me to use in order to remind myself of my position in Christ. It’s debasing, while Christ called us friends and made it possible for us to be sons and daughters of God.
I’ve just never read the story of the prodigal slave
Thanks for writing and provoking. It’s a worthy viewpoint. This is just mine.
Thank you for sharing, Bernard, and thank you for reading. I appreciate you sticking with me through this. That means a lot to me.
I know slavery doesn’t immediately resonate with everyone… and will never really work for most people. I hope I can at least shed some light on it, though, since it’s a perspective that’s not often considered.
I’m certainly not in the convincing business – I’m more in the sharing what I’ve learned business and leaving it up to you (and everyone else who reads) to decide for yourself which way you want to go.
And as I said in my other comment above yours, I don’t think it’s an either/or decision – I don’t think we have to choose between a father/child relationship with God and a master/slave relationship. It’s both. The Bible clearly teaches both, so I go with both (although admittedly, I focus on the slavery side on this blog).
Having said that, I especially like what you said about how your visibility of slavery includes cruelty, poor conditions, and excessive labor. Mine too. And that is a problem with slavery for sure. It’s something I need to stay aware of when I’m writing and speaking about slavery. Thank you for the reminder.
And again, thank you for adding your help here. This is exactly what I asked for and wanted people to share. I love seeing you dig into the Christian’s relationship with Christ. That’s awesome.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
P. S. Also, I liked the term “Prodigal slave.” I’m going to use that if you don’t mind.
You’re welcome to it
Thank you. For some reason, the picture just looks familiar to me.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
I hear what you are saying and all through the reading of this I had to keep replacing the “slave” word with “servant”.
As Patricia said above a slave has no choice but a servant chooses whom and how to serve. It’s about developing a servant heart not a slave heart – God doesn’t ask us to follow him blindly.
You use the servant word many times when expanding on a point – this to me shows that it is also what you really mean. I’ve written on this a couple of times but more from teh same perspoective as Terry Nance’s books on becoming “God’s Armour Bearers”.
Excellent point, Stuart. Servant is very close.
To be precise, I’d say bondservant or bondslave. That’s actually where the name for bondChristian came from. Starting in Deuteronomy 15:12, it talks about how bondservants are servants/slaves who choose to be slaves. And I love that.
That’s really what I’m getting at with all this. The process is always a choice. “Top 10 reasons to become a slave”… if we had no choice, the article wouldn’t even make sense – it would just be a fact instead of a “ought to take” option.
“Bondservant” actually translates over more to “slave” than “servant.” The original King James Bible didn’t use slave because… well, no one likes slavery, and they didn’t want to link Christianity with slavery… just the way you’re saying too. So yes, I totally get where you’re coming from.
Using the term “slave” has the downside of linking to the slavery we all have heard of, but I think that can also be an advantage, which I why I like it.
I try to use “slave” in place of “servant” for some of the reasons I outlined in Slavery 101. A few that come to mind…
-Slaves have zero rights (servants might have some)
-Slaves are owned (servants might be hired)
-Slaves depend on their master for their quality of life (servants might clock out on weekends or whatever)
Something to think about… especially since this perspective isn’t considered too often.
-Marshall Jones Jr.