Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
Preaching the Household Codes in the #MeToo Era
Sometimes the Bible can be really difficult, especially when it talks about things like wives submitting to their husbands and slaves submitting to their masters. These “household codes” seem antiquated at best, and downright offensive at worst. Both readers who embrace these codes and those who reject them make the same assumption—the text means exactly what it appears to say, and it is left up to readers to submit to this code or reject it as oppressive. Other readers try to redeem the passage, arguing (rightly) that these codes appear in other Greco-Roman literature and are better than, say, Aristotle’s version of the codes. They are an amelioration of a bad system…a sign of slow change toward justice even as they leave much to be desired.
I don’t like any of these approaches.
All of these readings underestimate the text, its rhetorical dynamics, its obscure grammar, and the absolute goodness of the God I believe is revealed in and through the Bible. So how do we find the real, deep, astoundingly good news in a passage like this? We go deeper into the text, the real lives of its first audiences and the real, messy world we still inhabit. If we do this well, we find that this isn’t a text to be ignored…but a text with real, liberating power especially in the era of #MeToo.
Use the podcast stream above to listen to my conversational sermon with Pastor Jason Miller @ South Bend City Church on the household codes in Colossians (the conversation starts at the 7 minute mark).
Is the news good?
grace & peace,
Follow me @
As soon as you said, “It’s not your fault” I was overcome. I came away from these texts, which have stabbed my spirit anytime they are read or preached on and thought – of course – it’s about the bigger picture and the text as a whole! How have we missed this? It’s the ultimate call of love and reconciliation which is at the core of Christ’s ministry and purpose for His church. Essentially saying, “Even though it’s hard, love and respect each other. Society places hierarchal distinction where I do not, that is not your fault, but love anyway.” This is our mandate and praxis as the Body. Thank you Jessica & Jason, two exegetes I have come to truly respect. Your interpretation of the script needs to be shared.