A Gospel for the Oppressed

Scripture:

1Pet. 2:18    Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. ¹⁹ For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. 

Observation:

This is a hard passage to understand because we do not live in the first-century context. Why in the world would Peter be writing to slaves and not to the slave masters? Probably there were few masters who had come to Christ, because this was a gospel for the oppressed. At the time of Peter’s writing slaves made up approximately 50% of the population, and these oppressed people were coming to Christ. 

There were differences in the slavery of the first century, and later the practice of the slavery of Africans: 

Racial factors played no role; education was greatly encouraged (some slaves were better educated than their owners) and enhanced a slave’s value; many slaves carried out sensitive and highly responsible social functions; slaves could own property (including other slaves!); their religious and cultural traditions were the same as those of the freeborn; no laws prohibited public assembly of slaves; and (perhaps above all) the majority of urban and domestic slaves could legitimately anticipate being emancipated by the age of 30. (Bartchy, 1992, 66)

Powers tells us:

Peter did not write to perpetuate or facilitate the social structure of slavery. Rather, he encouraged slaves to endure unjust suffering for the sake of the Lord in order to catalyze the hopes and intentions mentioned in 2:12 and 15. Namely, believers were to live such exemplary lives that the baseless accusations of unbelievers would be silenced and they would be brought to conversion. This explains why the spiritual motivation behind the endurance of unjust suffering is emphasized so prominently. (NBBC)

Throughout the Jewish tradition, slaves were not thought to have moral responsibility. Society did not value them as full persons. What Peter was doing in this message was to affirm the full value of slaves as equal persons in the eyes of God. This was entirely counter-cultural. As full members of the Church, and individuals restored in the image of God, they were to reflect the attitude of Christ. As Powers puts it: “when unjust suffering is endured for the sake of God and his will, it becomes an evangelistic tool” (NBBC). 

Peter was affirming that this was the Good News for all, including the oppressed and that all are considered equal within the kingdom of God. After this discussion he would go on to address women, who were also an oppressed group in society. There were to be no social distinctions in the church, male and female, slave and free were now all on common ground. All are brothers and sisters in Christ, and this was shocking to the world. 

Application:

I have to confess that I was a bit surprised to learn that 50% of society in the first century was made up of slaves. To this day the majority of church members are women. It’s also then, interesting to imagine that the majority of the church was made up of the oppressed. I’m not sure that’s what we imagine in our mind’s eye when we read the scriptures. They are written to the oppressed with an encouragement to follow Christ in ways that will be subversive to how society would expect the oppressed to respond. 

This passage also made me consider whether we are taking the gospel to the oppressed? Our tribe began by reaching out to the down and out, but through something called “salvation and lift” we have worked hard at becoming acceptable to society. Have we confused gaining acceptance in the world with salvation in Christ? 

Jesus never promises acceptance or power within the structures of society, he simply encourages us to follow him, which is out to the margins. 

Prayer:

Lord, the beauty of your word is the ways in which we are torn open for personal reflection. Every day we lean into learning something new from You. Change us, mold us, and make us into gospel-bearers to those on the margins. Amen.