Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Slavery days
Philemon 15,16
For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Today, August 1, is a public holiday in Guyana called Emancipation Day or Freedom Day. This year, 2018, we are commemorating and celebrating 180 since the abolition of slavery in Guyana.
We have monuments in Guyana that commemorate historic rebellions and their leaders such as the failed 1763 uprising led by the legendary Cuffy. It is interesting to note that in Guyana we even have a monument to Damon a leader of an uprising that took place after abolition. Many white plantation owners still found a way to keep former slaves in a type of slavery even after the Emancipation Act was passed.
New Word slavery, a system through which Europeans brought Africans to the Americas as slaves, has no parallel in human history. It was savage and cruel and at every level undermined the dignity of Africans as human beings. When the brutality and consequences of that period are understood it is easy for descendants of African slaves to feel the pain today as if it were still real. The lyrics of Burning Spear’s classic Slavery Days capture this well.
“Do you remember the days of slavery? / Do you remember the days of slavery? / And how they beat us / And how they worked us so hard / And they used us /’Til they refuse us / Do you remember the days of slavery?”
There is no doubt too that at a point in time in the period of New World slavery the Bible and Christianity were introduced to the African slaves. Many converted and populated the churches started by missionaries. Some slaves quickly became leaders in the churches, many of them were outstanding in a variety of ways.
There are valid arguments, negative and positive, about the role of the Christian church in the system of slavery. Many have argued that the missionaries and churches were complicit in the perpetuation of the most significant and degrading treatment of human beings on record. Others cite the role of Christian leaders in the abolition movement and the force that many of them brought to bear in the British parliament to bring New World slavery to an end.
This history of slavery will always be with us and it will continue to be a painful memory for those of us whose ancestors endured it and it will continue to be a divisive issue when we reflect on the role of the Christian church in both its perpetuation and its abolition.
This history of slavery sometimes presents us with awkward moments when we read the apostle Paul writing about slavery in the New Testament without any condemnation of the situation. For example, “Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;” Ephesians 6:5.
These passages are difficult because, while they do call on slaveowners to be kind to the slave, they call for slaves to be obedient but never address slavery as an institution.
Of course, slavery in the Roman Empire bears absolutely no resemblance to New World slavery endured by the traded and degraded Africans. Roman-era slavery had none of the marks of the exploitation and degradation of a particular race of people. Also, slaves were involved in a variety of jobs and roles that did not always include hard labour. Slaves were involved in household management, business management, teaching and the like.
Also, in Roman times, slaves often owned property and many were emancipated by the age of about thirty-years-old. Interestingly, some poor people volunteered sold themselves into slavery, and some slaves, when the time came for them to go free, opted to stay with their owners. The slavery referenced in the New Testament was of a totally different nature and should not be confused with what the Africans endured.
This is not a defence of Roman-era slavery as a godly institution, it wasn’t. Any system that makes someone subservient, or stripped them of their dignity, or curbed their freedoms and rights, is ungodly and needed to end. Paul told some in Corinth, “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.” 1 Corinthians 7:21.
Well to do people in Colossae owned slaves and many of these slave owners had become Christians. Many of the slaves had become Christians too. This produced a rather interesting and delicate situation pushing Paul to write, “Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.” Colossians 4:1. And “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.” Colossians 3:22.
Once such slaveowner in the Colossian church was Philemon who owned a slave named Onesimus who had run away. Paul was sending Onesimus back to Philemon with a short letter that is complex given the difficult and delicate nature situation. The point here is that both slaveowners and slaves are really slaves to sin. Both have come to freedom in Christ. That is the ultimate freedom.
“For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” 1 Corinthians 7:22,23.
Think on these things:
- If your ancestors were slaves do you have an appreciation for what they endured?
- How has knowing Jesus helped you deal with the painful and complex history of slavery?
- Does your church spend any time discussing the issues of our peculiar history and how that impacts on faith?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for the thousands around the world who are now the victims of modern-day slavery.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex