23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Hazelelponi

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Employment where either party, whether the employer or the employee, can leave (or terminate) at will is not slavery.. it's simple employment of a free person - something encouraged by the Apostles (they didn't advocate laziness).

In Rome you could literally sell yourself into actual slavery, something that is not even possible in the west today.

There were a couple reasons people would do it, first, if you were a slave freed by a Roman citizen, your children would be Roman citizens (there was benefit to that citizenship), also, you could potentially be freed later and enjoy the benefits of having a rich or powerful patron..

So it happened for some people to sell themselves into slavery situations they saw as advantageous and the Apostle is telling them not to do that, but rather stay in whatever situation they were in when they were saved (whether that be free or slave)

The west today has nothing even remotely similar to slavery today.. we have employment - something encouraged...
 
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Tolworth John

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A slave has no options, as an employee one always has the option to say I quit. Then one has to face a mountain of bills etc, but one has the freedom to leave an employer.
A slave does not have that freedom.

So the verse has nothing to do with our employment situation.
Whether we are enslaved by our wants of todays gadgets etc is another issue.
 
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Carl Emerson

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OK - does Jesus want us to remain in employment that is abusive? Where the relationship with the employer is a Master/Slave relationship? Sure we are free to go, but can it be unwise to remain if there is a complete breakdown of respect. Could this not be loosing the freedom that in a broad sense the verse is talking about but in a modern context?
 
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Hazelelponi

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OK - does Jesus want us to remain in employment that is abusive? Where the relationship with the employer is a Master/Slave relationship? Sure we are free to go, but can it be unwise to remain if there is a complete breakdown of respect. Could this not be loosing the freedom that in a broad sense the verse is talking about but in a modern context?

Employment that is abusive is illegal in this country.

I'd certainly tell someone in such a situation to involve the police... God puts the powers that be in place for our good and for our help, so there is never an issue with calling the police for matters of ones safety.

And yes, certainly quit if you can, and find better employment.. no one has to stay in employment they don't want..

We have to earn our bread and our own living, according to the Bible, but we don't have to stay in employment that is not good..there's always another employer.
 
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eleos1954

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OK - does Jesus want us to remain in employment that is abusive? Where the relationship with the employer is a Master/Slave relationship? Sure we are free to go, but can it be unwise to remain if there is a complete breakdown of respect. Could this not be loosing the freedom that in a broad sense the verse is talking about but in a modern context?

1 Peter 2:18
Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

Actually, it is recommended that we work for ourselves rather than someone else.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Any form of abuse is unacceptable behavior and defies God’s calling for Christ-followers to relate to each other in love.

Of course many employers are not in the Lord so they don't relate in love.

Point is ... if one is being abused they should remove themselves from the abuser ... as we are called to peace.

Colossians 3:15
15 The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.

I suppose one can use the verses "broadly" ... but they are in the context of marriage.

God Bless.
 
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