Employee Handbook
Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. (1 Timothy 6.1-2)
In the first century, many workers were literally "bondservants," which means "slave." They were under a yoke. While we are not "bondservants" with "masters," we are all under a yoke of working. In Genesis, the Bible says that by the sweat of our brow we shall eat. In another place, it says if we’re not willing to work then we don’t need to eat (2 Thessalonians 3.10)!
The Apostle Paul provided Timothy an Employee Handbook to share with Christian workers. In it, he differentiated between having believing or unbelieving "masters" (bosses).
For those with unbelieving bosses, Paul instructed Christian "employees" to show proper respect. If a Christian in the workplace is disrespectful and hard to get along with, then “the name of God and the teaching” will be reviled. I have had Christians tell me things that they have done and said at work that have made me cringe. I have even wished that the people they worked with would not know they were Christians!
But what did Paul say about Christians who have Christian bosses? Paul said that employees in this situation should show proper respect to their bosses, too, but for a different reason. When we work with Christians, we are working for family, for those we love.
One final point in the employee handbook: our positions or jobs may or may not bring status and privilege. We may be on the bottom rung of the ladder, but that’s OK. We are bondservants of Jesus and that brings with it the highest status and privilege possible!
Thank you, Lord, for my job and income. Help me to perform my job to the very best of my ability and treat my supervisor and co-workers with respect, that the name of Jesus may be honored. Amen.