by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
How do you respond when you read something in the New Testament that you have trouble agreeing with, or that you’re unsure whether you would, in that situation, obey? I will not give you my list, but over the years of learning and growing as a disciple, there have been such passages!<\/p>\n
The book of Philemon is one such situation. This isn’t an article on the evils of slavery, but it is one about my reaction to it. Slavery had been a part of every, or at least almost every, government and nation from the beginning. It often comprised the major part of a nation’s economy. Not every aspect resulted in the inhuman treatment of others, but some did. Thus, we look at the Roman Empire, where slavery existed. Any reading on this subject will show that the situation was not<\/b>,<\/strong> in most respects, parallel\u00a0to our American history of such. Yet, even in the best of scenarios, I would not want to be a slave.<\/p>\n So, now I read that this runaway slave has been converted and is told to return to his master or owner. (I started to put those words in italics, but that isn’t how the New Testament used them.) He went! He went not knowing the reception he would get. He went, even though we know there was a reason he ran away to begin with.<\/p>\n Can you think of instructions that Jesus or the Apostles gave that are difficult for you to imagine yourself obeying? When you don’t understand exactly why <\/b>such instructions are given? When you find yourself being uncomfortable with such?<\/p>\n In the extreme, the goal is to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus – follow His teaching. Trust Him, even when such difficult instructions are ultimately for your good.\u00a0I stand in awe of Onesimus’s faith. I strive to meet his standard of discipleship! How about you?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hugh DeLong How do you respond when you read something in the New Testament that you have trouble agreeing with, or that you’re unsure whether you would, in that situation, obey? I will not give you my list, but over the years of learning and growing as a disciple, there have been such passages!…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[54,1515],"class_list":["post-96673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-obedience","tag-slavery"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3136,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-say-for-sure-that-onesimus-stole-from-his-master\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":0},"title":"Can we say for sure that Onesimus stole from his master?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In regards to Philemon 18, can we say for sure that Onesimus stole from his master? Answer: Paul tells us in the book of Philemon that Onesimus was a slave (Philemon 16) who became a Christian after meeting Paul while Paul was in prison in Rome (Philemon 10). Paul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/permitted-does-not-equate-to-desired\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":1},"title":"Permitted Does Not Equate to Desired","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer There is a difference between what God permitted to happen subsequent to sin entering the world and what God desired from the beginning and ultimately makes right in Christ. Jesus illustrates this point: \"Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/slavery-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":2},"title":"Slavery in the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 6:15-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At times you will run into people who attempt to discredit the Bible by stating that some aspect of its teaching was immoral or at least shady. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The idea is that if it was wrong about one concept, then it can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-continuation-of-slavery\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":3},"title":"The Continuation of Slavery","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 8:28-36 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is difficult to imagine, but slavery continues in the United States \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oh, I know that slavery officially ended with the passing of the thirteenth amendment on December 6, 1865. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet slavery continues to this day. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you are thinking, \u201cI\u2019m an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33810,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-servanthood-is-not-equal\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":4},"title":"All Servanthood Is Not Equal","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There is slavery by force, started by kidnapping (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7). Thus, this slavery is not equal to the poor loaning themselves out voluntarily for 7 years or until the 50th (Jubilee) year in Israel to pay their debts. Slavery by force and kidnapping was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14223,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-allow-slavery-or-commit-genocide\/","url_meta":{"origin":96673,"position":5},"title":"Why did God allow slavery or commit genocide?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did God allow the Israelites to commit actions which are clearly wrong, by His command, such as allowing daughters to be sold into slavery (Exodus 21:7) or committing genocide upon the peoples of Canaan (Joshua)? If the Bible is infallible, is this the kind of moral code that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}