Responding to Underserved Suffering at Work

1 Peter 2:18-25

If you think you have it tough at work, think again. At least you’re not a slave!

As horrible and terrible as the practice of slavery was in the early United States, this was not the first time that slavery was practiced in the world. Historians believe that 20-30% of the population in the first-century Roman Empire were slaves, becoming enslaved one of four ways: as military captives, kidnapping, or birth into an enslaved household. The fourth way was to sell oneself into slavery to resolve some personal economic hardship.

The NT nowhere commends slavery as either necessary or noble, as it does for government and the home. Rather than uphold it as a God-ordained institution, the NT merely acknowledges slavery’s existence and gives believers guidance for how to behave within that system. This is significant because historical data suggests that many if not a majority of first-century believers were slaves.

First-century slaves were often well-educated and filled a variety of roles as craftsman, doctors, managers, musicians, teachers, and even owners of other slaves. They were often trusted and influential and could even purchase their freedom in some cases by a process called manumission. Some served for life, while others for a contracted period of time. Some slaves were treated better than others, though many were treated poorly, very poorly in some cases, and slaves received no legal protections against such abuse.

In any case, we should be glad we don’t have a system like this today, that we’re able to conduct our lives and choose our employment freely, though not every believer enjoys this freedom. Slavery still exists in the world, so how should those who suffer from it respond to their situation? And more importantly for us, how can we apply such guidance to our own career, professional, and work experiences even though we’re not enslaved?

If we believe we are being mistreated at work, we can file a lawsuit, report bad workplace conditions to the government, a union, or higher executives, or simply walk away. Unlike first-century believers who were enslaved, we can walk away from our employers at any time. Even if we’ve signed a contract to work for a certain employer for a specified period, we can break such contracts under certain conditions.

As beneficial as this freedom may be, when we exercise it, we may also sacrifice a crucial opportunity without realizing it – the opportunity to make a Christ-like impact in the lives of people who need it most, because how we respond to difficult work environments is a special way to be a witness for Christ to unbelieving employers, overseers, and co-workers. It’s easy to overlook this dynamic in our job choices. And even when we do consider it, we tend to value workplace benefits, culture, pay, and treatment more highly.

• If you are employed, who do you work for? Do you feel mistreated in any way in your role? How are the people you work for and with seeing Christ through your attitude and behavior at work?
• If you are self-employed, to whom are you providing services – they are your employer! Do you feel mistreated by them in any way? How are they seeing Christ through your response to their difficult behavior?

Let’s walk through this portion of 1 Pet 2:18-25 to shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions to the Word of God. Let’s “desire the pure milk of the Word that [we] may grow thereby” (1 Pet 2:2), that we may become more like Christ in our behavior at work and less like the self-protecting, temporary-minded nonbelievers around us.

We should be compliant and gracious on the job.

I know this instruction sounds counterintuitive - the very opposite of the self-preserving, self-assertive, self-promoting advice we receive from secular voices today.

‌“Be submissive” means to place yourself in a compliant, subordinate position, following instructions, carrying out orders, and performing assigned tasks. This excludes complaining, back-talking, doing your own thing, and simply being lazy.

“With all fear” extends our submission beyond outward compliance and performance to the attitude and demeanor of our heart. We should do our work with a respectful attitude, not a bitter, complaining, reluctant one which so often characterizes the attitude of our nonbelieving co-workers and colleagues.

“With all fear” also provides a crucial boundary for our submission because it raises and answers the question of to whom this fear should be directed. Whom should we fear? Peter later explains that we should “not be afraid of their threats” (1 Pet 3:13), so we should not let a fear of consequences from our employers motivate our behavior on the job. Instead, we should let our fear of God motivate us to obey our employers.

Since this is the case, we should also let our fear of God motivate us to disobey our employers when they require us to disobey him – but only then. If our employer requires us to do something dishonest or unethical, for instance, we should abstain. If we fear our employer, we will do unethical things because we fear losing our jobs. But if we fear God, we will risk losing our jobs to remain ethical.

The next two verses (1 Pet 2:19-20) explain this concept further, letting us know what kind of on-the-job behavior pleases God. Rather than list a series of behaviors which God desires us to practice on the job, Peter focuses on a specific behavior – the way we respond to mistreatment and unethical demands.

From these verses, we see that God will bestow no special acknowledgment or blessing upon us for any consequences or hardships we experience on the job due to a bad attitude or lackluster performance on our part. It’s as though Peter is saying if you get in trouble at work for poor behavior, you’re on your own; you deserve what you get. Christians should be the most compliant and gracious employees around.

“Because of conscience toward God” tells us Peter is describing consequences we may receive for any behavior motivated by doing right, having an enthusiastic spirit, or behaving in an ethical manner – contrary to the expectations and wishes of our employer.

Words like endure and patiently let us know that Peter is speaking about hardships at work which extend over time. These are not just one-off occurrences, but difficulties we face day in and day out.

So, when we go about our work with an enthusiastic, gracious spirit and compliant, diligent effort, but still face mistreatment for reasons due to our faith in Christ and obedience to the Word of God, then God acknowledges our suffering in a special way.

Commendable (NKJV) is a translation of the word for grace, which could be translated woodenly as “this is grace” and “this is grace from God.” In other words, God extends special grace to followers of Christ when we are mistreated at work for ethnical reasons.

God’s grace is available to those who endure mistreatment on the job for conscience reasons. God’s grace flows to those who do what’s right and face unjust repercussions for doing so.

We are called to be mistreated.

Now this is not the end of the story. Enduring unjust treatment at work due to our faith in Christ is more than just pleasing to God, it is our calling from God. He has not only called us to have a close relationship with him and a place in his never-ending kingdom, but we are called to suffer for him.

But you might say, “Wait a minute! How is that fair? How can it be just and acceptable for God to require us to suffer and call that a good thing but to call it a bad thing to endure when our employers require us to suffer?” That’s a good question, to which Peter gives us two solid, reasonable answers.

Christ suffered unjust treatment before us.

“Leaving us” does not refer to Christ somehow abandoning us, something he said he would never do (John 14:18). It refers to going before us and leaving something behind for us to follow.

Example here is a special, unique word that describes a formal set of alphabet letters that children would trace to learn how to write. They could not vary from this pattern and hope to succeed at writing. In the same way, we who have believed on Christ must follow his lifestyle and teaching closely. We cannot vary from it and hope to succeed.

“That you should follow his steps” describes the way a child walks through deep snow by stepping into the foot imprints of the parent before him. Do you remember how Christ told his disciples, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3)?

We all want to arrive safely in Christ’s future kingdom, but to get there we must step into his very footprints – which requires us to step through the suffering of the cross.

In 1906, a song with lyrics by Jessie B. Pounds, was published entitled, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home.”

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,

There's no other way but this;

I shall ne'er get sight of the Gates of Light,

If the way of the cross I miss.

The way of the cross leads home,

The way of the cross leads home;

It is sweet to know, as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way,

The path that the Savior trod,

If I ever climb to the heights sublime,

Where the soul is at home with God.

The way of the cross leads home,

The way of the cross leads home;

It is sweet to know, as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

Charles Gabriel, the musician who composed the accompanying music, said that Mrs. Pounds’ wanted to emphasize the truth that heroic Christianity does not follow the line of least resistance.” Christ himself, of course, taught this well:

Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."

Matthew 16:24

This song also resembles a popular story which was told around that same time of a child who was lost in downtown London, where there was a six-way intersection at the heart of the city called Charing Cross junction. A police officer approached the lost child to ask where the child lived. To this the child replied, “I don’t know my address, but if you take me to the cross, I can get home from there.”

What kind of suffering did Christ endure and why? Peter quotes from Isa 53:9, which prophesied centuries before Christ came to Earth that severe suffering would be a central part of his mission to save us. As such, his suffering was not an accident, aberration, mistake, or surprise. It was at the center of his mission, strategy, and pathway to save us.

This suffering would be undeserved – not just excessive or mostly not deserved, but entirely undeserved because he had never committed a single sin, whether in act or word.

• When people abused him verbally, he did not say anything sinful in return. That’s hard to do, right? Partly because to respond to strong words with strong words feels just!
• When people abused him physically, he not only refused to fight back, he refrained from offering any sort of threats of retaliation or revenge. That’s really hard to do!

Rather than retaliate with words and threats of reciprocal action and litigation, Christ entrusted himself to the God the Father “who judges righteously.”

Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?

Genesis 18:25

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

Romans 12:19

Do you believe that God is just and that he will judge all unrighteous deeds perfectly and completely in the end (including any mistreatment you receive at work)? Christ believed this and he is our example.

Such a belief is necessary for us to make our way through life as followers of Christ without accumulating feelings of frustration, bitterness, and anger – without attempting to take matters into our own hands and carry out our own revenge.

In soccer (or international football), there is a unique feature called “stoppage” time. Stoppage time is a period of time at the end of the math (or each half of the match) that is added by referees to make up for time lost during the half. Time can be lost, for instance, when substitutions take place, a player has scored a goal, injuries on the field are evaluated, or disciplinary action is being enforced.

Though such pauses in the gameplay are frustrating for both players and fans, stoppage time ensures that there will be justice in the end. Whatever time was lost will be made up.

That’s the way it is with God. When we face mistreatment and setbacks in our careers and places of work, for instance, due to our Christlike and ethnical choices, we may feel left out and like we’re taking a loss. We may feel the need to make things right. But we can rest assured that there will be “stoppage time” – that God will make all wrongs right in the end.

Our Messiah suffered unjust treatment for us.

There’s a second and even more compelling and profound reason why God has called us to suffer for doing right. We should expect to do so not only because Christ suffered unjust treatment before us, but he also suffered unjust treatment for us. If Christ had refused to suffer mistreatment, he could not and would not have died for our sins.

You see, it is not only true that certain, specific people in history verbally abused, cruelly mistreated, and ultimately crucified Christ. It is also true that Christ died because of your sins. We are the cause of his unjust treatment and suffering. This is good news because this means that when Christ died, he was dying for your sins in your place and that he resurrected from the grave in your place as well. This is the basis for your salvation!

This also means, however, that your sins were the cause for Christ’s unjust treatment. You were the underlying reason why he suffered – “who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree.”

Since Christ did this for you – literally “in your place” – our sins have been completely judged and punished in him, so now we are freed from the penalty of sin to live a righteous life that is pleasing in God’s sight. “By whose stripes [or wounds] you were healed!”

We were like sheep who had wandered far away from the safety of the fold, but Christ threw away his own life to rescue us – a mission he did not deserve to suffer through, but he died on our behalf so that now we have been returned to the care and guidance of the God who made us.

Since Christ died for us and for our sins, and since we are the cause for his suffering, then we have been called to suffer for him in return, not just because he is our example but because he the same thing for us. His suffering saves us. Our suffering gives him glory in return.

Don’t run from your calling – endure it patiently for Christ.

When you’re tempted to complain about your workplace conditions, criticize your boss or supervisor, or quit your job altogether because you feel that you’re being mistreated and hindered as a follower of Christ, think again. There are many good reasons to change jobs or even careers, but before you do, think long and hard about your calling to suffer in your workplace for Christ.

An article on the website called “Theology of Work,” an excellent resource for Christians in the working world, reminds us that apart from the products and services that our work immediately provides, “our work is also evangelism”:

“Those who don't know Christ may be inspired to seek him. And those who have turned their back on the church and Christianity, perhaps due to a previous bad experience with other Christians, may be influenced to reconsider Christianity.

It is too common to experience other Christians in the workplace who talk the talk but don't walk the walk. They talk about morality and Christian stuff, but their work is lousy and their attitudes are poor. They may deliver poor product to the client or treat clients poorly or complain about their jobs or slander colleagues. Such negative behavior hurts workplace morale, undermines work relationships, and adversely affects clients.”

Theology of Work

As followers of Christ, we need a fresh sense of mission and purpose in our career, profession, and work. We need to recognize that our work is far more than an opportunity to express our interests, earn an income, pay bills, unleash our skills, advance our success, and prepare for retirement. It is an opportunity live daily before a watching world who is ignorant of or resistant to the truth about Christ. As we design products, perform transactions, interact with clients and customers, achieve tasks, make deals, and so on, we will face ethical and moral dilemmas.

We will also face the scrutiny and mistreatment of suspicious or antagonistic people, some of whom employ us and give us orders. Rather than view these challenges as obstacles to avoid and problems to escape, we should view them as opportunities to follow in the footsteps of Christ and to show gratitude for the suffering of Christ on our behalf. We should always do right, whether it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or even counterproductive to our own advancement and popularity.

We should anticipate such challenges and not be surprised at them because this is our calling. And we trust God to let our enthusiasm and diligence continue, even when we’re suffering, mistreated, or overlooked for doing so. THIS is the grace of God and THIS is our calling in Christ. Imagine, through your mistreatment at work, YOU may be the bridge for some unbelieving supervisor or coworker to come to faith in Christ.