Slaves and Employees

Let’s pretend I had an employee (let’s call him Barney) at Tejas Veterinary Clinic who embezzled money then ran away to a different state. We pressed legal charges and the law was on the look out for this former employee. At some point later I get a call from a Christian I know (Fred) who tells me that he taught the Gospel to Barney and baptized him. Fred tells me that Barney is penitent and committed to living a Christian life and Fred wants to personally pay back the money that Barney has stolen from me. Fred asks if I would consider dropping the charges against Barney.

That’s kind of like the story of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus.

Onesimus was a slave. A slave in the Roman world had no rights. Many slaves in the Roman world were soldiers from other countries who had been conquered in battles with the Roman armies. Onesimus may have been one of those. We can’t know for sure.

Onesimus ran away from his owner Philemon (who by the way was a Christian) and had traveled approximately 1,200 miles from Colossae to Rome where somehow he came in contact with the Apostle Paul.

From Paul, Onesminus heard about Jesus Christ and the implanted word grew in his heart. Onesimus confessed to Paul that he was a runaway slave. Onesimus was compelled to confess this because he knew that it was a sin and was inconsistent with the life of a Christian.

Amazingly when Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he also found out that he knew Onesimus’ owner and knew him quite well… Philemon was a Christian well known to the Apostle Paul!

Who knows why Onesimus escaped… maybe he was trying to get back to his home country and to his wife and children. Who knows? What Onesimus did know was that as a Christian he was obligated to go back to his owner and face whatever punishment he deserved.

When Paul found out that Onesimus was an escaped slave he had several things to consider. First, harboring an escaped slave was a crime that Paul could be punished for. Secondly, Paul had an obligation to Philemon. Onesimus had sinned against Philemon and Onesimus had to make that right.

Runaway slaves could be punished severely. They could be whipped, they could be killed and they could be branded on their faces to identify them as runaways. Obviously, Paul was going to restore Onesimus to Philemon but didn’t want Philemon to use his legal right to brutalize and brand Onesimus.

Paul implored Philemon in a written letter to receive Onesimus back and treat him as a fellow brother in Christ, i.e. to forgive him. Paul even offered to make restitution for whatever Onesimus might have owed Philemon.

Barney made some serious mistakes but I guess everyone does. My buddy Fred obviously loved his new convert and brother in Christ Barney very much.

Of course I would drop the charges and of course I can’t take Fred’s money. I just hope that I can one day step up like Fred did and love a soul more than I love my own money and be a true peace maker between two brothers in Christ.