Colossians 4.1 tells masters how to treat slaves - justly and fairly. What is the motivation for such treatment? It is because the master also has a master, but a heavenly master.
It's easy to bypass verses like these today. We may simply pass them by observing that we are not in a slaveholding culture so there is nothing to be gained by them. We may decide to apply a verse like this to our employer/employee interactions. Yet I think both these reactions tend to limit our understanding of what Paul is addressing.
In the first century Roman culture, slaves were a little different from employees. And if your view of slaves is that of Gone with the Wind or Uncle Tom's Cabin you are barking up the wrong tree as well. A slave is personal property, no doubt. That slave gets to go where the master says to go, do what the master says to do, and can be terminated through being granted freedom, being sold, or being executed at the pleasure of the master. However, within the typical Roman family, slaves were also part of the "familia. They were under the protection of the "pater familias" who would be responsible to see that they had all they needed. By most it was considered a serious responsibility to own and be responsible for a slave. In many less wealthy families the family members would work alongside the slaves in the backbreaking labor of farming a small plot of land to eke out an existence. In some families, the slaves would be the educators of the children, the accountants for the stores, the technical support department for the company, whatever was needed. In short, many many times the slave was an integral part of your household, someone you would depend upon.
How do we treat those people we work with? How do we treat those people we live with, even if they are not of the same social standing as we are? How do we treat those people over whom we have the power of freedom and captivity, life and death? How have we been treated by our heavenly master? As believers in Christ we are to treat those around us with the kind of dignity our Lord and Savior has accorded us. We do what is best for them. We enable them to achieve what is noble and good. We provide for their needs. And we shepherd them as a good shepherd cares for his flock.
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