“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20-22)

by Joseph Ho

The single life kicked off the fall quarter with a bonfire night filled with food, fun, and fellowship! In our regular Wednesday night Bible studies, Pastor Patrick continued in the book of Colossians. In the past four studies, we dived into Colossians 3:20-22, learning about the instruction regarding the relationship between parents and children and the relationship between slaves and masters.

First, regarding the relationship between parents and children, we learned that the Greek word for “children” in Colossians 3:20 can mean both little children and adult children. We are reminded that as adult children, we are called to continue to honor our parents through our acts of love and acts of obedience (1 Timothy 5:8; Exodus 20:12). This is definitely an area of struggle for most of us because as adult children, we desire independence. But God calls us to obey our parents so that we can benefit from the wise counsel that comes from their years of life experience (Proverbs 6:20-23, 23:22). Certainly with exceptions, there may be times where our parents command us to sin, then we are to obey God and not men (Acts 5:29). During the Q&A time, Patrick addressed some specific situations including dating, career choices, and our faith in Christ, where our desire may be in conflict with our parents’ desire. While our parents may not always be right and ready to offer biblical advice, we learned that as believers, we can glorify God in resolving these conflicts by being Christ-like in our words and attitudes (Proverbs 15:1; Colossians 4:6).

Next, regarding the relationship between slaves and masters, how do we apply these instructions in today’s world? While that particular slave/master relationship was only unique to the homes in the first century Roman society, we can certainly apply the principles behind the passage towards our relationship with our employers at work. We learn that in all things lawful, we are to pursue diligence and excellence in our work because ultimately we report to God. For most of us at work, we all have experienced the temptation where we are a little too liberal with our break time or just simply wasting time surfing the internet instead of working. It is certainly a good reminder for us that while our earthly boss may not be watching us, God is watching us all the time. It matters not whether we are a teacher, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, or a soldier, we need to develop a healthy fear towards God and a singleness of focus to earn His approval and reward.

Now as we are getting ready to enter the last chapter of Colossians, I just realized that we have been studying Colossians for over two years! I am grateful to Pastor Patrick for slowly unpacking the truths in this book for us. I pray that as singles, we will continue to implant these truths in our hearts so that we may shine as lights in our workplace and in our homes.

Our annual Christmas party is coming up next. I look forward to some friendly fun as we play the white elephant gift exchange!