Colossians 4:1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
Our perceptions change over time, don’t they? A lot of that literally depends on where we are standing both in time and in place. For instance, if you are a parent, the way you view parents is probably somewhat different from how you viewed parents when you were ten years old. How could you possibly have known what it is to be a parent the way you do now when you were just a child? There is a difference in perspective depending on your age. Perhaps you are in some form of leadership now. Maybe the way you see a boss or manager is different than it was when you were a young person or felt like you had no authority.
Ultimately, regardless of how old you are, where you find yourself in life, or what responsibilities you have, your understanding of authority depends on who you understand the master to be. If you think you are the master, then you are in trouble. If you think you are nothing more than a slave to everyone else, then you are in trouble.
Colossians 4:1 addresses this issue. It says, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” Apparently, even masters have a master. If I am a believer, then that master is the Lord Jesus. If I am in a place of authority and I run roughshod over those who answer to me, what can I possibly expect from my Master in Heaven?
What if I am under authority? Colossians 1:17 and 23 are the bookends to a whole section about authority in the home. Verse 17 says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” The other bookend is verse 23 which says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
In other words, when I am an authority or living in submission to authority, I am treating other people with the recognition that I am also in relationship to the Lord Jesus. I am not the only master. I may be in submission, all of us are, and my understanding of authority depends on who I believe the master to be. I also have a Master.
What about authority in the home? The Bible says that a wife’s relationship to her husband is to be in light of their relationship to the Lord. Verse 20 says that children’s relationships to their parents are to be “well pleasing unto the Lord.” In verse 22, servants are to obey “in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.” Verse 24 says, “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”
The bottom line is that no matter what position you may find yourself in today, all of us are under authority. Nearly all of us have some authority, and our good use of that authority depends on who we understand the master to be. That Master is none other than the Lord Jesus. When I do right by Him, I will certainly do right by other people.