Mega Church pastor: "slavery is the heart of what it means to be a true Christian”

From the article:

MacArthur has previously said, “The Bible is abundantly clear — slavery is the heart of what it means to be a true Christian,” and “Christianity does not free slaves. Christianity does not give equal social rights. … Jesus did not propound equal rights and he did not upset the social order…. Rather, they all affirmed that, with great fear of God and great respect, you are to be submissive to your masters. Whether they’re good and gentle or whether they are unreasonable — you are to submit.”​

John MacArthur is correct about this. Christianity is not primarily about social change. It is about salvation. Salvation will certainly change the way one relates to society, but Jesus nor the apostles overthrew the social order. The Pharisees certainly were looking for a Messiah to overthrow the social order, but they were cold and indifferent towards their own sin. The apostle Paul often referred to himself as a slave of righteousness. He also referred to people as slaves of sin. The truth is if a Christian is a "slave of righteousness," then the statement "slavery is at the heart of Christianity" is a true statement. It is a statement that can easily be taken out of context and twisted to mean something else by an evil person whose heart is set on slandering a faithful pastor. But such is the world we live in.

 

A life lived by what you hold most dear is what you consider pissing away?

Odd.

 

If what you hold most dear is nonsense then it seems that my statement is true by tautology.

 

MacArthur: "Christianity does not free slaves"
Jesus: " I came to set captives free"

Jesus actually profoundly disrupted the (religious) social order even if as a residual impact of his ministry. It's why they sought to kill him.

MacArthur has done many great things for the cause. These quotes are not one of them in my opinion.

And yes, I agree that this is just a hit thread to get us fired up. Should we be surprised? The religious intolerance here is pretty well known.

Millions of people worshiped together today and church communities were thriving all over the country, but this thread is the highlight to certain people who live to take shots at what they dont understand.

No shock here.

That's a them problem.

 

Two quotes next to one another is not a clarification. Those quotes from the article are probably from different sermons on different Bible passages. For all we know the author did a quick google search of other articles and did a C&P to put the quotes next to one another. In one instance MacArthur could have been talking about the allegorical picture of "slaves of righteousness" and in the other he could have been talking about literal slavery. Put the two disconnected quotes together, and you've got left leaning race baiters salivating over your article.

The truth is we could go quote the apostle Paul who said slaves should submit to their masters. So, what MacArthur was saying is biblical about slaves having to obey their masters.

 

Curious about the baptism part. We may not disagree.

 

Well if you read articles that fit your bias and want to believe them. Your OP fits. It is a complete misrepresentation of reality though.

 

One statement speaks of slavery in a way that is allegorical. One speaks of it in a way that is literal. Jesus was talking about being slaves to sin. MacArthur was talking about the societal institution of slavery.

 

I am more Presbyterian (Sproul) than Reformed (MacArhtur)…

 

MacArthur is referencing what the apostle Paul said, and Paul’s words need to be taken in context. There were slaves who heard the gospel and became believers. The issue for these believing slaves became, how do they live their lives now that they are following Christ?

They are called to reflect Christ’s character and demeanor. By showing the love of Christ to their masters, even those who might not be the best people in the world, and obeying their masters rather than rebelling, their behavior might win the master to Christ.

And even if it doesn’t win over the master, the slave is still glorifying Christ with his life. That’s what the apostle Paul was talking about, and I believe that’s what MacArthur is referencing here.

It would be a complete misrepresentation and misinterpretation to think somehow MacArthur is saying that slavery is good. Again, the issue is how does a believing slave live his life in those conditions.

 

@tilly if Jesus came to set literal slaves free, then did he keep His promise? There are a lot of people who have a bone to pick with him if they had the expectation that they would not be slaves in this life. Lots of people in the world have died as slaves in the past 2,000 years.

What has happened in the past 2,000 years is the salvation of many people who were enslaved by their sin. Jesus set them free, and they are free indeed.

 

Thanks for the Hallmark channel perspective.

 

And God demanded that Egypt release the Jewish slaves. That was not an allegory.
Slavery in scripture was often much different than what we know of.

What we know of as slavery would be considered sin by God and He would be very much against it. If Jesus was God than the same applies.

Dr. MacArthur is wrong here. I do not believe he is a racist. I think his tend to be legalistic lead him to giving a very literal answer in his mind. That answer was not biblical in ky opinion.

And again, Jesus flipped the social order on its ear. That isnt even up for debate.

 

To clarify he is speaking about the workplace and setting an example because in many biblical contexts slavery was not like it is today.
Ot was not one sided like like the evil history America has. Often in Hebrew culture, for instance, a person would pay off a debt as an indentured servant. The scriptures often use the term slavery for that. Those were contracted by two sides and had an end date generally.

Most scripture is referring to that. Thus the "workplace" in essence.

 

The American power structure: Birth rates are way down, we don't have enough workers.
The American citizenry: You don't pay us enough to have a lot of kids.
APS: Hmm, that's true. What can we do about this problem?
AC: How about paying workers more?
APS: Nah. Let's work towards normalizing slavery instead.