Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.  Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.  Ephesians 6:5-9  

  

In this passage, Paul gives great principles to be applied by employers and employees in the workplace.  First, he speaks to bondservants and tells them to work hard for their Christian masters.  He says, “...(work) with fear and trembling.”  This just means that bondservants—employees are to work under the realization that there is an authority over them that they are to submit to and work hard for. 

In verse 6 Paul says, “…not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ.”  What Paul is saying is that employees are not just to work hard when their boss is around so as to please them, but are to “render their service to the Lord.”  According to Paul here that is to be the the mindset of an employee in the workplace.  They are to submit to the authority of their employer and work hard for him/her, rendering their services the Lord because he sees all that is done there and is worthy of the best we have. 

In verse 8, Paul says this applies to all employees no matter the vocation.  He says, “…whether bondservant or free.”  It doesn't matter if one is flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant or in an upper management position at a large company.  On Judgment Day, there will be burger flippers embraced and CEO’s condemned and vice versa.  On that day, what matters to the Lord is whether or not we lived our life under the Lordship of Christ and whether or not we rendered our services to Him.

Paul also addresses those in positions of authority in the workplace.  He says,

Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.  

Paul says, “Masters, you do the same to them.”  Just as I have told them to rend their services to Christ as they serve you, you direct them—you lead them as God leads you.  He says, “Stop your threatening.”  He says, “Don’t misuse and abuse your authority—treat your servants fairly.  Treat them the way you would want to be treated.” 

In the middle of verse 9, Paul tells those in authority that they have a boss too who is in heaven watching everything that takes place in the workplace, and he reminds both employers and employees that they will both have to answer to God for how they conduct themselves there.

For more on walking worthy in the workplace click HERE and listen to “WALKING WORTHY IN YOUR WORK RELATIONSHIPS.”