1 Timothy 6:2

1 Timothy 6:2

Those who have believing masters are apt to despise them as such because they are brothers. This is an extremely peculiar form of ungodliness! It also manifests itself when one wants to buy something from a brother or if a brother is to do some work for us. We despise him by thinking that he should do the job for less, preferably for much less, and best of all if he did it for free!

In such a case we would rather go to an ungodly person and pay him grudgingly more than joyfully paying what the brother reasonably asks for. Alas! Alas! What ungodliness! How entrenched evil is in us! And that is not all! It even happens that one brother can reproach another brother for asking for reasonable remuneration—and do it in such a way that others hear it! This is really turning the matter upside down!!

This is a sad misunderstanding of brotherhood and Christianity. It is unchristian to demand the services of your brother cheaply; on the other hand, it is Christian to offer your services cheaply if you have opportunity and if you have abundance (see 2 Corinthians 8:15). Likewise it is not a virtue to wander around looking for an invitation, but be zealous only if you have an opportunity to invite others. Then you can both entice and threaten your guests as much as you want to (if that should be required). He who hates a gift but loves to give shall live and remain standing in judgment! Sin rules over a person if the opposite is the case.

Just as we should rather (1 Tim. 6:2) serve our master if he is a brother, so we ought to (as we have opportunity) rather (with joy, thankfulness, and respect) pay a brother, a believer who is beloved, who stands to benefit from the profit. Do that, dear brother, and you will be exceptionally blessed! Brotherly love and everything else that is good will increase to God’s glory and praise and for the benefit and joy of men! Amen!

For example, if a brother is a taxi driver, and some brothers have hired him to drive them for some miles, then it is not proper for the brothers to calculate the cost of gasoline for the trip and divide this sum by the number of passengers, and then inform the brother that they are going to pay him so much per person. One forgets or overlooks the other expenses involved in maintaining and driving an automobile, thereby despising the brother not only as a brother, but also as a fellow man by arbitrarily deciding that he should not benefit from his work, that he should have nothing to live off. You have told him by your action that he should pay to work! The Christian way is to investigate the going rate, and then offer him more than that—because he is a brother. For example, you have calculated that the gasoline cost for the trip is about five dollars and you think it unrighteous of the brother to ask for fifteen dollars. Find out the going rate! It might be (for example) thirty dollars! Then offer him thirty-five dollars—seven times as much as the first calculation. Then you are doing well.