Academic Slavery
“Servants, obey your earthly masters with not only respect, but also with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” Perhaps I should say it like this: Students, obey your teachers like you would Jesus. Workers, obey your bosses like you would Christ. Now before I get into this, I should say I am absolutely terrible at this. I mean, horrible. My pride really comes out when it comes to me and my school ethic, so I am writing with intent to change myself.

We should obey our professors and our bosses not only to win their favor when they are watching, but also, because we are servants of Jesus; we are to do the will of God from our heart. Our goal here as Jesus followers is not to honor those who lead us because they deserve it, but because Jesus is worth it. We are to work and serve our “higher-ups” wholeheartedly, as if we were serving the Lord, not people. We know that the Lord will reward each of us for whatever good we do, whether student or employee. If we can’t honor our teachers in the classroom, how will we honor those God uses us to teach us? If we can’t honor our bosses, how will we honor those God uses to lead us? Our purpose in serving and obeying our teachers and bosses is more to change us than anything. However, if we will show them the discipline and diligence of a Christ follower, we can not only earn honor for ourselves, but more importantly, for Christ. Some of your teachers and bosses might even see Jesus in you if you would just honor them.

Don’t get it twisted: our role as servants is to make our leader’s (academic, occupational, spiritual) jobs as encouraging and easy as possible. Likewise, our role as leaders is to make our followers jobs as encouraging and beneficial as possible. It goes both ways, even if one side refuses to cooperate.

Servant Leaders
For those who are in leadership positions, whatever they may be, your task is no different. Serve and honor those below you. Consider them better than yourselves. Do not threaten or take advantage of those you have authority over, since you know that the One who is both their master and yours in ruling in heaven. God has no favoritism, so neither should you. Jesus showed us the ultimate leader: one who will give his life for his followers in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Love your leaders; love your followers. Rejoice in who God has placed above you AND below you. Do your best to make peace with everyone, regardless of how tyrannical there leadership is or how poor their discipline is. Be patience with poor leaders and bad co-workers. Be kind to all, regardless of how they treat you. Genuinely care for those you lead and follow and place their well-being above your own. Be gentle in your interactions, be quick to listen and slow to become angry. Be faithful and let every action be strong in integrity. Be self-controlled and do not let what everyone else is doing determine what you should do as well.

If we will just become godly servants and godly leaders in our academics and occupation, we will stand out and truly fulfill Jesus’ command to be the light of the world and salt of this earth. If we, myself included, will just listen to the wisdom above, we can see God move in ways we never thought or understood, and we will be blessed in an unimaginable fashion.


Be a good student for Jesus. Be good workers for Jesus. Be good leaders for Jesus.