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When the Word is Weaponized
Biblical Text: "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters..." Ephesians 6:5
During slavery in America, enslaved Africans were often forced to attend church services run by the slave master. But those services were not designed to save their souls; they were designed to control their bodies. The slave master would stand with a Bible in his hand, and open it to one place: Ephesians 6:5 — “Servants, obey your masters…”
He never read the verses about Moses telling Pharaoh, “Let my people go”, or the prophets thundering against oppression. He never read Jesus saying He came to set the captives free. He kept those pages closed. Instead, he weaponized one verse…twisted it, stripped it of context, and used it like a whip made of Scripture. He told enslaved people that God wanted them quiet, compliant, and controlled. He preached obedience, but never justice. Submission, but never liberation. He used the Bible to keep them in line, but never to set them free.
But here’s the part the slave master didn’t expect. The slaves heard more than what he read. They heard the God the master refused to preach. And in the hush of the night, in hidden brush arbor prayer meetings, they opened the Bible for themselves. They found Moses and the prophets. And they found Jesus. They found their freedom.
They discovered that Ephesians 6:5 was never written to justify chains. It was written to teach Christians how to live faithfully in unjust systems until God breaks the system apart. And If God could plant hope in souls who were chained by law… He can plant hope in souls who feel chained by life. Because the God who delivered then…delivers now!