A Letter To A Boss

Bringing Philemon to the Local Church

It’s really important to me that theology means something for the local church. That’s why I started this Substack. I inhabit a somewhat unique space in teaching full-time in the online undergraduate theology department at Evangel University. I do this while also remaining in the local church in Iowa City where I preach, teach, and pastor.

With that in mind, I’ve put a lot of effort into making the assignments I have my students complete (most of them are planning on vocational ministry) keep the local church in mind. For example, I’ve had them write Bible Study curriculum as an assignment or assignments in their courses. Some of them told me they were already planning on using the material they had written in the course in the coming weeks at their local churches. That makes me really happy.

This last semester, I taught a course on the letter to Philemon in the New Testament. It’s one of the shortest books of the Bible. There’s only one chapter, and it fits onto a single page in most Bibles. But it’s a genuinely profound book, and I used it as a launching pad for talking about Pauline theology more generally.

Many of you will know how seriously Paul fought for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the early church. That’s what Romans and Galatians in large part are about. Galatians has that famous verse: “For as many of you as were baptized…there is neither Jew nor Greek” (Gal 3:27-28). The very next phrase is “there is neither slave nor free.” Galatians and Romans both have a lot to say about slavery and freedom theologically speaking, but only in Philemon do we get Paul extensively addressing the particularities of the slave-master relationship on Christian terms. I told my students that our understanding of what it means to be a slave to Christ even as we are free in him ought to begin with the lived reality of a runaway Christian slave being sent back to his master.

That’s what Philemon is about. Paul tells Philemon to receive Onesimus, the runaway slave, back—not as a slave, but as a brother (v. 16). Imagine if preachers in the antebellum South had taken that bit of Philemon seriously.

In the class, we discussed how Philemon was used in American slave history, what modern day slavery looks like, and how Philemon might address the realities of the forms of labor we see even in the contemporary United States. One of the complexities we encountered is that the line between free labor and slave labor is not as clear cut as we might like to assume.

With that in mind, I had my students perform a pastoral-theological task as a final assignment. I told them to imagine that they had a business owner in their church who employed several others in their church. They were to imagine that it was hard work—something that entailed putting one’s body at some risk. And then they were to write a letter to the business owner instructing them how they ought to treat their employees, the ones they worship with—shoulder-to-should as equals—every Sunday.

In the letter, they were to incorporate Pauline theology, the letter of Philemon, and the work of John M.G. Barclay’s Paul and the Power of Grace (it’s an incredible read, and I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to better understand Paul).

I was absolutely thrilled with how my students responded to this assignment. They were able to do the pastoral work of addressing a concrete reality in the local church all while thinking deeply about Christology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. I was so pleased.

Below I’m providing you with a letter one of my students, LeAnn Doolittle, wrote for this assignment. I have her written permission both to publish it here and to attribute it to her publicly. You will note the graceful appeals to Paul and Pauline theology. But what in my opinion makes this letter so wonderful is the voice in which it’s written. It’s written with a humble boldness. It has an eye for the realities of the market while still insisting that Christian love trumps economics. And it’s written to preserve relationships on all fronts, not to ruin them.

Enjoy.

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April 21, 2024

Betty Calvet
XYZ Contractors
1 Capital Parkway
New York, NY 10008

RE: Employee Treatment

Dear Mrs. Calvet,

            I first want to congratulate you on the continued success of XYZ Contractors. The continued growth and the good reputation in the construction industry are commendable. Under your leadership, the company continues to expand at an impressive pace. XYZ’s recent employer-related awards give me hope.

            I come to you as an ambassador on behalf of the physical workforce at XYZ Contractors and as a fellow church member. Having years in human resources and working alongside under-appreciated employees for over 20 years makes this something I am very passionate about. My recent journey in the writings of Paul and the book Paul and the Power of Grace by John M. Barclay also encourage me to reach out to you. I hope that you will take these words into serious consideration and take action to remedy any areas that are negatively impacting the hard-working employees of XYZ, some being fellow believers in our church.

            As is often the case at companies on the scale of XYZ, the employees at the bottom of the organizational chart are most often underpaid, overlooked, and performing the most physical labor. These are the people getting the job done in the extreme weather and working their bodies to the point of eventual breakdown. Some would akin the type of labor and treatment they endure to a form of slavery.

While these employees may not be the decision-makers or viewed as important to the success of the company, I urge you to consider training those in management to place a much higher value on their people. Barclay says that in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-9 Paul was highly conscious of what it meant to live “on the margin economically.” He also says that “when writing to the Thessalonians, whom he addresses as craft-workers and who suffer from acute social (and probably economic) pressure, Paul urges them to love and support one another” (p. 160).  Valuing the hardest working employees as a vital part of the XYZ community will not only serve to boost morale, it is what God would have us do.

Your management team can value these hard-working employees with better wages, improved equipment, flexible schedules, relationship-building, increased time off, and team-building activities. Treat them, as Paul says in Philemon, “no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother” (v. 16). Some of these ideas are easy to do with no investment of capital and others will require some financial investment. I encourage you to start implementing these and more immediately and watch how it positively impacts the XYZ in ways you could never imagine.

I look forward to seeing improved work conditions because I know that, as Paul says in Philemon,  “you will do even more than I say” (v. 21). May God continue to bless XYZ under your leadership and may His blessings flow over you as you endeavor to do what God would have you to do.

Grace and Peace,

LeAnn Doolittle