The first part of chapter 6 focuses on how Christian children are to obey their parents, how parents should raise their children in the "instruction of the Lord," and how masters (employers today) and slaves (employees today) should treat one another.
I think the key take away for believers regarding these type of "superior/subordinate" relationships is to remember that Jesus Christ is the master of both and is watching how they treat one another. When children obey their parents, they are actually obeying God because their parents come from God. Believing bosses are to treat all employees with dignity and respect, and especially Christian employees because they are actually their brothers and sisters in Christ. Additionally, Christian employees are to do their work "as unto the Lord." In fact, Paul's instructions to slaves in Colossians is, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (NASB). God will honor those who honor Him by working as for the Lord.
We also learned how although the Bible gives instructions for masters and slaves, Christianity never endorsed slavery. Rather, Christianity acknowledged the reality of slavery and gave instructions how to navigate within it. The truth is the gospel, that teaches all humanity is created in the image of God and that all believers are one in Christ, resulted in the eventual end of the slave trade in the Western world. The English Parliamentarian and devout Christian William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was motivated by his faith and worked for 10 years within Parliament to not only establish laws that ended slavery in the British Empire, but also likely influenced the abolitionist movement in America.
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