All Hail Uncle Tom!

Uncle Tom was the fictional character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel of American slavery. He was the obedient Christian slave who, in spite of severe suffering and affliction, remained faithful and true to his masters.

While Uncle Tom was a fictional character, there have doubtless been many real "Uncle Toms" who took seriously the commandment of Christ not to rebel against lawful authority. While these men - and women like them - suffered greatly here on earth, they will have their reward in heaven; for they emulated the blessed Savior who suffered on our behalf. As it is written:

"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

"For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

All hail Uncle Tom!

Mark Osgatharp

 

Scott,

Here we see God Almighty's response to Egyptian slavery:

"But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor they son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath."

And here we see Paul's commendation of a Christian slave owner:

"Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother."

Paul goes on to encourage Philemon to receive Onesiums as a brother and forgive him of any wrongdoing. We may even find a hint here that Paul would desire Philemon to set Onesiums free. And yet Paul says,

"Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel: but without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly."

The only slave "railroad" Paul knew anything about was the railroad right back to the master. And, whereas Paul's willingness to endure suffering and death for the cause of truth is a matter of record, we know that he did this, not out of any fear of reprisal, but out of godly principle.

Mark Osgatharp

 

Jimmy C,

I have not uttered a word about race. I am not a racist. I'm not even particularly fond of the practice of slavery. I simply acknowledge the fact that God commanded Christian slaves to be obedient to their masters, whether they were good or bad.

By the way, if a KKK member had been at my church last Sunday morning, he would have heard me assert and defend the assertion that there is no sin in a black man going with a white woman. So much for your bogus charges of racism.

Mark Osgatharp

 

Jimmy,

You totally missed my point. My point was not that the abolition of slavery per se led to feminism and infidelity. My point was that the abolitionists set aside the word of God and encouraged Christian slaves to rebel against their masters contrary to the Scriptures and declared slavery to be sinful, whereas the Scriptures do not.

This was the beginning of an era when Baptists decided to exalt human wisdom above the Scriptures, which has led to feminism, infidelity, and even approval of sexual immorality.

Having said that, I will also say there is certainly nothing in the Scriptures that requires a society to practice slavery. Therefore if a governemnt decided out of an act of benevolence and good will to free all it's slaves, there would be nothing wrong with that.

Wow! talk about jumping to conclusions!

I'm not opposed to churches taking a stand against moral wrongs. I only assert that the Bible never declares slavery to be a moral wrong, though it does condemn unjust treatment of slaves.

The title of this thread is meant to emphasize the fact that what man despises God applauds.

Mark Osgatharp

 

Scott,

Did the Romans buy and sell slaves? Were people born into Roman slavery? If your answer to these questions is "yes" then your argument falls.

Whereas all of us acknowledge that slaves were sometimes mistreated both in Roman and American slavery, all your rhetoric about the mistreatment of slaves is moot. As it is written,

"not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward."

Mark Osgatharp

 

Rosebud,

In fact I did. The point I made was that, while most "whites" (at least in the society in which I live) have no problem with a white/oriental or white/hispanic relationship, they come unwound at the thought of a white/black relationship. This proves that their objection to interacial relationships are grounded in prejudice against blacks.

Mark Osgatharp

 

Dr. Bob,

Amen! I'm not blond hair or blued eyed; I'm dark haired (except for the few white hairs among the scant hair I have left) and brown eyed. But I don't want to be a slave, and don't want any other man to be. If, however, I were a slave it would not change the word of God.

You are also right about Darwin and racism. The idea of evolution has done more to promote racism than the Ku Klux Klan. Whether they would ever admit it or not, many whites look at non-whites as a "lower" level of human beings than themselves.

It was not slavery, but Darwinism that spawned and facilitated the warped forms of Anglo racism that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It makes me shudder even to think about it!

Mark Osgatharp

 

Rosebud,

Amen to that!

I hope you and your husband have life long happiness and blessedness in the Lord. If you are ever over here in the Wynne area on a Sunday, we'd be glad to have you visit Lakeview Missionary Baptist church.

Mark Osgatharp