Eye-Slave
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Collosae, he seems to have coined this wonderful word “ophthalmodoulia” (see Colossians 3:22). It is a combination of two words “opthalmos” or “eye” and “douleia” or slave – in other words, “eye-slave.”
The short paragraph that he uses it in reads like this:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Early Christianity had a very subversive relationship towards the practice of slavery, and this verse expresses an aspect of that stance. Slavery is always an abhorrent violation of God’s original intent and slavery in the ancient Roman society is no exception. Instead of a direct attack on the universally accepted institution of slavery at the time, early Christians worked to undermine it by redefining what it meant to be a slave – like this verse does – redefining relationships between slaves and masters, buying people out of slavery, and even selling themselves into slavery to set others free. They were finding every way forward they could in an impossible situation. In this particular case, Paul was teaching people to humanize themselves, to elevate their humanity, in the midst dehumanizing conditions. He was teaching them to find the freedom and purpose they could in the midst of slavery.
It this paragraph, Paul is sharing a life-insight on how ancient slaves and people today can liberate themselves from this voluntary form of subjugation he calls being an “eye-slave.”
A Nathan paraphrase of Paul’s paragraph might read something like this:
Even if you are a slave, don’t let yourself be an eye-slave to someone else, basing what you do or don’t do on who is watching or not watching – or even based on who you think might find out. That’s how you give other people power over you. Don’t let a quest for other people’s approval or fear of other people’s disapproval make a slave of you. Instead, do everything as if you are working for God’s approval alone. In everything, do what is right and to the very best of your ability with a happy heart as a gift of love and worship to God. This is the only way to liberate yourself from eye-slavery to others.
How very common is it for us human beings to live our lives enslaved to the opinion of others? How often is this the driving force behind why we do what is right … or even what is wrong? How much anxiety does eye-slavery, performing for the opinions and approval of others, usher in to human life and society? How easy do we make it for corporations, advertisers, and unhealthy people to get their hooks in us because we are afraid of what others might think?
Living your one and only life as an eye-slave is as common today as it was in Paul’s day and he is imploring us to take the only way to life and freedom we can – by living each moment for an audience of ONE.
May you find freedom today.
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