This and similar verses are sometimes seen as Paul, or the Bible, supporting slavery. They are not such thing, rather it is Paul giving teaching on how to live under the current situation, and that was that some people were in slavery. It was a normal part of society, and there were Christians who were slaves, and those who had slaves. They needed advice on how to live now. Slaves were to respect their masters, and so ensure that God's name is honoured. We all face situations we don't like, and which may have at least an element of injustice about them. Our first reaction should not be to make sure we get our "rights". Our first response is to remember that we are servants of Jesus Christ.
We should also note that Paul is not speaking about a situation of slave traders, or sex-slave trading, or people trafficking that goes on today. This is shown by his words in verse 2 where he speaks of Christian slave owners taking good care of their slaves and looking after their welfare. In such cases the Christian slave is still to work well.
So we see a different approach to dealing with circumstances here. One approach is the "let's have a revolution", or find a political solution approach. Now there are times to take political action, and we should seek to improve the running of society. However, sometimes this is not possible, or at least not possible in the foreseeable future. In these situations we can still triumph, and we do this by a radical approach to living.
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