How not to get torn in two
This week's verses are on Matthew 6:24:
These verses come after Jesus was talking about people pouring their time and energy into their careers, building up a big retirement fund that ultimately evaporates before they can use it. He warns them about having a healthy or unhealthy worldview. And then these verses. About trying to serve two masters at once.
Have you ever had two bosses? I work in a field where it's not uncommon for you to have two reporting chains for ethical reasons. When things are going well, you don't realize you have two bosses, but when things go badly, you very quickly have to choose the more powerful of the two or you will be destroyed. And that's talking about people in the same company with the same goals! Imagine trying to serve two masters who had opposing agendas.
Have you ever had to be in two places at one time? People over-commit all of the time these days. But how do you choose which commitment to honor? You can't do both. You have to pick one. So how do you do it? You have to say no to one thing to say yes to another. But what if they were both required of you? Like your boss says you're fired if you leave work to appear in court tomorrow afternoon? That's when it's rough to have two masters.
But even in the day to day it is rough. Master one wants you to fix his computer for him while master two needs you to run an errand across town. Master two wants you to cook and serve dinner but master one wants you to drive him to the airport. You can't do both. Eventually, you pick your favorite of the two and make excuses for the other one. This is what it is like to serve both God and money.
What is serving money? If you're devoted to your money, you're putting that in the forefront of your life. Your money becomes what you trust to take care of you when you get old, to put food on the table, to keep you clothed and happy, to protect you against misfortune, and to keep a roof over your head. The more you serve it, the more you feel like you need, so you do more and more to accumulate money and store it and try to grow it some more.
At the same time, serving God looks similar. You trust him to provide for your needs, and care for you for eternity, and protect you from misfortune and so on. The more you trust him for, the more you pour yourself into devotion to him, and do the sorts of things he's got you doing. For awhile you can do the God thing and the money thing because you don't have a whole lot of either of them, but eventually things get challenging.
Here's a good question to gauge whether you're trying to serve money: If you could pay all of your expenses on 80% of your income, would you accept a job working only four days a week, knowing you would not get rich, but you would be able to do God's work on earth that other day? A lot of people would say "no." "It'll be longer before I am able to retire!" "What if some huge unforeseen expense comes up? How will I afford cable?" "How will it look on my resume when I try switching jobs in a few years?" "What will my friends think of me if I am making 20% less?" It's like the money master has made a bunch of threats to keep us in line so that we won't give him less of our time.
But imagine a great ministry opportunity did come up. Maybe you felt a call to go somewhere or do something and the only thing in the way was that your boss wouldn't budge on the time off. If you turn down the opportunity, you might regret it the rest of your life, but if you don't turn it down, you'll get fired and all of those things in the other paragraph might happen. You're serving two masters and you can't figure out which one is bigger or better.
Jesus isn't talking down to us when he says these verses. He's telling us a basic fact of life. You can't build your life on both of them. Eventually you will have to pick one as your ultimate master. Which one do you choose? Who is more powerful? Who is more likely to care for you personally? Which one has longer term career prospects, like in the thousands to millions of years range?
The point is that God is the better choice of an ultimate master. That's not to say you won't still earn money, but you'll earn it without it being the central focus of your life. If God and money were equally powerful, they would tear you in two. If money was more powerful, at very least it would last eternally. Only God outlasts and outperforms the other options. Let God be God and you won't get torn in two trying to make it all work.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
These verses come after Jesus was talking about people pouring their time and energy into their careers, building up a big retirement fund that ultimately evaporates before they can use it. He warns them about having a healthy or unhealthy worldview. And then these verses. About trying to serve two masters at once.
Have you ever had two bosses? I work in a field where it's not uncommon for you to have two reporting chains for ethical reasons. When things are going well, you don't realize you have two bosses, but when things go badly, you very quickly have to choose the more powerful of the two or you will be destroyed. And that's talking about people in the same company with the same goals! Imagine trying to serve two masters who had opposing agendas.
Have you ever had to be in two places at one time? People over-commit all of the time these days. But how do you choose which commitment to honor? You can't do both. You have to pick one. So how do you do it? You have to say no to one thing to say yes to another. But what if they were both required of you? Like your boss says you're fired if you leave work to appear in court tomorrow afternoon? That's when it's rough to have two masters.
But even in the day to day it is rough. Master one wants you to fix his computer for him while master two needs you to run an errand across town. Master two wants you to cook and serve dinner but master one wants you to drive him to the airport. You can't do both. Eventually, you pick your favorite of the two and make excuses for the other one. This is what it is like to serve both God and money.
What is serving money? If you're devoted to your money, you're putting that in the forefront of your life. Your money becomes what you trust to take care of you when you get old, to put food on the table, to keep you clothed and happy, to protect you against misfortune, and to keep a roof over your head. The more you serve it, the more you feel like you need, so you do more and more to accumulate money and store it and try to grow it some more.
At the same time, serving God looks similar. You trust him to provide for your needs, and care for you for eternity, and protect you from misfortune and so on. The more you trust him for, the more you pour yourself into devotion to him, and do the sorts of things he's got you doing. For awhile you can do the God thing and the money thing because you don't have a whole lot of either of them, but eventually things get challenging.
Here's a good question to gauge whether you're trying to serve money: If you could pay all of your expenses on 80% of your income, would you accept a job working only four days a week, knowing you would not get rich, but you would be able to do God's work on earth that other day? A lot of people would say "no." "It'll be longer before I am able to retire!" "What if some huge unforeseen expense comes up? How will I afford cable?" "How will it look on my resume when I try switching jobs in a few years?" "What will my friends think of me if I am making 20% less?" It's like the money master has made a bunch of threats to keep us in line so that we won't give him less of our time.
But imagine a great ministry opportunity did come up. Maybe you felt a call to go somewhere or do something and the only thing in the way was that your boss wouldn't budge on the time off. If you turn down the opportunity, you might regret it the rest of your life, but if you don't turn it down, you'll get fired and all of those things in the other paragraph might happen. You're serving two masters and you can't figure out which one is bigger or better.
Jesus isn't talking down to us when he says these verses. He's telling us a basic fact of life. You can't build your life on both of them. Eventually you will have to pick one as your ultimate master. Which one do you choose? Who is more powerful? Who is more likely to care for you personally? Which one has longer term career prospects, like in the thousands to millions of years range?
The point is that God is the better choice of an ultimate master. That's not to say you won't still earn money, but you'll earn it without it being the central focus of your life. If God and money were equally powerful, they would tear you in two. If money was more powerful, at very least it would last eternally. Only God outlasts and outperforms the other options. Let God be God and you won't get torn in two trying to make it all work.
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