The Problem with Two Masters

9/27/2015

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6:24 CEB)

Abraham Lincoln was quoting Jesus when he said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. As we examine where our treasure lies (our money, time, and energy), we must look at our hearts. Do we have undivided hearts, or are we torn apart by too many obligations and masters? We are first called to love God with our whole heart, mind, and strength; then, when God is in the proper place in our hearts, the other things in our lives fall into place. God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) who wants not just a piece of our hearts but all of us.

As a student working full-time to earn a graduate degree and raising a family, I struggled to find time to devote to God. I would sometimes feel resentment towards school or my job for not allowing me to do the things that I felt God wanted me to do with the church. I would even feel torn between my family and my other commitments. Looking back, I now realize that I failed to recognize that God had put these other commitments in my life so that He could use me to do His will. In other words, God really wanted me to concentrate on being the best student, statistician, father, and husband that I possibly could. It was in His plan for my life. God's grace has provided me with a degree and an occupation that now enables me to give back to the church and others to build His kingdom.

Learn from my mistake. You don't have to feel torn between God and the many obligations in your life. It is not a sin to have other obligations or use your time on things that are not obviously related to God. I don't even think that Jesus is saying that it is a sin to have wealth in this scriptural passage from Matthew 6:24. However, we do have to make sure that we are serving God as the master of our lives. That is, we have to make sure that we use our time, energy, and wealth according to how God wants us to use these precious and limited resources.

We learn God's will for our life through prayer and Bible study. It is also vitally important for those who long to be disciples Christ to be actively engaged in a faith community. These faith communities are where Christians encourage and support each other in the process of becoming stronger disciples of Christ. I'm thankful for the strong faith community at College Park United Methodist Church!

6 Comments

Richard

9/27/2015 03:45:41 pm

I wish I had seen the sermon! Although I don't regret being downstairs with the children's sunday school.

I have always wrestled with this passage. When I spend a lot of time working on other things, or just enjoying my life, I worry that I've made my job, or my relationships, or my fun the master of my life. But I think I've come to see the difference - when you put God first and think about how Jesus would do what you're doing, there's no conflict. You do things differently, approach things differently, and get closer to God *and* get your life done, to the extent that He wants you to.

But on the other hand, when you deal with the crisis first and know that God will still love you when you have time to call, the madness starts. It seems like it will help to focus first on the task and hand, but there's a never ending stream; it's hard to explain the difference, but it's so easy to see when you're getting it wrong.

Hugely important passage.

Tiara Rodriguez

9/27/2015 08:33:22 pm

Life is not easy, especially when trying to comply with your everyday commitments. Church, family, work, studies, sicknesses and more. But however, shining wherever God has planted you is what God expects from us. No matter the place. Maybe even helping a coworker that might be going through a divorce, separation or depression and leading him/her to understand that there is hope in God and that He is the answer is a great way to shine were you have been planted! God wants to use us everywhere we go! Let's shine!

9/28/2015 03:39:44 am

Sure, yeah! But occasionally God does want people to leave their walk of life and follow Him more obviously - like with the rich young ruler, whom Jesus told to give away everything and follow Him. Clearly, if he had done that, he wouldn't have been able to go on with his old job and commitments! It's easy sometimes to feel like you are supposed to follow that example, instead of just doing your best wherever you are. But of course Jesus didn't say that to everyone.

Erick Lundin

9/28/2015 10:00:31 am

It's knowing what is in your heart! Jesus looked inside the rich young ruler. He also gave us the parable of the talents. You can read "talent" as money or your abilities or even "and/or". Nothing was said about feeling guilty in that passage Matthew 25:14-30

Kathy Selzer

9/28/2015 06:52:07 pm

The passage is so true. We all fail to realize that God must come first. We can not worship two Gods. It doesn't work. Our lives stay so busy that we pull away from the vine without thinking. In John 15: 5-8 it talks about us being the branches and Jesus is the vine. When we break away from the vine we start withering. Life is hard but have found out that we need to make time for God in our lives. Everything we do or have is because of him. There is no other God.

Doug

9/29/2015 07:56:50 pm

I love the comments and wish to add to or steer the conversation to the very first of the 10 commandments. "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME"! That is where God first lays down the gauntlet on other priorities other obligations. The catch for me in Jesus' declaration, the emphasis in this passage is on serving. Whether the word is master or gods it comes down to who and what we are serving. As we learn more about what God is asking of each and everyone of us it becomes more clear for each individual where and how we shall serve. Where our calling is leading us. We can only go in one direction at a time. Asking ourselves, are we currently going in a direction that leads us godward? is always a good litmus test.

The Problem with Two Masters

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