"No
one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
mammon." (Matt. 6:24)
Jesus was a master logician. And in
places where we would place a "both...and...," our Lord is quick to replace our
thinking with an "either...or..." A legitimate dilemma is an "either...or..."
proposition, best pictured as horns on a bull. Which horn will you choose? You
have to pick one. And here in Matthew 6:24, Jesus doesn't mess
around with the topic of "mammon" -- a cultural word for WEALTH. He says that
His followers must each choose a master -- pick a horn on the bull. You can't
keep both of them as lords simultaneously. And the Sermon on the Mount is not
the only place He advocates this teaching. After all, is this not the dilemma
He set up for the Rich Young Ruler (Matt. 19:16-26) ? Either you
continue to serve your wealth or you serve Me? You can't serve both. One will
be your master and win out. So, young man, let's go ahead and find out which
one wins out right now. And of course he chose mammon as his lord (Matt.
19:22).
Why is such a dilemma necessary? Why does
scholar F. F. Bruce say, "service of mammon and service of God are mutually
exclusive"? Perhaps some other Scriptures provide some of the answers. Ephesians
5:5 defines a "covetous man"
as "an idolater." Among the vices
listed as part of the former life in Colossians 3, "greed" is further described as a form of "idolatry" (Col. 3:5). The message of the
passages is clear. THE LOVE OF MONEY CAN EASILY BECOME ONE OF OUR MOST
DANGEROUS IDOLS. And it's a sneaky one. How many of us see the padding of our
home luxuries, refined tastes, excessive savings accounts, and retirement funds
as forms of worship? Bowing down before the almighty dollar? But the reality of
our resources, even in a recessed American economy, provides both tremendous
opportunity and the danger of greater accountability. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required" (Luke
12:48).
But here's the good news. MONEY is not
the enemy. WEALTH is not even necessarily the enemy. The Bible repeatedly
speaks on the necessity of economics, work, production, and trade. But the key
is what you do with the wealth, the resources at your disposal. And in our
time, I think Jesus would look at us, who are far wealthier than most of Jesus'
first century audience, and would simply say, "GIVE." GREED is the enemy.
Mammon cannot be your master. It must merely be a resource in service of your
one true Master.
To His Glory,
Caleb
