“No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.” -Matthew 6:24 (NIV)
I recall the title of a book on my shelves: “If money is not God then why the Church worships it?”
It is interesting to note as we look at the above verse that the Lord Jesus mentions “two masters” in the introduction and “God and Money” in the conclusion, leaving us no doubt as to the identity of the two masters. Simply put, Jesus is talking about God and Money.
No one can serve two masters, Jesus said. Please note that he meant “no one” -both in the physical as well as the spiritual realm. We understand that when it comes to serving, God and Money are mutually exclusive and it is almost like Money competes against God for our hearts -here we are talking about attachment and commitment.
It is as if Jesus reminds us that the heart of man is too small to contain both God and Money. The fact is, what the heart contains becomes its main preoccupation. Did you know that my heart’s main preoccupation is actually what I serve? Please note that by preoccupation we mean, what is constantly on my mind and decides whether I am a success or failure, I am happy or miserable, and motivates all my daily choices and decisions. Here is where most of us “Christians” deceive ourselves. I pray it is not the case with you.
Why did Jesus say it is impossible to serve God and Money? Yes, the verse is about serving and the answer to the question is in the verse itself: It is impossible to love the two at the same time, and, it is impossible to be devoted to both at the same time. In fact, loving one translates in actual fact to hating the other and being devoted to one to despising the other. I know, often time we convince ourselves that we could love and be devoted to both God and Money but the problem is that Jesus says no one can….
I woke up this morning with the following thought: Beware of prophets of Money in the Church. As I turned on my laptop to post the thought, Matthew 6:24 came to mind. And at this point in the message, I am realising that the Holy Spirit is reminding us that just as God has prophets who speak to his people and the world on his behalf, the same is true about Money. The Church now has both prophets of God and Money competing for the pulpit!
You can tell whose a particular prophet by his or her main message. How does it compare with teachings of Jesus and his apostles which call for the death of the self in order to embrace the life of Christ? How often does it talk about the Cross of Calvary? In what way does it invite believers to be imitators of God?
Beware of prophets of Money because their message severs your attachment (love) for God and kill your commitment (devotion) to Him. When it is all said and done, wouldn’t you want to hear God say to you “well done, good and faithful servant”? Please choose to serve God and not Money henceforth.
May God help us, in Jesus Christ’s name!
