Two Masters

Jesus didn’t say, “You should not serve God and money.” He said, “You cannot.”

“No one can serve two masters. Either they will hate one and love the other, or they will be loyal to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Think about what that means. It is not a rule. It is a description of reality, like saying you cannot walk north and south at the same time. Sooner or later, one master or the other will give an order the other one won’t, and you will have to choose. When that moment comes, you will find out which one you have really been serving.

Money is not neutral

Most people today think of money as a neutral tool, like a hammer. It is neither good nor bad. It all depends on how you use it. There is truth in that, and John Wesley said something like it, as we will see. But Jesus said something more. In Matthew 6:24 He doesn’t put God up against a hammer. He puts God up against a master.

The word in the older translations is mammon, an Aramaic word for wealth or property. Jesus speaks of it almost as a person, a rival lord who wants your loyalty. Money is not just a tool. It has a pull. It makes promises. It offers security, status, comfort, freedom and control. And it asks to be trusted.

That is why Paul calls greed “idolatry” (Colossians 3:5), and why he warns that “no one who is greedy (for the greedy person is an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5). An idol is anything we look to for what only God can give. Money is the idol of choice for respectable people, because you can worship it without ever going near a shrine.

How do I know who I’m serving?

If money is a master that can quietly take over, how can I tell whether it has? Here are some honest questions to ask.

Where does my mind go when it is free? When you are lying awake at night, or driving, or waiting in a queue, what do you think about? If it is mostly money, getting it, spending it, worrying about it, that tells you something.

What makes me anxious? We worry about what we trust in. If a fall in the stock market or a big bill throws you into panic, it may be because your security is resting there.

What would I not give up? Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything and follow Him, and the man went away sad, “for he owned a great deal of property” (Mark 10:22). Jesus doesn’t ask that of everyone, but He did put His finger on the one thing that man would not let go of. What would you refuse to give up if Jesus asked?

What does my spending say? A bank statement is a kind of autobiography. It tells the story of what we value. If someone read yours, who would they say your master is?

What gets cut first? In a sermon on this very verse, the Welsh preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave a test that is hard to wriggle out of: “When money becomes difficult, the first thing we economize on is our contribution to God’s work.” When times get tight, what goes first?

Hate one, love the other

Jesus says we will “hate one and love the other.” That sounds strong. But think about it. If money is your master, you will resent God whenever He asks you to give, or to trust Him, or to be honest when lying would pay better. You may never say it out loud, but there will be a quiet irritation every time the offering comes round or a needy person crosses your path.

And if God is your master, you will start to see money for what it is. Not a god, but a servant. Not something to love, but something to use for the One you do love.

This doesn’t mean Christians should despise money in the sense of being careless or ungrateful for it. It means money loses its throne. It goes back to being a tool in the hand of a servant of God.

Choosing a master

The good news is that you can choose. Joshua stood before Israel and told them to “make your choice today. Whom will you serve?” (Joshua 24:15). That choice is in front of every Christian, and we often have to make it more than once.

Here is how to make it. You can’t drive out one master by simply trying harder. You need a better master to take its place. Money is a hard master. It always wants more, and it never says “Well done.” Jesus is a kind master. He says, “My yoke is easy to wear, and the load I give is light” (Matthew 11:30). When we see how good He is, money’s promises start to look thin.

The writer of Hebrews says it beautifully:

“Do not let love of money rule the way you live; be satisfied with what you have. For God Himself has said, ‘I will not ever let you go, and I will never, never abandon you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

Why can we be free from the love of money? Because God has promised never to leave us. Money promises security, but it can be gone in a day. God is the security money only pretends to be.

A voice from the past

A. W. Tozer saw that the trouble often doesn’t show until a real choice arrives:

“Let him be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time.”

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

And the Puritan Thomas Watson put the whole matter into a single sentence:

“If we trust in our riches, we make riches our god.”

Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments

Practice this week

Get out your last month’s bank statement or spending record. Read it slowly, as if it belonged to someone else. Ask, “What does this person love? What does this person trust?” Then talk to God honestly about what you see.

For groups

• Why do you think Jesus said “cannot” rather than “should not”?
• Which of the questions under “How do I know who I’m serving?” was hardest for you to answer? Why?
• Can you remember a time when you had to choose between God and money? What happened?
• Read Hebrews 13:5. How does God’s promise in the second half of the verse make the command in the first half possible?