Two Masters, One Servant

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matt. 6.24


The question is which one are you devoted to, God or money?


The boys had some friends sleep over the other night. One of the guests, who had been to our house before but had never slept over, said to me as I ate my breakfast, “You guys have a lot of stuff.” The only answer to that is, of course, “Yes, we do.”

It may be that you don’t have as much stuff as I do. But I bet you still have a lot. I bet you are fairly well off, by most standards. Houses today are twice as big as in 1950, while family size is 25 percent smaller. It has already been noted, crammed attics and garages have spawned a growth industry that didn’t exist in 1960 – self-storage units. A couple weeks ago I said that this accumulation of stuff and wealth is bound to have a profound effect on our lives. There is power in this and we need to be aware of that power. If you are not consciously aware and proactive in having power over your wealth and stuff, your wealth will have power over you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “We do not ride upon the train, the train rides upon us.”


If we are not wise, instead of managing our wealth, our wealth will manage us.


How do I know if I am in control or the other way around? How do I know if I am truly in love with God or I am truly in love with my money? Andy Stanley poses this question to help, “Would you be more upset to find out there was no God, or that you had no money in any of your accounts?”


Here is another way to examine ourselves:


I see myself as an owner I see myself as a trustee

Place an x somewhere on that line.


A trustee is someone who has been given responsibility for something that doesn’t belong to them. A trustee does not own or even control something, but cares for it, holds it in trust.

Notice I am not saying you must be in poverty. Poverty is not a good thing for anyone. In fact, Jesus says that we should learn a little in how to use “unrighteous money” to serve the righteous ways of God.In Luke’s gospel Jesus tells the story of how a money manager had been accused of mismanaging his master’s funds. To get back in his master’s good graces, the steward quickly settles accounts with some of the master’s debtors on terms that they won’t refuse. So the steward releases people from the debts and gets the master a bunch of money in the process. Everyone likes the steward.

“I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous money, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.” Luke 16.9

This has been a notoriously difficult passage for the Christian church to get a handle on through the ages. But a few things are clear:

Notice in reference to money, not “if” it fails, but “when it fails. . .” Use it for better things than itself. Use it to accomplish good. Use it to make an eternal impact.

John Wesley interpreted this teaching and distilled it into three simple rules:

Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.

The earning part draws us out and keeps us out of poverty. The saving and giving draw us away from selfishness and turn our concern beyond our immediate wants to the needs of others both now and later. We can make impact far beyond what we thought possible. The effect this teaching had upon the largely lower class people of England in Wesley’s day was phenomenal. These people were largely factory workers and farmers. Yet, the people called Methodist began to face a problem that many of them had not faced before, a rising standard of living and how to faithfully follow Jesus with newfound wealth.

Greater faithfulness to the poor and those in need was the answer. They considered themselves stewards and trustees of this bounty rather than private owners.

When the subject of “our money” comes up, we want to know how much is enough to save, how much is enough to give? It’s like other areas of our lives when we are challenged by the word of Jesus, we want to know what is the least common denominator of a faithful response. We want know how much sin we can get away with, how much weakness will a forgiving Savior tolerate?

The question isn’t, “How much sin am I allowed? The question is “Am I moving toward the darkness or toward the light? Am I growing toward God, or away from him? Am I becoming more sensitive and responsive to Jesus?

“He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.” Luke 16.10


God meets us where we are. Frank Laubach preached the gospel to a tribe that had a long history of violence. The chief was so moved by Laubach’s preaching that he accepted Christ on the spot. He then turned to Laubach in gratitude and said, “This is wonderful. Who do you want me to kill for you?”

That was his starting point. What is your starting point when it comes to being faithful with your wealth and income? Are you ready to move with Jesus?


The Lord is not looking for a dramatic gesture of sacrifice, as in, “Here Lord, here is a big check for you!” No, the Lord is looking for obedience and faithful steps.

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”


Jesus makes it clear that he is the one doing most of the work. “Consider the lilies. . .” I take care of them, won’t I, don’t you think I, will take care of you? You gotta love the sincerity of the question!


Bill Hybels preached a series at his church called, “Enough.” After one of the sermons, he challenged members of the congregation to raise their hands if they were willing to surrender their possessions and lifestyles fully to God and actually decide to use their resources to serve the poor and honor God. There was a time for public declaration of intent. Then Bill said he wanted to have a word with all the folks who did not raise their hands. And this is what he said:

“I hope you have a terrible afternoon. And then I hope you have a terrible evening. I hope the Holy Spirit keeps after you, and you have to keep thinking this one through, until you’re able to raise your hand as well.”

Friends, when I am less than faithful to God, God gives me a troubled conscience. That’s the gift of the Holy Spirit at work in me. The Spirit creates a holy discontent until I do the right thing. Friends, my wish for you is faithfulness and a clear conscience, but in the absence of faithfulness, I wish you a troubled conscience. I wish you the gift of holy discontent. I wish us all a terrible day and week, until we obey the Lord.