You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both. Matthew 6:24
“Whereas in his first two teachings Jesus made use of metaphors (treasure in heaven, the sound eye) that his disciples had to decode, in his third teaching he decodes the metaphor for them. His teaching begins with a thesis statement: no one can serve to masters. Next, he provides a supporting reason for his thesis: it is not possible to give both masters the same degree of loyalty and devotion.
Even if one feels an allegiance to both, one will eventually prefer one to the other. Finally, Jesus decodes his own teaching by identifying the two masters as God and money (“mammon” in many translations). Because one will always be more devoted to one master than to another, one must eventually choose between competing lords.
For those who lived in a world where slavery was the engine that drove the economy of the day, Jesus’ teaching would have made perfect sense. Masters require absolute loyalty and obedience from their slaves. Therefore, just as slaves must serve their masters with total devotion, so disciples must serve their Lord with undivided allegiance…
One cannot be wholly devoted to God if one is fully devoted to the pursuit of wealth; one must choose between the two.”
Frank J. Matera in The Sermon on the Mount: The Perfect Measure of the Christian Life (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2013) 91-92.
In the shadow of the financial capital of the world (NYC), we board a plane to head home to Denver. Here, our world celebrates the pursuit of wealth when Jesus exhorts us to serve Him instead and stockpile His resources in heaven through giving and sharing.
Consider this inspiring example.
This past Spring I spoke at a conference in Arizona. A couple I met with there said they had just hit their goal. Early in their marriage (making ordinary salaries), I learned that they had set a goal to store up a million dollars in heaven. What a heavenly pursuit! Since they still had life left in them, they resolved to keep on giving and increase their goal.
What about you and me?
Their pursuit models undivided allegiance for the rest of us.