Serving Two Masters: What do elections, public office, alcohol and pleasure have in common? Maybe not what you’re thinking.

One of the most quoted of Jesus’ sound bites is his statement that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). In the immediate context, he was referring to allegiance to God, and wealth. The principle however, has (I believe rightfully) been applied in numerous contexts. I suggest those of us who serve the King (our Master!) need to evaluate whether we are, intentionally or not, trying to serve another master as well.

I first thought about this as I read about the court clerks who are around the country refusing to grant marriage licenses to homosexual couples—even under direct Supreme court order to do so. This is being championed by many Christians as a woman “standing up for her faith”. It is not. It is in fact a woman trying to serve two masters. When she ran for public (secular, worldly) office, and was elected, she then took an oath. All public officials (including the military) do so. Universally this oath binds these people to faithfully carry out the duties of their office—usually spelling out that these are defined by those legally appointed to do so. In this case, the problem is this woman’s faith is in conflict with her oath. An oath she never should have made (knowing, as I assume she did, Jesus’ words about two masters). An oath I believe she should now admit she cannot fulfill.  She is not being forced to do anything except admit she isn’t willing to fulfill her oath. Under such circumstances, anyone with integrity would resign.

Cue the hate mail.  (Only kidding.  Our King and Master said we will not hate–just love!)

The problem is, so many Christians in the U.S. still insist they can faithfully serve two masters: Jesus, and the government. This belief persists because we don’t want to admit the two are (or can be) in conflict. Consider this frequently encountered conflict: When I take the oath as a military member to obey lawful orders, I have to realize this oath could—and often does—result in me directly or indirectly working to kill someone. I may or may not understand or agree with the reason for the order. But if I can’t demonstrate it is an unlawful order (according to U.S. law—not my beliefs), I must kill that person—in direct violation of the scriptural command to not kill. The same problem arises when any Christian takes an oath for a public office. They are, by definition, committing allegiance to a worldly government. And I have yet to see any of these oaths with an exception clause which reads: “unless to do so violates my personal beliefs”.

I give these illustrations because we are seeing the political season preceding the 2016 Presidential elections heating up—and Christians are diving in on both sides as though their citizenship were not in the Kingdom, but in this world. But the problem of two masters doesn’t begin and end with public office—or even politics. Let me give just a few examples of the masters who frequently vie with our King for allegiance:

1. happiness—perhaps the biggest and worst pretender to the throne.
2. wealth—the original pretender Jesus was talking about.
3. pleasure (a shorter term version of happiness)—evidenced by the rising use—and reliance on—of alcohol by Christians in the U.S. (I have commented in other posts on my concern that alcohol is so accepted—and the use of alcohol so relied on for relaxation, celebration, or community gatherings. How many times do we see pictures of Christians out for a celebration of (Fill in the blank) with a glass or bottle of alcohol front and center in the picture?
4. our feelings—not just “happy”, but “comfortable” or even “angry” (I am always amused by someone who justifies yelling or otherwise behaving badly by saying “I was angry”—or worse, “you made me angry”. As someone who has struggled with anger my whole life, I find this amazing. Who would accept a lewd comment justified by “I was lustful”, or theft justified by “I was feeling greedy”?)

The reality is King means King. Master. Sovereign. Owner. Ruler. He either is, or he isn’t. So, as we approach the daily or seasonal temptations to dethrone him or just “set him aside” while we put something in his place temporarily, we have to realize we can not serve two masters. Our allegiance, and our behavior must be intended to serve him alone.