You can't serve two master: God + Culture

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Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane),...
Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is my conviction that we grow weary, that our lives grow complicated principally because we refuse to heed the warning of Jesus who tells us that no man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). The Old Testament testifies to our myriad failures, as well as our constant folly in trying. Syncretism, the blending together of true and false worship existed then as it exists now precisely because we seek to serve two masters, the true and living God of the ages, and the god of the age. While our Lord is gracious, every false god proves to be a cruel and demanding task master.

In our age that false task master is he whom Francis Schaeffer called "the god of personal peace and affluence." We Christians frantically seek to serve the Lord, which we ought to do, while pursuing the 'dream', which we ought not to do.

We often miss the Master's voice precisely because we are dancing to the beat of the broader culture's drum. When the call of Christ tells us to set aside our cultural dreams we determine that Jesus must give way. When following Him leads to even the mildest persecution we think He is misleading us. When peace and affluence let us down, we blame Him.

Our heavenly Father, however, has told us what we must do that it would go well for us in the land- we must honor Him. His Son has told us to put away those worries we share with the Gentiles, and to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And the Spirit calls us to think on that which is noble, pure, lovely.

The glorious promise of Christ is that when we pick up His cross, we discover that its burden is light. The glorious promise of Christ is what when we lose our lives we gain them. We are not called to victory. We are not called to power. We are not called to success. We are not called to strategize. We are called to obey. Everything we hope for has already been won; everything we fear is in His hands. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. And one Voice.

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