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“No one can slave for two masters,1 for either he will hate one and love the other2 or embrace3 one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Riches!”4
| 1 | Two masters: Or, masters. 2 Timothy 2:4 expresses a similar idea by Paul. |
| 2 | He will hate one and love the other: Various renderings are: TCNT: attach himself; BECK: be loyal to the one. Hate here means to love less of two, much as a man with two maidens to please. Woe to him if the other finds out. The disciple who slaves for Mammon, or sticks to riches by his conversation and agenda, though unknown to himself, despises his true Lord. |
| 3 | Embrace: Or, “stick”. On the word “stick” see Deuteronomy 30:20 where it equals love and obedience. Rather than try to balance the two, God and Riches, the Friend of the Nazarene is better off sinning on the side of God and poverty than on the side of Riches and self. Better to die penniless with God as your Business Partner than end life wealthy with a lost soul as your only investment (Luke 12:20). |
| 4 | God and Riches: It is not, “God or Riches,” but, “God and Riches.” The Nazarene says it cannot be done, though untold numbers of Christians have attempted it miserably (1 Timothy 6:7-10, 17-19). Various renderings are: KNX: you must serve God or money; you cannot serve both. This is an impossibility illustrated by the mental image of a poor servant running back and forth between the two demands of two different lords. He is obediently with the one when the other requires his service. Riches can easily become a taskmaster greater than God. Riches can become God itself. In the modern Western capitalist world there are millions of Christians trying to do the very thing the Nazarene said cannot be done: serve God and Riches. There are those Prosperity Preachers who speak in the voice of Revelation 3:17 and who insist riches are proof of God’s blessing. They particularly encourage tithing and giving one’s money to them in promise of God’s blessing. The Nazarene Saint has only to look at the life-style of the Master and those early disciples to see what Jesus meant. |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose Matthew 6:24 as the theme verse of chapter six – Love and Riches. Continuing on his commentary regarding Leviticus 19:18 and love Jesus gives a number of specific examples how this may be demonstrated. [1-34] These include charity, prayer, forgiveness, spiritual treasures, and anxiety. Jesus emphasizes that one cannot love both God and Riches.
Abba our Father bless those rich in heavenly treasures.
[16 October 2002]
This is the direct application. The Chaldee word Mammon meant “money” or “riches.” It is here personified as an idol. Mammon originally meant “trust,” or confidence, and riches is the trust of worldly men. If God be not the object of supreme trust, something else will be, and it is most likely to be money.
