Who's Your Master?

6/16/2010 Who is your master?


“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Luke 16: 13 (ESV)

I think about this scripture when I am faced with ethical and moral dilemmas in my profession. Working in the world of personal finance, I have to make decisions all the time regarding my master. On one hand, I can take the route of many financial advisors and sell, sell, sell anything to anyone at anytime to make a dollar. People put a lot of trust in me to recommend the appropriate financial products and services to them. They trust that what they hear from me is in their best interest and not some ploy to make money for me and cheat them. And I don’t want to abuse that trust. It can be difficult. I get tested every time I need money for something in particular and have a client sitting in front of me. They will usually say something like, “Well, what do you think I should do?” Or, “We trust you Shayna. Tell us what you think is best?” And here we are. Who is my master? Will I select the option that gets me the most income or will I choose the one that’s in their best interest? Who is my master?

Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and money. He didn’t say that we won’t serve either. He said that we cannot serve both. Everyone at some point in their life will have to make a decision about which one they will serve. And here I don’t just mean making money. I know people who make decisions based on not making money that are just as guilty of serving money as those who seek to have plenty of it. They may proclaim that money is evil and turn down every opportunity to make money in light of their perception of it. Well, you may not have money, but you are not serving God either. Why? Because your thoughts and decisions are still based on money. Not on God. What if God sends you a lump sum of money because someone in your community needs it? Would you turn it away? By doing so, are you truly following God, or are you raising your principles ahead of Him? You cannot serve God and money.

That doesn’t leave those who seek to follow the “Get money” mantra off the hook either. We are probably all guilty of doing something for money at some point in our life if we are honest with ourselves. Even if we took a job that paid well but we didn’t want. How many times have people made a decision to leave a job where they were happy in order to pursue the higher paycheck at another? How many people are guilty of getting involved in get-rich-quick schemes because of the allure of more money? And when we get money, we may use it to justify that God is with us, when that is not a good indicator. Just because you are rewarded for your labor in cash doesn’t mean that you are serving God. You don’t have to do something unethical for money in order for it to be your master. All it takes is for you to make it the basis of your decisions.

God wants to be the foundation of every decision we make. Anything that we elevate above Him will prove to fail. It’s easy to make money your master. It seems like in this world those who have it are so much better off than those who don’t. If you have ever been in a position where you needed a financial miracle, you would probably agree. At the same time, we can also become victims of making money a master by focusing too much on it in the opposite way. Sometimes poverty is you master, which is still related to money. And even that will fail you. You become so pious about your poverty that you begin to focus on it, rather than the God you claim to serve. And you may also point others to it. “See, I choose to be poor. I rejected a multi-million dollar contract because of the evil of money. Do what I do.” That is not pointing people to Christ. That’s pointing people to you. Whether it’s the acquisition or the rejection of money, if it is the basis for your decision making, you are out of order.

“The rich and poor have this in common: The LORD made them both.” Proverbs 22:2 (NLT). God is God of all. God gives and God takes away. Our duty on this earth is to follow Him wholly and trust Him for all the seasons of our lives. Know that God simply wants us to trust Him in all things. If you have a little, then use it for His glory. Be wise with what you are given because it all comes from Him. If you have much, use it for His glory. That too comes from Him. Jesus said,”Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10 NIV). Work what you have and follow Christ. Let Him alone be your master in the times when you have and when you have not. He may lead you into a season of abundant financial blessing. He may also lead you into a season of limited financial blessing. What He promised is that all of our needs would be supplied. That is the blessing. The fact that we serve a God who sees to it that we always have what we need. Allow Him to show you what a good master can do. Money will fail you. God will not. Take time to learn about the master you serve. If money is your master, you better get to know it. If God is your master you better get to know Him. I assure you God is better. But don’t take my word for it. Try Him yourself.