Money is intoxicating. It is an opiate that addicts as easily and as completely as the iron grip of alcohol or drugs. Its power to change us for the worse is close to that of Jesus Christ to change us for the better. Money possesses the power to rule our lives, not for good and forever, as Christ does, but rather to lure us, like a moth, too close to the flame until, finally, our wings are set ablaze.

Money enslaves men—it will work you till you die. And after it has conquered your poor soul, its haunting laughter can be heard howling through the chambers of hell. And then it seeks out another hapless, unsuspecting victim—an ambitious man like you who wants just a little bigger slice of the good life.

The problem of money is summed up by Jesus: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

It is not a question of advisability: “You should not serve both God and money.” That would be a priority choice.

It is not a question of accountability: “You must not serve both God and money.” That would be a moral choice.

Rather, it is a matter of impossibility: “You cannot serve both God and money.” There is no choice; we each serve one, and only one, master. We are either a slave to God or a slave to money.

As G. K. Chesterton said, “To be clever enough to get a great deal of money, one must be stupid enough to want it.”

Until every church disciples every man…

Pat

(adapted from the new revised and updated The Man in the Mirror)