Two Masters

Luke 16:13
“No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”

There are a lot of words that people call Jesus, but “Master” is not one of them. Jesus may be Savior, Redeemer, Healer, even King. But I don’t think that we in modern society like to think of anyone as our master. That denotes a slave/master relationship.

This hits on a point mentioned by Michael Card in his recent concert at St. Giles Presbyterian. Card said, “You aren’t truly free until you are Christ’s slave.” He went on to talk about how the servant language in Scripture helps us understand the upside down freedom of the Christian Gospel. People who live for themselves think that they are free. But they are actually bound by their own appetites. We all serve something.

I have always thought that the real evil in this passage was money. But money is just the vehicle for the real idol to fulfill its desires. In this passage, Jesus is clearly pointing to a greater evil. It lurks within us all. It is the god of self. The worship of our own desires.

I believe Jesus was saying that we can’t serve God and ourselves. Sometimes we think we can be in two camps at once. But Christ is clear. There is no middle ground. In any given moment of our lives, we are either living for God or living for ourselves.

Chasing after money is a clear sign of what is going on in our heart. There can be no two masters because we will chose to love one and despise the other. The biggest danger is when we think we can equally serve both sides at once.

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Twitter Me This

Okay, I have joined the world of Twitter. I started this past weekend. To be honest, the entire blog, Facebook, Twitter phenomenon seems a big Narcissistic to me. Why do so many people care what others are doing?

Facebook is not a great way to really stay connected with close friends. It is a way to stay loosely connected with people that you care about but are not an active part of your regular life.  I would rather talk on the phone or meet face-to-face than connect online. Maybe I am old school.

I was not going to open a Twitter account until a friend explained why he used it. He basically said that Twitter is like Facebook without all the extra stuff that gets in the way like contests, polls, being poked or bitten by others, etc. All the little add-ons are killing Facebook. I don’t think that I have ever responded to one of those things.

Facebook has been kind of neat to re-connect with old friends from school or college. But it shouldn’t take up most of your life. Some people spend way too much time on this stuff.

My blog is nothing more than free therapy. I write so that my head doesn’t explode. If it benefits other people, that’s just the cherry on top.

Twitter does make sense from the perspective that it keeps comments short. My main problem is that brevity has never been a strong suit of mine.

I will be posting some random status updates as well as a daily Scripture verse and related questions on Twitter. These are questions that I am asking myself. My goal is to do this every day for 365 days. There may be some days where I don’t have a decent Internet connection or fail to post for some reason. But my plan is to be as faithful as possible.

What you won’t get from me is Twitter updates on everything in my life. I won’t be telling you what I had for breakfast unless it was something really unusual like fire ants and goat cheese. I won’t be making stupid comments about TV shows.

My desire is to post Twitter messages that add something to the lives of those who read it: either a quick update, a profound thought, question or Scripture verse.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/organicfaith1

Beyond the Margins

Have you ever had one of those nights when you don’t even know where to begin? Your head is swimming with thoughts inspired by the wisdom of someone you feel fortunate to have encountered. That’s how I feel right now after a 2-hour concert/walk through the Bible with Michael Card.

Where do I begin? Michael Card stated his secret purpose was to entice, manipulate…  do what it takes to inspire his audience to read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. He weaved songs together to provide a musical narrative of Scripture. By the end, I was in tears as the reality hit me. God’s greatest desire is to be with His people. I know this. But some how tonight, I got a deeper glimpse of God’s heart. And I am undone.

While I don’t know that I would pay to hear most Christian musicians preach, I could sit and listen to Card for hours. He plumps the depth of Scripture like few Christian artists could. Here are some of the things that stood out to me.

• Card is working on a book about slavery and freedom called A Better Freedom. Card said, “The only way you will ever be free is to become a slave of Christ.”
• Leviticus is full of details about things like warts and mold. But those details point to spiritual realities. We see Jesus in the models and stories of the Old Testament. Card said, “God is in the details.”
• The story of Hosea and Gomer shows us our wayward hearts. Card sang a song as Gomer talking about the faithfulness of her husband despite her unfaithfulness.
• God gave Israel a great gift called the Year of Jubilee – a time when all debts would be canceled. It was to be a year-long party every 50 years where families and individuals were restored. But there is no record of Israel every observing the Year of Jubilee. This utopia idea has its completion in Jesus.
• In Psalm 51 after David has committed a horrible sin, all he had to give to God was his brokenness. And that was what God really wanted in the first place. David said that what God wants is broken and contrite heart.
• Card said, “The things that have hurt you in life, aren’t wasted. They are redeemed –  God uses them  to save the world.” He pointed to the cross as a perfect example of how God turns tragedy into victory.
• Throughout the concert, Card kept on referring to friends and mentors who influenced each song. It was clear that his music comes out of community.
• Card said about the book of Revelation, “In the end, God gets what He wants. Do you know what God really wants? He wants to be with you – His people.” Card said that the reward of  following the Law in Leviticus 16:12 is that God will walk with His people. From the tabernacle to the Temple, the dwelling place of God was to be with His people. Jesus is called Emmanuel, which means God with us. Jesus’ last words to His disciples were, “Behold, I am with you always.” He then promised the Holy Spirit, which lives in the heart of God’s people. Card said, “What God wants the most is what we need the most.” The story ends in Revelation with complete restoration as sin, death and separation from God are forever dealt with. God is fully with His people.