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“No One Can Serve Two Masters”: Politics and Faith

“No One Can Serve Two Masters”: Politics and Faith

Last updated on: October 29, 2024 at 11:44 am by Rick Rice

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“No One Can Serve Two Masters”: Politics and Faith 2024-10-29T11:44:42-04:00 Rick Rice

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Jesus warned us that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). How can Christians navigate the political world while continuing to serve God?

Scripture:

Job, chapter 20; Mark, chapters 3-4

Mark 3:1-6 (CEB):

Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.” Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing. Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy. At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.

Observations: No One Can Serve Two Masters

At first glance, this passage deals with Sabbath observance. The Pharisees strictly followed all of the laws and traditions with regard to “honoring the Sabbath.” Jesus, on the other hand, seemed to be lax in observing the Sabbath.

He healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years on the Sabbath, and then encouraged the man to pick up his mat and go home (John 5:1-9).
Later, He healed a man born blind by making mud and putting it on his eyes (John 9:1-7).
When His disciples picked grain and ate it while walking through a field on the Sabbath, Jesus excused them by saying “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
He then “doubled down” by claiming, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28, NIV).

However, the issue of Sabbath observance was simply cover for what the Pharisees really wanted – to destroy Jesus. Jesus’ teaching about the Sabbath was just one part of the religious leaders’ grievance against Him. Jesus challenged their motives, saying that they were more interested in power and popularity than faithfulness to God. His demonstrations of power contrasted sharply with their lack of spiritual power. When Jesus began teaching, the people recognized it as “a new teaching with authority” (Mark 1:27).

Serving Two Masters: Pharisees and Herodians

There is a familiar saying that politics makes for strange bedfellows. (Actually, the original quotation is from Shakespeare; in The Tempest a character notes that “misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”) Anyway, the point is that people will sometimes find themselves aligned with those they do not normally agree with, depending on the situation. Another way to say this is, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The Pharisees and Herodians were not “friends” in the sense of first-century politics. The Pharisees’ very name refers to separation; they had no interest in supporting the secular Roman government, nor their puppet king, Herod. The Herodians, on the other hand, were “supporters of Herod,” as the CEB text puts it. But in this case, the Pharisees and Herodians had a common cause: to get rid of Jesus. Jesus was a threat to the Pharisees’ religious leadership over the Jewish people. The more popular Jesus became, the more people would reject Herod’s rule. And as talk about Jesus being the Messiah grew louder, the danger that the Romans would step in also grew.

Jesus had demonstrated his power by healing the man’s withered hand. That demonstration clearly affirmed the truth of Jesus’ teaching about God – including Jesus’ views on the Sabbath. As Jesus healed and taught about God’s Kingdom, more people followed him. So the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.

Application: No One Can Serve Two Masters

Religious people and secular people getting together to further their joint interests. Sounds a lot like the state of our political culture, doesn’t it? Now, there’s no question that if believers are going to be involved in politics, they will end up getting together with people who don’t share their faith. And we should be “involved” in politics, so we shouldn’t be surprised when we get together with people that we may not always agree with.

But how far do we take that? At what point do our spiritual interests take a back seat to political aims? I believe the answer should be “Never.” I’ve seen too many instances of people of faith who lose their way in the morass of politics. Our political system is grounded in compromise; our system is designed to protect the interests of minorities. We are not a dictatorship, nor should we be. Plato’s ideal of the philosopher-king is just that – an ideal. Humans are incapable of being completely altruistic, because self-interest always creeps into the equation.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus famously said: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other” (Matthew 6:24). He went on to say that we can’t serve both God and wealth, but the same is true for politics. We can’t serve both God and party, both God and preferred candidate, can’t even truly “serve” both God and country, because no one can serve two masters. Christians have just one Master – God. So before we get together with “Herodians,” we’d better be careful to have our priorities straight!

Prayer:

Father, it is so tempting for us to seek to use human means to achieve Your purposes. In doing so, we often end up using You as a means to achieve our purposes. Forgive us! Help us to recognize Your priorities, and to hold fast to Your values. Guard us against the temptation to compromise with the world in order to achieve what we believe to be Your purposes. You don’t need us to figure out how to achieve Your ends; You call us to simply believe and obey. Help us to reflect Your truth and Your light to the world around us. Amen.

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