The Lord is Christ: Priorities, Perception, and Potentates in Christian Worship
Matthew 6:19-24 touches on the subject of Christian worship and can be summed up in three words: priorities, perception, and potentates. What we treasure, what we see with our own eyes or our perspective on things, and ultimately who is our master takes us back to the very affirmation in the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done…”
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” said Christ, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” He is speaking of the things we value. What are we going to make our priority in life? The wisdom is to make investments that are eternal.
The metaphor of the lamp goes well with treasures and masters. When Jesus Christ says, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light,” it is a metaphor for one’s loyalty. Conversely, “if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” What the person values the most in life will eventually come to surface in their actions. What we believe to be the most important things, determines how we live. If we believe, for example, we are simply evolved apes, then there is no reason to cut out the monkey business.
Christ sums up Christian worship this way: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” This is not a call to renounce all possessions and live lives as ascetics. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that money can be a stumbling block for many. Paul wrote, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:10). When money becomes one’s potentate, then all sorts of evil abound. Elsewhere, the apostle encourages Christians to have a different perspective on wealth: “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need” (Eph. 4:28). Each person has various capacities to generate wealth, but it is ultimately about using our treasures for eternal rewards that makes the difference. Money is not the master, the Lord is Christ. God is our Potentate.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” said Christ, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” He is speaking of the things we value. What are we going to make our priority in life? The wisdom is to make investments that are eternal.
The metaphor of the lamp goes well with treasures and masters. When Jesus Christ says, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light,” it is a metaphor for one’s loyalty. Conversely, “if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” What the person values the most in life will eventually come to surface in their actions. What we believe to be the most important things, determines how we live. If we believe, for example, we are simply evolved apes, then there is no reason to cut out the monkey business.
Christ sums up Christian worship this way: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” This is not a call to renounce all possessions and live lives as ascetics. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that money can be a stumbling block for many. Paul wrote, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:10). When money becomes one’s potentate, then all sorts of evil abound. Elsewhere, the apostle encourages Christians to have a different perspective on wealth: “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need” (Eph. 4:28). Each person has various capacities to generate wealth, but it is ultimately about using our treasures for eternal rewards that makes the difference. Money is not the master, the Lord is Christ. God is our Potentate.
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