Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

One Master

In our day, we have choice as to which person or values we will serve, but even so, Jesus says we can choose only one to be our master. Depending on which we choose, everything else takes on its meaning. If we make money our master, then everything else has value insofar as it helps us to make it, spend it, or hoard it. If we make God our master, then everything else is valuable to the extent it brings us closer to intimacy with God and availability for his service.

But, slaves in the ancient world didn’t have that freedom. In most cases, their masters bought them, inherited them, or won them in war. Thinking in that context, Jesus was saying that there is only one master, and that master is God — not because we make him that but because he already is. And if we try to have another master besides, we are trying to do the impossible.

Either interpretation brings us to the same conclusion: if something else in our life becomes equal to God — if we split our bets, to use the gambling term — we split ourselves and end up losing everything.