"No one 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."
This passage brought to mind an incident at my former church. We were a
dying church desperately trying to stay alive. In order to try to reach others and
increase the numbers of the church, a day care and school were being operated. It was the
desire of the congregation to reach out to those who might not have a church or be looking
for a different church as well as providing a much needed service to the community.
One day tragedy befell one of the families who used our day care
service. They were involved in a car accident. The four-year old child who was standing in
the back was thrown between the two front seats and through the windshield. The child was
taken to the hospital where it became apparent that the child would not live. The news
caused great heartache for those of us with small children. Here was a poor single mother
facing the worst trial any of us could imagine. We quickly organized ourselves to try to
help this mother with expenses. We were shocked when our plans were halted by the ministry
team. They did not want us to get involved. For you see, the family was not Lutheran and
refused to let the child be baptized before it died.
It still breaks my heart that we let our religious beliefs prevent us
from giving true Christian compassion. It seemed to me that we truly had an opportunity to
serve God as our master, and we did not, because it was uncomfortable for some that let
religion be the master.
