Meditative Reflection
Serving Two Masters
In
my secular career, I worked for a few family businesses. The benefits
of working for a family business included a much cozier working
environment, with less of a bureaucratic structure in decision making
and more of a relational approach to line and functional management. I
found it more comfortable in such an environment as a Christian.
However, it also had its pitfalls and the most important of them was
having to answer to more than one boss unofficially.
Officially, I reported to the chairman of the company who was the father
of the family, but unofficially I had to answer to the other members of
the family, who often had competing interests. In one such company, as
much as I enjoyed my work very much and the complete trust of the
chairman, I had no choice but to resign, because it is true that, “No
one can serve two masters (or more).”
However, as much as I have had this first-hand experience, I have found
myself very comfortable in serving two masters in my personal life.
I am familiar with the teaching of 1 John 2:15, “do not love the world…If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Since my conversion in my late teen-years, I learned to memorize this
verse. But as I reflect on my secular career, as successful as it was
for the most part and one in which I invariably gained the trust of my
boss, I, imperceptibly, had engaged in the rat race, just like many
others in the corporate world.
Yes, I joined short-term missions, I sought to share the gospel at work
and even led Bible study in my office, and I served actively in the
church. While I might even be able to maintain a good reputation as a
good Christian at work, deep down, I admired, I pursued and I sought
after fame, fortune and power. The only difference was that I was able
to hide it quite well in the eyes of my colleagues, but not in the eyes
of my Lord.
Indeed, “If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” (Matt. 6:23)
All along, I “saw” myself as a good Christian, but what I saw was, in
fact, darkness, that is, false light. How great had that darkness been!
It was not until I learned to set aside time for regular prolonged
self-reflection and examination (in addition to my daily rush-devotion
time), that I came to see my folly. As a result, when I was invited to
speak at my son’s wedding (he is an accountant married to another
accountant, just as I am), I said to him, “Do not follow my footsteps to
a tee.”
I was referring to how I tried to gain the world and the Lord at the same time.