No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)
There are two masters battling for the identity of my church in the United States. One master is offering the same thing that he offered to Jesus in the wilderness: power over the nations of the world. The other master is offering Jesus. Not just a way of salvation but a way of life; a template that now must be followed in every aspect of a person’s life. My children must understand that you cannot serve them both, even for a little while. To seek power over the nations is to reject the example you have in Jesus. To receive Jesus as your template is to turn away forever from the desire to control others through politics and the laws of the land. Remember that no one can love and be devoted to two masters simultaneously, this means that for your love and devotion for me to grow, you must forever renounce your love of politics and political affiliations. The cost of loving me is to love no other more than me.
Just as the year 2020 was a “crossroads year” the year 2021 will be a year of greater separation between a nationalistic church and a Jesus-centered church. I am not calling my children to try to reform this nationalistic church, but to come out from amongst them. This separation will be seen, at first, as weakness and there will be many who will point to 2021 as a “post-Christian era.” But by the end of this year, those who are determined to bear the image of Jesus will find that his light will be clearly seen by many among the nations of the world. To those who have chosen the way of the Jesus-centered church, I ask you this question, “are you willing to let me prune you that you might be more fruitful?” This way that I’m calling you to will, at first, be smaller not greater. It will be despised, not applauded, and it will require you to love me more than the opinions of others. It’s important to count the cost now on this first day of 2021, for every day of this year the gap will widen between these two views of church.
— January 1, 2021