Kingdom Living in a Consumer Culture

Consumer culture trains you to ask one question about everything: what am I getting out of this? That habit can follow you into faith and even into church. Kingdom living asks a different question: is Christ actually first? Jesus says you can't serve two masters. When He rules your heart, He changes your home, your work, and the way you show up on Sunday.

Can you really serve God and something else?

No. Jesus says divided allegiance is impossible. Only one thing can rule your heart at a time, and whatever rules your heart directs your life.

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. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 6:24

A few verses earlier, Jesus gives you a way to check. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21). Your deepest commitments reveal who rules. If you want to know what's on the throne, look at where your time, money, and attention keep going.

This teaching sits in the Sermon on the Mount, right after Jesus teaches His followers how to pray. That order matters. Everything begins with a Father in heaven.

How do you decide what comes first?

You decide by remembering that there is only one Judge, and it isn't you. Setting priorities is a kind of judging. Every time you say this matters more than that, you make an evaluation and put things in order.

On Beyond Sunday, Pastor Sean Sloan drew a parallel between Matthew 6 and James 4. James writes that "there is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy" (James 4:12). A lot of life gets spent judging things on a natural basis. Kingdom living is letting Christ rule every part of your life, and it starts by letting the one true Judge set the order.

Is God supposed to be number one on your list?

God wants more than the top spot on a list. Many people picture priorities as a numbered list: God first, then family, then work, all the way down to ten. The problem is that God ends up in slot one. Then He gets left out of slots two through ten.

Levonia Strong, Calvary's pastoral care director, described it this way on the episode. God doesn't want to be compartmentalized. He wants to be part of every decision you make: your marriage, your parenting, your career, and your spending.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Colossians 1:18

"In everything" is the point. When Christ is preeminent, things in your life begin to change. He touches all of it, Monday through Saturday included.

What does consumer Christianity look like at church?

Consumer Christianity treats church as a product you evaluate: how good the music was, how much you liked the message, how well it met your needs. Pastor Sean admitted that very often people bring that mindset even to church.

Ask yourself a simple question. What if you came to church to put Christ first, ahead of your experience of the music or your opinion of the sermon? When Christ is first, church stops being a box to check. You start to see that you are the church, everywhere you go.

That shift is practical. You arrive ready to worship. You notice the person sitting alone. You serve because you belong to the body.

Why are you here: to grow or to go?

You're here to do both. God once worked through the prophets, then through Jesus in the flesh, and now the same Spirit that was in Christ lives in His people. That's why the church is called the body of Christ. You represent His kingdom wherever you go.

Pastor Sean and Levonia put it with a smile. Christians sometimes treat the faith as grow, grow, grow, when we are also here to go, go, go. You are an ambassador of the King, sent for a redemptive purpose.

Seeing yourself as sent changes ordinary moments:

• Small cultural fights shrink. They stop feeling like the main event.
• You get offended less. People on a mission stay focused.
• Your character changes. You show less of the works of the flesh and more of the fruit of the Spirit.

James explains that quarrels come from wanting things for yourself that you don't have. His answer is to submit to God and humble yourself.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:10

What if you're afraid God won't provide?

If you're afraid God won't provide, that fear rests on a lie: that God isn't good enough. It undermines your whole relationship with Him, including how you pray. Jesus addresses His listeners as people of little faith and points to the birds and the grass. If God takes care of them, He will take care of you.

Many people agree with that in their heads without having it settled in their hearts. Hebrews 11:6 says that anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

Seeking the kingdom first doesn't mean everything will go your way, or that you'll avoid pain. It does free you from fear. The only Judge is your loving Father. He sent His Son to redeem you and adopted you as His child. Real faith believes not only that God can, but that God will.

Common questions

What does it mean that you cannot serve two masters?

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says no one can be fully devoted to two masters. Your deepest commitments reveal who rules your life, and only one thing can be on the throne at a time.

What does "seek first the kingdom of God" mean?

It means making God's rule and righteousness the main pursuit of your life. Jesus promises that the Father knows what you need and will provide as you put His kingdom first.

How do I avoid being a consumer Christian?

Come to church to put Christ first and to serve the people around you, not to rate the music or the message. See yourself as part of the church and as an ambassador sent on mission wherever you go.

Should God be first on my list of priorities?

God wants more than the top spot on a list. He wants to be part of every decision, so your family, work, and money all come under His rule instead of sitting in separate compartments.

Read the blog postWhat Rules Your Heart? Treasure, Two Masters, and One Priority in Matthew 6You don't really have priorities. You have one priority, and everything else lines up behind it. Matthew 6 shows how to tell what rules your heart.Read the post