Country Strong

    The movie Country Strong with Gwyneth Paltrow and Garrett Hadlund illustrates the old Biblical principle, "you can not serve two masters". The South has had its share of being a master and serving masters. Nashville being the country counter part of tinsel town, seat of one of the dueling lords, has seen its slaves come and go. As much as it wants to remain family it dishes out the poison of fame and glory gone bad as well as any of Binsfield's Princes of Hell.  Its latest story of a star being driven to her death down highway 31 sings the too familiar song of the price paid for "choosing poorly". The story is less about the strength of country than its weakness. Of course this echoes the warning of the Book that taught the South how to sing and gave to it the Christian audience for launching nearly all of its singers before most have taken the wrong road cruising in the blue caddy down the highway of honky-tonks, bars and the Opry.
    The warning so blatantly broadcasted by Christ the true country singer is found in Matthew 6:24. "No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (KJV). I love this rendition of the ancient wisdom, handed down from the Syrians, because Christ breaks out the reason you can not serve two masters, "he will hold to one and despise the other...." 

 Evelyn Morgan

     What defines "despising"? John Stevens in his teaching on Prophecy, quoted Paul who tells us  "do not  despise prophecy". How does one despise prophecy, by not doing it. How does one despise God? Ignoring Him, not "doing" what he asks. It is very simple. A slave is present for the biding of his master. To say you are a servant (less repugnant than slave) of Christ and not do his bidding is to despise Christ. "You can not serve God and mammon." 
      What is country strong? In the end, a classic "like a statue on his pinto" Hutton  (Hadlund) sits in his rusting pickup truck. He reads a parting letter left by the overdosed hand of Kelly Canter (Paltrow), she says " If you want my advice, if you have a chance to choose between love and fame, choose love". Sad but true. The same song second verse, we are told again, and again modeled out by lives many live and die, "you can not serve God and mammon." In these days of the god of mammon showing us his weakness its best we not despise our Lord and Master and learn to do his biding. The swan song of Passover is obedience, let us sing it loud and clear and not have that whine of country music! 
     I tip my hat to Hank Williams Jr. who summed it up so nicely for his family (and that is "Country Music's" royal family) namely his daddy when he sang about this Family Tradition and the choices that are made.