We Cannot Serve God and Mammon (3)

Chapter 2 We cannot serve God and Mammon

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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Mt. 6:24)

A powerful but misunderstood statement by Jesus was we can't serve God and mammon, which some people interpret to mean God and money. That's not true. Think of it for a moment. If you couldn't serve money, it would imply not having a job or business to generate an income to pay for the things we need and give to others. It wouldn't make sense.

Mammon represents more than money  (Mt. 6:24-33; Lk. 12:16-21). It includes money, but it's something that can grab hold of a person that demands and presses them to always want more in this life. It coincides partially with the idea "man does not live by bread alone." People that focus entirely on wanting more, end up being insatiable; they never are content or satisfied, and are full of anxiety and fear.

People working for mammon do so with the entirety of their purpose centered on working for what they can get in this life. Their focus isn't on building up a deposit of eternal rewards from their faithful and effective service while on earth.

It also considers where the source of wealth comes from. With a Christian, every one of us need to acknowledge that only God can give us power to get wealth. Period. It doesn't come from the work of our hands. If we believe it does, which the majority do, they end up being slaves to their work or business, and never get a sense of accomplishment, because once they reach one goal, they aren't able to enjoy and celebrate that success, but must immediately go on to the next one. It is always by the work of their own hands that these people believe produces their success and wealth (Dt. 8:17).

For the Christian this should be totally different. God promises us if we seek first His kingdom, all these things will be added unto us (Mt. 6:33). We don't have to worry or fret. We are to faithfully discharge our service and trust in the sovereignty of God to give the increase. This isn't a reference to being lazy or sitting around doing nothing, and then expecting to receive a blessing from God. What it means is we don't have to worry or toil so much it eventually effects us to the point we believe that is not only the reason for our success, but is the source of it as well. This is mammon. There is little joy in it, and it can drive and consume us to complete burnout. God's blessings don't include that as part of the package.

We are also never to be prideful or to trust in riches (1 Tim. 6:17-19). Many have found out by experience that what they had one day can quickly disappear the next. Trusting in God as the source of our blessings is the only way to live in this life. We may lose something temporarily, but God is more than able to restore it if that is His will. If we trust in riches rather than God, it can cause a person's faith to be shipwrecked if something happens that shrinks their assets.

What drives the world

There are a number of things that drive those in the world to pursue wealth. Among them, which should be identified as some of the fruits or outcomes of mammon, are money, sex and power. This should be obvious to most Christians, but it can easily creep in and consume those that don't have measures in place to resist it.

Ecclesiastes 2:8-11 says this:

8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Men and women with a large amount of assets are tempted to engage in the dazzlement the world offers, thinking that is the reason God gave them their gifts. Along with money, sex and power comes ancillary things like influence, fame and good looks, among many others. All of these are part of mammon, and I know you can take each one of these individually and attempt to make them look harmless.

There's a partial truth in that, but the point isn't if someone is born with good looks, becomes well known because of quality talent, or exercises influence in a godly way. What mammon is in regard to these things is to use them as ends in and of themselves, and to abuse them beyond God's Word. In the end, they become a form of addiction that is centered around self.

God's purpose in blessing us with wealth and success aren't to increase our pleasure or to indulge ourselves. This doesn't mean the good things God gives us aren't to be enjoyed, it means we aren't to abuse them, and have to remember their source is God Himself, which means they must be used in accordance with His revealed will in the Holy Scriptures.

Success from God's point of view

We touched briefly on success earlier, and it is totally centered on being obedient to God's law and commands. Jesus defined those that truly loved Him in that way. They weren't those that had sentimental feelings about Him, but those that kept His commands. If you love me, he said, keep my commandments (Jn. 14:15). That is the real measurement of success, and there is no other.

A sobering but powerful Scripture which we need to embrace is found in Mt. 7. It says this:

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The lesson here is just because we have gifts and callings, along with an increase in resources, doesn't mean we have achieved something from God's way of looking at things. It isn't complicated. Those who obey Him and walk according to His revealed will in the Bible are those that are achievers in God's eyes (Dt. 28:1-3). They are those that will receive eternal rewards. That means what is done in this life passes on into eternity. Mammon doesn't look past this life, it only looks for ways to enhance the self and not God.

This is really the final saying on the matter:

Matthew 16

24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mammon only looks to gain the whole world for self. It will do so at whatever expense in order to get it. In the end, all mammon offers those seeking it are short-term success in this age. It doesn't transfer to heaven. This is why we are told every man's or person's work will be tested by fire. For the Christian, it means if they are doing things independent of God and His revealed will, they may be saved, but their work on earth is burned up. There will be no reward in heaven as a result (1 Cor. 3:12-14).

Conclusion

To understand this in simple terms, Christians must work in terms of God's word. If they do, the results of the works will come by grace through faith. If a person has to work at the expense of everything else, they may end up saved at the time of judgment, but with nothing to show for their lives through eternity.

Mammon wants to be autonomous. It doesn't want to submit unto the guidelines revealed in the Holy Scriptures, it wants to do it by their own rules. I don't mean by that the idea of always working within the existing parameters of a specific competitive market. I only mean in reference to doing things within the parameters of God's word.

God can do a lot with a little. Mammon believes wealth and power are the means to success and control. It may produce those results temporarily, but as history has proven over and over again, that type of "success" is fleeting, and those that trust in it will be extremely disappointed in the end.

Value to those that don't operate under the guidelines of the covenant of God only find value in what they want. They only want the temporal fruits of their labor and not the foundational roots that will cause it to last into eternity.

Success isn't measured by the amount of assets we have. They are placed under our stewardship for the purpose of expanding the kingdom of God in history. God doesn't mind us enjoying the fruits of our labor, but it must be with thankfulness and understanding He has given it under our control for His purposes, and not our own.

For that reason we don't need to be worried or anxious over the state of our current assets. God will supply all our needs and more. He wants us to not only have enough for ourselves, but enough to share with others (Eph. 4:28).