Gods Money Matters – Articles
You Cannot Serve God and Mammon – So What is Mammon?
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Most of this verse is pretty straight forward and easy to understand. But what about the last part… you cannot serve God and mammon.
What is the mammon thing? Many translations will end this verse “you cannot serve both God and money” but that falls short of the real meaning. Mammon is much more than money.
Mammon is defined as materialism, and worldly gain. It is material wealth regarded as having an evil influence. More importantly it is personified as a false god in the New Testament.
So to rephrase the verse, it could say “you cannot serve both God and the false god of money, materialism and worldly gain.”
How do we know if we are serving this false god?
In the excellent book Wealth, Riches & Money the author says there are 10 symptoms of mammon’s influence in our lives. See if any of this ring true in your life:
- Worry and anxiety over money
- Money mismanagement
- Consistent Financial Lack “I don’t ever have enough”
- I can’t afford it mentality
- Impulse buying
- Stinginess – which is often exemplified by lack of tithing
- Greed. An inordinate desire to acquire or possess
- Discontentment
- Bondage to debt
- Exaggerated emphasis on money – including an overestimate of it’s true power… or overstating the benefits of having it.
Most of us would have succumbed to at least one of these ten at some stage in our lives. The question is… how much do we succumb to these on a regular basis.
Are we serving God or mammon? I think if we’re honest, often we are serving mammon
In the book, the author calls the shopping malls “the house of mammon”. Do you find yourself going to the shopping centre just to hang out or to get some “retail therapy?” – maybe you need to reconsider this habit. If the shopping centre is the “house of mammon” in your life then staying away from the temptations as much as you can might be your best action.
If you have found that in your life you have been serving mammon rather than God, then I suggest that you repent, seek forgiveness and put God back into the right place in your life.