“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.” MATTHEW 6:24

This somewhat curious statement, made by Jesus Christ about two thousand years ago, has been a source of guilt, controversy, and dispute for centuries among those who believe in Jesus. What did Jesus mean by: “You cannot serve God and Mammon”? What is “Mammon”? This term is often used to refer to money. Is this correct? Some versions of the Bible even replace the word Mammon with money in the aforementioned quote. Does this word have another meaning that we are not aware of? If I truly want to serve God, does this mean I must avoid touching or possessing money? Most readers of the New Testament have certainly pondered these questions.

Let’s begin by addressing the meaning of the passage from Matthew 6 quoted above. What is Jesus referring to when he uses the word “Mammon”? First of all, it is important to see that, whatever Mammon’s nature, Jesus places it diametrically opposite to God. It is anti-God. It competes with God to be served. When Jesus says it is impossible to serve both God and Mammon, he is not talking about a prohibition but rather an impossibility. Jesus does not say: “It would be wrong to try to serve both God and Mammon,” but rather: “It is impossible to serve both God and Mammon.” God and Mammon are opposed to each other and therefore cannot be served at the same time. Serving one necessarily prevents serving the other. Thus, whether it is God or Mammon, each can only be served exclusively. To authentically serve God, one must renounce Mammon and have nothing to do with it.

Now, if “Mammon” is synonymous with “money,” then the conclusion is that a Christian must totally renounce money and have nothing to do with it. In past centuries, and even today, some people have believed this and consequently taken a vow of poverty, avoiding all contact with money, seeking to be entirely devoted to God. However, taking a vow of poverty does not necessarily free one from greed or the fear of lacking necessities. I do not believe that Jesus’ reference to Mammon is synonymous with money.

Jesus used this ancient Aramaic term, Mammon, once worshipped as the god of finance, to indicate an entity that exists in the spiritual realm. Every culture and religion has given a name to the gods they worship. In Hindu religion, it is Devali who is the god of finance. Buddhists, on the other hand, have several gods before whom they burn offerings resembling banknotes. Thus, the entity Mammon would probably be better described from Ephesians 6:12, where Paul states that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the heavenly realm or spiritual domain. Mammon, falling into the category of powers in the spiritual realm, drives the hearts of men to love and serve money in the material domain. It is very likely that Jesus was referring to such a god when he used the expression reported in Matthew 6.

Often, throughout their history, the Israelites wanted to worship both the gods of the peoples in the lands where they dwelt and Jehovah God. Joshua, for example, had vigorously called the people to stop trying to serve both the false gods of the Amorites and Jehovah; he had instead exhorted them to choose whom they wanted to serve, for serving both actually meant taking a stand against Jehovah (Joshua 24:15-28). I believe that in Matthew 6, Jesus tells his disciples that they cannot serve both the false god of finances, Mammon, and the one true God. They must make a choice. If Jesus had said: “You have heard of these other false gods,” we would have understood immediately. But the fact is that for most people today, Mammon does not evoke much.

What was the nature of these false gods that the various peoples of Canaan worshipped? Were they just idols created by man? We do not think so. We believe that all these idolatrous gods were actually demonic princes under Satan, who had the power to deceive men and lead them to worship them. Thus, Baal, Astarte, Chemosh, Moloch, Dagon, Mammon, and many others were not mere idols made by human hands, but demonic spirits worshipped by the people. Do these spirits still live and act today? We are convinced they do. Thus, the demonic spirit behind Mammon is still at work and demands to be worshipped; it seeks to influence and control human lives so that they love money and trust in it just as was the case when Jesus lived on earth.

By declaring that one cannot serve both God and Mammon, it seems clear that Jesus intended to set these two spiritual entities in opposition.

The expression “cannot serve” does not mean it is illegal, but impossible! In fact, money is powerless and has no power in itself. God is powerful. The spirit of Mammon is powerful. Money has no power. Thus, the true power governing financial provision in a man’s life will either be God or the spirit of Mammon, depending on whom he chooses to serve. Most people, including Christians, believe that money possesses real power. Therefore, as long as one is not aware of the powerlessness of money, one will not be freed from the necessity of seeking it, nor from the influence and domination of the spirit that hides behind it.

THE PURPOSE OF THE SPIRIT OF MAMMON

Let’s examine the purpose pursued by this demonic entity called Mammon. First of all, we know that any spirit acting under Satan’s authority seeks to turn hearts away from God. We believe that the primary purpose of the spirit of Mammon is to obtain worship, love, affection, loyalty, and service. It operates through fear. Nothing pleases Mammon more than hearing us speak of money in reverential terms, such as referring to the American currency as the Almighty Dollar.

In Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13, Jesus reveals the conflict of love, loyalty, and service that opposes God and Mammon. He says that he who loves one hates the other, he who is loyal to one despises the other, and he who serves one cannot serve the other. Thus, the purpose of Mammon is to gain our loyalty, love, and service, and thus, by default, cause us to hate, despise, and not serve God…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Wealth, Riches & Money” written by Craig Hill, Earl Pitts.

We invite you to read the following article “The Faith of a Sparrow.”