God or Mammon

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Luke 16:13

"Mammon" is a word I have never heard in everyday conversation, and this is a likely factor why it is not understood.  The most common alternative in Bible translations for mammon is "money" (capitalised in the NIV), but the meaning is greater than dollars and cents.  In his book The Call, Os Guinness goes beyond a definition to provide a useful description that helps us better understand Christ's meaning:

"Jesus' use of Mammon (Aramaic for wealth) is unique--he gave it a strength and precision that the word never had before.  He did not usually personify things, let alone deify them.  And neither the Jews nor the nearby pagans knew a god by this name.  But what Jesus says in speaking of Mammon is that money is a power--and not in a vague sense, as in the "force" of words.  Rather, money is a power in the sense that it is an active agent with decisive spiritual power and is never neutral.  It is a power before we use it, not simply as we use it or whether we use it well or badly.

As such Mammon is a genuine rival to God.  The recurring biblical demand confronts us:  "You shall not worship the work of your hands."  Jesus challenged his hearers to choose one master or another--God or Mammon.  Either we serve God and use money or we serve money and use God.  Ultimately we follow what we have loved most intensely to its natural destination--eternity or death--"for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Guinness, Os. The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Thomas Nelson, 2003. pages 134-135)

God is the Creator and giver of all gifts, and good things God has provided can lead to a spiritual mutiny in our souls, and our flesh tends to corruptly serve the gift rather than the giver.  Jesus illustrated the impossibility of serving two masters:  if one master said to kneel and another demands the servant stand, only one of the commands could be followed.  A servant obeys the master he loves, whilst the master he disobeys he plainly loves less.  Loyalty to Jesus Christ can be shown in our Spirit-led stewardship of the wealth He gives us, and if we are ruled by money we are not walking in obedience to God.  Our flesh suggests it is possible to please both masters, as if wealth and gain is a guarantee of God's approval--that wealth and God are the same--bringing down God to the level of money we control.  Jesus struck a contrast between God and mammon so His followers would not fall for this selfish ruse.  What we serve demonstrates who we love most.

In contract negotiations for big money in sport, government or business people will say, "It's not about the money."  It would be naive and deceitful to say money has nothing to do with it, otherwise people would contribute their skills, talents and time without financial renumeration.  Jesus put Himself opposite mammon because our desires, ambitions and needs are God's rivals we naturally side with.  In denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily and following Him, we are called to look to Jesus to guide us in giving when we would rather sock it away or spend it on ourselves.  Our flesh would rather have  the financial security that comes from having money in the bank when God would have us learn to find our present and eternal security in Him alone.  As we regularly give a portion of increase God gives us back to Him (1 Cor. 16:2), the power money once had over us is shattered and we begin to realise the inestimable wealth we have in Jesus.  If money management is a pain point, the LORD may stretch  us on the rack of divided loyalty so we might repent and experience the freedom and joy of giving freely as God does to us.