God or Mammon?

God vs. Mammon

To Whom Do You Kneel?

 

1909 Painting:  The Worship of Mammon

by Evelyn DeMorgan

           

            Christians began to use the term “Mammon” as a pejorative – a term used to excessive materialism, greed, gluttony and unjust worldly gain in Biblical literature.  It was personified as a false god in the New Testament (Mt:6.24 & Lk 16:13). 

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew (Mt 6: 19-24)

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Edition, Second Catholic Edition

Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press, 2006, p. 5

^{Mt 6:19} Concerning Treasures.  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

^{Mt 6:22}  The Sound Eye.  “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; ²³ but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

^{Mt 6:24}  Serving Two Masters.  “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.” (riches)

 

The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke (Lk 16: 10-13)

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Edition, Second Catholic Edition

Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press, 2006, p. 67

^{Lk 16:10}  The Parable of the Dishonest Steward.  “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.  ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches?  ¹² And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?  ¹³ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.

 

            Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul.  Something the soul will have what appears to be the best of all things which bring pleasure and confidence above all else.  Christ counsels us to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and place our happiness in them.  There are treasures in heaven.  It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Christ, and to look on all things here below not worthy to be compared with these heavenly riches.  We must be content with nothing short of this goal.  It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time.  It is an incorruptible inheritance.  We cannot devote ourselves to the service of more than one master. 

            “No man can serve two masters.”  In Luke 16:13 the saying is found immediately after the parable of the unjust steward.  Our Lord is warning his disciples – and all of us – of the impossibility of such divided service.  For apart from the extent of the claim of each master, service of two masters is incompatible with the effects produced on the servant.  The result of service is to incline towards the one master and against the other.  Notice how our Lord continues his plan of setting forth the moral effect of modes of thought  upon the agents themselves.  “For either he will hate the one, and love the other.”  Human nature is such that it must attach itself to one of two principles:  in this case, service to either God or mammon.  Christ does not here contrast God and Satan.  He emphasizes that his disciples must not hold to the things of earth, which are summed up by Him under the term “mammon.” 

            Note that it is not the possession of wealth that He condemns, but the serving of it, making it an object of thought and pursuit.  Gathering it and using it in the service of and according to the will of God is not serving mammon.  Wealth or any other material possessions are not evil in themselves (per se).  It is our inordinate attachment to our earthly wealth or an excessive desire to acquire it, or other things of the world, that is wrong.  Such a focus is the activity that prevents us from becoming true disciples of Christ.  What is our attitude toward our temporal wealth and possessions?  Do we treat them as a means to an end or as ends in themselves?  Do we share or use them in service to God through the Corporal Works of Mercy and the various ministries of the Church, or do we keep and spend them primarily for self-gratification?

            In the above Gospel passages from Matthew and Luke, we are reminded not to be over-focused on the pursuit of money and wealth and that we are to entrust all our concerns in the hands of our Father in heaven.  Jesus warns us about the danger that our pursuit of wealth may carry with it, and if we are not careful, it can make it very difficult for us to serve Him.  Those people rich in earthly things must struggle in order to keep an indifferent and detached attitude toward those possessions.  We must believe that it is the Almighty who truly owns such earthly blessings, and that we are merely His stewards of them, with a responsibility to use them for the Kingdom of God in this life.  When we are able to do those things, coupled with a resolve to truly obey God’s will, then the difficulty in attaining eternal life is greatly diminished.

            Let us take a moment to pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace of detachment from all earthly things that tend to distract us from what is essential in our spiritual life.  Let us pray that the Lord will purify our hearts of all inordinate love for such earthly goods.  Let us also pray that it will not be difficult for us to enter the gates of heaven when He comes for us.