Book 4 of Musings Mammon

Mammon is an Aramaic term for riches.

Of all the gods of the Greeks and Romans, mammon is the only god singled out by the Lord Jesus as being the competitor of the true God. "You cannot serve both God and mammon."

Now, why would the Lord single out mammon, or money, as the competitor of God? It's an interesting question, isn't it?

Living in the United States we do not realize what a god money is. We suppose all people of all history have regarded money as we do. Although money has been enough of a problem in time past that Jesus commented on it, I think Americans, and some other nations of today, place the acquisition of money as the highest good in life.

Capitalism is a profoundly complex economic system and the intricacies of its operation is not understood by most of us. But we suppose capitalism is of God, associated somehow with Christianity, and ought to be adopted by every nation and tribe on the earth.

In any case, we Americans are extremely money conscious. Our life revolves around our cash flow. Without realizing it, money is our god. We worship money.

Now, what do I mean by that.

Our god is whoever or whatever we look to for security, survival, joy, achievement, and status in the world. Now suppose the economic system of the United States collapsed utterly.

Would we be secure? I think the Lord would take care of us if we were looking to Him for our necessities.

Would we survive? Yes we would, if we trust the Lord. At least the Bible tells us that God will provide for us in times of calamity.

How about joy. Can the Lord give us joy apart from money? I think so. I have not noticed that people with money have more joy than those who don't. I suppose the old law holds true: "He who gathers much has nothing over, and he who gathers little has no lack."

As far a achievement goes, accomplishing our goals, this is possible without money. Actually achievement is the result of hard work. A person can have much money and not achieve anything.

How about status in the world? You know something? The people who are worthy of our admiration are not impressed with how much money someone has; and as for the remainder of the people, it doesn't matter what they think.

But we are horribly bound with the love of money, in America. We are under the impression the things we need or desire can come only through money. It is a deception.

Many Christians, including missionaries, know of incidents where the Lord supplied miraculously. I heard one reputable account where the Lord created food in the stomachs of believers who were attempting to flee from Russia, back at the time of the revolution.

We look to money to supply that which God has promised to supply. The problem is, God is invisible and money is visible. If we do have a financial collapse in America, Christians will learn how true God's promises actually are.

The Lord Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom of God and all we need will be added to us. We American Christians sit in the seat of the scornful when it comes to that promise.

Take no thought for tomorrow. Ha!

We are in a cash-flow society, and it is difficult to think otherwise.

I started working when I was young. I got a job in a dairy, as an apprentice to an ice-cream maker, a German by the name of Rupert, early Monday morning after graduating from high school the day before. This was at Clarke Dairy in West Haven, Connecticut.

By the time I was seventeen I was working in a machine shop just outside of New Haven.

I have had many jobs since then. Right now I am pastoring a church and writing down my thoughts. I don't know if writing counts as actually working.

So I am not a dreamer. I know God expects us to work hard, to earn every dollar we receive.

I am not advocating not working. That is a trap some religious people get into, and it goes nowhere.

But none of this detracts whatever from the fact that we Christians in America are worshiping the dollar, and we need to ask God's help to free us from this bondage and to look to the Lord. Then we won't panic if some sort of catastrophe falls on America.

A few years ago the so-called "faith and prosperity" messages took hold among Charismatic believers. How in the world could intelligent Christians fall into the trap of believing money is the sign of God's blessing, after all the Apostle Paul told us!

And constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think godliness is a means to financial gain. (I Timothy 6;5)

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

Now read the above two passages and tell me Christians are supposed to be rich.

Am I advocating poverty? Not at all. If we love the Lord and are serving Him, He will supply our needs one way or another. The Bible promises this. If it is not true, neither is John 3:16)

I have seen Christians with a gift of making money. Everything they touch prospers. The Bible commands such to treat this gift as a ministry. They are not to hoard their money but to be liberal in giving. God will direct them if they present their body a living sacrifice.

If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:8)

The reason we hoard money is to protect us in case the promises of God fail. It is just as simple and direct as that.

In the American way of life it is every man for himself. But the Bible commands us to share if we see a brother or sister in need. When people are stingy with their money, God is stingy with them. They hoard their money in bags with holes in them.

When people are liberal and generous with their money, God is liberal and generous with them.

God loves a cheerful giver. He is a King. If we choose to give, we should give cheerfully as to a king. If we choose not to give, then that is our decision. But in no case should we be giving to God grudgingly; for He is a Monarch and He will not accept our gift. His royal status prevents His begging people for money.

Television evangelists and others have destroyed their testimony by their obvious covetousness, their pleading for money. They can preach all day, but there is no Divine testimony being given. They have ruined their testimony by begging for money. The American people are not fooled. They recognize cupidity when they see it.

We need to pray, each one of us, that God will deliver us from trusting in money. In the last analysis, every need and every desire that we have comes from God. If money is used in the transaction, there is no problem. The problem is when our love of money turns our eyes away from the Lord.

The Lord Jesus said, no individual can serve God and money. It is not unusual for a believer to be brought to a situation in which he has to choose between having a dependable income, and doing what he feels God would have him do.

I know of a man to whom the Lord spoke one year before he was to collect his retirement money, and told him to leave his job and go into the ministry. I can't remember whether the man obeyed the Lord or not, but I have never forgotten the situation the man found himself in.

When the Lord called me to full-time ministry, I had about five years to go in public education before collecting my retirement money. I did what God told me to do and lost the share that the State of California would have added.

Audrey and I quit everything and came to the San Diego area without the prospect of an adequate income. That was twenty-seven years ago. We have never asked anyone for a nickel, and have never lacked a necessity. I think I am just as well of now financially as I would have been had I taught those remaining five years.

When we obey the Lord He supplies all we need. We can count on that and take it to the bank.

We do not have to ask anyone for money, unless the Lord directs us to do so. It is a poor testimony.

As someone said, "What the Lord orders He pays for." I have found it so.

When our radio ministry began to dry up financially, we simply went off the air. I chose not to ask people for money, although the manager of the station suggested I do so. While we were on the air we spent all the time preaching the Gospel. No time was spent asking for money.

I remember how we went on the air. We had been thinking of it. One Sunday a lady who never had been in the church, and never came again, walked up to me and handed me five thousand dollars in gold coins. That started us on the air and we continued for about nine years, as I remember.

We borrowed four hundred thousand dollars to build a new sanctuary. The note was repaid in about four years, with no begging for money.

We are not to conduct our ministry or our lives for the purpose of acquiring money. We have to be sensible and work to earn our living, to support those who depend on us. But our goal is not the acquisition of money. Our goal is to gain the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money. (Luke 16:13)