Category: Money & Finance

INTRODUCTION

Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Matthew 6:24.

Was Jesus offering His hearers a choice? Or was He emphasizing the impossibility of serving two masters?

Serving God must have priority over money-making, not priority in giving of money.

“Ye cannot serve God and Mammon” was said to Jews, the chosen people of God. The hearers knew God and the commandment to serve Him only, yet they were attempting to serve Mammon as well. Jesus, therefore, informs them that what they were attempting to do was impossible.  If the Jews of the Bible could not serve God and Mammon, can we? Can we strike a balance between the service of God and Mammon? In Biblical times money did not play a large part in the lives of the Jews as it does in our lives today. If they could not do a balancing act with the little part they had to do with Mammon and Jesus said to them “…a man’s life consisteth not of the things which he possesseth.” Can we do so? We, who have so much more to do with money can we strike a balance?

Jesus said, we can only serve one master. He then narrowed the possible masters down to two, God and Mammon. Therefore, all worship is of God or Mammon. One represents the unseen and eternal, the other the seen and the temporal. Service to God is the obedience of love, happiness, and a knowledge of good; trust in Mammon is unbelief, disobedience to God, or a knowledge of evil, which in the end “drowns men in destruction and perdition.”

MAMMON WORSHIP TODAY

Mammon is a personification (grammatical tool) of money and possessions.

The word is said to be a mere figure of speech or byname used by Jesus to help us understand money and possessions. Preachers insist the Bible has more to say about money and possessions than heaven thus making money and Mammon much more important.

Present finance teaching includes the striking of a balance between God and Mammon, the pursuit of money and possessions.

The leading ministers teach that you must “strike a balance” between God and money. One bestselling book on financial management says:

 “Our relationships in this life are so important. If we can maintain a balanced relationship with money and not let it affect our relationship with God and others, we will be able to live in joy, to help a lot of people, and God will receive all the glory.”

The worship of the true and living God is considered compatible with the pursuit of money and possessions. The Christian can arrange to pursue riches in the world system, while serving God in Church.

Serving mammon is about your attitudes to money and possessions.

If we love it, we “fall into temptation and a snare…” But if we made it to serve us and the Gospel, it will bring eternal benefits; we can lay up treasures in heaven. Money is neutral and we are to make friends of the “mammon of unrighteousness” to win souls for God. Mammon can be put to righteous or unrighteous uses. God wants us to use our money to win souls and build His kingdom, not to build “our kingdom.” God takes our money, “blesses it”, and turns it into “souls”. The more we give – the more opportunity for souls to be won. God is looking for people He can entrust with “much” money so they can save many souls for Him.

Christians are the stewards of money and possessions.

This teaching is from two parables of Jesus, The Talents and The Unjust steward. They are interpreted as having to do with money and addressed to Christians today. This view is held by those who believe that we must strike a balance between God and Mammon.

LIMITATIONS OF THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING

Our situation in the world

Living in the world, we feel compelled to devote much time, energy, thought, and attention, merely to provide clothes to wear, roof to cover our heads and food to maintain the life of our bodies. It can seem as though everything conspires and compel us to consider money first. Serving mammon catches us unawares, while in the exercise of some legal duty. It begins hidden, unnoticed by our conscience, but lurking in the inner man and may surface in acts of excessiveness, immorality, covetousness or infliction of injury on others.

Christians are stewards of the mysteries and the Grace of God. These are committed to us and freely we have received and freely we must give. We are not stewards of mammon, money and possessions.

Serving God or Mammon is not a matter of confession or profession.

It’s a matter of evidence. Is there any evidence of serving Mammon in your life? It is very easy to profess and confess Jesus’ while being driven by another spirit. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation…

The patriarch Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel. He fared very bad in serving both for he ended up loving one and hating the other. How do we know this? Because of the evidence given in the Biblical account. So, it is with everyone who tries to serve God and Mammon. They end up hating God and clinging to Mammon. We will be mastered by one or the other, we choose, or we exercise our wills “for either he will hate the one and love the other…” The choice leads to a love-hate relationship with the two masters and these masters are diametrically opposite.

Evidence of your choice between God and Mammon is not by profession but by behaviour (Tit. 1:16). It is not what we say but what we do. Confession and profession are mere lip-service. People draw near to God with their lips, tongue and mouth but their heart being far from God (Matthew 15:8,9). In America there is a national profession about serving God; it is printed on the money “In God We Trust.” However, real service is evidenced by obedience,

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16.

The lives sacrificed to mammon in the accumulating of money and possessions are not considered.

Mammon worship no longer requires a temple or altar. Money has replaced all the Old Testament offerings and tithes; sin and love offerings are money or possessions. These things the Bible says were types and shadows of Jesus Christ. So, we can conclude that Mammon has replaced Christ in the Church today.

There is no understanding that serving God or Mammon requires love for the one and contempt for the other.

No man can master money and possessions without becoming its servant. The time, energy and effort it takes to master money is nothing more than Mammon worship or serving mammon. In addition, accumulating wealth brings no glory to God, but takes away time, energy and effort from the actual serving. What will God receive glory for? You are the one with the balanced relationship with mammon and helping a lot of people “with mammon”. The Apostles did not “leave of prayer and the word of God to wait on tables.”

The endeavour to serve God and mammon, to lay up treasures on earth and at the same time be rich toward God, is a spiritual mistake.

It’s the greatest spiritual error of our time. John Bunyan, in his spiritual masterpiece, The Pilgrim’s Progress portrays this error in the character of Mr. Facing-Both-Ways, who kept one eye on heaven and the other on earth, who sincerely professed one thing and sincerely did the opposite. He tried to cheat God and Devil, but in the end cheated only himself and his neighbors.

Mammon does NOT compete with God for the service of man, rather, his jostling lies in the heart of man for man’s love, affection and service

(Mat 6:24). No MAN can serve two masters: it is the man who has the struggle. It is the MAN who attempts to serve two masters, money and God, and it is the MAN who finds himself hating one and loving the other.

Jesus told the Jews to seek “seek the kingdom first…” because this was not their priority at the time. The Jews were seeking to be blessed materially because they believed possessing wealth was the sign that you were blessed by God. (Deut. 8:17, 18)

Power to get wealth; power from koach meaning ability, “might” from otsem meaning body strength. This is not miraculous power but physical exertion, by the sweat of thy face, work.

How Mammon got into the Church?  

The answer is through money! How did Mammon become an option to God? It began with betraying God for food in the Garden. Serving Mammon results in spiritual suicide or self-enslavement.

SUGESTIONS FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

Read the Example of Israel

We must read repeatedly how the ancient Israelite forsook Jehovah and served mammon. These things happened unto them as ensamples to us. Jehovah gave no currency to Israel instead they were set apart to worship Jehovah the true and living God, but soon started worshipping foreign gods, particularly Baal, another name for Mammon. Baal was the pagan god of increase, fertility and prosperity.

Whenever worship of Jehovah was dominant in Israel, it soon became entangled with concerns of Mammon and worldliness. Mammon subjugated the more spiritual or intellectual aspects of the worship. Then God raised a priest, judge or prophet who led a spiritual revival of Jehovah worship. Such revivals occurred under Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel who all cried out against mammon worship into which the nation had sunk. These cries were an invitation to renounce Mammon and return to the true and living God, Jehovah. They were to give up materialism and formalism, of no value to a spiritual being and to have a devout attitude to God.

Many ministers of the Gospel do this same thing today; try to merge Jesus with Mammon, the god of money and prosperity. “But no one can serve two masters at the same time.” Notice the word is SERVE not BELIEVE IN. There are many who believe in Jesus but serve other gods. God does prosper, but He is not Mammon, He is not money.

First, you’ll try to love both money and God, but Jesus says you can’t do that. So, you’ll end up loving Mammon and hating God. Jehovah is jealous and won’t share. The more they went to Mammon, the more they hated God until they started hunting down the prophets and slaying them until Elijah challenged them on Mount Carmel. “If the LORD be God, then serve Him, if Baal be God, then serve him.”

Are you serving God or Mammon?

There is such a thing as devil-worship, both in history and present day. For the devil is the opponent, the antagonist, the enemy of God’s love to man. In part, worship of the devil consists in serving Mammon. When I first read of mammon worship in the Bible, I expected to learn of some vile abominations, of human sacrifices, fertility orgies and other pagan ceremonies. However, Jesus said service of Mammon is taking thought of the morrow, anxiety, or worrying about food, clothing and shelter.

The service of mammon is laid out in the sixth chapter of Matthew, verses 1-34. Dependence on anyone or anything for stuff provided by God is declared to be service to another master and hating Him in whom we live and move and have our being.

In these verses, Jesus was not just warning his disciples about losing reward in heaven, but He is making a distinction between those who live to please the world or Mammon and those who live to please God the Father.

We observe two groups of people doing the same religious activities. The key difference is that some settle for a temporal reward, Mammon, while others seek an eternal reward. Some seek to please their peers; this is also serving mammon. The reward of the hypocrites who practice their giving, praying and fasting is that they are well thought of and are praised by their peers, but that’s it. They have only an earthly reward, mammon. There is no heavenly reward. In this section I shall use “serve” and “worship” as synonyms.

The Christian serves Mammon in some of the following ways:

In our prayers.

Jesus instructed us how to pray, but if we pray using vain repetitions or much speaking, we are praying as “the heathens do” and thus worshipping Mammon. He said we must enter our closet and pray to our Father in secret; if we, do it openly, to be seen of men, then we are serving Mammon.

In our fasting.

Jesus instructs us how to fast; anoint thy head and wash thy face; that thou appear unto men to not fast. However, if we put on a sad countenance, disfiguring our face so men can tell that we are fasting, we are not fasting unto God but serving mammon in our fasting.

In our almsgiving.

Jesus instructs us to do our giving in secret, not in the synagogues (churches) and in the streets to be seen of men. Our right hands should not know what our left is doing. If we, do it publicly, sounding a trumpet, or on national television we are not serving God but serving Mammon.

In our valuing of possessions.

We are instructed not to treasure our earthly possessions but to seek and treasure heavenly things. The reason is earthly things may be stolen or corrupted. Instead, we should treasure our heavenly possessions that cannot be stolen or corrupted. When Christians value or treasure their money and possessions more than they value eternal life or their salvation, they are serving mammon.

Many Christians accumulate money and possessions, thinking they are the masters of them, only to find that maintaining, repairing, and storing these things requires so much time, energy and effort that these things have become the masters and they are the servants. They have little or no time for serving God.

When we do not recognize our property and wealth for what they are, temporary blessings to be used on this earth, we are serving mammon.

When Mammon is allowed to rule, he takes control of our perception, especially our value system. He seeks to persuade people that the only worth to be noted is monetary; everything and everyone has a price. Mammon also de-personifies people; instead of showing solidarity and building relationships, he treats people as expendable things to be manipulated and used then discarded.

In not considering who is God.

First consider what is “mammon”. This is a term which is used not only to describe a person’s wealth, riches or possessions but even more significantly, it describes the money and possessions or riches which a person would place his trust in. Mammon is anything which you trust in to see you through your daily needs and cares. It is just because you trust in your money and possessions to meet your daily needs that you are serving mammon.

The context (Matt.6:19-34) describes God as “your heavenly Father” who feeds the fowls of the air (v. 26), as the God who clothes the grass of the field (v. 30) and as “your heavenly Father” who knows all your needs (v. 32). He is the God who is in control of all the little things, and He cares for us who are more important than the fowls of the air and the grass of the field.

You serve someone or something by first placing your trust in that person. As a child of God, you trust your Father to provide for your needs and be a fair Master. Jesus was not offering His disciples a choice; He was declaring to the disciples that if they wanted to serve God, they cannot also trust in Mammon.  He later said in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. By whom will “these things” be added, God or Mammon? God off course.

In continually “putting God first.”

When we serve God alone, He is always first, and there is no second place for anyone. When we serve God and Mammon, God may not be first, so we have to be encouraged by the Preacher to put Him in first position. Some only put God first when they get their pay checks; the rest of their time is given to Mammon.

In addition, God being in first position in your heart and life implies there are more than one master of your heart. You have already begun “to hate one and love the other.” Your whole heart must belong to Jesus; you must serve him with your whole heart. Our attitude in business is generally money first, and people second. I don’t believe the average man plans it that way, but the world’s monetary system causes him to think that way, but this is how it turns out.

In worrying and being anxious about things God has promised He would provide.

Today, many church-going people have their own Mammon whom they serve. They trust in their own possessions, wealth, or the means to these things (e.g. studies, or job security). They invest time, energy, money and even their whole life serving Mammon. They trust in them so much and pay little attention to God the Almighty. If we trust in riches, it is impossible that our trust will be in God. So, we cannot and must not trust in riches if we want to trust God. When you start trusting God, you will find yourself having no desire to trust in riches. When you God is your Master, you will trust Him, and when you trust Him, you will love Him, hold on to Him and serve Him. This service to your God will demand all your life. Mammon continues vying for attention, but your entire life is God’s. As Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).

In having an evil eye.

Wherever the term evil eye is used in scripture, it has reference to money or possessions. The evil eye has to do with how we view money and possessions. We can covet things for good or for evil purposes as well as covet good things or evil things.

Jesus did not mince words in laying down His perspective on money and material things. To the rich fool He said,

“‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20, 21, NKJV)

This man, although blessed by the Lord, hoarded what he had, and what Jesus said to Him should put the fear of God in us all: Serving God and Mammon are mutually exclusive actions. It’s one or the other, God or Mammon.

It is fanciful to think we can have it both ways; there’s no living a double life, no balancing act.

The meaning of balancing is “to make equal”. If we are striking a balance between God and Mammon, then we are making Mammon equal to God. We might fool others, maybe even ourselves, but not God, we are either serving Him or serving Mammon. We must leave of Mammon and trust Jesus, and the longer we hesitate, make excuses, or procrastinate, the stronger will be the hold that Mammon and the love of money will exert on us. Focusing on who God is, what He has done for us, and what we owe Him should make our decision much easier.

Are you serving God?

We must be saved before we can serve God. A man in an unsaved condition cannot serve God, however, he can and does serve Mammon. The minds of unsaved men and women are carnal and therefore at enmity with God and He does not want to be served by enemies.

First, He must be saved; and salvation is all of Grace, all free. We do not pay by money or by good works; neither can we inherit salvation from our parents. “By grace are you saved through faith.” After He saves us, and as the result of salvation, we serve Him. We are saved to serve. He that is saved is a child of God and does childlike service in his Father’s Kingdom. That service too, is also all of grace and all free. He serves, not under the law of the old commandment, “This do, and you shall live,” for he is not under the law, but under grace. As our Father, God promises to take care of all our spiritual and temporal needs. There is no need, therefore, that a child of God should serve Mammon.

The Christian should say, “I received Jesus Christ, and I have a greater treasure than this world has to offer. I have this treasure now; I have all that is in heaven and upon earth. But I must serve this treasure only, for no man can serve God and mammon.” Either you must love God and hate money; or you must hate God and love money; this and nothing more. Our confidence can only rest in one master.

Either we will place our confidence in God or in possessions.

We can truly treasure one master and it will either be God, or it will be Mammon.

Either we will live our lives for a heavenly reward or an earthly reward.

Either we will seek to please God, or we will seek to please man.

Either we will spend our lives laying up treasure on earth or we will spend our lives laying up treasure in heaven.

A house to live in, money for food, clothing, shelter and other necessities is okay. Even Jesus and His disciples had these. It is the surfeit, the excess, the hoarding and not being generous; no longer depending on God for your daily bread. God is your God when you rely on Him, when you trust Him, you prove that He is your God.

This is Jesus’ concern when He announces that we cannot serve both God and mammon. It’s one or the other. Either we serve God, and accept what He offers, or we serve mammon and accept what he offers. God’s “yoke is easy, and His burden is light,” while that of mammon leads to ego and death.

A few examples will suffice.

MAN IN THE CROWD

A man asked Him, to speak to his brother, that he might have his share of their joint inheritance (Luke 12:13). On the surface it looked like a reasonable request, one recognizing the authority of the Lord! Yet Jesus turned down the request, claiming not be a divider of worldly goods. It was an attempt to make Him an accomplice in covetousness. Instead, He took the opportunity to lecture to His disciples on covetousness, “and He said unto them, Beware of covetousness!’’ Why? Because it is unlawful to desire another’s? No! But of covetousness itself; the desire of lawful, honest gain, of possession not polluted in its acquisition. “Beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the things which he possesseth!”

THE RICH FOOL

And He went on to speak a parable unto them, of the rich fool who tilled his ground honestly, and filled his barns thriftily, and pleased himself in the thought of his comfortable independence, till the voice of God came, and required his soul, and in irony asked him, who’s the things should be, which he had provided.

THE UN-NAMED WIDOW

When He saw a certain poor widow cast in, of her penury, all the living she had unto the offerings of GOD, He called the attention of His disciples to her deed, and pointed out it was more, in His sight, than the rich who were casting in large gifts out of their abundance.

From her actions, we can deduce that she believed in God, and trusted not in money. She trusted God to supply her poverty; and she trusted not in uncertain Mammon.

Her work displayed her faith while the faith of the rich, showed itself in the powerful grip with which they clutch money, be it much or little, that the father of lies is persuading them to make their god.

MARY OF BETHANY

Serving God and not Mammon, displayed itself in Mary’s use of the “very costly” ointment at the feast in Bethany. That deed received a mark of approval, wherever the gospel shall be preached and forever her deed will be remembered. Judas, called this act uneconomical. Mary believed in Him on whose head she poured the ointment. Her heart rested in Him. She cared for nothing, longed for nothing but His glory. She saw blessedness in an unspiritual act, the lavishing on His use a costly ointment. Faith like Mary’s, see no other use for worldly possessions; desire no other gratification than its employment in the worship of the Lord. She was not thinking of earning treasure in heaven but seeking His glory.

One of the most prominent features of our Savior’s teaching is, warning against dependence upon wealth and worldly possessions; denunciation of devotion to them as hateful in the sight of God and ruinous to the soul; inculcated by His own constant practice, and by direct and specific praise of instances in others, of what we call sacrifices of money, goods or opportunities of gain.

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

Matthew 19:16-22.

The Jews believed that being rich was a sign of having God’s favour. Being rich meant that God was pleased and was blessing him. So, when Jesus said to the young man, Sell all that you have and give it to the poor… He was saying to him, “give up all of God’s blessing to the poor and as a poor man, not blessed by God, come and follow Me!”

In this young man, we have a rich man who observed all the law from his youth. In addition, he had come to Jesus, the resurrection and the life, the right person to ask about eternal life. However, he refused to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus pointed out the way to enter, but he would not enter. The verb “enter” is in the middle voice, that is, the man performs the action for himself; no one does it for him.

This is the kind of stronghold Mammon can have over men. In this incident, we see how great a stumbling block riches is to light into a soul, and how it impedes the soul from entering the Kingdom and serving God. He came so close, face to face with his God, yet Mammon pulled him back to his miserable trust and confidence in his possessions. The Kingdom of God had drawn nigh unto him, nevertheless, he did not enter.

We may speculate and attribute all kinds of reasons for him not entering the kingdom, however, the reason stated by the Scripture will always be the only correct one; he had great possessions which he loved and trusted more than he trusted God. He came running to the saviour; earnest, determined, resolute, zealous desiring to serve God; but beneath and underlying all appearances, he was already employed in Mammon’s service. He was tenacious in clinging to his great possessions because Mammon had been in his heart throughout the entire episode.

Going away sorrowful proves the wisdom of Jesus’ diagnosis. There would be no strong discipleship such as He called men to if they loved their money more than they loved Him or more than they loved their time with Him. Peter, James and John could not have been properly instructed if they were continually returning to attend to their fishing business; nor could Matthew if he kept returning to the receipt of custom. Mammon would be continually trying to pull them back into his worship.

Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, spoke to this young man who obviously knew Jesus was someone special. And yet, what hap­pened? He allowed his wealth, his love of material things, to sepa­rate him from the very person of God Himself. The love of the world and of material things blinded him so that even though he was sad, that sadness wasn’t enough to make him do the right thing. He wasn’t sad because he was losing his possessions, he had chosen to keep them. He was sad because he knew he had made the wrong decision; he had chosen Mammon over God.

I believe this is the most celebrated case in the New Testament of a godly, respected Jew deliberately choosing Mammon over God. He came to Jesus Himself, in whom was life, seeking for eternal life. The disciples who had been preventing children from coming to Jesus, did not stop him; even his wealth was not a stumbling block; and his position as a ruler was no hindrance, because there he was before Jesus who acknowledged Him as a “Master” in Israel, one with authority to speak in the Divine name and on behalf of God. Yet he was very sad at the Master’s response.

It is indeed impossible for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. God is the only proper object of trust. You can’t have eternal life and you cannot have faith in Him while you put your faith in riches.  The two are mutually exclusive and cannot coexist in the same person. The rich is likely to place his confidence in possessions, and this makes it difficult to enter the Kingdom of God. Yet it is possible through the Grace of God, for with God all things are possible. He can make a rich man willing to leave his riches at the door and enter the Kingdom of God. But without God’s Grace, where wealth is in the hand and heart as a possession, Mammon will also be in the heart as a power; and you cannot serve God and Mammon.

CONCLUSION

I believe Jesus answered this question in the text, but many preachers and writers today disagree. This disagreement makes the service of the true God impossible. On the one hand, there is a jealous God who requires us to serve Him with our entire being, and on the other is Mammon. Once granted some power, Mammon crowds out everyone and everything else, God and family, making the worship of God into empty rituals. The issue is not in how we acquire or spend money or property but about becoming influenced or even possessed by Mammon’s demonic powers.

In this blog, I have emphasized money and possessions as a part of the world system and insist that it is the PERSON possessing the wealth who comes under the demonic influence of Mammon, rather than the money being tainted. Biblical financial principles can only be rules on how to serve mammon.

INTRODUCTION

In this blog, mammon means “money and possessions”. These two things comprise wealth. Riches has to do with accumulation or hoarding of mammon. Mammon, when capitalized, is an evil spirit, perhaps a fallen angel, Middle Eastern god of wealth who presides over the use of money and possessions, the world’s monetary system and the accumulation of wealth.

In a previous blog, I indicated how Mammon had insinuated himself into the exchange of goods and services through covetousness and the development of money.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24.

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Luke 16:9.

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:11.

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Luke 16:13.

Controversy reigns as to whether mammon is merely money and possessions or a demon spirit of prosperity. This controversy did not exist in Bible times, when everyone understood who or what mammon meant. In the Old Testament times Mammon referred to material things and was also the name of a demon spirit.

For Mammon, Esau sold his birth right. For Mammon Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. For Mammon, Nabal threw away his life (1Sam.25:2-38). For Mammon, Achan sacrificed his entire house (Jos. 7:20-26). For Mammon, Balaam profaned the spirit of prophecy and paid with his life (Num. 22:4 – 24:25; 31:8). For Mammon, Jezebel and Ahab executed Naboth (1Kings 21:1-16).

Mammon was also recognized as the demon god behind the relentless pursuit of money and possessions, tantamount to worship. Now, Mammon is still the name recognized as the root and religious structure of the world economic and monetary systems.

The temptation of riches was considered in Deuteronomy in the warning:

“Beware . . . lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget Yahweh thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt . . .who fed thee with manna, that he might humble thee . . . and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.”

Jehovah as the Head of the theocratic government, gave no money to Israel instead He, Himself was to be their Reward and their security and provider. They were set apart for the worship of Jehovah, the true and living God, but soon were worshipping foreign gods, particularly Baal, another name for Mammon. Baal was the pagan god of increase, fertility and prosperity.

The Israelite came to believe he would make their fields and women more fertile. “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods” (2 Kings 17:33) is applicable not only to the Samaritan but also to the Jew. Archaeology shows that they actually tried to combine God and Baal. The making of the golden calf in the wilderness wandering and then later by Jeroboam, “behold this is the god which brought you out of Egypt.” They joined Jehovah with Baal or Mammon.

First they tried to love both money and God, but Jesus says you can’t do that. They ended up loving Mammon and hating God. Jehovah is jealous and won’t share. The more they went to Mammon, the more they hated God and so they started hunting and slaying the prophets until Elijah challenged them on Mount Carmel. “If the LORD be God, then serve Him, if Baal be God then serve him.”

This god of money, possessions or wealth, worshipped throughout history, is called Mammon. He has origins in the Tower of Babel and also has roots in confusion, pride, arrogance, and independence. The book of Genesis reports there was a group of people who wished to make a name for themselves and their own way to heaven, so they built themselves a tower. They were full of pride and arrogance, and God visited, confounded and squashed their plans. The word ‘Babel’ or Babylon means confusion. That’s the root of Mammon, and it carried on through history everywhere as a god.

Now, we understand that things which were worshipped in the Old Testament have spirit beings behind them, so if you track through the Old Testament, you find God’s people continually contended with idolatry, the idol of Baal continually was a problem for them. Chemosh was another, or Molech, where they worshipped and sacrificed their children. The spirit being behind these still works today in the area of abortion, and so these ancient gods Israel struggled with had behind them demonic spiritual power, and that spiritual power is still present today.

PRESENT VIEWS OF MAMMON

Today Mammon is regarded as a personification of riches or wealth. Every preacher, teacher, translator and writer have their concept of mammon and these are not necessarily Biblical, or agreed.

Money is spiritual

All money is spiritual – either God’s Spirit impacts to sanctify, or the demon spirit of Mammon to make it unclean. Mammon’s (money) can be redeemed or sanctified by giving a tithe to the church or by giving to God’s work. It is okay to love and use the money God’s spirit rests on but not money that Mammon’s spirit rest on.  How do we know which money Mammon rests on? We are never told. Only some money is tainted: the money that Mammon rests on. Money that mammon does not rest on is the true riches of Luke 16.

Money becomes mammon only when appropriated for purely selfish needs or when it clamours for the place of God in the heart.

Mammon and Greed

Today, Mammonis linked to greed, an inordinate desire. Greed always wants more. The amount you have is not enough, you need more. If you are not satisfied with what you have, you’re greedy; you don’t need, but you want more; you are under the influence of Mammon. Today greed is disguised in Christianity as “moving to higher level of blessing” and other like cliche.

In modern society where we are surrounded, and wooed, by materialism, our Lord’s words need to be always at the forefront of our minds. Most greed is obvious, as that of the rich fool in Luke’s Gospel, but one doesn’t need to be wealthy in order to be greedy. The nature of the lukewarm church is the same as that of the Pharisees of old, blindness to their own greed.

Greed can also masquerade as frugality, ‘I need to save,’ or independence, ‘I worked hard to get what I have,’ but in reality, those trapped in greed do not want to let go of what they love too much. Gollum, of the Lord of the Rings, was consumed by greed, and he only wanted one thing.

Therefore, if we desire to serve God, we must recognize who Mammon is, and the ways he attempts to invade our thinking and living in this world. Greed tells me, I need more. Take heed and beware of greed. For Mammon is a jealous god. Once you accept his gospel, he will not leave a spark of godliness in your soul. He lives and thrives on your base hopes and temptations.

Money is Neutral

Money is the allure of success, pleasure, power and importance. It is the currency of this world, as it can be earned, stolen, claimed and manipulated by anyone, and be made the instrument of sovereignty. Mammon is seen as something useful and good for use in society. It is our attitudes towards it that makes it sinful or holy. If we were to desire it and consume it upon our lusts then it becomes sinful but if we are to use it for serving God and our fellowmen then it is godly.

LIMITATIONS OF THE PRESENT TEACHING

More money equals more mammon.

Much of the time it is not a matter of more money but of more God, Jesus or even better direction. The importance of the foreign names for gods is the idea of ownership or possession. The idea behind all heathen worship is appropriating and selfish ownership of God’s inheritance.

The scriptures draw a parallel between God and Mammon

This suggests much more than personalization. The NIV version of the Bible capitalizes Mammon because the translators saw it as a personal noun, the name of a person.

The spiritual side of mammon is ignored.

Current teaching on Mammon ignores the sharp distinction by Jesus and the Apostles between the material world and the spiritual world. Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world. There is also no distinction between the body and the soul.

Jesus did not divide mammon into “tainted” and “untainted.”

Mammon is never portrayed as “tainted” money in the Bible. Jesus called Mammon unrighteous, or opposed to God (Luke 16) who is righteous and just. What is being brought before us here is not the unrighteous means by which money is procured, nor the unrighteous use to which money is put, but the unrighteous character of money. In God’s sight there is only dirty money.

It is inlaid with the lust of the world. The mystery of iniquity has attached because of the nature and gives to the hands clutching it a sense of power. Its appearance is simple and innocent, and even if you’re indifferent, it is not harmless, for indifference does not change the nature of mammon. But if there is the slightest secret yearning, it will enter the heart and wield an influence, and work all imaginable ruin. “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

All the examples of the Old and New Testament must be taken into account.

The psychological effects of mammon on those pursuing and laying up treasure is largely ignored today. However, money and possessions does shape our thinking and gives confidence and strength. People feel empowered if they have money and disenfranchised if they don’t. Most Pastors would be shocked to hear that some of the best members of their flock are possessed by the demon, Mammon.

Are we right to assume that money is neutral and exerts no power?

When mammon is master, we fall into a snare, not just financial damage but of our souls and spirits. When mammon is master, we fall into temptation, to trust money rather than God. Money invariably leads man away from God. The use of money or any other item to satisfy greed, covetousness and hoarding instincts is contrary to God’s design of sharing, giving and generosity.

There is no neutrality; Jesus Himself, said that if we are not for Him, then we are against Him or for Mammon. It is not about how we use it, or even about attitudes towards it, but that we CANNOT serve this god. We must recognise that Mammon, as a demon, is not himself indifferent or neutral. There is not a righteous and an unrighteous Mammon, but Mammon is the Mammon of unrighteousness.

The mind of Jesus is so far apart from our current conceptions that one must grasp it firmly. Money, however well and fairly earned, He labels “the mammon of unrighteousness.” There is a snare in it, a mystery of iniquity, a spirit in it which excites madness. If money is neutral, then it would have no impact on us. However, careful observation shows that money can and does bring out negative behaviours. There is no neutrality with Jesus, however, Mammon would gladly accept sharing because he knows the impossibility of serving God and himself. Declaring money to be neutral, makes it a subject of discussion only when our behaviour to it is deemed sinful. Money works in the world on just such lines.

There is no vulgarity like that of moneymaking and estimating men by money.

For mammon, friendship ends. For mammon, the loved one conspires against the beloved. For mammon, the face of Nature is defiled and her bowels dug and torn out. For mammon, there is instigation to injustice and murder. For mammon, all the finer virtues vanish from the soul and is replaced by this accursed hunger for more, not more of Jesus but more of Mammon.

The historical evidence does not suggest that mammon is neutral.

A century and half ago, in the gold rush, the selfishness of unredeemed human nature and the effects of money upon it was revealed. When a new mine was opened up, hordes rushed to it, and the sordidness of it would spread throughout a community. It was again seen in the recent world financial crisis of 2008 to 2012 when many people lost their homes while others made a killing. This kind of occurrence is why Jesus calls money the Mammon of unrighteousness. In this striking phrase He gives a history of money and sums up its moral results.

Deceitfulness of money

The seductive and blinding abilities of money is observed in its effect upon the public. It has stood before the eyes of all for centuries. No one disputes its abilities. And yet it is in these years that the fierce fight for wealth has become more intense, and that the worship of Mammon has assumed the dimensions of an international religion.

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MAMMON

I am advocating an understanding of Mammon that takes into account the entire revelation in the word of God. This takes into consideration it’s spiritual as well as physical manifestations.

Definition and Meaning

The word Mammon appears four times in the New Testament – in the KJV and RSV versions of Matt. 6:24 and Luke 16: 9,11,13 (given above). It is an Aramaic noun mammon, not translated into Greek, but transliterated as mamonas. The KJV and the RSV transliterated it into the English, though some newer versions have translated it as “wealth,” or “money.”

Perhaps the apostles saw translation of mammon as unnecessary because of its frequent use at that time showed its meaning was understood by all. However, the Aramaic is still the subject of some debate among scholars who link it to a verb “aman” which means “that in which one trusts,” or “that in which one has confidence,” while others suggest it might mean “what is entrusted to man,” or “that which supports and nourishes man.”

Mammon is not only money.

Mammon was also an epithet, a byname, for money and possessions given by Jesus. As such, the word is descriptive, and occurs in place of money and possessions and entered common usage in Biblical times. It suggests excess of money and possessions, not needed but kept as a treasure or security for the future. In the Parable of the Unjust Steward, Jesus calls wheat, oil and money owed, Mammon. Modern Bibles translate it as “wealth” or “money”.

It includes property, possessions, wealth or riches, whatever these might comprise; and in such quantity as not needed yet held as a treasure or security. It is possessions kept as stock and storage provisions so that the holder does not have to depend on GOD. This Christians should not be doing; they are not to gather treasures, but to ask GOD for their daily bread.

In the New Testament, for Mammon the rich fool laid up treasure and was not rich toward God (Luke 12:16-21); for Mammon the rich, young, ruler turned his back on eternal life (Matt. 19:16 – 23); for Mammon, Simon Magus wished to acquire the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15-24); for Mammon, Ananias lied to the Holy Ghost and died (Acts 5:1-5); and for Mammon,  Judas betrayed his Lord and Saviour, (Matt. 26:14-16; 27:3-10).

Mammon is a demon

Mammon is portrayed in the Bible not just as money and possessions and belonging to the material world, but as a demon. It attracts, drives and motivates people. The name is the same going back to where it originates, from the Syrian God of Riches, out of the Tower of Babel. In calling Mammon a master, Jesus, presents it as a king, god or lord (kurios, Matt. 6:24; Luke 16: 13), not just a personification of wealth. It is noteworthy that kurios is the same word translated as Lord when referring to God or Jesus in the New Testament.

If Mammon is without spiritual significance, would Jesus have presented him as a competitor, jostling man for his loyalty?   Most Bible commentators admit that Jesus, in calling money and wealth, Mammon, is personifying wealth; however, they fail to see that when He compares Mammon with God, He is saying that Mammon is no mere figure of speech but is a being, a spirit, possibly a fallen angel.

Jesus calls Mammon “kurios”, lord, master, thereby personifying wealth and money.

When personifying something, we compare the “thing” with a known “personality.” By personifying Mammon, Jesus classifies him as a god, that is, He regards him as a potential master of men who demands absolute loyalty from his slaves. The side-by-side positioning of God and Mammon also reveals the exceptional nature of money and possessions; it can be compared to God.

However, Yahweh is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; He is the God of people, He is the God of the Hosts of Heaven, He is not the God of money! Mammon is the god of money. Mammon has a personality, pretends, accepts service and is worshipped. He becomes a god, lord or master to men when they serve him. Whether he is dead or alive is a non-issue, what matters is that foolish and unlearned men and women serve him. Therefore, Mammon is a devil, perhaps another name for Satan, seeking to take the place of God.

The spiritual world

The Bible is very clear that we live in an actual world, but there’s also a spiritual world around us, and that the spiritual world influences and even controls the lives of people. In 1John, all of the world lies in darkness or under the influence of spiritual powers. In Ephesians 6, we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and power. Our problems are not with the people around us, but lie with wicked spirits, like Mammon, who contend against us. So very clearly the Bible, over and over, speaks of the invisible spirit realm. Earlier, in this chapter, we saw the natural history of idol worship, but it was to try and teach us that behind idols is a spiritual power Paul writes in 1Corinthians 10:19-22

“What say I then? that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?”

He said, behind every idol there is a demon spirit operating.

The demon operating behind money and possessions is Mammon. When we idolize money and possessions, we are worshipping this demon. Those who worship idols, ignorantly or with knowledge, have fellowship with demons, and he says: you can’t fellowship with demons and with God. So consistently through history, Mammon refers to a spirit who governs wealth and riches.

There is also the opposite of “serve God”, in “serve Mammon”.

In this name, antiquity recognized the relentless pursuit of wealth is tantamount to the worship of a false god. Service to Mammon takes place in the process of accumulating riches and wealth. It’s a process; it takes time, energy and effort, and it takes these away from the service of the true and living God. Naming this false god by a foreign (to Israel) name indicated its demonic and even magical character.

Now, God is a Spirit. God is invisible, but He’s a Spirit.

We are made in His image. We are spirit beings. We’re made for fellowship with God. We’re made for relationship with God. We’re made to love God, enjoy Him, and then live lives reflecting Him and serve Him. That’s what we’re designed for, so anything that competes with God in our heart, is obviously going to have behind it some demonic spirit or some demonic power.

Jesus says: You can’t serve God and Mammon. Just as God is a Spirit, Mammon must be a spirit. We compare similar things not different things. He’s comparing one with the other, so Mammon is a spirit being, a demonic spirit, associated with money and possessions. God is a Spirit and wants to live in our hearts and impact our decisions and influence our daily lives. Anything which competes with this must also be a spirit, a demon spirit.

Jesus said, Mammon has power to influence and enslave.

As Deity, Jesus must have felt this power, in people like the rich, young ruler and the Pharisees, working and competing against Him for their love, affections and service. Mammon gives confidence and strength because of the possessing of wealth. As the god of money, he has spiritual influence over people causing them to believe they have power or confidence because of their possessions. He also has influence over those who have very little or no possessions causing them to be preoccupied with trying to obtain. He makes them continually think “I need more, I don’t have enough.” With some people mammon can have more influence than with others, some he can even possess, when their money, riches and wealth becomes an obsession.

Mammon in literature and art is a demon.

In Paradise Lost, John Milton portrays Mammon as the “least erected” of the fallen angels, he thinks that Mammon is a spirit. In the writing of his epic, Milton consulted the historical records and the Word of God in coming to this conclusion. He says of Mammon, his eyes are always fixed, downward looking, for gold or money on the ground. In the council, he proposes exploiting the wealth of Hell to create a comfortable existence rather than using it to war against God.

This is a reversal of the very tactic modern ministers are proposing to combat Mammon. They say, “Redeem your money and then use it for the Gospel’s sake.” However, this does terrible injustice to the word redeem. The things which God creates can be redeemed, but how does one redeem something like money which God did not create. What do we redeem money with? To whom is the redemptive price given?

English oil painter George Frederick Watts created a very impressive portrait of Mammon. He is a perfectly heartless tyrant with the wings and crown, with his foot on a prostrate young woman and his metal hand on the crushed head of a youth. This is one of the gods of this world which ties into the love of money.

Mammon may no longer have temples built in his honour because his worship in this present age no longer requires an altar and a building. Lives are sacrificed in the accumulating process. Modern church leaders need be wary of the part which money plays in their worship. Money has now replaced the tithe and the first fruits of the land; it has replaced all the offerings of the Old Covenant which were a type of Jesus.

Mammon and the World System

See this money itself, originally, they used to trade gold, so real wealth was gold (mercantilism). If you had gold, you had real wealth, and then it was inconvenient to carry around large amounts of gold. They made the gold into coins, and so people traded gold coins. But gold is in limited supply, so when they needed more money than there was gold they made paper money, so they made pieces of paper, that you could redeem this for gold.  Eventually, they took away the gold and just made more pieces of paper, and the money lost all its value. So that money is just a facility for trading; it is called a medium of exchange.

The world system is one of trading and exchanging. If I give you something it is because I am expecting to get something in return. We are trading. So I might trade my money in order to receive some good or service. The world system of distribution of goods and services is a system of trading, buying and selling. Money is the currency of the world system. That’s the principle of the world, trading and buying and selling. It prevents you from coming into any kind of area of blessing, because it depends on your works. Well if I just tithe, God has to bless me. Well people think that, but actually that’s not true. God blesses because He’s a giver, He’s generous and He loves to bless, and when you align yourself with His plan, then of course blessing starts to increase and flow. It does not matter whether you think God’s plan is the best plan or your plan is the best plan. In fact you may have the better plan, but God’s plan is the plan that will prevail.

Mammon and the Kingdom of God

There seems to be two systems of thought (teaching) that the problem of money and possessions can be looked at:

The first is where God is the owner and giver of all wealth, including mammon. There is no god of money, Mammon, he is only a personification of wealth, a mere figure of speech. In this system, mammon refers to money and riches only, there is no demonic presence behind money. All money is from God.

It does not matter if we seek the kingdom of God first or if we seek wealth first. Those who seek wealth first, after they have gotten it, can use the wealth for good and thereby “lay up” treasure in heaven. Those who benefitted from their charity will receive them into “everlasting habitations”. The purpose of money is simply to try our love of God. If we have a “love of money” that is greater than our “love of God” then we are guilty of covetousness and all kinds of evil will take over our life.

In this system, it is possible to “lay up treasure in heaven” by use of earthly money and possessions which we are not supposed to lay up.  

The second is where God is owner and giver of “true riches”, and the god of money and earthly possessions is Mammon.  Money is invented by man under the inspiration of Mammon and is the currency of the world economic system. The currency of the kingdom of God is faith. People are saved by grace through faith, and not by their good works or charity.

The kingdom of God is different to the world system.

It runs on a different principle, giving and expecting no recompense. There is no trading or exchanging. In the world everything has a price, but in the Kingdom of God everything you need is “without money and without price.” We saw earlier that God did not give Adam or the Children of Israel money because all His gifts and blessings are free.

We are so used to buying, selling and trading in the world, we tend to think the same way about God. God may also be bought and sold because everything has a cost. I will exchange my money offering for His blessings. I can trade a tithe of my income and God in return will open up the windows of heaven and pour me out His blessings. We cannot operate in the mammon economy and in God’s kingdom simultaneously. The Christian must learn to operate in God’s Kingdom.

Godlike Attributes of Money

Omnipresence:

As God is everywhere so too money is everywhere and involved in all aspects of our life. We carry it wherever we go. If we travel to a foreign country, we have to take along money in some form, cash, cards or check book. In many parts of the world US dollars are preferred to the local currency. Significant black-markets using the US dollar may arise. This gives the US dollar an appearance of omnipresence. Even more amazing, we are happy with money we cannot even see. Money can move from our employers to our bank accounts, to our favorite shopping plaza with no physical appearance. It is this ‘virtual’ money which now dominates the money supply. This intangible character of most money today is perhaps the best evidence of its true nature.

Omnipotence:

As God is all-powerful, so too we speak of the Almighty dollar. Money has replace all the offerings and sacrifice of the Old Testament and occupies a place that was prefigured for Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “Without Me you can do nothing!” Christians say, “Without money we can’t do anything!”  The Church takes tithe of your money, offerings are money, and even a “love” offering is money, thus equating money and love. 

Omniscience:

“Money answers all things” (Ecc 10:19). This is a verse very familiar and popular with the prominent preachers of the prosperity gospel. When our wisdom and knowledge fail, money is brought in to accomplish the task. The prevailing attitude considers not whether we be educated or smart, if we do not have money we are unlikely to accomplish anything worthwhile or achieve the goals we set for our lives.

Everlasting:

Money in its modern form, paper and coins, can last a very long time. US Federal Reserve notes are printed on paper that is made from 75% cotton and 25% linen. This high-quality paper ensures when stored properly, it can survive for hundreds of years, much longer than human beings. If you forgot your money in your pocket, it can also survive the washing and drying in machines.

Now that money is invisible, it can last forever, and this is as godlike as it gets. Some historians think that the barter system of goods and services never existed and money has always existed in this invisible form. 

Providence:

People look to money to provide all their everyday needs and wants; food, clothing and shelter. Everyone tries to be independent, not indebted to their neighbour. Some think they are actually independent of God and can provide for their self if they had the necessary money.

Security:

People look to money for their comfort and provision for the future. They are careful and assured in accumulating for their retirement. They look to money to ensure a comfortable existence in their old age. All these things Jesus said will be added unto us.

CONCLUSION

We must be saved before we could serve the Lord.

We cannot serve God in an unsaved condition. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.” It is no good to attempt service while you are still at enmity against God. The Lord does not want His enemies to wait upon Him, nor someone else’s slaves to grace His throne. We must be saved first; and salvation is all of grace, all free. We do not pay by money or by works. “By grace are you saved through faith.”

After we are saved, and as the result of salvation, we serve.

Saved—we serve. He that is saved becomes a child of God, and then he renders a child-like service in his Father’s Kingdom. That service too, is also all of grace. It is also given freely. He does not serve under the law of the old commandment, “This do, and you shall live,” for he is not under the law, but under grace.

But if you begin to forget your indebtedness to your Saviour or God’s free Grace, not only for eternal life, but for everything you are, and have, and do.

You will be like the Galatians, who began in the Spirit, but sought to be made perfect by the flesh. You will be like the young man, who questioned, “What do I lack? I have done all of the law since my youth, and I have great possessions at my disposal.”  You will be like Peter, who puts in a sort of claim for reward, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed You; what shall we have therefore?” You will be like the men who had worked in the vineyard from early morning, and who murmured because the same payment was given to those who had only worked for a single hour. You’ll appear to be serving God but in reality serving Mammon.

Jesus asked the rich, young ruler to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor, because there is no need of it in the kingdom of God.

There is nothing money can buy in the Kingdom. As a child of God, a Christian I receive everything I need for this life freely from God and so I am to give freely to others. Money is the currency of the world system, but faith is the currency of the Kingdom; Christians walk by faith not by sight. God shall supply all your need (Philippians 4:19).

INTRODUCTION

The nineteenth century economist Jevons recalled, Mademoiselle Zelie, a singer of the Theatre Lyrique at Paris, gave a concert in the Society Islands where there was no money at the time. In exchange for five songs, she was given a third of the receipts from the audience.

The audience paid with livestock, fruits and vegetables. Zelie’s third consisted of three pigs, twenty-three turkeys, forty-four chickens, five thousand coconuts, and considerable quantities of bananas, lemons and oranges. This was considered more than adequate for five songs.

In the Society Islands, however, Mademoiselle Zelie could not consume much of the receipts herself, and it became necessary to feed the pigs and poultry with the fruit and vegetables. The inconvenience and waste caused by the absence of money is clear. The goods, easily sold for money, became an encumbrance. Not only did she lose financially, but so did the people of Society Islands. However, the greatest loss was in social efficiency. Societies desiring the services of fine singers cannot get them on such terms, and this applies to engineers, architects, inventors, doctors and all other kinds of services.

PRESENT TEACHING OF THE ORIGINS OF MONEY

“…no theory of money can be refuted by demonstration of the falsity of any assertion of its author concerning the primitive history of money, and no theory can be proven to be correct by a demonstration of such assertions by the author.” (Joseph Schumpeter)

The origins of money depend on our definition of money which in turn rests on arguments about where it began. As a consequence, there is widespread misunderstanding among Christians of where money originated. These range from God gave money to its creation by the Government.

Some think that the first thing God gave to Adam was a job to tend the Garden of Eden. He must have paid him some kind of wages because God is not a hard taskmaster and would not treat him as a slave. Whatever He paid Adam for his labour would be money. Money then originated as a need by God to pay Adam’s wages.

Others, making no distinction between money and wealth, think that God opens up the windows of heaven and pours out blessings. They base their opinions on the following verses:

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 8:18.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3:10.

Such thinking makes it acceptable for Christians to pursue money and possessions as the ruling passion of their lives. This now pervades all classes and has been around for many years, with those who are without money having exaggerated ideas of its value and what it will do for them and those who have equally mistaken about its nature and functions.

LIMITATIONS OF THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING

There can be no proper understanding of money without a knowledge of its origins. The present understanding of the origins of money is plagued with many misconceptions and downright fallacies. Most of it has to do with the attempt to give it a Biblical origin either in the Garden of Eden or later at the formation of the nation of Israel. Although the Bible traces the history and origins of the nation of Israel, it cannot be properly classified as a book of history. Its use as a history book cannot be justified. In the Bible, Israel had no known currency, but made use of what is termed commodity money, mostly silver being the commodity.

With respect of money and possessions, there is no distinction made between the Kingdom of God, the Church and the World. This problem is universal, from Alcorn to Zacharias. But Christians belong to the Kingdom of God which “is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17).

Christians live in the world system where there is a necessity for eating and drinking although we are not of the world. Presently there is no distinction made between the physical needs of the body and the spiritual needs of the soul. Animals, also eat, drink and need shelter, but they have not developed money, nor accumulate possessions (excepting food) and it would be erroneous to make the case that man having done so can now be defined by money. We must look for the origins of money in the economic history of the kingdoms of this world not in the Kingdom of God. The purpose for the development of money is to buy things in the World System in which we live and are a part. Even if we put off spending our money, we are still planning on doing so later. “We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life is for.” (George Mallory). The history of money shows it to be an accidental phenomenon rather than an essential to human society.

A BETTER CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF MONEY

The mention of money in the Bible, is always incidental, not doctrinal.

Certain incidents in which money was used was recorded. For example, Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah, Joseph was sold for 30 pieces of silver. We know from the Bible that silver was used as currency in Canaan during this period (Genesis 23:16), however, it is quite clear, from the contexts, these incidents are not the origin of money.

 “Biblical economics” must be included into the category of “incidental” to the Bible records. The use of the Bible as a history book is not justified.

Although the Bible traces the history and origins of the nation of Israel, it can be concluded, and without much debate, it is not a book of history nor a book of accounting and finance. Thus, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is significant as a fulfilment of prophecy, but his receipt of 30 pieces of silver is merely incidental and instructive but not doctrinal. Israel was given no currency, instead they used whatever was being used in the land of Canaan, usually silver, as commodity money.

Money is the currency of this “present evil world” only.

We must also recognize both, the World and the Kingdom of God as systems present in the Word of God and existing today. The world’s financial and economic system is based on money and is unstable, ever-changing, and left to chance. This is the place to conduct our financial business.

Also present is the Church (both as an organization and an assembly of believers). It is for prayer, praise and worship, not for doing financial business.  John 2:16 says, “And said to them that sold doves, take these things hence; make not My Father’s house a house of merchandize.”  If the church becomes confused with a profit-generating business, especially a dishonest one (Matthew 21:13 … It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.), then it has careened off course.

The currency of the Church and the Kingdom of God is faith in Jesus.

God’s Kingdom, on the other hand is based on faith in Jesus Christ who is unchanging, the same yesterday today and forever. Here, the thief can’t steal and moth and rust can’t corrupt.

 It is a house of prayer (Luke 19:46), and it is the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).  2 Corinthians 2:17 says, “For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.”

In order for Christian ministers to take the mind set of first century stewards trying to get gain for their Master, from potential Church attenders, they have to compromise the gospel.  However, freely we have received the gospel, and freely we should give it (Matt 10:8).

It is notable that the animals sold in the temple were used as sin offerings but sadly, they have now been replaced by money whose function is that of a medium of exchange and a measure of value. The parallel drawn is clear, money can be used as a sin offering.

Money in the Garden of Eden?

God did not give Adam any money in the garden of Eden, neither is there a record in Genesis of God creating money on any of the days of Creation. He did not give the nation Israel a currency; it seems Moses may have instituted the use of silver (see below). We can conclude that GOD DID NOT INVENT MONEY.

In the example above, the Society Island had no money. This may shock many Christians who have always been taught that GOD CREATED EVERYTHING in the universe. God certainly did not make something as imperfect and would fail (Genesis 47:15, 16) as money. Money was invented by man, blundering man, unintentional and without the inspiration of GOD.

Two ways in which we may investigate the origins of money:

1. We may start with the various types and substances which have been adopted in various times and in various countries as substitutes for money. In tracing the history in this manner we can arrive at the nature of money as it is used today.Mr. W. Stanley Jevons, in his “Money and the Mechanism of Exchange,” has under the head of “Early History of Money” ten pages with facts. While this is great history, they tell little about the origins of true money and a lot about the history of   commodities substituted for money.

The tracing of the origins of money using this method, involves regarding as money various non-monetary commodities which were used, not as money, but as aids to trade, substituting for money. How easy various non-monetary commodities, as oxen, tobacco, gold,  silver, etc, have been used as a substitute for money, or how primitive men made money of pretty shells or beads, is hardly pertinent to the history of ‘true money’, as we now understand. I’ll leave the reader to decide whether this is a satisfactory approach.

2. We may ignore the various substitutes for Money over its history and begin with money’s origin in a common necessity co-incidental with the practice of commerce. An exchange of goods and services evolved by almost every society of men, beginning with barter but soon developing the necessity for and the use of money. Money is the application of certain functions found necessary in the world of trade and commerce. I will give here the development of money from inconveniences in the system of barter.

No Money or Barter

There was a time when there was no barter or exchange. Of course there is no one alive to remember. A time when “God loveth a cheerful giver” was reality. Or perhaps it was a time when God was the only Giver. God wanted man also to be a giver, “… freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…” Luke 6:38. But the sinful nature was disobedient, man wanted to trade or exchange. It is the same today, God wants the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached freely, but men has set up commercial systems for its distribution.

In the earliest of times, each man was self-sufficient; he had all the necessary means of supporting himself, within himself. He was a hunter/gatherer and built his own home. He was independent of other men. This can be seen in Cain and Abel; and as late as Abraham and Lot. In the beginning God wanted men to GIVE and so He made the Garden of Eden and gave it to Adam. There is no evidence that He gave Adam a job and paid wages, but there is abundant suggestion that He gave Eden to him freely because He desired the man to follow His example and be a giver (James 1:17).

Barter, Covetousness and Mammon

The beginning of exchange was in gifts, a corrupted form of giving, based on covetousness or desire for other people’s “stuff”. How can you get someone’s stuff if there is no exchanging? You can steal it! Neighboring tribes would invade each other and carry off goods and women.

A peaceful way was to make a present to others hoping to get one in return. In the course of time, the custom became to demand, not only a present in return, but one perceived to be of equal value. Our modern customs of giving gifts at Christmas, birthdays, weddings and other special occasions are legacies of this primitive form of exchange.

I believe this to be the first instance where Mammon, the god of money and wealth, injected himself into the business affairs of men. He put it into the minds of men that their gift was more valuable than that of the other person.

We exchange because we covet.

The exchange of one commodity for another when neither commodity is designated money is called barter. Because of COVETOUSNESS the system of Barter was invented. Men began to covet the goods of their fellowmen. A single barter transaction involved the exchange of one kind of commodity for another. Men did not exchange the same type of commodity, but unlike commodities and they did not exchange their stuff for things they did not want, but for things belonging to their neighbors which they desired or coveted.

A Barter also involved at least two persons with mutual desires for each other’s goods or services. An exchange required an agreement of two minds with reciprocal desires; and since the objective is to satisfy these desires, the result of an exchange was mutual satisfaction. This desiring of others’ possessions is called covetousness in the 10th commandment.

 I believe that this is another point where Mammon, the god of wealth, involved himself in the commerce of mankind. In the tenth commandment we read, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s. (Exodus 20:17). The Hebrew word translated as covet, chamad, means desire and is translated as desire in Genesis 3:6, where Eve coveted the forbidden fruit. So that exchange and trade takes place because of covetousness.

For centuries of the world’s history, barter became the usual method of exchange. At the present time it is still used in remote, backward, parts of the world. Sometimes it is practiced in the rural, agricultural and farming areas of developing and developed countries. Farmers exchange commodities like eggs and butter for processed groceries or give the local miller some grain in exchange for his services.

Did barter exist in history?

There are historians who think there was never a system of barter and money always existed. But the Bible records an instance:

Barter was used in Solomon’s Temple.

In 1Kings 5:1-11, when Solomon set about the building of the Temple he wanted timber of a kind which was not found in Israel but was found in Tyre. So he sent to Hiram, King of Tyre, and told him of this difficulty.

Hiram rejoiced greatly, for his land was rich in timber and poor in corn and oil. He therefore sent to Solomon saying: ‘ I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon into the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: Thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.’

Each of the kings was able to supply the other with what he needed, and that was enough to make an exchange possible. It must have been a fair exchange, since each of them was satisfied.

In times of depression and recession, when the monetary system is malfunctioning, bartering, again becomes important. For example, in the world economic depression beginning in 1929, barter played an important role in international trade for the USA, one instance which is the exchange in 1931 by the US Farm Board of 25,000,000 bushels of wheat for 1,050,000 bags of coffee with Brazil.

At first men bartered their goods and services in a physical market place in a town or village. The buyers and sellers met on designated days to exchange their goods and services. There are yet still uncivilized people, both in Africa and South America, who have no notion of money and barter is their means of trade.

Barter was simple, and the need for a medium of exchange was not pressing. People took the time to bargain over their exchanges. Doubtless they quarrelled frequently, and it is possible that often each party to the bargain felt later on that the other person had got the better of him. Yet, for a long time this method of dealing seemed good enough. It appeared simple enough, although in reality it was cumbersome. Above all, it doubtless never occurred to any one for a long time that there could possibly be any other way to accomplish the desired purpose.

Barter Problems

There is no doubt that money makes a great contribution to present day trade, however, it must not be forgotten that commerce existed long before money was known. It is an error to suppose that in barter, there was not the possibility of satisfactory exchanges. The fact is exchange took place and on a large scale and this was evidence of satisfaction. If the people were not satisfied by bartering, there would have been no exchanges. However, the system of Barter was cumbersome with many inconveniences. It is unnecessary to show all the inconveniences that naturally arose in striving to carry on trade without the use of money. Countless examples are given in the various works treating of this subject. I will describe two of the main problems:

1. For Barter to work at least two individuals must experience a double coincidence of wants. This means that if you and I are to exchange goods, I must have something you want, you have something I want and both of us must want to exchange. If a pig farmer wants a piece of cloth, it is not enough to find a weaver; he must find a weaver who wants pork. If the weavers in the town or marketplace do not want pork, the farmer could not make the trade he desired. This is just a simple example in a small village, however, the double-coincidence problem becomes more severe in more developed economies with large numbers of goods and services, many of which are consumed by small parts of the population. This problem, at first, was solved by using a commodity as a medium of exchange, one of the functions of money.

2. Another problem was the lack of a credible measure of value for all goods and services. Before two items can be exchanged they must be PERCEIVED to be EQUAL in value. This problem did not exist if the products to be exchanged were perceived to be equal in value. The transaction simply took place and that would be an end of the exchange. However, the majority of the goods exchanged were PERCEIVED to be of UNEQUAL value, and when such  transactions occurred there would be a remainder of product or service due from the one to the other person. This would constitute a DEBT; the person who had  received the less amount of product or service had to demand the balance due at some future time. At the same time a corresponding LIABILITY would be created in the other person, who had received the greater amount of goods or service, to pay the balance due when required. This problem was solved by introducing other functions of money, as a measure of value, and also as a unit of account. Notice again, this aspect of money is as a representative of DEBT and LIABILITY with one man’s money being another man’s debt or as more accurately shown in the Blog “What is Money?”, everyone’s debt. Money represents debt and gain, through which the idea of profit came into being.

Now, among all traders the following result is inevitably; you want an amount of a product from others, while those others do not want this same amount or nothing at all from you. It is easy to imagine the inconveniences that arose when people don’t get what they want, unless the persons who could supply these wants, wanted something equal in value in return at the same time. Notice too, every time these transactions occur, debts and liabilities were created. The Word of God says that we should “owe no man” anything and even the prosperity preachers are against debt.

Substitutes for Money?

In time all traders of goods and services in a country or geographical area agreed upon a commodity to represent the amount of Debt or Liability. This item is called Commodity Money by economists.

 When an unequal exchange took place between two persons, so leaving a balance due from one to the other; the person who had received the greater amount of product or service gave a quantity of this commodity money to make up the balance; so that the person who had received the lesser amount of product or service might obtain the remainder from someone else using the commodity money.

Suppose that a pork farmer wants bread, but the baker does not want an equivalent amount of pork or does not require pork. The pork farmer nevertheless, buys the bread from the baker, and gives him in exchange as much pork as he wants, and makes up the balance by giving him an amount of this commodity money, equivalent to the deficiency; and if the baker wants no pork at all, he gives him the full equivalent of the bread in the commodity money.

 The baker wants, perhaps, clothing, but not pork. Having received the commodity money from the pork farmer, he goes to the weaver, and obtains cloth from him to the equivalent of the bread he has exchanged. Hence, the satisfaction which was due to the baker from the pork farmer is paid by the weaver. Notice, none of the products exchanged is the commodity money.

Commodity money also could be used as one of the items being exchanged. Suppose the baker wanted beer from the brewer who did not require bread. The baker could give the whole price of the beer in commodity money. The brewer would accept the commodity money because he knows that it could be easily exchanged for anything he wanted in the future (medium of exchange).

This Commodity money in the above examples performs some of the functions of money, and these circumstances show its fundamental nature. Its functions are to measure the value of Debts which arise from unequal exchanges in value (measure of value), to enable persons who have rendered any sort of services to others, and have received no equivalent from them (medium of exchange), to preserve a record of these services (unit of account), and of their rights (store of value) to obtain an equivalent satisfaction from someone else, when they require it. The nature of Money seen here: It is a Right or Title to demand some product or service from someone else in the future.

Many items were used as commodity money throughout history. If they worked well it was used for a long time, if it didn’t people moved to something else. Whatever commodity was selected had to be accepted by all in the community. In Virginia 1618, acceptance was enforced by a fiat of the Governor making a pound of tobacco legal tender equal to three shillings (British money). Subsequently women imported as wives for the settlers were disposed of at 100 pounds of tobacco each and later at 150 pounds. As late as 1732, Maryland made corn and tobacco legal tender. Alpine villages in Switzerland have used eggs as we use money, and Newfoundland has used dried cod fish. In many countries, remote from civilization, pieces of cotton cloth have taken the place of money. But in all cases in which anything of this kind has been done, the rule has been acceptance of some convenient article or articles to be used as we use money. In this manner, various non-monetary items were used, not as money, but as aids to trade, somewhat substituting for money.

Money and the Bible

Recall the simple definition of money as anything that is accepted as payment for material goods and services and discharging of debts. Money therefore can be anything. This holds true also for the Biblical period.

In considering the money of the Bible it is important to draw a distinction between un-coined and coined money, two terms that are self-explanatory. With a few exceptions, the money of the Old Testament was un-coined. This means that it was not necessarily in a recognized special shape or with an inscription, however, they did have a special weight and value as weighed pieces of silver were in the early times of the Bible.

Money is first mentioned in the Bible in the enslavement of human beings,

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. Genesis 17:12.

Whether this predates the book of Job where money is also mentioned is a matter of debate.

In the Book of Job (42:11) we have what is considered the earliest reference in the Bible to currency, each of his relatives, when visiting gave him a piece of money (or silver) and an ear-ring of gold. The word used for piece of money in this passage is kesitah. This word occurs three times in the Old Testament; in the above passage in Job, in the reference to the purchase of a piece of land by Jacob at Shechem for one hundred pieces (Gen. 33:19), and in Joshua 24:32, where the same piece of land is again mentioned. It literally means “weighed out” and refers to an ingot of rough silver, broken off, but having a known and recognized value by weight.

The earring of gold gives a further allusion to the use of pieces of metal of known and recognized weight, either for purchasing or, until so required, as ornaments. The Septuagint version of the Bible more accurately translates this phrase a tetradraclim of un-coined gold. As all of Job’s relatives gave him the same gift, and in conjunction with a piece of silver, that the earring was representative of certain value, and it is equally evident that Job used his gifts in the purchase of cattle, as we read in the next verse that he was possessed of thousands of animals.

The Hebrew word translated as money is keseph which literally means silver. Keseph is used 403 times in the Old Testament and translated as money 115 times, and as silver 288 times. This tells us that silver was used as commodity money in the Old Testament times by the Israelites from as early as Abraham. The verse tells us that money was first used by the Israelites in trafficking in human beings or slaves. That this was the practice and it appears to be accurate, for they were shepherds and did not need to pay for food.

The next use of “money” is when Abraham bought the field with the cave of Machpelah as a cemetery to bury his wife Sarah, himself and his descendants,

And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

Genesis 23:14-16

It should be noted that money is added to the text in verse 16 of the KJV. We are told that silver was the currency used by the Canaanites. That it had to be weighed out indicates that it was not minted into coins. How this field became the property of Ephron we do not know. How it was valued at 400 shekels of silver is not stated. It appears that the Patriarchs who lived in the land of Canaan followed the Canaanites in using silver as money.

“Money” in the New Testament

The term “Money” is used 23 times in the English New Testament and reference to money is made a further 16 times. The money at this time is said to belong to Caesar who had issued it for tax purposes. It is translated from a number of different Greek words, some of which are:

1. didrachmon: a double drachma. It was a Greek coin up to 2002 when it was replaced by the Euro currency. It is translated as “tribute” in Matthew 17:24.

2. stater: a coin used in parts of Greece. It appears just the once in Matthew 17:27 and is translated “piece of money.”

3. nomisma: is an ancient Greek word for money. It refers to currency or coins. It appears once in Matt 22:19 and is translated money.

These three words above is found only in Matthew’s gospel. He was a tax collector for the Romans and would have been very acquainted with the currency used in the first century in the Middle Eastern territories of the Roman Empire.

4. argurion: is the Greek word for “piece of silver”. It appears 20 times and is sometimes translated money, pieces of silver, silver pieces and silver. It was unmarked and un-coined and used mostly by the Israelites.

CONCLUSION

Money is somewhat of an accidental development by men to aid in trading of goods and services. It does not come from God and is not an essential aspect of our relationship with God.

INTRODUCTION

Money but no Goods and Services

Robinson Crusoe, while rummaging the wreck of his ship for useful things, discovered some money in a drawer, “about thirty-six pounds value in money… I smiled to myself at the sight of this money.” What can you do with money when you’re alone on an island? But, Crusoe, although stranded, was a member of civilized society and could not resist, so, “upon second thoughts, he wrapped the money in a piece of canvas and took it away.” Robinson’s case was having money, but no goods or services to pay for. Having money is important in a modern society but not if there are no goods and services. Crusoe, a fictional character, was able to identify money and distinguish it from other useful possessions. He also knew it was not useful in his situation.

His situation was similar to the Israelites forty-year wandering in the wilderness. In their Exodus from Egypt, they borrowed huge amounts of gold and silver and carried it into the wilderness where no goods or services were available. It was worthless like Crusoe’s money, but not completely. The money was worshipped. With this gold they were able to make the golden calf to worship. Their case was having money and no use for it, (paying for goods and services) so they turned it into a god to worship. Money as a topic of discussion by Christians is at present the most difficult in the whole of theology. The main reason for this is the enormous amount of error and fantastic notions which Preachers and Christian writers have been publishing on the subject. They have written and preached more crazy ideas about money than any topic in Christendom. These ideas are usually taken from various disconnected verses throughout the Bible and offered as solutions to socio-economic problems in the present. This, they call Biblical Economics, and command Christians to practice it in the modern world. A good example of this was the world financial crisis of 2008 – 2012 when preachers of prosperity could be heard on Christian television saying there was no crisis since the children of God should only experience abundance.

PRESENT TEACHING ON MONEY

Some time ago, on Christian television, a televangelist took a ten dollar bill from his wallet and showed it to his audience,

“It’s nothing, only a piece of paper,” he exclaimed.

However, a few minutes later, after preaching, he was attempting to exchange his latest book for “nothing, only a piece of paper.”

This is typical of preachers and writers on money. In general, they give no acceptable definition of money, assuming their hearers or readers know what they are speaking about. Today, every Christian understand money as Robinson Crusoe did, in the sense of dollars, nickels, and dimes or checks, things we use to make payment for everyday wants and as the things the Church accepts as tithes and offerings. Some of us also know credit cards as the things we destroy when we want to get out of debt, but of other types of money we are generally ignorant.

The word money can be used in different senses. Much of the confusion could be avoided if the Church would have an acceptable definition of money. In today’s teaching currency, credit and possessions are lumped together and called money. No distinction is made by the Spiritual Leaders. In sermons and books, these terms are used interchangeably.

In addition, it is taught, there exists a connection between God’s Grace and earthly wealth with money being the medium of exchange. Poverty on the other hand is regarded as a curse. Christianity is now a religion of the rich and luxurious in which the riches of heaven are combined with the riches of the earth. It is no longer hard for the rich, young ruler to enter the Kingdom of God, but provision is made for him to keep his wealth, contribute to the Church and “come and follow after” Jesus. Zacheus need not return his ill-gotten gains but can enter the kingdom rejoicing.

Today, the emphasis is on “biblical economics.” The claim is there are certain principles prescribed in the Word of God for the use of money and Christians are bound to follow them. Other names given to Biblical economics are God’s financial plans and God’s financial management and other such variations.

The Church now accepts exclusively money, as tithes and offering. It has replaced all the other offerings that the Israelite had in the Bible and all the feasts which were social occasions. It ignores the fact that people may have other things besides money that they can give. Example their time, energy, effort, skills etc. This understanding of money has many limitations.

LIMITATIONS OF PRESENT MONEY TEACHING

It leads to the belief that you are poor if you do not have money and you are blessed if you are rich. If you can get some more money only then you would be acceptable and able to serve God properly.

No distinction is made between money and wealth.

We all want to be wealthy. We just don’t know what wealth really means. Having more money is not the definition of wealth, despite propaganda the Christian media would have you believe. There’s nothing wrong in driving the latest model sports car or live in a multi-bathroom mansion if you can afford them. But for most having them is more a curse than a benefit.

The joining of forces of Church and money has two equal and opposite effects.

First, it secularizes the sacred by giving greed and gain a foothold in the Church. Next, it   provides redemption for the unholy business of the wealthy, sanctifies the money while using the plunder for holy purposes.

There is no biblical definition of money.

While it is known what the Romans used as money very little is known about what the early church used. There is no definition of money given by spiritual leaders instead every Pastor and Preacher is left to decide for himself and this has contributed to the great chaos among Christians.

Money develops within a society in response to the culture, religion and politics.

Society is conceived as a world of faceless men and women and the economy as the same faceless humans labouring and grinding to get money. To obtain it, men and women must labour and sweat in field, factory or office. It is believed that it is the money that creates things; it is the money and gain that motivates people to serve; is the “money that answereth all things.”

The teaching claims to be Biblical but in reality it is not.

It claims that it is relevant to all times but clearly originated in medieval times, when trade and exchange developed as never before. Writers and preachers tend to focus only on the positive effects of money, ignoring all the negative evils. Attention is paid to how money could be used to further the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it could be used profitably to secure eternal benefits. Much emphasis is placed on the stewardship function of the money (and possessions) that God has entrusted to the Christian, but the deceitfulness of riches is never explored.

Money is regarded as neutral or at best as having positive effects on society. I believe that money is not a neutral phenomenon to be bypassed or taken lightly and it is difficult to control money and its part in shaping our lives. Whether we love it or don’t love it, we cannot be ignorant about what money actually does to us.

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MONEY

Christians need to have an upgrade of their understanding of money. We need an understanding based on sound definitions and taking into account the passage of time from Bible times to present day. Any such understanding must conceive of the modern economy as a group of people co-operating in the production of goods and provision of services capable of satisfying their desires. Money is merely a medium of exchange to trade the goods and services produced. It will include a definition of the terms involved in money and finance, beginning with money itself.

A simple, working definition of today’s money, generally understood in every society and endorsed by economists is: anything acceptable as payment (or exchange) for goods and services and in the discharge of debt. The meaning of money then, is not financial, economical, or even biblical, but functional. From this we will see, the notes and coins that we use at a filling station or grocery store is money. The checks we write in payment for things is also money. This is the function of money!

A modern characteristic of money is that it must have no intrinsic value. So if there is something that has no value of its own, all persons are willing to accept it in exchange for goods and services and if all persons gave this thing in payment for what they owe then this thing is really money.

Money, properly understood, is intangible; it has been called a phenomenon. Although in history, commodities were substituted for money, serving some of money’s functions, money is not a commodity. It is not the material from which it is made. Gold and silver, when not coined, are commodities. Money is not gold, though gold may be used as money; there are times, in history, when gold was money and ­times when it was not. Although intangible, money takes countless physical forms and sometimes no form. Its nature is not easy to understand, for money gives no information about itself, except that it is money.

Notes and coins are examples of money, but they are not what money is; money exchanges involve no currency at all, but the transfer of figures from one account to another. Money is much more like a “verb” than a “noun”; it names functions and activities rather than objects or commodities.

Christians must realize today’s money is a matter of faith or confidence in the person paying. It is not trust in God, but trust in the institution issuing the money. It is faith in the banks that honors our check. Money is no longer a piece of metal inscribed with Caesar’s image (Mark 12:14-16). It is faith inscribed and it matters not where it is inscribed, be it on silver, gold, paper, or stone. A check has been written on a prostitute’s breast and on a man’s butt. Anything can serve as money, from the cowrie shells of the Maldives to the huge stone discs used on the Pacific islands of Yap. And now, in this electronic age, there is no need for anything to serve as money. It can be figures printed on paper, on a screen or stored on a computer’s hard disc.

Intangible money isn’t a modern thing, but has been around for ages.

For example, in the history books there are numerous references to a British coin called a shilling. The ancient British laws, of Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the year A.D. 600, says, that if any man in the assembly injures another he is to pay “fifty shillings to the King.” However, there was no such coin as a shilling until the year 1504, though there are hundreds of references to it before that date. This un-coined shilling was a money of account and was supposed to be one twentieth part of a pound-weight of silver. Hence, twenty shillings make one pound, though the pound is not of silver and does not weigh a pound.

Intangible money was also known by African tribes; we learn from J. S. Mill that there were tribes who computed the value of things by an ideal system. “They calculate the values of things in a sort of money of account called ‘macutes.’ They say one thing is worth ten macutes, another fifteen, another twenty. There is no real thing called a macute, it is a conventional unit for the more convenient comparison of things with one another.” (J. S. Mill, ” Political Economy.”)

Money and Wealth

Money is very often confounded with wealth. However, the money definition necessitates a differentiation from wealth, the latter being property that we own such as car, house, land, gold, silver, jewelry, financial securities, etc. In our everyday speech and in Church we use the terms money and wealth as synonyms, but the world’s monetary systems and the Bible does not.

In the Word of God money is viewed as a separate item from wealth. Wealth in biblical times was determined by possessions, herds, flocks, lands and precious metals; not holding of money. Today wealth includes all those things plus other financial instruments like stocks and bonds, etc. The example of Abraham showed he was rich in cattle, in gold and silver (Gen. 13:2; 23:16; only the silver was used as money in Canaan). He may or may not have been rich in money. In Jesus’s Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-8), the lord is owed something for which the steward had exchanged his wealth; oil and wheat. This something is money.

As a synonym for money, wealth is not associated with the spiritual dangers of money or with the nature and behavior of money itself but more with attitudes to wealth like greed, anxiety, worry etc.  Discussing wealth tends to draw attention to certain forms of behaviour toward it and away from the behaviour of money itself. In this blog I wish to concentrate on money not wealth. The shaping and moulding power of money on human behaviour is important regardless of whether we have or are pursuing money.

Money is merely a title to wealth. It does not contain within itself wealth. It is the yardstick by which we can measure wealth or the exchange value of other material possessions. When we consider how much a wealthy person is worth, or how much riches he has, we must use some form of measuring unit. Money is the measuring unit we use to measure our economic worth. For example we may say that Peter is worth $1,000,000 or Paul is worth $10,000, this does not mean that they have that amount in cash, but that their material possessions including their money total these amounts.

Wealth is a product of labor. Money is a means for wealth to change from one form to another. For example, a farmer with one hundred acres of land thinks he has living in the barn too long. He may wish to exchange some of his land for a building, a better home. To do this he would first sell some of his land for money and then use the money to buy materials to build his new house.

The Purpose of Money

“…the use of money was devised as a matter of necessity. For not all the necessaries of life are easy of carriage; wherefore, to affect their exchanges, men contrived something to give and take among themselves, which, being valuable in itself, had the advantage of being easily passed from hand to hand for the needs of life; such as iron or silver or something else of that kind, of which they first determined merely the size and weight, but eventually put a stamp on it in order to save the trouble of weighing, and this stamp became the sign of its value. (Aristotle’s Politics, I. 9.)

Money is identified by its functions; that is, what it does; anything which performs the functions of money is money. The definition of it given above is easily understood even by non-economists and this is the one I will use in this blog. I will also be using the term “money and possessions” instead of wealth.

Money was developed for certain purposes in relation to trade or the exchange of goods and services. It was not created by God, but by men so that they could affect the necessary exchanges among themselves. There are many functions of money today and in this section I will describe the three main functions.

1. As a Measure of Value

Well, but what will you say to this question? (You know that there is no settled price set by God upon any Commodity that is bought or sold under the Sun; but all things that we buy and sell, do ebbe and flow, as to price, like the Tide:) How (then) shall a man of tender conscience doe, neither to wrong the seller, buyer, nor himself, in buying and selling of commodities . . . . . John Bunyan, The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680)

The goods and services that are traded must first be valued. Money is the measure of value. Prices, salaries, goods, services and wealth are all measured in money.  Money, therefore, attempts to place a value on both God’s creation and the innovative man’s manufactured goods. This value is in terms of earthly units and is for the purpose of exchange.

Now, money is not necessary where the items being exchanged are perceived to be of equal value, but where they are perceived as unequal. Therefore, this function is only applicable to measure debt, credit and gains as we shall see.

In my country, Trinidad and Tobago, TT$ bills are the measure of value, and so prices are quoted in TT$. If we did not have money, prices of goods and services would have to be set in units of goods or services. Different prices might be set in different units, making comparison difficult. For example, suppose I needed a new stove and I want to pay the least possible price. I notice that one store sells a stove for 10 pairs of trousers and another store sells the same model for 20 pairs of shoes. It would be difficult to figure out which deal is better; I would have to know the prices of trousers and shoes. It could get even more complicated if I find that trouser and shoe prices are quoted in other commodities. Money as a measure of value makes life easier, although it is by no means a perfect measure of value. If TT dollars are the measure of value, I will see that one store charges TT$500 for the stove and the other TT$450.

2. As A Medium Of Exchange

This is its primary role, we use it as the medium of exchange; we pay money for goods and services. According to our definition, money is whatever a grocery store or filling station accepts as payment. Great inconvenience can be avoided if there is money as a medium of exchange for goods and services. In today’s economy, dollar bills and coins are two forms of money. The balances in our checking accounts are also money, because many goods and services can be bought by writing a check or accessing an account electronically. Stocks and bonds are not money because you can’t walk into a store and trade them for groceries. There are many other type of financial instruments that are not money because they cannot function as a medium of exchange. People will not accept them in exchange for their goods and services.

There is a great example of money as a medium of exchange in the Bible:

Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, Deuteronomy 14:22-26.

Notice the exchanging of the tithe of the crops, herds and flocks for money, then going to another place designated by God and converting the money into goods before consumption. Notice, too that the money is just a medium for getting the goods to another place; it is not part of the goods being exchanged, nor is it being tithed.

3. As a store of value

As a store of value, money is of a form which people can hold wealth. To understand this function, think about a fruit farmer. If his farm is more productive than is usual in a particular year, he may decide to set something aside for the next year when times could be harder.

 The farmer can’t save the extra fruit he produces, it will rot, making it worthless. Fruit is not a good store of value. The solution is to exchange the extra fruit for money. If the farmer keeps the money in a safe place, he will have it next year when he needs it and it can be exchanged for whatever he needs.

 Money’s store of value function has become less important in advanced economies. The financial system has produced instruments with returns higher than money. In most economies today, holding money is better than holding fruit, but holding some other security is best, because it pays more interest or dividends. People with financial knowledge use money as a medium of exchange, but they hold most of their wealth in other assets.

Exceptions occur mainly in poor countries. In some places the financial system are not as developed so that few assets are more attractive than money. In Trinidad and Tobago the financial systems are not as developed or as volatile as in the United States so people hold much of their wealth in cash. But there is a twist: most of this cash is foreign currency, United States dollars, rather than the local money TT$.

Who Owns the Money

Money existed and was used as an instrument of exchange before coinage and paper bills had been invented. Then, whoever held it was its owner.

In the subsequent period coined money was used and did all the work of money before any act of legal tender or any legislative regulation had been conceived. When money was first coined, it belonged to the king or ruler whose image was on it (Mark 12:16, 17); and money tokens were at first regarded and used as a means by which taxes could be conveniently paid and tribute rendered. The affairs of State were thus first served by money, and afterwards commerce discovered in it a suitable medium of exchange for goods and services.

In modern times the person or institution issuing the money owns the money. In most countries this is the Government or some banking institution it has designated for this purpose, example the Bank of England or the US Federal Reserve System and the US Treasury. It says on US bills “In God We Trust” but the person you are really trusting when you accept one of these in payment for your good or service is the Secretary of the US Treasury and by extension the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. When anyone exchanges his goods or his labour for US money, he is essentially trusting Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the US Treasury and Jerome Powell chairperson of the Federal Reserve System since February 5, 2018, under the presidency of Donald Trump (at the time of writing). Every country has its counterpart to these people. In my country of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago that person is the Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago currently Dr Alvin Hilaire who was appointed on the 23 December 2015 to a term of five years.

Who Owns Your Money In The Bank

Most people believe the money they deposited with a commercial bank belong to them. Well, they are wrong! Legally, it belongs to the bank. When you make a deposit  into your bank savings account, the bank does not keep your money in a vault or strong box like we see in the old western movies. Instead the bank records it as their money and take legal ownership; at the same time they record the liability to you. In accounting and finance, this is called the double entry system. It is a liability to them because at some time they will have to return it to you.

Who Owns The Money You Have In Your Hand

Money is no longer backed by gold. In the United States, the “Gold Certificate” label on paper money was replaced by “Federal Reserve Note.” What does that mean? It means that today’s currency is fiat money, money with no intrinsic value. Fiat money cannot be made into jewellery, baked into bread, smoked or otherwise put to use and it is not backed by any commodity. No government or bank has promised to exchange anything for your bills. These bills are money “by fiat,” which means the government has simply declared it to be money. “Gold Certificate” meant that money could be traded for gold, but “Federal Reserve Note” doesn’t really mean anything. It’s just a label for a worthless piece of paper representing the debt by the entire society to the holder.

From a Christian point of view, it might seem odd that people trade goods and services for fiat money. Take a construction worker, for example. He works hard all day using his strength and energy and often endures long hours of strenuous activity. What does he get in return?  Nothing he can eat or wear. His employer gives him a fistful of worthless pieces of paper. Why does he bother to work? The answer: he can trade the worthless pieces of paper for things he needs or values. The paper is a medium of exchange. The baker will give him bread for the worthless paper because  the baker knows that others will accept the worthless paper from him. With fiat, people accept worthless paper because everybody else does. Thanks to this behavior, dollar bills serve their purpose as money.

Today’s fiat money, such as paper money, is still intrinsically worthless, but is deemed to be money by the Government. Paper money circulates, but it is not backed up by anything other than the Government’s promise that it will refrain from printing too much money so as to make it entirely worthless. Since Bretton Woods and the demonetization of precious metals, money the world over is fiat.  The problem is sometimes governments break their promise.

Money’s True Nature

What makes something like paper, copper, or silver, money is not its quality or intrinsic value, but the functions they perform in human economy and society. This is clearer now that there is no relationship between currency and precious metals. A set of social, cultural political and economic, arrangements are required for the money to operate. Therefore, human societies and their money evolved together, the nature and functions of money changing through time within cultural, economic, societal and political contexts. For this reason we cannot import wholesale what the Bible says about money and apply it to your own situation, indeed this could not be done for any other historical period. Money in the Biblical period operated under a different set of socio-economic and political arrangements which differ considerably from that of today.

Today, money is regaining its true nature of a right or title to acquire some satisfaction in the future. This satisfaction must be in the form of goods or services from someone else. When you accept money in exchange for another commodity, you cannot eat, drink, wear, or shelter with it. In addition, it provides no satisfaction for the product you have given up or the labor you have put out. You agreed to accept it in exchange for your goods or services, because you believe or have confidence, you can exchange it for some satisfaction, at any time you please in the future. This is actually Credit and a kind of security. Money itself is nothing but a kind of Security, which we receive upon parting with our goods or services. It is hope or assurance, that we shall be repaid in some other or even the same commodity in the future.

How True Money Works

You provided me with some goods and in return I gave you a hundred dollars. You now have a hundred dollar bill in your hand. What does it mean in your hands? It is   evidence of you having provided some goods to a member of society and you did NOT get some other goods in return. You have allowed me, another member of society, to enjoy your goods. This hundred dollar bill states the value of the goods  you provided to me and also witnessed you received nothing in return from me; an equivalent of goods or services, as is your right in an exchange.

The bill also gives you the right, to goods or services to the value of one hundred dollars from anyone in society and you can exercise that right when and how you please. Our Society, by my hands, has given you a title, in the form of an hundred dollar bill, to goods or services sometime in the future. Society owe you this amount of goods and services.

It follows that the more fiat money a person has the greater the amount of goods and services he has right to at his time of choosing. Everyone in society is indebted to him for this amount. The receipt of payment issued by a single person is securely guaranteed by the entire society. Whoever is holding the money is more advantaged to keep it as long as possible rather than present it for collection.

Notice also, if profit is ignored, you are not richer because you have the hundred dollar bill, because you had to give something, goods or labor, of equivalent value to get it. Money, therefore cannot make you rich unless you acquire it but did not surrender an equal amount of goods or services.

Another example: Take the case of an American woman vacationing in Europe. How does she live there? European Society feeds, accommodates, entertain and do for her many other things. For all these things, requiring labor, travel arrangements, and commercial operations, what goods or services did this woman give to European Society? NONE. Why then are all these people performing actual services and giving their goods to her?

Her husband is a medical doctor who rendered services to American society and received, not goods and services, but money; the right to demand other goods and services, in the future, in the place, and in the form of his choice. It is for these goods and services society is paying today. A number of operations took place to reach this result, and all persons doing these operations were compensated for their pains. The rights accumulated by her husband have passed from hand to hand culminating in the consumption of this woman.

CONCLUSION

We desire or demand stuff for the satisfaction they give, but only desire money as a means of getting stuff. Money represents debt; or services due to the its holder, and it represents the right or title, which its holders have to demand some product or service in recompense for some service they have done to someone else.

As long as nations continue in a low state of civilization, all the Money, or Credit, is made of some material substance. But when they advance in civilization they make use of intangible money. At this point in our development, the world is a global village and fiat money is almost universal and necessarily so. We are obliged to use money every day to live, it may no longer be possible to pursue self-sufficiency to the point where we don’t use money.