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![You cannot serve both God and money.
Jesus uses these pointed words after briefly talking about the difference between storing up treasures on earth versus storing up treasures in heaven.
Too many times I’ve heard these words shallowly refer to the pursuit of wealth, the middle class rat-race that pushes us to consume and ascend the societal ladder (or at least stake our claim and stay there).
But, given the cultural circumstances, there’s absolutely zero chance that this is what Jesus was talking about. Now, I think they are related. But I also think Jesus was getting at something deeper and infinitely more pervasive.
After all, greed is just a symptom of a heart issue.
Greed is a symptom that we’re slaves to our own productivity.
It’s not really “God against money.” It’s “God against us.”
When Jesus says that you can’t love God and money, or Mammon (our assets, possessions, capital, etc.), he’s putting God against…
not money…
but all the things we tend to put our trust in other than God.
Things temporal. Things that disappoint. Things that rot & fade. Shallow, superficial things that will need to be replaced before we even enjoy them (if that’s at all possible).
Just as he had just challenged the temptation to replace the pursuit of God with the pursuit of religious activities like prayer & fasting, Jesus is now addressing the age old temptation to replace God with… wait for it… ourselves.
Because, at the end of the day, isn’t the temptation to define ourselves by the accumulation of our stuff?
[photo via deviantART]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5wy7hjf981qzotf2o1_500.jpg)
You cannot serve both God and money.
Jesus uses these pointed words after briefly talking about the difference between storing up treasures on earth versus storing up treasures in heaven.
Too many times I’ve heard these words shallowly refer to the pursuit of wealth, the middle class rat-race that pushes us to consume and ascend the societal ladder (or at least stake our claim and stay there).
But, given the cultural circumstances, there’s absolutely zero chance that this is what Jesus was talking about. Now, I think they are related. But I also think Jesus was getting at something deeper and infinitely more pervasive.
After all, greed is just a symptom of a heart issue.
Greed is a symptom that we’re slaves to our own productivity.
It’s not really “God against money.” It’s “God against us.”
When Jesus says that you can’t love God and money, or Mammon (our assets, possessions, capital, etc.), he’s putting God against…
not money…
but all the things we tend to put our trust in other than God.
Things temporal. Things that disappoint. Things that rot & fade. Shallow, superficial things that will need to be replaced before we even enjoy them (if that’s at all possible).
Just as he had just challenged the temptation to replace the pursuit of God with the pursuit of religious activities like prayer & fasting, Jesus is now addressing the age old temptation to replace God with… wait for it… ourselves.
Because, at the end of the day, isn’t the temptation to define ourselves by the accumulation of our stuff?
[photo via deviantART]
