Mammon
The Word and Its Meaning
Mammon is derived from the Aramaic word mamon, meaning wealth, riches, or material possessions. It is not the name of a specific pagan deity, despite later traditions that personified it as a demon of greed. In the Gospels, Jesus uses the term to represent the spiritual power that wealth can exercise when it becomes the object of ultimate allegiance. The word appears in both Matthew and Luke, always on the lips of Jesus, underscoring its importance in his teaching about the spiritual dangers of money.
You Cannot Serve Both God and Mammon
The most famous use of mammon appears in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). Jesus presents the choice in absolute terms. Wealth, when treated as a master, demands the same total loyalty that God demands. Divided loyalty is impossible because the two masters pull in opposite directions. The pursuit of riches for their own sake inevitably conflicts with wholehearted devotion to God.
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Jesus' teaching on mammon reaches its fullest expression in the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-13). A manager about to lose his position shrewdly used his master's resources to secure future relationships. Jesus commented, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings" (Luke 16:9). He then added, "If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" (Luke 16:11). Jesus calls wealth "unrighteous mammon" not because money is inherently evil, but because it is frequently misused and because it belongs to the present age rather than to the eternal kingdom.
The parable does not commend dishonesty but rather the foresight of using present resources wisely in light of the future. The shrewd manager is praised for his prudence, not his ethics. The application is that believers should use their material resources generously and strategically, recognizing that earthly wealth is temporary and that its best use is in service of God's kingdom.
Mammon and the Rich
Jesus' teaching on mammon is part of a broader biblical concern about the spiritual dangers of wealth. He told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21), and after the man walked away sadly, Jesus observed, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), which immediately follows the mammon teaching, illustrates the eternal consequences of using wealth selfishly rather than compassionately.
Stewardship Rather Than Ownership
Jesus' teaching on mammon reframes the relationship between people and their possessions. Wealth does not truly belong to us; we are stewards managing resources that ultimately belong to God. The question is not whether we have wealth but whether wealth has us. Paul echoed this teaching when he wrote to Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10), and instructed the rich "to be generous and willing to share" (1 Timothy 6:18). The early church embodied this teaching by sharing possessions so that "there were no needy persons among them" (Acts 4:34).
The Ongoing Challenge of Mammon
Jesus' warning about mammon remains as relevant today as it was in first-century Palestine. The personification of wealth as a rival master speaks to the human tendency to find security, identity, and purpose in material possessions rather than in God. The call to use mammon wisely rather than to serve it challenges every generation to examine whether their relationship with money reflects trust in God or trust in riches.
Biblical Context
The word mammon appears four times in the New Testament, all in the teachings of Jesus: Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:9, 11, and 13. These passages are set within Jesus' broader teaching on wealth, anxiety, and the kingdom of God. In Matthew, the mammon saying is part of the Sermon on the Mount, following the teaching about storing up treasures in heaven. In Luke, it concludes the parable of the shrewd manager and leads directly into the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
Theological Significance
Jesus' teaching on mammon establishes that the human heart cannot be divided between God and any rival allegiance. By personifying wealth as a potential master, Jesus exposes the idolatrous power that money can exercise. The designation of wealth as 'unrighteous mammon' places material possessions in the category of things belonging to the present, fallen age, in contrast to the 'true riches' of God's kingdom. This teaching lays the foundation for a Christian ethic of generous stewardship, in which believers use worldly resources for eternal purposes rather than allowing those resources to control their lives.
Historical Background
The Aramaic word mamon was well established in Jewish usage before Jesus' time, appearing in later rabbinic literature as a common term for wealth or property. There is no evidence from the New Testament period of a Syrian deity named Mammon, though medieval writers sometimes personified mammon as a demon. The economic conditions of first-century Palestine, with sharp inequalities between wealthy landowners and impoverished peasants, provide the social backdrop for Jesus' repeated warnings about the dangers of wealth. The Roman tax system added to the economic pressures felt by ordinary people, making Jesus' teaching about money particularly resonant.