How can you say I worship false gods???

There are many who claim that the word ‘mammon’ is merely the Aramaic word for ‘wealth’ and that there is no such God.

I am here to tell you that the worship of mammon is a religion every bit as much as any other—regardless of whether its god is truly a demon or merely an idea—and that he stands for more than merely wealth or avarice: he is the apotheosis of human practicality.

After all, we have to have at least some common sense to be able to navigate this world, right? Better yet, the more “street smarts” you have, the more successful and prosperous you can be. Our entire lives are dedicated to this principle, from nursery school to college degrees to success in the business world. And who can argue that such application of hard work, determination and the desire to provide for a family…are wrong???

The answer is that such things are certainly not wrong. The difficulty arises when this sense of practicality comes between us and a true, heartfelt love for God and His commandments.

That is easily said, but vague—and vaguely irritating. Why?

The answer lies in the nearly seamless way in which this practical ‘business sense’ has become enmeshed as part of our culture. It is nearly impossible to see how something as simple as wanting to succeed in business could be construed as a religion, much less as worshipping a false god. After all, most successful businessmen are Church-attending Christians.

But upon closer inspection, the seams begin to show—and to fray—when the precepts of one religion conflict with the other. Ethical concerns are merely the tip of the iceberg in this respect. The most insidious ways in which conflict between Christianity and Mammon worship can be seen are often more subtle: They are those times when we dismiss the exhortations of Christ as utterly impractical and therefore ridiculous, even annoying or childish.

Nor is this a new concept; scripture tells the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life:

Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me. And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:21-24

When we are faced with moments like this, where true faith in Christ becomes inconvenient, impractical, unbusinesslike, even downright impossible, our true faith shows. Do we cling to our trust in the Lord and become ‘of such heavenly mind we are of no earthly good’, or do we cling to the safety and comfort of normalcy—of the things we can see, touch and prove? The answer seems practical enough.

Perhaps you are beginning to see that “practicality” is at best a very lukewarm Christianity, which, when hard pressed, resembles Christianity very little. It is not Christianity. We cannot serve two masters. Either worldliness is our goal, or heaven. We really can’t have both, as we can see from this passage from the Epistle of St. James:

Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God. But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he saith: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Be subject therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he will fly from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

James 4:5-8

And to those who would argue that this “common sense” is human nature, I wholeheartedly agree: and in the same breath I will say that you have proved my point, since we know that our nature is one of sinfulness:

And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6

None is good but one, that is God.

Mark 10: 18

At which point we are left with the rest of the story of the rich man:

And when they had heard this, the disciples wondered very much, saying: Who then can be saved?

And Jesus beholding, said to them: With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 19:25-26

It is impossible for us to attain heaven—especially due to our prosperity—by our own devices. Only by throwing ourselves upon the mercy of the Lord, as a child throws himself upon the lap of his mother, can we hope to call ourselves true Christians. If we truly love Christ, we must despise Mammon. If despising Mammon means becoming as a leper, so be it.

Amen I say to you, there is no man who hath left house or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, Who shall not receive an hundred times as much, now in this time; houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions: and in the world to come life everlasting.

Mark 10:29-30

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