Chapter 5: Changing Our View of Mammon. First, let's look at one of the most challenging of Jesus' revolutionary laws. It concerns the very thing that most humans seek: wealth and prosperity. Earthly governments rarely forbid their citizens to store up earthly treasures, but the government of Jesus does.
Our King has commanded us, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." What? I can't accumulate treasures here on earth? Why not?
Jesus explains, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." We saw in the last chapter that Jesus will not allow His subjects to relegate Him to a secondary role in their lives. In fact, He went on to say, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon." In short, Jesus has to be our only master.
Most earthly governments don't object to our serving Mammon, material things, so long as we also fulfill the obligations that they place on us. Yet, in time of war, even earthly governments expect us to put our country ahead of material concerns. The government will conscript men into the army regardless of what effect that may have on their incomes or businesses. In such times, all things must take second place to national interests.
Again, the Kingdom of God is no different, except that it requires more, not less, than earthly governments. And as I've said, God's Kingdom is always at war. Material pursuits will always conflict with the commitments the Kingdom requires of us. Does that mean we're supposed to quit our jobs or leave our businesses? Not necessarily, Jesus explained. "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Jesus didn't tell us that we couldn't provide material things for ourselves and our families, but He did say that we have to be seeking the Kingdom first. Our jobs and our businesses have to be relegated to a secondary place if we want to remain in His Kingdom. And what does Jesus promise us if we seek His Kingdom first? Material prosperity? No.
He simply promises us that God will provide for our basic needs: food, clothing, and some type of shelter. When it comes to material possessions, not only does God's Kingdom have different laws, it has a completely different set of values. "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God." Most of us have become so deadened to the beatitudes that we don't even recognize the radical, revolutionary statement that Jesus made there. It's a blessing to be poor? How many of us believe that?
I mean, really believe it. When we drive by a poor Christian's house, do we say in our hearts, "What a blessing! Look how God has blessed that family!"? Let's be honest, very few of us do. That's because we don't really believe in our hearts that poverty is a blessing. In contrast, I can't count how many times Christians have shown me their lovely houses and abundant possessions saying, "Look at what the Lord has given us!" The next time someone tells me that, I'm tempted to reply, "Really?
Why on earth would He do that? Do you have any idea why God is cursing you?" When will we wake up and believe Jesus? He tells us, "Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." Prosperity is a snare, not a blessing. Godly poverty is a blessing, not a curse. This calls for a paradigm shift, as radical as realizing that what we once thought was a ship is really a lighthouse.
"Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content; but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness." So if I'm poor, does that mean I automatically have a good standing with Christ? No. Because it isn't enough simply to be poor. Just because we're poor doesn't mean that we're seeking first the Kingdom. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used a slightly different expression than He did in the Sermon on the Plain recorded in Luke 6.
In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." That expression, "poor in spirit," is not used anywhere else in Scripture. Many modern commentators think it means "downhearted" or "humble." Perhaps so. However, a second-century Christian elder, Clement of Alexandria, interpreted it quite differently.
He understood Jesus to be saying, "Blessed are the ones who are poor in their souls." That is, regardless of how little or how much they have, their souls are detached from material things. After all, a person can be literally poor yet be quite covetous in spirit. In fact, the vast majority of the poor of this world are not poor in spirit. Their souls are not focused on the Kingdom, but on Mammon. Worldly poverty is not by choice. Many worldly poor have their hearts set on obtaining more material things.
They envy the rich and middle classes. In fact, their desire for Mammon is so strong that they typically go into debt to buy what they can't afford. Some worldly poor behave dishonestly and even steal. Typically, they are behind on payments they have agreed to make. They may skip town leaving bills unpaid, or they may declare consumer bankruptcy and leave their creditors holding the bag. The worldly poor are sometimes just as much into conspicuous consumption as are the rich.
That is, they want to wear the most stylish clothes or drive an eye-catching car. The truth is that they are lovers of money, just as are the rich. Another type of the worldly poor are those who are simply lazy or irresponsible. They may devote little time to earning Mammon, which may be commendable. However, they end up being a burden on others: their church, parents, friends, or the government. Now, I'm not speaking about persons who are unable to work, such as the elderly, sick, and disabled.
Sometimes they have no money because they squander their money on liquor, gambling, tobacco, illegal drugs, and other such things. Those of the worldly poor who profess to be Christians do very little for the Kingdom. They don't work for Mammon, but they don't work for Christ either. In contrast, Kingdom poverty is by choice. Some of the Kingdom poor are formerly wealthy Christians, but they gave their wealth away to help the needy. Others were already poor, and they remain poor by choice.
The godly poor are not just poor externally, but internally as well. The plans of their hearts focus on the Kingdom, not on how to acquire more Mammon. The Kingdom poor don't envy others who are more prosperous, for they truly believe that being poor is a blessing. So why would they envy the rich? After all, the rich are missing a blessing. The Kingdom poor are not lazy, but hardworking. Depending on their circumstances, they may have to work full-time to provide for the needs of their families.
They well know that the Scriptures teach, "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." But whether they work full or part-time, they are also hard workers for the Kingdom. The Kingdom poor are not covetous. They don't buy things they can't afford, and they don't buy consumer goods on credit. They honor their obligations because their yes means yes, and their no means no. The Kingdom poor may live by means of the Gospel, and that is honorable before God so long as they work hard in their King's service.
But the Kingdom poor do not live off their parents, friends, or welfare agencies. They are not a burden to others. Theoretically, a person can have a relative abundance of this world's goods and yet still be poor in spirit. That is, Mammon is his servant, not his master. Paul is a good example of someone who is poor in spirit. As he told the Philippians, "I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Whether he had plenty or had little, Paul was detached from his material possessions. He had no hesitation to let go of them when the need arose. Yet even in his abundance, I doubt Paul was ever rich. And we should all realize that it is extremely difficult to be literally rich but still be poor in spirit.
As Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." If we own treasure here on earth, our heart will be on that treasure. We will fret about maintaining it, and we will worry about losing it somehow.
For that reason, Jesus said on another occasion, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." As we saw in the previous chapter, Jesus told us quite plainly, "Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple." Obviously, the more things we have to forsake, the harder it is to let go of them. We can fool ourselves into believing that we are still poor in spirit, but we aren't going to fool Jesus.
He knows where our treasure lies, even if we don't. The radical teachings of Jesus on wealth should shake the souls of all American Christians. Why? Because we are the wealthiest nation on earth. In fact, the United States is the wealthiest country that has ever existed in human history. In 2002, Americans as a nation earned enough to equal $36,300 for every man, woman, and child in America. Half of the families in America earn at least $56,000 per year.
At the same time, the typical American family doesn't feel particularly wealthy. That's because their standard of living is about the same as other families that live around them. In fact, we Americans typically complain about how tight times are. We whine about how hard it is to make ends meet. But usually, a single trip to a third-world country will open an American's eyes to the enormous wealth that we have as a nation. We Americans are truly rich, whether we recognize it or not.
Throughout most of the world, any family that earned $56,000 per year will be considered extremely wealthy. As I have mentioned, the current per capita income in the United States is $36,300 per person. In contrast, the per capita income in Romania is only $6,800 per year, less than one-fifth of American per capita income. Yet the per capita income of Romania is higher than most countries of the world. It's over twice as high as Honduras, whose per capita income is only $2,600 per year.
But the per capita income of Honduras is over twice as high as that of Uganda, which is only $1,200 per year. And Uganda is more than twice as high as Somalia, at $550 per year. So the per capita income of Americans is over 66 times that of the Somalians. In other words, we earn in five and a half days what a typical Somalian earns in a year. So where does that put us in relation to the Kingdom of God?
We Americans are rich, and Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Contrary to what most Christians think, the riches of America are not a blessing from God. Equating material prosperity with God's blessing is a facade of the old value system. It shows we haven't made the necessary paradigm shift. In the Kingdom of God, the poor are blessed, and the rich have to struggle with getting the camel through the eye of a needle.
Are we American Christians without hope? No, for Jesus gave us the slenderous thread of hope. When his disciples heard his words on the difficulty of a rich man entering the Kingdom, they were astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." So there is hope for the rich, thanks to God's intervention.
But we Americans are only fooling ourselves if we think we're all going to squeeze through this narrow exception. If we hope to fall within this exception, we definitely need to be certain that we're in the forefront of doing what Jesus said was central to his values. The King will say to those on his right hand, "Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." So there is one good use to which money can be put, a use with eternal value: feeding, clothing, sheltering, and visiting the sick, the poor, and the imprisoned.
And if we prosperous American Christians want to remain in God's Kingdom, these ministries to others need to be central to us, just as they are to Jesus. I find it so strange that among Bible-believing Christians, serving the poor is typically viewed as a second-class ministry. If you're not out saving souls, then many consider your ministry to be essentially valueless. However, in the Kingdom, we let Jesus dictate what's valuable and what's not. And he says he considers helping the poor to be a central ministry.
In fact, he says it will be a prime determinant of who inherits the Kingdom and who doesn't. Sharing with the poor is just as important as preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Most American Christians will claim that the Kingdom truly comes first in their lives. "Sure, I have considerable treasure here on earth, but none of it means anything to me. My heart is on Jesus, not on these earthly treasures." That's what most of us say, isn't it? Perhaps that's what you yourself claim. And maybe it's the truth.
But the heart of man is treacherous. That's why we all should do a thorough self-examination to determine what our hearts are really focused on. Here are some simple questions that may help you to do that.
If you are a breadwinner, take a sheet of paper and write down the number of hours you spend each week in earning money, including commuting time, the number of hours you devote each week to cleaning, maintaining, purchasing, and looking after material possessions, the number of hours you devote each week to Kingdom interests.
I'm referring to activities such as witnessing, visiting the sick, feeding and clothing the poor, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and other activities designed to take care of your family's spiritual needs or to further God's Kingdom. Now, compare the number of hours you spend each week in Kingdom interests with the amount of hours you spend each week to earn and take care of material things. Where does most of your time go? Obviously, some secular work is necessary to provide for the necessities of life.
But do we really think we're going to be able to convince Jesus that we are working only for the necessities of life, not to maintain the comfortable American lifestyle? Which comes first when there is a conflict between our jobs and our Kingdom commitments? Does our employment require us to frequently or regularly miss church? Does it leave us too tired to do anything meaningful for the Kingdom of God? Do we feel we've met our Kingdom commitments if we talk 10 minutes a day to the King and his Father?
If you are a homemaker, you might ask yourself the following questions: Would I be content if my husband earned only the necessities of life, or does he have to provide considerably more to keep me happy? Do I spend more money than what my husband earns? Do I complain to my husband about the lack of money? What percentage of the material possessions in our home are items that I am clinging to rather than items my husband is clinging to? A husband often bears the brunt of his wife's materialism.
That's because her materialism will typically push him to work longer hours or change to a better-paying job that destroys his spiritual life. She may complain about the long hours her husband works, but her spending and her wants may drive him to work those hours. So if you're a Christian wife, make certain that you're putting Kingdom interests first. If you're truly a Kingdom Christian, make certain that your husband knows that you're happy with the basic necessities of life.
But don't just say it in words; show him this is so by how you live, how you spend, and what you ask for. Just this one teaching of Jesus requires quite a paradigm shift, doesn't it? In the Kingdom, the value of material things is just the opposite of what they are in this world. But Mammon is just the start. There are many more shifts of value we must make in order to fit into God's Kingdom. Yet don't despair. Jesus never requires anything of us except those things he knows we can do through his power.