It is not uncommon to equate the rich with the love of money. Many would also agree that Christians should not pursue, or even desire, riches — and that anyone who does is a lover of money.
While the above is often true, this obscures Mammon’s true power. Such a simplistic view in respect of money masks the ‘unclear and present danger’ that has ruined the lives of many, including God-fearing believers.
How Love of Money Keeps its Victims Poor
As long as people focus all their attention on the love of money that longs for riches, they will never spot the love of money that keeps them locked in poverty and constant financial struggle.
Anyone who finds themselves trapped in this cycle has, in all likelihood, failed to recognize a key truth; that the love of money is a state of heart and a state of mind. The gain, or loss, of riches is merely a direction of travel.
The love of money is a state of heart and a state of mind. The gain, or loss, of riches is merely a direction of travel.
Rich Abba, Holy Abba
This is an important truth to grasp. As long as we fail to apprehend this truth, we forever:
- Relegate ourselves to a life of financial struggle.
- Fool ourselves into believing that we have rooted out the love of money by ‘not pursuing riches’ when, in fact, the love of money is alive and well in our hearts.
- Ensure that Mammon’s power over us continues to keep us in a place of lack — of both time, and money
A Life of Financial Struggle
The sad truth is that many people, including Christians, who eschew the pursuit of riches will spend their entire income on mundane middle-class pursuits. These include take-out meals, restaurants and entertainment in the form of films, books, games and hobbies. Or fashion, jewelry, golf and club memberships.
They accept that they will never own a a luxury yacht, or a private jet but they will ensure that they have the latest iPhone, Games Console, and 4K TV, all bought on credit.
They make their peace with the fact that they will never own a $300,000 Lamborghini— but they will take on crippling consumer debt to buy a $40,000 car for which they can barely afford the monthly payments.
These hard-working folk know they will never own a beach-front mansion or a $30M Manhattan Penthouse but they will stretch their mortgage to breaking point in order to buy that home with the extra bedroom, bigger garden, or swimming pool that they so desperately want.
As the expenses and interest payments mount, these families find themselves living from pay-check to pay-check, often using their credit cards to buy food for the month. They flounder and battle to keep their heads above water just until their year-end bonus finally comes through and gives them the breathing room they so desperately need. One moment of bliss in which they are able to come up for air… just in time for Christmas.
Small wonder that people in such a predicament don’t believe money has any power over them. ‘How could it?’ they think. ‘We never hold on to the stuff long enough to develop any taste for it.’
In truth, it is this materialistic love of money that keeps these families in financial bondage. The only problem is that the love of money, in this particular form, keeps its victims in a perpetual state of serfdom rather than making them rich. It is the ‘unclear and present danger’ that hides its true nature in the fact that, no matter how much money they earn, its victims always feel poor.