Avoiding Mammon.

[Carl Emerson]

In this age more than any other, enabled by the internet and social media, commercialism has huge control over lives and news is sensational first - to sell.

This seems to produce in many an addiction for hype.

Can I suggest this is, for a believer, very important to avoid.

As we are presented a choice between God and mammon, we must be careful to consider what is gripping our time.

If our first responsibility is to walk daily in the good works pre-prepared for us - this is where our focus should be.

If we love Jesus we will always seek His ways first.

 

[Curiousmind]

Define what Mammon is, I see nothing wrong in earning money in a honest way.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Jesus said... Matt 6:24

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

It is a matter of what has a hold on you.

Are you in the grip of God, or is your life focus on being more wealthy?

Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you...

So Mammon is a strong spiritual entity that drives folks to gain more and more money.

Money is not evil, but the love of it is...

We must love God first.

 

[bèlla]

Mammon is more than commercialism. It was actually a deity worshipped in pre-Christian times. I'll share more about him below.

The demon Mammon is a Fallen Angel who rules in Hell as an archdemon and prince of tempters. The name Mammon in Aramaic means “riches.” He embodies the second of the Seven Deadly Sins, avarice. Mammon is equated with Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub. He serves as hell’s ambassador to England. --The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology

Here's an excerpt on Pre-Christian practices:

Mammon was highly esteemed and worshipped by the Phoenicians. It is also worth noting that Mammon is known as “Hell’s Treasurer” and “Hell’s Ambassador to England”. This isn’t an arbitrary claim, for it was in part due to Mammon-focused rituals that an isolated island state became the world’s greatest maritime power, following in the steps of the ancient Phoenicians who ruled the Meditteranean.

In both cases trade led to wealth, and wealth led to great political power and influence. What preceded their ascent was the work of magicians, not just the practical steps taken by men of action.

The article mentions five additional demons related to wealth. Practitioners would work with Mammon and others to achieve their aims. He's the overarching demon of wealth and the others have specific aptitudes.

He provides an example of working with Mammon.

As a simple example, a businessman could summon Mammon to help grow his business and profits, but he could also summon demon #2 to speed up the process and demon #3 to help him with the organizational side more specifically, since demon #3 is concerned with hierarchies.

If the company is in the technical field, summoning demon #4 could lead to great insights and ideas by the summoner or perhaps a close associate, which could lead to the creation of a very profitable product for the company. Demon #5 could be summoned to prevent the theft of ideas or human resources from competitors or to infiltrate their own ranks.

These are examples of serving Mammon. The practices are ritualistic. They pay homage to him the way we'd pay homage to God. You can't serve both because it's idolatry. Mammon doesn't appear because you like money, expensive things or lots of stuff. You have to summon him and pay for his help. It isn't free.

The world is full of greedy people. But they're not wealthy, famous or successful. He's not helping them.

~bella

 

[Carl Emerson]

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Singapore - the annual auction for Idols - great celebration and crazy prices for wood and stone.

Asian businesses are largely driven by spiritual darkness.

 

[timewerx]

These are examples of serving Mammon. The practices are ritualistic. They pay homage to him the way we'd pay homage to God. You can't serve both because it's idolatry. Mammon doesn't appear because you like money, expensive things or lots of stuff. You have to summon him and pay for his help. It isn't free.

The Devil himself can also serve the function the false god Mammon without any elaborate rituals.

People who worship the devil in exactly the same way many Christians worship God get rich. Many do.

 

[timewerx]

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Singapore - the annual auction for Idols - great celebration and crazy prices for wood and stone.

Asian businesses are largely driven by spiritual darkness.

This is true even in Asian countries that are mostly Christian by demography.

Love of money is strong in the region even if they don't admit it. Ironically, many do admit they love money.

However, there's really nothing supernatural in their success.

If you strive to become a friend of this world and have strong sense of discipline and restraint, you have good chances of getting rich. Yet, Jesus doesn't want us to become friends with the world because the world is evil. To become friends with the world is to become friends with evil.

 

[bèlla]

The Devil himself can also serve the function the false god Mammon without any elaborate rituals.

People who worship the devil in exactly the same way many Christians worship God get rich. Many do.

Enticement and reward aren't one and the same. He may entice someone to fall prey to greed but that doesn't mean mammon is working on their behalf. That's a different matter.

Fallen angels have no benevolence towards us. They're anti-christ. Everything they do is meant to malign the Most High. Helping us through demonic means supports that.

~bella

 

[bèlla]

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Singapore - the annual auction for Idols - great celebration and crazy prices for wood and stone.

Asian businesses are largely driven by spiritual darkness.

Yes! The statues you see in hotels, stores and restaurants aren't happenstance. That's the spirit they're using to draw in customers and compel them to spend money.

~bella

 

[Solo81]

In this age more than any other, enabled by the internet and social media, commercialism has huge control over lives and news is sensational first - to sell.

This seems to produce in many an addiction for hype.

Can I suggest this is, for a believer, very important to avoid.

As we are presented a choice between God and mammon, we must be careful to consider what is gripping our time.

If our first responsibility is to walk daily in the good works pre-prepared for us - this is where our focus should be.

If we love Jesus we will always seek His ways first.

How do you recommend Christians avoid mammon/money in 2024?
Serious question.

 

[Carl Emerson]

How do you recommend Christians avoid mammon/money in 2024?
Serious question.

Mannon is not money - it is the principality that drives people to seek wealth independent of seeking, gaining understanding and obeying of God's will first.

Can we agree on this first, then I can suggest how we can achieve freedom from it's influence.

 

[Solo81]

Mannon is not money - it is the principality that drives people to seek wealth independent of seeking, gaining understanding and obeying of God's will first.

Can we agree on this first, then I can suggest how we can achieve freedom from it's influence.

We can't agree on your interpretation, no.
In #3, you cite Mt 26 in which Jesus clearly equates mammon with money - not a Principality. It's not your place to change the definitions...well, you are free to do so but we'll part ways if that's the avenue you're going down.

 

[Carl Emerson]

We can't agree on your interpretation, no.
In #3, you cite Mt 26 in which Jesus clearly equates mammon with money - not a Principality. It's not your place to change the definitions...well, you are free to do so but we'll part ways if that's the avenue you're going down.

Jesus used money - He supplied it for paying tax. He also had a money-bag that Judas stole from.

He does not equate mammon with money - read the quote again...

Jesus said... Matt 6:24

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

The key word is serve...

Serving money was the sin He was exposing.

It is a matter of what has a hold on you.

Are you in the grip of God, or is your life focus on being more wealthy?

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Money it's self is not the issue here - loving and serving it is.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

I can't help but think that the issue is not just service but submitting to what is the lot of the royal priesthood. Our lot is God Himself just as was that of the Levites. Joshua 13:32-33, Joshua 18:7 They may not have all worked in the temple but they still were not to own land. In the same way God is our inheritance and should be respected as such. To serve material matters is unlawful.
To avoid the flack that I know will come back from that I will only say that spiritually speaking we are to avoid self effort and rather lean on God for all His blessings.
Not a popular topic tho.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I can't help but think that the issue is not just service but submitting to what is the lot of the royal priesthood. Our lot is God Himself just as was that of the Levites. Joshua 13:32-33, Joshua 18:7 They may not have all worked in the temple but they still were not to own land. In the same way God is our inheritance and should be respected as such. To serve material matters is unlawful.
To avoid the flack that I know will come back from that I will only say that spiritually speaking we are to avoid self effort and rather lean on God for all His blessings.
Not a popular topic tho.

Yes I relate to much of what you say, however it is worth remembering that Jesus promised Houses and Land to His followers who left same for the sake of the Gospel.

28 Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” 29Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

 

[The Liturgist]

Reminds me of what I witnessed in Singapore - the annual auction for Idols - great celebration and crazy prices for wood and stone.

Asian businesses are largely driven by spiritual darkness.

And unfortunately this has also become increasingly common among larger Western businesses as amoral atheists have taken over the boardroom and upper management at a great many companies. For example, so many consumer-facing companies have cynically embraced sexual perversion because the leading marketing textbook in the English speaking world, Armstrong and Kotler, in the mid 2000s at least, made a point of stressing how homosexual men have more disposable income than heterosexual men, because they usually do not have children, and tend to be unmarried despite this being legal largely due to corporate lobbying.