What are the schemes of the spirit of mammon?
Discussion question for December 2, 2011. Note: No meeting on November 25.
We learned that money and mammon are not synonyms, but that there is an evil spirit of mammon that controls worldly riches. What are the symptoms of this spirit of mammon at work? How does he tempt people? What tools does he use to control? How can you guard against his schemes?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
The spirit of mammon, or personification of the love of money, has a purpose. It is to destroy the reflection of God in His works. To that end, mammon destroys blessings from God by making man view them as a curse. Mammon also corrupts mankind from being an accurate reflection of God to demonstration evil character instead. It also distracts people from being about the business of the kingdom. It tempts people into putting their trust in the wrong place, leading to idolatry.
Perhaps the leading tool of the spirit of mammon is fear. People are controlled by fear introduced through the love of money. It can be a fear of not having enough (poverty mentality), or it can be a fear of losing what you have (loss mentality). Another powerful tool of mammon is greed. People are controlled by greed so they make accumulation or protection their greatest priority.
It is said that these two powerful emotions are the driving force for every market. It is evident in the stock exchanges, bartering systems, and retail stores. The spirit of mammon has used these forces to a great extent.
Another tool of mammon is the use of currency. Wealth is long term and has to do with ownership and stewardship. Currency is related to wealth by common agreement, but is not the same as wealth. Instead, it is a unit of measure that is designed specifically for ease of trading and exchange. This is one of the reasons that an estate is spent in just over a year when it is passed from one generation to another. In most cases the wealth is converted into currency (sold for cash) so it can be divided, but it never gets converted back into wealth. Instead it is used to purchase consumables and depreciating items.
Another tool of mammon is daily valuation of wealth. When a retirement account was measured only as future monthly income, people did not respond in fear or greed to fluctuations in value. Now we have instant pricing and valuations on portfolios and accounts. Fear and greed have instant markers on which to base opinion and feed discontent.
Another tool of mammon is a desire for independence. Our culture expresses this as the American dream of retiring from work to live a life of carefree leisure. The dream is built on dependence free living, or accumulating sufficient wealth for the sole purpose of self gratification. This type of hedonism can be viewed as a good value, but it is at cross purposes with man’s purpose as determined by God.
We can guard against the schemes of mammon by focusing on God’s will: take possession of the earth and manage it (stewardship). When we take wealth out of the control of mammon and make it useful for the Kingdom, then we are working with God instead of mammon. All the earth is God’s possession, so He will bless us with it as we steward it for Him. We become immune to fear and greed, and are equipped to distinguish between wealth and money.
When we overcome the spirit of mammon we will be able to provide an inheritance to our children’s children.