God or Mammon

The lust for power over others is the cause of most of the evil that takes place in our world. That lust for power is ingrained in human beings and has been from the beginning.

At times power over others comes from being bigger than other people; sometimes it is the force of the personality that achieves power; at other times, it is the accumulation of wealth that gives power over others. No matter what its source, the abuse of that power is a source of great evil and the exercise of that power almost always leads to abuse of that power.

Do you really understand the choice between the love of God and the love of wealth and power?

Do you understand the many ways this choice determines your overall personal development and contentment with life?

Jesus said:

"No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money [KJV – “mammon”]."

The Pharisees, who loved money [KJV – “who were covetous”], heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.

He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable [KJV – “an abomination”] in God's sight.” NIV Luke 16:13-15

What is "that which is highly esteemed among men" which is an "abomination in the sight of God"?

Wealth and power are the things "highly esteemed" by men: wealth and power are the benchmarks of what most people consider "success" in this life. But it is the method by which money and power are obtained which determines whether it is "mammon". Money is not the object of the desire of most people; it is what the accumulation of wealth can bring — power over others, the ability to control not only one's environment but to control other people. This lust for power permeates all human society: politics, business, and religion.

Just as in the rest of the animal kingdom, most human beings are not comfortable until a "pecking order" is established. This search for one's place in the "pecking order" results in a hierarchical system in almost every human organization. Hierarchy may be necessary for success in some organizations such as the military, where success depends on instant obedience of orders and an adherence of hundreds or even thousands in a military plan. Its use in any organization almost always results in corruption of the leaders and the followers — even in the military. Only by maintaining a continually changing civilian in control of the military does the military of the United States somewhat minimize corruption.

In the larger picture of individual development, participation in hierarchy results in loss of individual freedom. When the goal of an individual's life is the utmost development of individual potential, hierarchy stands boldly in the way of success. The development of individual potential throughout society is the only thing that truly advances that society.

The reason Communism is an abject failure, as proven by the failure of socialist governments throughout the world, is that Communism is second only to despotic totalitarianism in enforcing hierarchy. Yet communism is worse than despotic totalitarianism because Communism is not only totalitarian in nature but is dishonest. If a king, or tsar, or other high potentate has absolute control over government and the means of production, that person is recognized for what he is. Communism hides behind the naive concept of rule “by the will of the people”. Human nature will not allow this to truly happen but inserts a relatively small group of people (the Communist party) for the despot. It is this small group which decides what the “will of the people” is. This small group gives its allegiance to the strongest member of the group and until someone can knock this individual from his seat of power, that person serves as "king".

Today, those who still believe in the tenets of Marx must resort to subterfuge. They have seen the theories of Marx proven wrong in the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba and everywhere else people have tried to install real Communism, but they still are true believers. They rationalize the failures of these systems by claiming that the people who wound up as leaders somehow failed to follow the "truth". They believe that if only the "right" people (meaning themselves) could be placed in charge, the system would work.

Today, some are trying the paradigm of "triangulation": taking parts from communism, parts from totalitarianism and the rest from economic capitalism and combining them into regulatory socialism. The means of production are ostensibly left in the hands of private ownership while government controls the means of production through regulation and taxation. This system, too, will function badly or fail because the hierarchical system remains in control.

So far, only two systems of government have resulted in relative freedom of the individual: truly benevolent dictatorship and economic capitalism under a small federal government. Only the latter has existed beyond a few years, prevalently in the form of the governments of the United States and Great Britain though each now has absorbed a great many socialist programs into their governing system – especially Great Britain, but the United States under the Democrat Party Congress and the administration of Barack Obama may overtake the British in a relatively short while.

The last three hundred years of relative freedom of the individual in Western Society have resulted in the greatest advancements in society in human history. The statutory criminalization of slavery; the statutory proclamation of equality of all people under the law; and personal freedom to pursue almost any goal have never before been available to the "common man".

Why has society advanced under this form of government? Because, even with the flaws inherent in any government formed by humans, freedom from hierarchical control is greater than ever before in history. Although employment most often comes to citizens from a hierarchical company, the individual is free to leave one company and join another, or to form his own company. The free exchange of ideas mandated by the Bill of Rights amendments to the Constitution of the United States, mostly supported by the U. S. court system and now being propagated worldwide by the Internet, allows the common people to learn what possibilities through freedom are available to them for the first time in human history.

Why do all hierarchical systems of government fail sooner or later?

It is because they often deny the ultimate authority of God over humans and substitute the authority of a man or group of men as the ultimate arbiter of law. A hierarchical system that still allows individual freedom permits any individual to serve God in the ultimate sense even though he earns his "daily bread" from the hierarchical system. If the freedom to leave any system is maintained, a person who perceives his service to the Almighty is jeopardized by participation in one system may leave that one and join another.

Why is the lust for wealth and power "mammon"?

Jesus told us that we "cannot serve God and mammon." Why is this true and what does it have to do with our lives today? The lust for wealth and power is "mammon". [The Greek word, mammonas, means "treasure, or riches, where it is personified and opposed to God" according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and “material wealth or possessions, especially as having a debasing influence" according to Webster's New Intercollegiate Dictionary]

How does one obtain wealth and power? Other than by inventing or discovering information or a device desired by the public, or by inheriting wealth, the only way to obtain great wealth is by setting up a hierarchical system that allows the ruler and his minions to have power over and to take money and freedom from all those people under them. This hierarchical system is an abomination to God because the person at the top in some way supersedes or replaces God in the lives of those under him.

If you believe the Bible, this is a violation of the First Commandment:

"You shall have no other Gods before me." [Exodus 20: 3]

When you join any organization that has a hierarchical structure; when you, of your own free will, agree to be subservient to some head of one of these organizations, whether religious, political or social; you are to some extent choosing yourself a "god".

The President of the United States sets the subject matter and tone of the national debate; the CEO of a company, through his appointment of junior executives and the setting of company goals and policies, sets the agenda and largely determines the morale of a company; the pope, the priest, the minister or the preacher largely determine the focus and outlook of religious organizations. When we put our allegiance to these leaders in a superior position to our allegiance to God, we are serving "mammon". Jesus informed us that we could not serve both: "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other."

One who truly serves God will despise the hierarchical system. Only with governments in which individual freedom is allowed can one manipulate the system so that service to God supersedes service to the system and that person still remains a viable part of society. In other cases, service to God superseding serving the system results in loss of prestige, credibility and often the loss of freedom or even life.

This is the real sign of danger in the United States today: those who would maintain service to God over service to the system are denigrated, criticized as being "extremists" and otherwise excluded from their rightful place in mainstream thought in our society today. It was this freedom that made this country great. The loss of this freedom will result in the destruction of this society.