The Love of Money

I suspect many Christians are tired of hearing the subjective, politically motivated, and selective messages about money. These messages are often problematic within a biblical context and convey a sense of unwarranted manipulation. We might question why sermons about money are preached in the first place, other than meeting the ongoing financial demands of the institutional complex. I recently listened to a sermon that went further and suggested a specific demonic spirit on money itself, a spirit of “mammon”. Because the sermon began by emphasising the demonised possession of money, it tainted any constructive aspects that followed, and frankly, I’m bewildered by the theological dualism conveyed in the rhetoric.

Yes, “the love” of money is the root of all evil, but money itself is not evil! Scripture does not suggest that money is anything other than a means of buying and selling. Further, scripture does not imply a specific spirit to currency; however, if it did, we could also apply the same logic to work, food, alcohol, sport, possessions, religion, or anything that produces unsatisfactory outcomes. All these could be argued to have a specific demon attached to them. Therefore, the biblical context stems from the motivation behind the “love of money” and what it becomes. In other words, it’s “the love of” things that moth and mildew can destroy (Matt 6:19). It’s about those treasures we cannot do without.

1Tim6:10 “For a root of all the evils is the love of money, which certain longing for did go astray from the faith, and themselves did pierce through with many sorrows” (YLT). The word evil, correctly interpreted, refers to the effect of covetousness (that is, (subjectively) depraved, or (objectively) injurious: - bad, evil, harmful, ill, wicked). Secondly, it’s about ALL kinds of evil. This is not meant to be understood as literally true, because there are evils that cannot be traced to the love of money, such as the evils associated with ambition, lust, and hatred toward God. The apostle is not saying that “money is the root of all evil,” or that a Demon indwells currency. It is the “love of it” that initiates evil in the lover of it.

“MAMMONAS” (A Greek word that exegetes figuratively as wealth or treasures personified). The word “mammonas” is found in four places in the New Testament (Matt 6:24 and Luke 16:9, 11, and 13). The etymology is seen in the Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic languages; however, the word’s origins cannot be established with any degree of certainty, and scholars are generally divided. The word is not evident in Old Testament Hebrew. Use of the word in the New Testament directly refers to the matters that lead to idolatry, for if Luke was specifically referring to currency, he could have used words such as Argurion (that is, drachma or shekel), Nomisma, or Chalkos, all of which are interpreted as silver or copper coins.

Mammon is more accurately understood as a psychological disposition to hoarding treasures, to the extent that we assume control and place our hopes in the things we have (Luke 12:16-21).  I accept that currency could become a treasure, but this is not the subject of the narrative. The narrative highlights the dangers of covetousness and sin. The fact that money buys these treasures is irrelevant to the narrative—and if any benefit could be gained from preaching on this topic, it would be in addressing the question: how to recognise when our possessions become our treasures?

I agree with the overwhelming opinion that “mammon” originates from the Semitic idea of "the treasures in which one trusts". (Strong’s 3126). In this case, the context is derived from what “the love of” looks like (1 Tim 6:10). It’s what we reach out for, desire, or trust in, to the point that God is not the focus of our attention. The Church should consider this point because if it wants to exegete “mammon” as spiritually possessed currency, and therefore evil, its own use of money can be questioned. Christianity would therefore be complicit with the entertaining of Demons.

Claiming an evil spirit is attached to a currency is mischievous and ideologically based. Some Christians do this by claiming that Mammon was a Syriac word for an idol, worshipped as the god of riches, similar to Plutus among the Greeks, but no authority can be cited for this, and the claim rests on what “might be”, of conjecture. Many scholars doubt that any Syrian god of this name even exists.

Many Christians adopt this gospel of “Mammonism”, but it's simply a metaphoric personification of a materialist spirit, which, unfortunately, many find appealing when preaching on the evils of money. Whether we attempt to extract meaning from the Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew languages, we’re left with some degree of linguistic tension. Sermons based on subjective etymology always leave a sense of inconclusive negativity, like a reactionary need to purge oneself for having a bank account, or spending on anything other than the purest of needs.

We need to be careful about the source or agenda through which we interpret the Bible (i.e. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower manuals). If the source or agenda is wrong, the assumption can be wrong. Many preachers seem to start with a subject they want to preach about, and make the mistake of applying their agenda back into the narrative, instead of extracting the point from what the text says. Volumes of scripture speak to the blessings of wealth and the blessing of enjoying it. I can’t remember ever hearing a sermon that spoke about the blessings of wealth.