No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

The word mammon means wealth and property, especially dishonestly obtained at the expense of one’s neighbour. It also indicates a bribe intended to silence a witness or judge. Jesus points out the demonic enslaving power of mammon: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” So eventually the faith, in the sense confidence or trust, in mammon excludes the faith in God. Therefore, Jesus contrasts the relationship to God and the relationship to mammon and calls for a personal choice between the two.

Wealth

Wealth is considered in the Bible either as God’s blessing, a reward for justice, or a curse. Depending on who wields wealth and how he uses it. The blessing of wealth is described at length in Job 29, where it is closely associated with the glory of man. According to Scripture, wealth is for others rather than for one’s own needs. Job did not consider distribution of wealth as a duty but as a privilege. This ideal has utterly degenerated. The rich, against whom the prophets speak out, seek glory without sharing their wealth, without doing good. The prophet Isaiah directly associates wealth with idolatry: “Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures… Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands.” (Isa 2:8) The problem is that the soul of the rich man is absorbed by property, so that there is no place for God. The Psalmists and the Prophets therefore constantly emphasize perishable wealth (Psa 49:11f) and its danger to the soul and heart (Psa 62:11). Jesus’ attitude towards riches is clear from His requirement that whoever wants to follow Him should be ready to abandon his possessions (Mt 19:21.27; Lk 14:33). Rich people are in danger of putting their faith in mammon (money) rather than in God. They feel secure for the future. They do not rely on God but on mammon. Jesus did not see poverty and lack as an ideal – there will be none in the kingdom of God – but His whole emphasis is on the fact that man should learn to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6:33). It was a practice in the early Christian Church to voluntarily surrender property in favour of the community as a sign of brotherly love (Acts 4:34f). Misery and poverty is not the ideal, but absolute independence of the soul in any circumstances (2Cor 6:10) and the ability to spiritually enrich others. The Prophets sharply rebuked the abuse of wealth (Isa 1:23; 3:12-14; Am 5:11-12).

The word ‘communism’ originated from the word communé – common – and is associated with the early community of Christians who had everything in common. Communism, as a social ideology, was not based on the moral principles, faith and spirit of the early Christians in Jerusalem. An ideal built on an atheistic foundation could therefore be of neither spiritual nor economic benefit to the individual or society. If people have something of their own, they protect it so that it may serve them as long as possible, but if people have something in common, there is often an egotist who uses it only for himself, or even destroys it. Therefore, there is a need for education and motivation for the proper use of common property (communé). The requirement that the property should serve the society according to the motto ‘to each according to his needs’ presupposes a high moral profile of all members, which is almost impossible without a living relationship to God.

St Basil the Great came from a wealthy family in Cappadocia. He gave all his property to the needy. He and his parents and siblings were completely unconcerned about their wealth. All of them, the whole family, are saints. In the history of the Church there have been saint kings, saint queens or people from wealthy families who were detached from wealth. They were well aware that we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. In addition, there is one certainty, and that is death which robs man of everything he has. Jesus puts before our eyes the story of a rich man who planned to build a barn to have a secure future: “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared for yourself?” (Lk 12:20)

After the fall of Communism in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus or other post-communist countries, billionaires appeared on the scene. The property that previously belonged to the whole society now became concentrated in their hands after the example of American billionaires. But the question is whether these people really serve society and are able to wisely use their wealth for its welfare? The biggest problem is that people today have lost a true ideal and purpose in life. Therefore, they do not appreciate modesty which makes one free of many troubles, but desire unnecessary property. They take out loans and then have sleepless nights, paying it all off for all their life, and finally their families break up, their children are ill-behaved, their health is damaged and instead of happiness they just have deep pain and disappointment. There are individuals even among the priests and the church hierarchy who are slaves of money and property, so-called money-grubbers. So there is a special spirit behind mammon and greed for mammon and one must fight against it especially by the truth, the living faith and the thought of death. We must manage our possessions wisely. Our possessions also include health, both physical and mental, and spiritual gifts. We will give an account to God for these too. Did we use them to serve God and people, or our pride and egoism?

But how to use wealth? It is not enough to give someone a one-off charitable gift.

Example: A rich man from Germany came to Slovakia to help the students from poor families. He told them: I want to help you, but if I just gave you money, you would use them irresponsibly, and even to your detriment, and spend them on vanity and sin like the prodigal son in the Gospel. Therefore, I’ll set up a fund for you; you can take from it as much as you like, but after you finish your studies, you will be required to return what you took out with a low interest rate only. Thus, the value of the fund will increase and the fund will continue to serve the needy.

A truly Christian rich man would sigh in his heart: I had to be concerned with money; first I needed to multiply the deposit and then to invest the profit wisely so that the money may really serve the needy rather than the spread of evil. My head is ready to burst with worry and I’m envious of people who only have what they really need and sleep peacefully. I would willingly give it all away to others, but I know that many would use wealth for bad purposes. Because I want to invest for the real good of society, my property is a kind of burden and cross for me but I accept it in faith. I believe that God will give me a reward after death, because I do not consider my property as my own but as a means of service to others. This is the right attitude and ideal especially for those multimillionaires who got hold of state assets in Russia, Ukraine or elsewhere, became great and rich people and want to have treasure in heaven after death. This requires some wise people who would be good mentors for them and advise them how to effectively and wisely use the property for the good of the people. Negative examples are multimillionaires like Gates or Soros who give billions for genocide rather than for the service of mankind.

Jesus says: “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that they may receive you into an everlasting home.” (Lk 16:9) Each of us should use property in such a way as to obtain treasure in heaven. If we are materially poor but we cling to the little we have, we are like the rich man about whom Christ says: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt 19:24) If someone fastens on materialism, they no longer rely on God and cannot fully trust in Him. Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3) It means to be free of the riches of vain thoughts and worries, and to return time and again to our Saviour and to cling to Him. To be always aware that He redeemed us by His death on the cross and that He is the only Way to eternal life!

We will leave everything behind, and, moreover, we know neither the day nor the hour when God will call us and when a thief called death will rob us of all we have. However, if we store up treasures in heaven, they remain forever. Wisdom is to be mindful of the end, i.e. death and eternity, every day.

Download: Reflection on Mt 6:24