Bev Franco Essay - San Francisco Theological Seminary

wealth or wealthy people that Jesus condemns, but idolatry of material things and a lack
of generosity that lead to oppression of the poor and needy.
Jesus warns us sternly, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate
the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and Mammon” (6:24). Mammon, μαμων , is not a Greek word, but
Aramaic. 12 It originally meant anything of value, but later came to mean profit,
especially unjust profit. In rabbinic sources and in each of the four times it is used in the
New Testament, Mammon has a pejorative sense. 13
Because it is perceived as a force,
the best English translation is materialism.
The ancient world knew that the pursuit of money and possessions was a form of
idolatry, and turned Mammon into a “pseudo-deity.” 14 By keeping the Aramaic term in
the passage, Matthew personifies “Mammon” and gives it an almost demonic character.
This was probably intentional. Like false idols, materialism is a powerful force that leads
us away from God and down paths of greed, self-indulgence, and addiction. Our
possessions begin to control us. By likening materialism to a demonic power, Jesus is
clear about its threat.
We need to be threatened, because materialism is insidious. In the prosperous
world of the Matthean community and in modern America, there is a danger that instead
of owning our possessions, our possessions begin to own us. In a survey of college
freshmen in 1966, 44% thought it was important to be well off, but that number had risen
to 73% thirty years later. It is probably even higher today. In 1966, 83% of the freshmen
thought a “philosophy of life” was important, but only 42% did in 1996. In modern
12 Christoffer H. Grundmann. “Mammon – It’s Biblical Perception.” Mission Studies 12 no. 2 (1995): 157.
13 Ibid. 158.
14 Betz, 458.
5