Luke 16:13 …Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
In Luke 16 Jesus says that you cannot serve two masters. He goes on to say, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” This is all in the context of a story that Jesus tells about a rich man who had a steward. The word “steward,” the word from which we get our word “economy,” means “a manager of a household.” It has come to mean “the effective and thrifty use of whatever you have.” It also means “the arrangement or method of operation of money etc.” So, there is more than one type of economy.
In Luke 16 we are talking about two different economies when it comes to our use of money. There are those who are stewards or servants of money and there are those who are servants with money. This is a profound difference.
How do you know which kind of steward you are? How do you know if you are a servant of money or a servant with money? Let me give you three metrics from what Jesus said by which to judge yourself. First, consider your goal. What is the end goal of what you have? This can apply to time, health, or abilities, but we are talking specifically about money here. Two economies are those who seek to be rich and those who seek to be faithful. It is not wrong to be rich, but the Bible says that “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” and they will be drowned with their own desires.
In contrast, Jesus said in Luke 16:10, “He which is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” If I am faithful with what I have, it implies that there is a metric beyond me that decides whether how I am using what I have is good or bad, faithful or unfaithful, wise or unwise, as Jesus talks about in previous verses. So, it is not that being rich is wrong. It is that there is a difference between making it my goal to be rich and making it my goal to be faithful with what I have, realizing that what I have is somewhat dependent on what I am doing with what I have already.
Another metric is time. Is the way I am using money simply a matter of the moment or is it a matter of eternity? There is a difference. In verse 9 Jesus says, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” Now we are not going to go into the particular meaning here, but what I want to show you is that He says “When ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” He is talking about using what you have, specifically money, for an eternal purpose.
If every goal I have for money is limited to my lifetime, it means that it ends with me. It means that the goal primarily is “me and mine.” It is not wrong to plan, save, or spend, but if everything I am doing with what I have has to do with right now and me, that is very different than planning for beyond me to eternity. So, there are two economies here, two different kinds of stewards, those who are servants of money and those who are servants with money.
The third metric is focus. Is the focus of my money about me or is it about what belongs to another? Sometimes I am serving money when I think money is serving me. If I am always thinking about how I can get more and that ends with itself, then it is not really money that is serving me, it is me serving money. On the other hand, when I realize that everything I have belongs to God, that changes everything.
“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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” So, who calls the shots in my life? Money is a consideration just like my health, my time, and the gifts I have are considerations. In short, there are two basic economies. Are you a servant of money or are you a servant of God who has money?