Treasure and Dominion
An Economics Commentary on Luke
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 (Luke 16:13).
Jesus said that no man can serve God and mammon. What is mammon? How can we recognize it? How can Christians successfully avoid its lure, its demand that men sacrifice on its behalf?
In the increasingly post-Christian West, men seek earthly treasure as never before, despite the fact that the West is the richest society in recorded history. The addiction to wealth is widespread. Men cannot attain satisfaction from their wealth, yet they seek ever-greater wealth. Jesus showed His followers how to avoid this addiction, and how to break it when it has taken hold of their souls.
The Gospel of Luke, more than the other Gospels, pictures Jesus as adamant about the illegitimacy of men's quest for earthly riches. Jesus told His disciples, "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth" (Luke 12:33). Are we to take this command literally? If so, the church is in rebellion, and has been for almost two thousand years. If not, what did Jesus mean? Are we to wear "What Did Jesus Mean" T-shirts?
Jesus' message on riches creates problems for Christians who seek to extend the influence of the kingdom of God in history. In this world, influence comes from money. Money buys influence. How can Christians expect to have influence in history if they do not have money? Must Christians retreat from history, leaving cultural dominance to covenant-breakers? Jesus did not call His followers to retreat from the affairs of this world. Why, then, did He tell them to avoid the quest for tangible riches? Is the influence of money in history a grand illusion?
This commentary looks in great detail at Jesus' words concerning treasure: what it is, where it is, how it is to be used lawfully, and what it can achieve in history. Jesus laid down principles of personal economic management for His followers. His words regarding the proper use of treasure have not been obeyed by His people in the twentieth century. This had better change in the twenty-first.
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