Some Christians who are under the spirit of mammon claim that "while God told us not to serve mammon, He did not say that we cannot use possessions to glorify Him". This is a very deceptive statement. Indeed, such twisting of the Bible is parallel to that of the tempting of Eve in Genesis 3:1-6:
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The Christians who make that false statement use that command that God told humanity to work and be good stewards to justify their yielding to mammon's temptations. God indeed did order that man work the land (Genesis 3:17). They say that that is why the need private property, that is, property for humans, by humans of humans the doctrine of which is of the spirit of mammon.
Jesus said to His followers, "Follow me" (Matthew 4:19). He did not say follow me through using your possessions, labour, money or causes. He just said "follow me". To be for Jesus is to follow Jesus. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (Matthew 12:30).
Jesus said to His followers, "Follow me" (Matthew 4:19). He did not say follow me through using your possessions, labour, money or causes. He just said "follow me". To be for Jesus is to follow Jesus. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (Matthew 12:30).
Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24). Many Christians argue that you can deny yourself, but yet pursue and enjoy the material comfort of this world. They argue that God did not say that we cannot enjoy material comfort of this world. Simply because God did not say something explicitly does not mean He approves of it. These professing Christians then argue that you can use your possessions to glorify God through one's possession. This is the height of materialism, a manifestation of the spirit of mammon.
To say one can use one's possession to glorify God through one's possessions is to say that one can serve God and mammon at the same time. While it is true the possessions of the Christian are from God, to use possessions to glorify God is to use something given from God and give it back to Him. It is analogous to a little child who happily receives a free gift from his father and them gives it back to his dad at a price. His father would feel denigrated and insulted, because not only was the love and grace of the gift accepted, but the gift was regarded as worthy of a price much less than it cost the father.
These professing Christians are in effect saying that they need their own material things to give back to God, treating God as though it is not He who gives them things, but that they deserve what they have. No one deserves anything except for Hell and wrath of God. Not even one's own life does one deserve!
To say that one needs material possessions to serve God and others is not only to show a lack of trust in God, but also to mock God, treating Him as one who is obliged to give one things. It is to exchange the glory of God for human-made things.
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