You Cannot Serve God and Mammon

What That Really Means

Taylor Halverson
January 16, 2026

Money—though seemingly secular—is one of the most revealing theological inventions humanity ever produced. Money is a human invention, a technology meant to manage personal obligations impersonally and transactionally. What are the implications of understanding our relationship with God in a monied world?

1. Money as a Human Invention, Not a Divine Institution

In the Ancient Near East (ANE), money began as a technology of trust. Before coins existed, silver weighed by scale (Hebrew kesef) or grain measured by volume served as standards of value. These weren’t primarily “economic” in the modern sense but social instruments—ways to manage obligations and maintain covenantal peace without personal relationship. In other words, money allowed human beings to transact without needing to trust or love one another. It depersonalized reciprocity.

2. Money vs. Covenant

In the Bible, covenant (berit) stands as the opposite principle. A covenant binds people through mutual obligation sustained by loyalty, mercy, and relational trust (hesed). Money, by contrast, enables exchange without relationship—“I give, you give, and we’re done.” The God of Israel refuses to relate on those transactional terms. He is not a cosmic banker balancing moral ledgers. When Israel attempts to “buy” favor through ritual or performance, the prophets denounce it: “I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6).

3. The Theological Challenge of Money

Because money operates impersonally, it tempts us to imagine that all value—including divine favor—can be quantified, purchased, or earned. Jesus exposes this in his teaching: “You cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Mammon (Aramaic mamōnā) is not merely “wealth” but the system of impersonal power that money represents. The kingdom of God reverses that system—it re-personalizes obligation. Forgiveness cancels debt. Generosity replaces balance sheets. Grace is not transactional.

4. What This Reveals about God

The biblical God refuses to relate through impersonal exchange. His covenantal relationship is intensely personal, bound in love, mercy, and fidelity—not in calculated equivalence. Money helps us see this contrast clearly: it is the human attempt to replace covenantal trust with measurable value. God reasserts the primacy of relationship over transaction.

5. Money Is Used for Low or Zero Trust Situations

Money makes possible a world without trust; covenant makes possible a world without price. The Lord’s relationship with humanity, from Abraham to Christ, rejects the transactional logic of money. Salvation cannot be bought, only received in loyal trust.

“Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).

—Taylor Halverson, Ph.D.
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You Cannot Serve God and Mammon

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