Jesus doesn’t talk about money the way we do.
We speak of budgets, spending habits, financial peace. Jesus speaks of money as if it were a rival king. “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt 6:24). That isn’t a comment on your checkbook; it’s a confrontation with a competing lord.

We struggle to hear it that way because many of us have been discipled by capitalism more consistently than by Christ. Broadly speaking, the American church has made peace with mammon by baptizing its logic, values, and power structures. Sometimes we even mistake its spoils for blessing. Yet Jesus isn’t using a metaphor when He calls money a master. Money is not neutral; it functions as a system with its own liturgies, ethics, and vision of “the good life.” And it always demands loyalty.

Money Has a Kingdom

When Jesus names mammon, He is pointing to more than coins or wealth. Mammon is money-as-idol, money-as-master; a system of trust that trains us to see the world in a certain way.

Mammon preaches:

• Scarcity is the ultimate fear.
• More is always better.
• Security is earned.
• Worth is measured by productivity.
• Winners are the ones with options.

Sound familiar? These values show up everywhere from how we educate our kids to how we structure our churches. And they are reinforced every time we applaud “success” without asking how it was gained or whom it cost.

The kingdom of God, revealed in Jesus, proclaims the opposite:

• Abundance begins with gratitude and ends in generosity.
• The last are first.
• The meek inherit the earth.
• Freedom comes through surrender.
• Trust looks like lilies and sparrows.

The Church’s Crisis of Loyalty

We are living through a great revealing. Political fractures, culture wars, and anxiety over institutional decline are shaking the foundations of American Christianity, exposing this truth: many of us have pledged allegiance to the wrong kingdom.

We build ministries on business structures, equate importantance with financial clout, and organize our mission around growth rather than faithfulness. We tell ourselves that if we just had more resources, we could do more in the Kingdom. But the kingdom is not a line item; it is a way of life.

Jesus never said, “Be careful with money.”
He said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
This is not about balance; it is about lordship.
We don’t need greater resources to be faithful—we need greater obedience to the ways of Jesus.

Why This Matters Now

In a society where wealth buys voice and visibility, the Church must answer a simple, costly question: Whom do we really serve?

• Do we serve the kingdom that centers the last and the least—or the kingdom that pursues power and wealth regardless of the harm?
• Do we see blessing as being made whole—or as being made rich?
• Do we disciple people to follow Jesus—or to follow the power of money?

Mammon has infiltrated our imaginations by shaping how we define success, assess risk, and even interpret Scripture. Jesus calls us to see differently to name money as a rival king, and to recognize that any system built on economic control will oppose a crucified Messiah who blesses the poor and sets captives free.

Repentance, Not Just Reform

What we need is not better financial strategy. We need repentance.

• To tell the truth about our complicity.
• To re-imagine ministry on kingdom terms.
• To let the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount reshape our budgets, structures, leadership, and witness.

The invitation is not simply personal generosity but collective re-orientation. Jesus is not asking us to add God to our existing way of life; He is asking us to live under an entirely different reign.

In the end, Matthew 6:24 is not about money management—
it is about worship, and worship is always a matter of allegiance.
In a world where mammon still claims dominion, the Church must decide: Which master will we serve?

Nothing We Have Is Ours

At the heart of discipleship is a radical confession: everything belongs to God. Money, possessions, land, time; none of it is truly ours. We are stewards, and stewardship in the way of Jesus always moves outward toward generosity, justice, and the needs of others.

That conviction should reshape how we engage public debates over tariffs, budgets, social programs, and taxes. The dominant cultural question is, “Will this help or hurt my bottom line?” Christians ask different questions:

• Does this serve our neighbor’s well-being?
• Does this reflect God’s heart for the vulnerable?
• Does this resemble the kingdom Jesus announced?

Our goal is not to protect our financial interests but to embody the generosity of a God who pours Himself out for the world. Believing that everything is God’s frees us from defensiveness. The question shifts from How do we keep more? to How do we give more?

This does not abandon wisdom or discernment, but it rejects the fear-based logic of mammon. It refuses to let our votes, values, or church budgets be driven by self-preservation. It chooses communion over competition; daily bread for all, not stockpiles for some.

The Kingdom Doesn’t Fit in Our Political Boxes

Let me be clear: my aim is not to fit Jesus into American partisan debates. The gospel is not progressive, conservative, libertarian, or moderate. The kingdom of God is not a subset of any party platform; it is a government all its own.

Jesus did not endorse our categories. He announced a reign with its own politic, economy, and power structure. Instead he proclaimed a kingdom where the poor are blessed, mourners are comforted, peacemakers are honored, and the merciful lead the way.

When we squeeze that kingdom into partisan frameworks, we reduce the gospel to talking points, or worse, we use Jesus to reinforce the ideology that benefits us. The kingdom challenges every seat of power whether left, right, or center, and exposes where we have grown too cozy with systems built on wealth.

If we are serious about following Jesus, our first allegiance must be to His kingdom. Our priority is not preserving an ideology but embodying the radical, upside-down reign of God here and now. So we stop asking, “is my team winning?” and start asking, “Does this reflect the heart of Christ’s kingdom?”

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