The Idol Of Mammon
March 30, 2010
by Terry Somerville

Over the last number of years the Lord has been putting us through the “MAMMON CHALLENGE”. Simply put, God is changing us to be like Him, to be useful for the masters house, to be ready for the next revival and every other good work. One of the preparations is to remove our idols and repent. First we need to see them. Remember, Israel did not see that her idols were a problem, despite the prophets warnings. God pressured them until there was repentance.

Idols In The Heart

Even though we belong to the Lord, our natural man inclines to the idolatry of the land. In the west we don’t bow down to a graven image, but we do take our idols into our hearts.

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
(Ezekiel 14:3)

How does an idol in the heart work? Very simple. It is an image or picture in our heart, of something what we want. We serve the idol with our flesh. This comes forth as desire, depression, happiness, anger, you name it, depending on how things compare with the picture in our heart. We feel that life will be good and right if the little god or image is satisfied. We are serving an idol, even a Christian religious one. They are hard to see when they are religious, but the Lord dealt with several of these in my life.

The Idol Of Ministry

One idol in my life was the idol of ministry. This is served throughout the church and I was no exception. I had an image of what my ministry should be like. (In fact some teach that we should create such images!) Success, the love of the crowd, power, big meetings etc.. The problem was I was serving a picture, not the Lord. When things went according to the picture I was very happy. When things went the other way, I was depressed. That’s the flesh serving my idol.

The Lord was trying to reveal my “idol of ministry”. He showed me how I didn’t really love the people in the congregation. I was using them for their positive response and support. OUCH! Even though I could see it was true and I confessed my sin, I didn’t change. The Lord had to put me through a death of ministry experience. It’s the only way. The idol must be destroyed.

NO MORE LUST FOR RICHES IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

In this season the Lord is dealing with the idol of mammon in the hearts of his people. He wants to prepare you to have REAL FAITH to walk with Him and trust Him for everything in the days ahead. He wants a people prepared for the revival that is coming. He wants the church free of the idolatry of riches that has so ruined His work in the past. This will take some radical work and only some of tyhe church will respond. Will you?

It’s easy to preach about faith and trusting God for your supply. It’s harder to actually walk it out and deal with the idols in the way..
Here are four simple steps

1. You are put into a difficult financial situation.
2. You watch what comes out of your heart.
3.YOU DIE !
4. Return to number 1 until Christ is formed in you.

Blessings

Terry Somerville
www.totalchange.org

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The Five Signs of Worshiping Mammon
By James Ryle
http://www.truthworks.org

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13)

One thing is certain – we show our love by our worship. Whoever or whatever we worship – we love. If we love God, we will worship and serve Him. If we love money; we will worship and serve Money. Jesus said that we cannot do both.

David wrote, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4).

What is your Life’s “ONE THING?” Some bow in God’s Presence; others bow at the Altar of Mammon. Where might we find you worshiping today?

Here are the Five Signs of Worshiping Mammon:

#1 – Anxiety over Unmet Needs
Money promises much, but delivers little. The digger is forever digging, only to get deeper and deeper in the hole! Consequently, when we worship Mammon there is increasing anxiety over our mounting unmet needs. But, by contrast, when we bow in the Lord’s presence we rise knowing that the Lord is our Shepherd; we know that we shall not want, for He loves and cares for us, supplying all our needs according to His riches in glory.
Mammon cannot produce this peace in our soul; and the absence of this peace is a telling sign that we are bowing in the presence of Mammon. Worshiping the Lord gives us peace; worshiping Mammon gives us anxiety. Who are you worshiping today?

#2 -Fear about the Future

“GOLD!” Have you noticed how many advertisements there are these days on why you need to buy gold? You need it for your security, they say. “The future is uncertain, the economy is unstable – get yourself some GOLD!” Bowing at the Altar of Mammon fills our hearts with fear about the future, because Mammon cannot control the future, cannot guarantee our security, cannot offer us that which will never fail. Only the Lord can do that, for He holds the future in His hands. And He extends His hands to you. Let me ask – “Are you in good hands?”

Fear about the future will cause you to live a diminished life in the present; it will make you tight and selfish. And this, in turn, will cause you to lose even that which you think you have. “I have seen a great evil under the sun,” Solomon wrote, “wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner.” Fear about the future will ruin your present world.

#3 – Unbelief in God’s Love and Faithfulness

They say that Money Talks. That’s true; it says, “Bye-bye!” It also says a bunch of other things, especially against the Lord. Mammon will tell you that the Lord’s ways are foolish, and that those who follow them are fools. Mammon will mock you for tithing; or it will soothe your conscience with clever arguments convincing you that as a Christian you really do need to tithe anyway, ’cause you’re not under the Law — but grace.

Mammon will cause your heart to envy those who are rich, and to begin to fudge here and there, to lie a little over there, and cheat a little over here — all so that you can gain more and more money. Mammon will increase unbelief in your heart which will cause ruin in your finances.

Mammon will try and convince you that God does not love you, and is not faithful to you. And it will use your own lack of resources as the proof of its lies.

One thing is certain – we show our love by our worship. Whoever or whatever we worship – we love. If we love God, we will worship and serve Him. If we love money; we will worship and serve Money. Jesus said that we cannot do both.

David wrote, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4).

What is your Life’s “ONE THING?” Some bow in God’s Presence; others bow at the Altar of Mammon. Where might we find you worshiping today?

Anxiety, fear, and unbelief — these are three of the effects that come to the soul of those who worship at the Altar of Mammon.

#4 – Disobedience to God’s Word

Inasmuch as we seek to be stewards in God’s House, living in His world and having access to His things, then it behooves us to find out what it is He wants us to do with that which is rightfully His. And the only way we can discover His will is by reading His Word.

God wants us to be generous, and to give; Mammon wants us to be selfish, and to hoard. God wants to prosper us; Mammon want to possess us. God will bless us if we obey His Word; Mammon will curse us if it can lure us into disobedience.

A man complained to Will Rogers, “There’s things in the Bible that I just don’t understand; and that bothers me!” Rogers responded, “Maybe so. But there are things in the Bible that I DO understand – and that’s what bothers me!” Few things in the Bible bother us more than when God goes and starts meddling with our money!

And why does He do this? Simple – He touches what matters most to us (i.e., money) to show us how much hold it has on our hearts. And He also wants to teach us to trust Him with that which matters to us. The reason is pointed — if we cannot trust God with that which we treasure; then how can we expect Him to trust us with that which He values?

Listen — If we cannot place the riches of this world into His capable hands; then how we ever expect Him to entrust the true riches of the Kingdom into our grasping, clutching, squeezing selfish hands?
“C’mon, man!”

And (drum roll, please) the fifth and final sign that a person is bowing at the Altar of Mammon is…..

#5 – Cynicism Whenever You Hear or Read Something Like What I Just Wrote!

The Bible tells us after Jesus finished a story about stewardship, that “the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.” (Luke 16:14). The word “derided” means they “turned up their noses and scoffed at Him with mockery; they laugh at Him with scorn.”

A cynical sneer always appears on the face of those who worship Money anytime a preacher starts talking about it. It a self-defense mechanism built in by Mammon to keep its servants under its control.

It takes a real man and woman of faith to defy that mocking spirit and step forth in bold freedom to love and obey the Lord. How about becoming a man or woman like that today! You just might be used by God to start a resource revolution!