To understand the battle we face more fully, consider the following words of Jesus. Luke 16:13 (NKJV) “No one 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 both God and mammon.” In the above verse, Jesus personifies mammon and even gives it the status of a false god, an idol. He goes further to deliver an all or nothing claim that we cannot worship both. We must choose. These verses suggest there is a conflict or battle between two ‘masters’. What exactly does that mean? In dictionaries, the word ‘mammon’ is generally understood to be “wealth, possessions and may relate to ‘that in which one trusts’ or in other words ‘an evil master that enslaves’ or ‘any entity that promises wealth’”. Another definition is this—“wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion.” “Mammon” is the Aramaic translation for money. It was also thought to be the name of the ancient Syrian god of riches. Perhaps Mammon is basically the spirit of the world—and that spirit is a liar. 1 8 | u n m a s k i n g m a m m o n Unmasking_Mammon_book_4.5.indd 18 2018-07-11 7:41 AM