When we read Jesus’s condemnation of wealth, many of us respond with “well, he’s not talking about me!” And then we might remember that the poorest Americans have greater wealth than many others throughout the world. What a pain to realize that!

The Hebrew people used a specific word for wealth: Mammon. And they spoke of Mammon like a deity, a false God and a tempter, like Satan.

Mammon draws us and compels us to do other things. It keeps us from loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.

When we talk about “love of money” or recognize that a person is not doing something for “the right reasons” but “to make a buck” we acknowledge that they “don’t have their head screwed on straight”. Notice how easily our assumptions connect with God’s love rather than Mammon!

And yet, we also convince ourselves to avoid it, think that money is a necessary evil or even the measure of our success. We shape our lives around making money, our course of action based on our bank accounts, and our presence of mind based on the financial burdens.

No wonder we get confused about ourselves, our place, our future! It is easy to think Jesus loves us for what we do but gets frustrated with us, too!

So, how much is too much?

I suspect that most of us ask the question with the assumption that Jesus will put us on the wrong side of the ledger—or else define the ledger as to accommodate us (because we are good people and keep all of the commandments).

When we do this, we are certainly measuring our lives with the wrong ruler because we’re focused on the wrong assumption. That it has to do with goodness—rather than what wealth always deprives. Generous living, sharing, equality of place, courage, hope, faith, love. This isn’t about you or your safety. It is about our willingness to love and be loved.