Money is a Belief System ... what do you believe in?

Understanding money as a belief system explains why economic success never produces spiritual righteousness. You can't fix a heart problem with better financial planning. Even perfect prosperity cannot generate faith in God—it might actually hinder it by making mammon's false promises seem credible.

This is why Jesus warned that it's hard for the rich to enter God's kingdom (Matthew 19:23). Not because wealth is inherently evil, but because financial security makes it tempting to trust in riches rather than God.

The issue isn't money itself—humanity tends to invest belief, trust, and hope in created things rather than the Creator. This is why financial discipleship is so crucial and so difficult. We're not merely managing resources; we're engaging in spiritual warfare against a rival faith system that promises everything God promises but delivers nothing eternal.

Money or God? Must I choose?

 

The Nature of Money's Value

Money isn't valuable because of its physical properties. A $100 bill costs pennies to print. Digital numbers in a bank account are just data. Gold has some industrial uses, but its monetary value far exceeds its practical utility. Money's value exists almost entirely because we collectively believe it has value.

This makes money fundamentally different from real goods. A loaf of bread has intrinsic value—it satisfies hunger regardless of belief. But currency only "works" because of shared faith in its worth. You accept money for your labour because you believe others will accept it for their goods. This is pure social agreement—a belief system.

 

Trust and Authority

Money requires trust in sustaining institutions:

•           Government fiat currency depends on belief in governmental stability and authority

•           Cryptocurrency depends on belief in algorithmic systems and decentralised networks

•           Gold depends on collective belief in its enduring value across civilisations

When belief collapses—through hyperinflation, governmental collapse, or loss of confidence—money becomes worthless paper or meaningless digits. Not-too-distant examples from Argentina, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela demonstrate how quickly monetary belief systems can disintegrate.

 

Money as Secular Faith

This helps explain the quasi-religious function of money in modern society. People "have faith in the market." They "trust in the almighty dollar." These phrases aren't accidental—they reveal money's role as an object of belief.

Jesus recognised this when He said, "You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). He wasn't contrasting God with mere metal coins—He was identifying mammon as a rival belief system, an alternative object of faith and trust.

 

The Christian's Challenge

Understanding money as a belief system reveals the spiritual battle Christians face daily:

Money competes for the trust that belongs to God alone. We're tempted to find security in account balances rather than divine provision. We hoard because we trust currency more than the Creator. We measure success by net worth rather than faithfulness. Money whispers the serpent's ancient lie: trust in this, and you'll be secure.

 

The invisible nature of faith makes the competition subtle. God asks us to trust what we cannot see—His promises, His provision, His timing. Money offers something tangible to believe in, something we can count and control. This makes mammon a particularly seductive rival faith system for those seeking certainty in an uncertain world.

Satan promotes money as an alternative belief system. As the father of lies, he constantly suggests that wealth provides what only God offers: security, significance, satisfaction. Every advertisement, every cultural message valuing net worth over character, every anxiety about financial future—these are invitations to transfer faith from God to mammon.

 

Exposing Money’s False Promises

 

We need to expose money's false promises. Money promises security but it cannot prevent tragedy. It promises satisfaction but leaves the wealthy still wanting. It promises significance but cannot answer life's deepest questions. Christians must actively remind themselves and others of these truths, refusing to participate in the cultural worship of wealth.

 

•           Money promises salvation. Just as Christianity offers rescue from sin and death, mammon whispers: "Accumulate enough, and you'll be saved"—saved from vulnerability, from dependence, from uncertainty. The wealthy person believes their fortune provides what only Christ truly offers: security that transcends circumstances

•           Money offers transcendence. Theology addresses how humans escape mortality's limitations. Money creates its own transcendence narrative: "Your wealth will outlast you. Your name on buildings, your legacy in foundations, your dynasty through inheritance." It promises a secular immortality, a way to matter beyond the grave without requiring resurrection or divine grace.

•           Money provides identity and worth. True theology answers "Who am I?" with "God's beloved child, created in His image." Money's theology responds: "You are what you own. Your net worth determines your self-worth." This belief system is so pervasive that we unconsciously measure human value by financial success, treating the wealthy as superior beings worthy of deference.

•           Money creates its own priesthood and rituals. Every theology has mediators between the divine and human. Money's priests are financial advisors, investment bankers, economists—those who interpret mammon's mysteries and facilitate access to its power. Its rituals include checking portfolio balances, calculating net worth, and anxiously monitoring markets. These practices mirror religious devotion: regular, emotionally charged, performed with hope and fear.

•           Money establishes moral frameworks. Theological systems define good and evil. Money's morality centres on productivity, efficiency, and growth. "Profitable" becomes synonymous with "good." "Wasteful" becomes the unforgivable sin. This theology produces its own virtues (ambition, competitiveness, self-reliance) and vices (dependence, generosity without return, "settling" for less).

•           Money demands sacrifice. True religion requires offering what costs us. Mammon's theology demands sacrificial offerings: time with family, personal health, ethical boundaries, and relationships. People "sacrifice everything" to build wealth, using explicitly religious language to describe economic devotion.

•           Money offers community and belonging. Theology provides identity through community. Money creates tribes: "the wealthy," "the successful," "those who made it." Access to exclusive spaces, networks, and opportunities functions like religious initiation—markers of belonging to the elect, the chosen ones who proved worthy.

•           Money promises omnipotence through proxy. If God is omnipotent, money offers its own version: "Enough wealth gives you control over circumstances, people, outcomes." The ultra-wealthy experience this illusion most intensely—their resources seemingly capable of solving any problem, accessing any opportunity, overcoming any obstacle.

•           Money provides eschatology—a future hope. Christian theology looks toward Christ's return and the eternal kingdom. Money's eschatology is retirement—that promised future when accumulated wealth finally delivers the peace, freedom, and fulfilment presently deferred. "When I have enough, then I'll truly live" mirrors religious hope: "When Christ returns, then we'll truly live."

•           Money requires faith. The entire monetary system rests on collective belief. Dollars, digital balances, stocks—none possess intrinsic value. Their worth exists only because we trust in them, a faith requiring no tangible proof. This is pure theology: believing in realities beyond physical evidence, trusting systems we cannot fully comprehend.

 

The fundamental conflict:

 

The world’s money-philosophy directly opposes biblical theology at every point. Where Scripture says, "Trust God for provision," mammon says, "Trust your money." Where Jesus teaches "lose your life to find it," money promises "accumulate enough to secure it." Where the Gospel offers "security through divine love," wealth offers "security through personal accumulation."

 

This is why Christians must address money carefully. Living under Christ’s lordship doesn't eliminate economic exchange—that would leave humanity without tools for coordination and stewardship. But it must strip money of its theological power, reducing it from a rival god to a mere tool. Christ's teaching makes money's false promises obviously absurd.

The theological impulse to worship created things rather than the Creator persists until hearts are finally transformed.

 

Money Theology reveals why economic questions are never merely practical. They're spiritual battlegrounds where ultimate allegiances are tested and revealed.

Money remains a practical tool Christians will use throughout their lives. But it must never become the object of our belief, the source of our security, or the foundation of our hope. That belongs to Christ alone.

Check out our new book "Money Theology" by Peter J. Briscoe. Available as a paperback or as a E-Book (pdf & epub formats)

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