Think about the last five major decisions you made.
Now imagine if someone analyzed each one and revealed that a hidden influence was secretly driving every choice.
Not your values.
Not your prayers.
Not even your logic.
But something far more subtle.
Jesus Warned Us About This 2,000 Years Ago
“No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Jesus warned in Matthew 6:24.
He wasn’t just talking about money.
He was exposing an entire system designed to make us trust in anything but God – one that has become so deeply woven into our world that most of us don’t even see it.
Money Isn’t Just In Your Wallet – It’s In Your Decision Making
Now, back to those last five major decisions you made.
I bet money influenced each one – even if you didn’t realize it.
Because, it’s woven into the fabric of how we make decisions – even ones that seem completely spiritual.
And what’s scarier is that most of us don’t even realize it.
This really hit home personally for me the other day when I realized just how deep mammon’s influence runs.
The why behind the why
As you might know we homeschool in our house…
And for a lot of homeschool parents there is a feeling of pressure to “do it right”.
Which, for many of us, means educating our kids the same way the school system does, but just at home.
Because that’s “the right” way to do it.
But as I was feeling a little bit of pressure one particular day in this area I prayerfully began asking a series of ‘why’ questions.
- Why do my kids have to learn ____ by age ___?
- So they can keep up pace with the other kids.
- Why does that matter?
- Because they won’t be able to get into a good high school if they don’t
- Why does that matter?
- Because without being in a good high school, it will be much harder for them to get into a good college
- Why does that matter?
- Because if they don’t go to a good college (or, God forbid, any college at all) they won’t be able to get a good job
- Why does that matter?
- Because without a good job they won’t be able to provide well for themselves and their family. And without that they won’t be secure.
This sounds logical. And maybe even spiritual. You could call it “being a good steward.”
But as I started evaluating this final answer, it became clear to me that…
The entire education system is built on a simple premise: Trust in education, and it will provide security.
Even though mounting evidence shows that college degrees no longer guarantee success, people cling to this belief. Why?
Because we’ve been conditioned to trust the system more than the Creator of the system.
It’s the subtle influence of mammon.
The Pattern Repeats Everywhere You Look
And I spotted this same pattern in my business recently.
We were obsessing over building the perfect data tracking system – trying to nail down some key data points that would conclusively tell us exactly what the best decisions would be to expand our reach.
Because of the different tools we were using, connecting all the dots was proving incredibly difficult.
We kept making incremental progress, but something felt off.
Then one morning while I was praying,
God revealed to me that I had made an idol out of data.
I was trying to get the data perfect so it could tell me exactly what to do, when God was saying, “Why don’t you just ask Me what you should do?”
But here’s what’s even more convicting:
Even if we could perfectly track all this data and know exactly what steps would be most effective in “growing our platform” – that’s still a painfully short-sighted goal.
I’m not on this earth to “grow a platform” or earn revenue. I’m here to impact lives and advance God’s kingdom.
And Kingdom Impact Can’t Be Tracked In A Spreadsheet
Even if we could somehow measure and quantify life change (which we can’t), we’d still be trusting our limited ability to track results rather than God’s high-level chess game of kingdom impact.
God has put each of us on earth for a particular reason to advance His kingdom in specific ways.
And only He knows all the pieces that need to move.
We Create Complex Systems to Avoid Simple Trust
This pattern of creating complex systems to avoid simple trust in God shows up everywhere:
- Business leaders trusting in market research more than the Holy Spirit’s leading
- Parents pushing kids toward “safe” careers instead of their calling
- Entrepreneurs choosing “proven” models over God-inspired innovation
The Real Question Isn’t About Money – It’s About Trust
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) isn’t just a nice verse for wall art – it’s a direct challenge to our tendency to trust in systems and metrics instead of God.
This doesn’t mean we ignore data, dismiss education, or abandon planning.
But it does mean we need to examine our hearts and ask:
What am I really trusting in?
Here’s a simple test: When making decisions, what do you check first – your resources or your relationship with God?
Next time you face a decision, ask yourself:
- If money wasn’t a factor, what would I choose?
- If security wasn’t at stake, what would God be saying?
- If I couldn’t measure the results, would I still obey?
The answer might reveal what you’re really worshiping.
Because here’s the truth:
Any time you need something other than God’s direction to feel secure about a decision, you’ve probably found another altar to mammon.
The question isn’t whether or not we have hidden idols.
The question is: Are we ready to find them?
Your friend and coach,
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