Mammon and Empire Confronting the Root of All Evil

Abstract

International development organizations assume that poverty is the core problem to be solved. This article makes the case that wealth is the ultimate problem, and poverty is the consequence. The pursuit of wealth, as defined by market-based societies, is driven by the spirit of Mammon, which is also the spirit of Empire. Faithfulness to the gospel requires wealthy churches, which send missionaries and development workers to poorer regions of the world, to confront Mammon—in themselves and in the world—and to do mission according to the upside-down economics of the kingdom of God. Insofar as they do, they also undermine the power of Empire.