Mammon’s Workshop

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1Timothy 6: 6 – 10)

I want us to look at some tools the devil uses very effectively to sidetrack our path to holiness. I call them tools because they have no power in themselves to do anything. They are tools because once they have been placed in our hands they very easily and effectively divert our attention to other things.

The panga (machete) is an agricultural tool. But in the hands of a person with a short temper or with wicked intent the same can be a deadly weapon. A gun was made to defend nations. Look at what kind of evil it continues to unleash. And no wonder I heard that the inventor of the AK 47died in regret as he saw the extent his invention was being used for the wrong purposes.

On the other side a sling is many times a boy’s toy. But the same toy in the hands of a skilled and worshipful user was able to bring down a giant who had terrorized God’s people for forty days. It was after that incident that Israel took that weapon seriously.

The use or abuse of a thing depends on who wields it. A gun in the hands of a soldier is a good thing as it offers security. No one panics when he sees a policeman with a gun. But the situation drastically changes when the same gun is in the hands of a thug. It is the same tool but in the wrong hands.

The same is what happens to drugs. I remember in a seminar the introduction of drug abuse that will drive this introduction home. We do not abuse drugs by insulting them or calling them names. We abuse them simply by using them for the wrong purposes. Even heroin is a medicinal drug that is used in hospitals though its name is then changed. It is the use the same for other purposes that makes the drug harmful hence abuse. My late grandmother told me that she got addicted to sniffing as she used tobacco to fight the pain of toothache. In fact a substantial number of people will get addicted to drugs as they get used to receiving them in a hospital setting.

This is what I mean when I am talking about mammon’s workshop. It is the use or fabrication of tools that lead us away from God’s purposes. A tool is a tool. It is the wielder of the same that determines the positivity or otherwise of the same.

I want us to look at the things the devil uses many times to lead God’s people from God’s agenda for their lives. Most of them are so commonplace you may shout against me. But I want you to look at the reality of the tools before you lynch me.

But as a background I want us to look at normal village life in the past, compare it with the commandments to Israel then compare that with modern living. I believe this is what will give us the context to examine these few tools.

In the past there were no fences to block people from other people. Villages were fenced to protect the animals from marauding wild animals. Even doors were used for a similar purpose. We see the same when we read the Bibles. Gates and walls were meant to protect a city from external aggressors. There was no protection from one’s nation.

That implied that people were connected to one another in more ways than their national or tribal pride. An example like the one we see in Luke 11 is impossible if those people lived the way we do now. Security is then one tool the devil uses to block us from God’s purpose. This he does by slowly turning us inward instead of upward when we think of our security. I then must do everything as I can’t really trust God enough to let Him handle my security. But it goes farther. I cannot trust anybody else as far as my security s concerned. I must therefore fortify myself against the whole world.

Due to that I will not trust anybody else as I do not know their motives concerning what I own. Everybody therefore becomes a suspect in my eyes. I will employ a watchman yet barricade myself because he could also steal from me. I marry a spouse but must barricade my heart so that they do not steal my heart, of all things. And this is because they can use that heart to steal everything else. I will fear to open up to anyone for the same reason.

My grandfather used to slaughter animals very often. Though he died when I was still very young I remember that it was always a party as the animal was dismembered and parts distributed to family and neighbors. A cow would be completely gone in at most three days as all the meat would have been distributed. Again look at the pastoral communities and you will see the same. Meat is never personal property. It matters little who slaughters as the whole community will eat.

But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten: But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7: 16 – 18)

Killing an animal in Israel was a sacred duty as it represented the death of something with the breath of life and included the shedding of blood. That is why it was treated as a sacrifice that had an expiry date. But it also makes hygienic sense as meat can easily be contaminated if it stayed much longer.

The point I am making is that it was impossible to consume a whole animal alone with such a timeline. Selfishness was therefore untenable, just as it was in our past.

And it was not only with the meat. Food had to be consumed before it expired. Another thing you will notice when you look at the past is that you see that people cooked more that they would consume to avoid the chance of a surprise guest.

But then comes the refrigerator and freezer, our next tools. I can store forever any food I will not consume and therefore do not need generosity to avoid the stench of what I don’t consume.

I lose the spiritual and social dimensions because the hygiene direction is taken care of. I can therefore consume a whole cow alone without needing to share with anyone else unless I am selling to them. I can comfortably lead a very selfish and self-centred life without the fear of negative consequences.

That is why I call the fridge one of mammon’s tools.

In the past all trade was barter. A cow was worth maybe six goats, the same as probably seven sacks of farm produce. It was also important that all transactions took place in a party mood so that it was in the context of fellowship that the deals were concluded. It was impossible to take advantage of one another since trade was not a means of amassing but of being balanced. I have heard of instances where someone would exchange his cow for goats and leave some goats with the one who gave them because he had been left with none.

If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: (Exodus 22:26)

No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge. (Deuteronomy 24:6)

Even when money came into existence it was not much different as it was precious metals versus what someone had. The metal was weighed, with a particular amount of weight in silver or gold being equivalent to a particular product. Thus we see Abraham weighing silver to buy a burial place for his wife.

But then came currency, the next tool. This is a piece of comparatively worthless value being used in the place of some value. Its value is what is printed on it.

I won’t mind if we interpreted legal tender to understand our justification by faith as it is a very useful tool for that as well. God places His value on us with no value and we are then able to gain His value.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2Corinthians 5:21)

Currency takes paper or something similar and prints a value on it, a value totally inconsistent with what constitutes that material. It is then called legal tender, totally different from the gold or silver because that currency is valid only in a particular political sphere that has legalized its value.

But look at the same in the hands of mammon. I can carry so much of that in my pocket without anyone knowing. It doesn’t smell (though I suspect some people like conmen and pickpockets can smell some quantity of the same which might be under the leading of the devil who is their master).

I can therefore be carrying the equivalent of ten cows and nobody could suspect.

This takes selfishness to unimaginable levels. It does the same to greed as that same currency does not rot or degrade and so I can make amassing of the same my passion without anybody knowing it. My neighbor can die of hunger while I hoard in the millions and there is no way they can be able to access that money I have since they cannot see it.

Vice is easily covered because money does not display its source. You see if I had two cows and the next year you found me with fifty I would really need to explain whether my cows were rabbits to breed that fast. But you can’t do the same with money as there are many ways of making it work and in any case how will you know that I have a million unless I told you?

I believe that money is the most prized tool that mammon has and might be the tool he has invested the most of his resources to promote.

Money is what has converted many pastors, even prophets to motivators so that they can continue enjoying it. It is what has made business people into exploiters without caring a hoot at the damage they are causing. It is money that has almost made the statement that crime does not pay irrelevant.

I will not go into banks and banking as I want you to look at all those tools nicely. I will not even mention education or progress or science and technology. In fact I have refused to write a lot on money as you may have expected because I want you to do that study yourself so that you do not say I am pushing my convictions down your throat. Then you will develop a healthy Biblical doctrine on the same. Then you can make choices in that direction.

I will close with what I said in the beginning. A tool is dependent on its wielder. A knife in the kitchen is a utensil but the same with a thug is a weapon.

Who wields the tools God has given you? Could it just be that mammon is using them for his purposes? Have you ever asked God to completely guide you into the usage of those tools He has given you? This is because the devil is normally not given an opportunity to use; it is the lack of totally allowing God to lead that gives the devil the tools to use for his purposes. And that is true even for the tools I have briefly mentioned. God will actually use them more mightily and positively than the devil can. But He must be given the go ahead to do so, unlike the devil who will take advantage of my lack of submission to God.