The Counsels of Mammon (II)

https://churchandfamilylife.com/podcasts/6390cc89fad8bafe3a9ec787

At about the twelve minute mark we come to:

5. Be on a Budget

Budgets are very helpful, but contrary to the narrative being provided, there are people who spend years trying to get that money set aside for tires or whatever and can never get there. Life keeps happening and because the margins are too tight, they can't meet those goals. Others have volatile incomes – shift workers whose hours change every week, or those who are self-employed. A sickness can throw everything off and then while you're trying to get it back on track – a car repair comes up that you can't pay for. Sometimes it can take months to get back on track, but by then something else has likely happened. These people are not necessarily doing anything wrong – they're simply struggling.

The advice given on the podcast works great for those with a surplus income who maybe have gotten a little sloppy with their spending. It sometimes works for poor struggling folks – but often it's an ideal being reached for that never seems to materialize.

Large percentages of the population have no savings. Not all of them are irresponsible.

It would never occur to this man that perhaps – just maybe – he's not paying his people a fair wage.

Once again it's a discussion of rich people for rich people.

I found this quote to be telling:

In order to be financially successful you need self-control, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and self-discipline. We need the same traits Jesus had when he was on the Earth.

I guess it never occurred to Mr. Zes the Theonomist that Jesus was not by his or anyone else's definition – financially successful. This sort of non-reflection typifies these sorts of discussions. Once again we have a glaring case of non sequitir. Indeed we certainly should exhibit the same traits as Jesus but then – we'll look nothing like the men in the video and in fact represent values antithetical to them. They would not just us successful, financially free, and I doubt they would look to such men for the office of elder.

Proverbs is a great place to go. Scott Brown is right. However as I have repeatedly insisted, they must be read and interpreted in light of the New Testament. Many of the key concepts are in fact transformed and at times the New Testament significantly modifies the message of certain Proverbs which are wed to the Mosaic and specifically the typology of the Davidic-Solomonic Kingdom epoch, and as such some of the imagery and even economic values being expressed are not meant to be normative for New Testament times. Beware of a Judaized reading of Proverbs. It's very common especially among teachers who have confused capitalism with the ethics of the New Testament and with little support to be found in the New Testament, they turn to books like Proverbs thinking they provide solace and justification. There's a lot of sloppy misuse and abuse of Old Covenant wisdom literature.

6. Start your Business Before you Build your House

The use of Proverbs 24.27 is a case in point. It's quite a leap to move from making preparations for food and sustenance followed by building your house – to a full-blown call for investment and capitalist enterprise.

Making sure your field is properly situated is quite different from a burning desire to get apartment buildings in order to generate income by means of the work of other people – what he euphemistically refers to as passive income.

I'm not saying it's illegitimate to own rental units but the entire attitude is puzzling to me – and frankly smacks of avarice. My father had hundreds of apartment units and I think he found it to be an ugly business. He hired property managers – I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Zes does the same. Those people have to be pretty hard-nosed and cannot have too much compassion. I spent a lot of time around that whole property management world growing up. It's not the kind of job I would want to have and yet I wouldn't feel any better doling it out to someone else either. And don't fool yourself. Sometimes such 'passive income' can end up being a vehicle for the exploitation of others.

Additionally if you have lots of units – you're going to end up participating in a larger world. At some point you will get sued and will have to employ a lawyer. If someone doesn't pay or damages your property – are you going to let it go? Are you going to turn the other cheek? Are you going to reason with them? Or are you going to go to court or call the men with badges and guns? These are in fact the same thing.

I'm sure Zes has no problem with either but someone a little more attuned to New Testament Christianity will certainly pause at that point. Is it worth it?

Start your business before you get married. Boy, this just really resonates with the whole drive and ethos of the New Testament doesn't it? This is what it's all about. This is a really big concern for Christians.

Look, I have my own business. It's a joke. I don't want to run a business. I loathe being a businessman. I work and support my family and do as little paperwork as possible. I'm not interested in 'building' my business into something. Why? Because it's nothing. It's not important. I've got better and more important things to do. I already work too much because I have to. It's not who I am – it's something I do to put food on the table. I do good work. Everyone attests to that and I'm held in high regard. But I am not even remotely what this man would call financially free. However, I do believe I am being faithful. I don't know this man but I would imagine we would not agree as to what that even means. I do not exploit people and yet I am often exploited. As aggravating as that can be at times, I wouldn't have it any other way. The answer isn't to be aggressive but cautious, careful, and discerning.

The values here are not from the New Testament, nor are the repeated abuses and distortions of the Parable of the Talents – which he like many others gets completely wrong. The drive of the discussion and the values it projects are all from the middle class and its values – a point I explored in another recent piece about kids moving from home.

I would actually encourage Christian men to be self-employed but I would never encourage any Christian to turn to these men for financial wisdom.

7. Find Enjoyment in your Labor

It's always desirable to find work you enjoy but it's not an option everyone has. You can always find ways to make the work enjoyable but for many people, Monday morning is a burden and the weekend is a blessing. The Dominionist attitude is fundamentally in error in how it approaches this present evil age but it is also very much at odds with the futility message that dominates Ecclesiastes. This precious book does not line up with the Kuyperian recasting of the Kingdom and so they often ignore it and others twist its meaning to match their paradigm.

Once again the attitudes expressed in terms of a setting or context of security that allows the person 'options', in order to choose the occupation they want, and to follow the whims they might have, are not the fruit of America's great freedom as some would have it. No, many people in many countries have such options. They key is not America or even a doctrine of Dominion or the contrivance known as Vocation (which provides cover for the abandonment of New Testament ethics). The real unspoken secret, the elephant in the room is – money. Once again what we have is advice by rich people for rich people.

I am fascinated by listening to rich men talk about how they love manual labour or farming and things like that. See for them it's fun, it's like a hobby and if they don't feel like it, they set it aside or have someone else do it.

When you have to do it and you've been doing it for decades and your body is worn out and broken – it's not so fun. And then when you have to work through the pain because you have got to get something done so you can get paid at the end of the week – then it becomes a real burden. I'm not laughing along with these guys.

And for the hundredth time – Luther was wrong. The Magisterial Doctrine of Vocation is not found in the New Testament and instead has been used to promote great error, harm, and in other cases the reversal of New Testament ethics.

I was also struck by Zes' admission that his parents weren't Christians – but that they were teaching Biblical principles regarding money. I suppose in some respects that kind of says it all about Dominionism and its syncretist approach to worldview. This is a critical point many seem to miss.

I would argue the Kingdom ethic (which includes how one views money) is a gift of the Spirit requiring sanctified discernment concerning what is taught – because it's actually foolishness in the eyes of the world.

But according these Dominionists, anyone can learn Christian ethics in the realm of money by just following good old American values. It's so ordinary that just some unregenerate guy off the street can figure it out. By their estimations, there are probably a dozen books at your local library that more or less teach the Biblical view of economics – which don't forget, is a form of ethics.

Can we learn Christian ethics from unbelievers?

This thinking is erroneous and completely at odds with what the New Testament teaches. It's baptized worldliness and nothing more.

In conclusion the spirit of this discussion reminds me of the man in the New Testament that wanted to tear down his barns and build new ones. In other words the counsels of mammon can also be called the wisdom of fools.

I have to be fair. Some of the advice is sound. It's good to have a budget and exercise self-control when it comes to finances. The reason I chose this episode for critique is due to the claims of this group. They claim to be pro-family, when they support an economic system that harms families. They claim to be applying the Sufficiency of Scripture to these questions but as I've demonstrated, they do not. In fact they bring outside or alien ideas which interplay with selected texts resulting in something that is packaged to look Christian but is not.

And finally I chose to interact with this podcast because in many respects they're not what they purport to be. These folks are Dominionists and Theonomists, formerly associated with Doug Phillips and Vision Forum. I do not say this to connect them with his scandals but rather to show they are part of a faction that combines Judaizing tendencies in theology with the ideology of the Christian Right and Far Right. They're all smiles and pictures of families – the paragon of domesticity, but in reality they represent a reading (or misreading) of Scripture that ultimately takes some rather dark turns in the realm of economics and politics.

I personally know of a couple of families who have been deceived by these people and did not understand what they were about. When I explained it to them and started to help them connect the dots, they were at first shocked, and then felt misled and even angry.

I have been very sorry to see some good folks like the people associated with Chapel Library (Mt. Zion Bible Church) and even Paul Washer associate with these people – which only helps to muddy the waters.

The advice given in this video podcast is not sound but instead represents what must be called the counsels of mammon. You cannot serve God and mammon.

See also:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/07/scott-brown-still-peddling-vision.html

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2023/02/kids-leaving-home-and-middle-class.html