In 1863, Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves in America. They were released from their station of being “owned” and could suddenly make their own choices. However, as I mentioned before, they never were actually saved. They only knew and understood one thing: cotton. So they were forced back to the same plantation owners or started their own plantation to do what? Grow cotton. George Washington Carver, by bringing the peanut into the discussion with 300+ recipes, created an entirely new industry that finally saved the South from slavery to cotton.
Slavery in the South was a necessity because of the industry. Cotton was a big industry, and it was where the money was for plantation owners. Everyone was doing it, and no one knew differently. The cotton gin only makes the industry even bigger, thus requiring more slaves because of needing a bigger workforce. Could the plantation owners have done the same job without people formally being slaves? That was easier said than done as the struggles in the Reconstruction Era showed.
The South was big into slavery because they themselves were slaves to an industry: cotton. Each of those plantation owners was a slave themselves – not to a person but to a thing. Cotton required a workforce, and having slaves work the field was both the cheapest and easiest way to do the job. There were good plantation owners and bad ones, just like there are good employers and bad employers today. But each boss and each job we work are slaves to the industry. We think we have freedom, but do we really? We have to let go of the “American Slave Trade” image to truly understand that slavery is a much bigger thing than just kidnapping, chains, and forced labor. We need to get back to a Biblical mindset because every one of us is a slave. We all serve a master. For the South, it was cotton, which led them to seek labor, which brought in the slaves. Yes, what was done to the Africans was wicked and evil, but the motivation for that was largely due to slavery to cotton.
Things have not changed today, except we don’t call slavery to a thing “slavery;” we merely call it an addiction or give it some other euphemism. Slavery requires a master, and each of us is controlled by something or someone. Jesus Himself called us “slaves” when He said that we cannot serve two masters; we would serve one or the other. He specifically said we cannot serve both God and money. Why did cotton control the South so dominantly? The love of money. Cotton was the money maker and what the plantation owners could be certain about. Planting anything else was too much of a risk, and it was about making money. Now, there is nothing wrong with making money. What is wrong is when money controls you, not you controlling the money. Today, many people go for the jobs they want not because they are good at the job, not because they have a skill they can use to help people, but because of the prestige and money that comes with the title. As a result, they are slaves to that job and slaves to that lifestyle.
Debt is one of the clearest forms of slavery today. It was why many ended up as slaves in ancient history and it’s no different today. Those who are in debt are owned by the banks from which they took the loans. How can I say that? Because if you default on your loans and don’t pay them back, they take your house, your car, and your stuff. They own you. That is why Scripture says multiple times to not be in debt whenever possible, and it gives instructions on how to handle those who need to borrow from you. Yet stats have shown that the average American lives on 125% of their income. This means that for many of us, the lifestyle we prefer is more expensive than our means to maintain it. The government is even worse and doesn’t even know what the word “budget” means anymore. It’s no longer mere blacks that are slaves in America; the vast majority of the country is enslaved to debt.
We have other slave masters in this country as well. We simply call those addictions. Drugs, alcohol, and pornography are the big three. Why do so many drugs come across our border? The answer is very simple: our demand and appetite for them call for it. Smokers are constantly craving that next joint, and those who are on the “harder” stuff are incapable of walking away from it. Heroin in particular is a drug the body literally cannot break free of. Why are beers and bars so popular? Because they are sought to dull the pain of life and to make us oblivious to what is going on around us. People seem to love the high of being drunk but always seem to forget the barfing and unconscious thinking and the risks from those around them. Pedophiles will often get teens or pre-teens to parties where they will get drunk enough to be incapacitated, get them to a bed, and all it takes is a few seconds to get a few pictures and that victim will be on display on the dark web forever. And then there is pornography itself. It’s truly a drug that has a vicious grip. And don’t think just controlling your ability to resist watching and looking at the junk is going to help. Once you have looked, those images are in your head, and it is very difficult to get them out. It gets worse when the mind goes into “fantasy porn,” when one just pictures the deeds in their heads. These are slave masters and you can’t just say “no” to them. You need a greater master to free you, and only one Master can do that, Jesus Christ. Then instead of answering the door when they knock, let your Master answer the door.
Those are merely the common bad things. What about the good things? Yes, we can be enslaved to those too. Can we put away video games for a season? Or hunting? Or stamps? Or LEGOs? Or cross-stitch? Or sports? None of these things are sinful. But, just to use sports for example, some are so addicted to a team they follow that they actually think they are part of that team, part of that experience when they win or lose. I personally root for the Denver teams because that is where I was born and raised. But when my team is basically out of things, I don’t follow them so closely. I am still loyal to my teams, but I’m not watching what is going on as closely. But when they are doing well, I am often checking to see what the latest statements are. Last year, the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. I was watching them tightly. Once they got eliminated this year, I have basically only followed hockey from a distance. While the Denver Nuggets made their run to the NBA Finals (which results played out between when I wrote this post and today when you are reading it) I was watching. I can find myself following sports too closely and potentially at the expense of greater spiritual things I could be doing. Whatever your thing is, the real question is: does it control me?
Slavery is everywhere, and there are many masters. Most masters don’t require chains or whips to control you. All they have to do is offer you something you desire, and they control you. This is why Scripture tells us that we must not be controlled by the lusts of the flesh, but we must master them and submit those lusts to the will of Christ. Before I go that direction though, there is one more sinful slave master I need to address: the self. And I’m not just talking about doing what the self wants; I am also going to talk about the self-desire to rule all others, to take the God position and have a “God Complex.” That’s for next week.
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