What God Has To Say About Money Part One: Debt
This week we’re going to do something a little bit different on Getting Green. Instead of me preaching the conservative financial advice that I normally give, we’re going to look at what someone else has to say about money, some one much more important than you, me, or anyone else—God. Even if you’re not a Christian, that’s fine, you can still learn a lot about money from the bible. Think of it as a historical document that’s lasted for over 2000 years and that people still read today. The same truths about money existed then as they do today. You can learn a lot from the parables and stories that the Bible has to tell about money. If you are a Christian, you can use this week as an opportunity to learn more about stewardship of God’s resources, and hopefully draw closer to him when it comes to making use of His money.This is going to be a six part series on money. Each day this week we are going to look at a facet of money, and what the bible has to say about it. We’re going to look at debt, being generous, investing, tithing, greed, finally the very nature of money and possessions.
Today we’re going to hit the ground running delving into a much debated issue in the financial world: debt. Some people think that debt is a very necessary financial tool and you need to use it to get ahead in life. Others believe that debt really doesn’t do any good for anyone except the bank, but what does the bible have to say about it?
The bible does not speak highly of debt. When we open up the book of Romans, we are told, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” Of course when the Apostle Paul wrote this, he was referring more than to just money, he meant debts of all kind, including gratitude, respect, and honor. Money was no exception. The rest of the chapter goes on to say that we should only owe debt to God, and no one else.
This makes a lot of sense. We’re God’s servants, not anyone else’s. We shouldn’t owe anything to anyone except Him, and to Him we owe everything, for He sacrificed His only son for us, so that we may not perish in the fires of hell, but have everlasting and eternal life with Him. Now there’s a gift!
There are a few other verses in the bible about debt. Proverbs 22:7 is a verse that Dave Ramsey frequently mentions on his radio show. One translation of the verse says that “The borrower is slave to the lender, and the rich rule over the poor.” We shouldn’t desire to be a slave to the people that we owe money to, especially when we look at Matthew 6:24, which states "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
If we allow the people we owe money to be our masters and let them dictate our lives, God will no longer be our master. We might not let them push us around, but we’re still working hard so that we can pay off our creditors, and in a manner, we are their servants. If God asked you to get up tomorrow and leave your homeland and become a missionary, would you be able to do it? Or would you be stuck working in your job to pay off the debts that you have. The verse in Matthew really comes alive when we start talking about doing work for eternity.
Beyond these verses, there’s a theme that’s really much more important going on here. When we look through all of the instruction, parables, songs, and stories in the bible, God never uses debt in order to give a blessing upon to His people. When he made Solomon the wisest man that ever lived, He didn’t force Solomon to pay it back with low and easy monthly payments. When God gave His only son for us, he didn’t make us work for it, rather he gave us the gift of salvation. When God wants to bless you, he won’t make you go in debt for the blessing. Don’t think that being approved for a home loan means that God wants you to have that house. It’s very unlikely that you’re going to be the first person that God uses debt to bless.
There really aren’t a lot strong warrants in the bible as to why debt is such a bad thing, but there doesn’t need to be. We tell our children not to do stupid things, such as don’t touch the stove. We don’t need to tell them that the stove is hot. If they don’t listen, they’ll find out the hard way that it wasn’t such a good idea. God wants what’s best for us, and since He created you, me, and everything else, He out of anyone would know whether or not debt is a “necessary financial tool.”
There really aren’t any endorsements of debt in the bible, and if you’re a Christian, you need to take a hard look at your financial life and think about what you’re doing. Knowing that God speaks negatively about debt in the bible and that He knows what’s best for us, we Christians really should not use debt. It’s not going to be easy all the time, but being a Christian never is.
Read the next entry in this series about giving
Labels: Christianity, debt, What God Has To Say About Money
posted by Matthew Paulson @ 7:30 PM
4 Comments:
It's a matter of opinion that "God speaks" in the Bible, you know. Lots of Christians don't believe that it's literally true. Before you start taking financial advice from an ancient religious text, you should look into the context of the statements in there. At the time, debt was frowned upon much more than it is today, but this isn't because debt was "evil" or anything like that. It's because humanity had not yet developed sophisticated ways of managing money and debt and the societal systems that help to ensure that debt obligations are entered into fairly (with everyone knowing the terms from the beginning). Jesus and other religious people probably frowned on debt because back then "debt" usually meant borrowing from friends, family, etc, and such borrowing often strains or destroys these relationships (even today).
There were no corporate megabanks at the time the Bible was written. So you can't fairly apply the financial advice in the Bible to our current situation. People simply weren't aware of how powerful a tool debt truly is to improve society for everyone. The entire Western world was built by debt; arguably, it was even more instrumental than religion in building our society. Efficient systems of debt allow us to amortize costs of big projects across many years and many people...and thus allow us to finance the construction of projects that would have been beyond the grasp of humanity at the time the Bible was written.
For another counterpoint, look at the Islamic world. They have been shackled in their application of debt because they have much stronger prohibitions against debt than the Christian or Jewish holy texts do. Partly as a consequence of this, their societies have remained impoverished and unable to develop as rapidly as the West did. Technically, even things like interest-bearing bank accounts are a form of debt (the only difference is that you are the lender and the bank is the debtor). Under strict Islamic interpretations (or some of the more radical Christian interpretations) these accounts should be prohibited. Surely you can see that bank accounts do a lot of good for society, right? But they are "debt", so they are "wrong" if you believe ancient religious texts literally.
Look, I know that religion is very important to a lot of people. I'm not meaning to attack your religious beliefs. I'm just questioning whether religion is a good source of financial advice, given its poor track record on this matter. You need to understand that things like the Bible contain wisdom of humanity from a moment frozen in time several thousand years ago. The texts don't evolve, so they don't incorporate things we have learned to do better since then.
If the previous commentor believed what he/she wrote, he/she wouldn't have signed 'anonymous'. Makes you wonder. Hmmmmm?
Of course there were 'lenders' during Jesus's time. If you actually read the Bible, you would have known that. Debt is not a powerful tool, as anonymous states. When you are in debt, you are a slave to the lender. The pilgrims didn't come to this country on debt. In the beginning history of America, immigrants would not be permitted to America unless they had actual hard, cold cash in their pockets.
Times have changed. And for the worse, I might add. America has gone from a land of citizens to a land of consumers. We are building a life on sand, not rock. And we all know what happens to a house built on sand?
All the people (and bloggers) I know, who are financially secure, all (and I mean ALL) have a strong Christian backbone. Life back then during the times of the bible is no more different than it is today. Just because you carry a cellphone doesn't change the laws of good and evil.
I can see how you would say that debt can become our god. It is hard to get out from under it once you start getting into it. It's also very hard NOT to have debt in the world that we live in. It's almost impossible to live in this world and not have debt. Not everyone can buy a house outright. It's a shame, really. I am going to take from this that we shouldn't let debt run our lives. That is something that we should remember every day. Thanks you for writing this.
There is a difference between debt and obligations. You can have obligations like your house note, car note and the like. Your obligations become debt when you can no longer make the payment.
God's Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So if he said in Deuteronomy 28:12 that we should not be borrowers but lenders, the same apply to us where ever we are in 2007.
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