The amounts we currently owe in debts are staggering. Over $11 trillion in personal debt - almost 4 times the $2.7 US budget and approaching the $17 trillion of national debt. We are in deep. By the time we bail ourselves out and our nation, what will be left for impacting our world for Christ?
So what does the Bible say:
Consider the story of the widow and the oil in 2 Kings 4:1-7. The dead man was a righteous fellow but had fallen into debt. As a result, the creditor was prepared to take the two children as slaves. Proverbs 22:7 echoes this sentiment when it says, "just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender". In borrowing today we run the risk that we will not have sufficiency for the future and may become servants of another master.
Debt is not forbidden in scripture, but is warned against and was a last resort for seeing oneself through a time of famine and want.
The mark of plenty was to be that the people would lend to many nations and not borrow. (Deut 28:12). It demonstrates that God provides for his people so sufficiently that the unbelieving world would look to God through their lending. So what does debt say about us?
I believe that in the free use of credit, we have said some things about what we believe. We believe that God will continue to provide for us as he has in the past and that God will spare us from any time of want. It says we trust in our own abilities and don't need to look to God for our provision. It says that God was wrong in doling out provision to us. He didn't give us enough that we could have what we wanted or needed.
In our free use if debt, we train ourselves away from dependence on God and hold our own estimations of our needs higher than God'sprovision.
Indebtedness is indeed a curse to us. It steals money from our current monthly needs to pay for something in the past. It prevents us from saving for future needs and causes us to pay so much more for the things we use. Debt prevents us from answering God's call to follow him into ministry and missions because of our ties to the past. Debt prevents us from being generous givers to supply the needs of others and to find the work of the gospel. Debt keeps us from being lenders to unbelievers and so hinders our ability to witness to God's greatness.
Our culture tells us there is good debt and bad debt but debt is so damagingfor families and for churches. Debt merely drives up the prices of goods to keep us needing debt to afford to own a home or a car. Debt does not get us closer to God, but closer to the world. Debt allows us to live comfortably in the world and binds us to life here.
We are called to be content with God's provision and to follow Him in witnessing of His greatness to the world. God is owner of all the world's wealth. The portion he supplies if insufficient should be provided through the hands of Gods people in love.
In the New Testament church financial persecution of the believers was common. The churches from Paul's missionary journeys were collecting funds even sacrificing to supply the needs of the church in Jerusalem. That is God's provision in action.
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