When I opened the blog this morning, I must say I was a little disappointed at the total number of comments with other ideas about why debt is discouraged in the Bible. I wasn't really expecting thousands of ideas, maybe 100's but not 1,000's. Well at least something a little higher than the total of zero I saw.
Maybe next week I will have to try to send one of my family members on a guilt trip so at least I have one comment. That's OK though, I realize not everyone sits around thinking about stuff similar to this like I do.
Anyway, here is another reason why I believe God discourages debt. Remember, debt is not a sin, but God certainly does not encourage it.
Did you ever think that one of the easiest ways for God to communicate His will to us (outside of the Bible) is through money? If God owns everything, (which He does Psalm 24:1, Deuteronomy 10:14, Haggai 2:8 etc.) and He wants us to wait for something (which He does Galatians 6:9), wouldn't it make sense for Him to do this by withholding the funds to buy it?
Let me be very practical with an illustration. Suppose we want to buy a car. God knows some things about that car that we don't know. Remember, He is omniscient (Psalm 139:1-6) and knows the future (Jeremiah 29:11) and has a plan for our future.
Maybe God knows that the car will take us into places that are not pleasing to Him. Maybe God knows that the car will take too much of our time and attention away from our family and serving Him. Maybe God knows that car has bad brakes and we or someone we love will be driving that car and end up in a fatal accident.
If you were God, and owned everything wouldn't it make sense to withhold the money for the purchase of that car? But what do we do? We go to our friendly bank or any other of the many options and take out a quick loan and buy that car.
Yes, I believe this is true and have seen this far too many times. God uses money (either supplying it or withholding it) to show us His will for our lives. Borrowing money can very easily put us in a position where we bypass the opportunity of seeing God's hand leading in our lives.
OK, so where are we? Last time we said that debt presumes upon the future which God does not want us to do. Here we see that borrowing money can bypass God's direction in our lives.
This is still just the beginning. There are other reasons why I believe that God discourages debt. What other reasons can you come up with that God might discourage borrowing money and debt?
I look forward to hearing other comments. This time I won't set my expections quite so high. Instead of 1000's of comments, maybe one more might be nice. I do look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
Monday, August 3, 2009
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4 comments:
Matthew 6: 12 "And forgive us our Debts, as we forgive our debtors" Our Lord and savior Jesus has taught us how to pray for forgiveness in many ways (Praise God) Our Father has led me to the thought of owning a credit card. We have as humans, desires that we must limit, but rarely do we. Therefore we fall to sin to achieve our desires then suffer the consequences (proverbs 4:25-27). So it is when you fall in to debt with a credit card. We get what we want and are temporaly happy but then we get the bill in the mail and suffer the consequences. Make sure your affections lead you in the right direction. Look straight ahead and keep your eyes on Jesus. Put boundries on your desires and dont go after everything you see. Try not to get side tracked on detours that lead to sin.
i think we should not get into debt, so that will be available during hard times (like now) for a brother/sister who is struggling.
how can we help when we are not financially free.
only caution i see is not enabling the other person either.
Hi George . . .
I want you to have a good day, so I am writing this comment so you will have a "windfall"!!
Romans 14:23 tells us that "whatever is not from faith is sin." There is my concern about saying "debt is not a sin". While I can agree that not all debt is sin, I cannot agree that debt is never sin. If the debt is motivated by greed, foolishness, exasperation, etc. it is sin. Yes, there are necessary debts born out of faith and prayer, but I dare say that these are relatively few in our day. So, it may be that some debt is in fact sin, that requires repentance.
Pastor Keith
Hey Pastor Keith, thanks for the comment. I would not consider three comments to be a "windfall" but much better than the zero I was averaging.
I most certainly agree that debt can become a sin. You mentioned some of the motivational factors that can make debt a sin. I believe the main cause of debt is a lack of self-control. Romans 14 also talks about food and, like debt, eating can also become a sin(Proverbs 23:20,21; 28:7) as can other simple desires like sleep (Proverbs 6:6-11).
Having control over our human desires comes from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). The lack of this control in our finances, or any other area in our lives most definitely can result in sin.
Thanks Pastor Keith for the comment, but more than that thanks for being my pastor.
George
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