Over the last few years I have come to hate debt. I know nobody enjoys debt - that's not what I mean - I hate it more and more like I hate sin.
And so let the debate begin. Is debt sin or is it not? How can we function in our culture without a little debt? Does "wise" debt exist? Is mortgage debt OK because the asset has the ability to increase in value (not a guarantee like some have thought, is it?)?
It's funny to read various versions of Romans 13:8. While Paul is giving practical advice on paying taxes and other matters he writes:
"Owe nothing to anyone" - at least that's how the NASB gets it. The translators see debt as a prohibition. (NKJ and ESV are similar)
Check out the NIV: (Living Bible and others are similar)
"Let no debt remain outstanding". The translators seem to just prohibit lingering debt - debt is OK if you can get it paid off.
I'm not going to elaborate much further in one blog post but I will quickly say a few things:
1. I have come to fully admire people like Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, and George Mueller who called ALL debt sin. If someone chooses to live this way, there is no accusation against them. They choose to live nowhere near "the line". Whereas many people want to know how far they can go without sinning, these guys want to go in the opposite direction, running to the Savior, away from the line, for His glory.
2. Most arguments I hear to justify debt are not Biblical but rather practical. (Although Randy Alcorn offers Biblical arguments that need to be discussed.) Arguments such as: "I can't own a house without debt, and if I rent, I throw my money away and am a bad steward." But if Scripture DOES prohibit debt, then it does not matter if it seems impossible to buy a house without debt. It does not matter if debt can be used to make a long term profit. If it's prohibited, it's prohibited, and God is glorified in the keeping of His law and that's what should matter to us. And this is why we need to have a conviction on whether or not debt is wrong!
3. Debt free living (including housing) takes a radical lifestyle change. Radical lifestyle change (in all areas - not limited to just finances) is exactly what Jesus and the apostles constantly call for. If debt is wrong it should not surprise us. We are to live radically different than our culture.
4. Faith needs to be a part of the discussion. For example, debt sent me to seminary. In my mind, I couldn't have gone to seminary without financing it. Would God have provided for me had I chose not to take out a loan? We'll never know - I never gave Him the chance - but I bet He would have. But I hear you say, "God provided through the loan." Again, this is why we need to have a conviction on whether or not debt is wrong! That argument won't fly if debt is wrong.
5. Saving while owing needs to be part of the discussion. Is it OK to have a significant savings account while still in debt to another? Many people do. The thinking is (especially on a low interest loan, such as a auto loan) that it is better to simply make the payments over the life of the loan and keep the savings for security. The extra cost of paying the interest of the loan over its life is worth the security of keeping a savings account for an emergency. But this needs to be thought through regardless of whether you like NASB or NIV, because the text says, don't let the loan linger. So is it right to accumulate wealth while you owe another money?
6. I have debt. Not as much as I used to. None of it is "foolish debt." It's all "justified" by American Christian standards. I'm confident I can eliminate it all in 2 years (Lord willing). But if I stay on my current line of thought, that may be the last time I have debt. Lord willing.
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I think also the power of debt needs to be understood. Anything that we become a slave to is sin, store cards, credit cards, etc. The difficulty is that many things are hard to do without debt, buy a car, buy a home etc. But because it is hard it is most likely right.
Personally I am not convinced that all debt is sin, though it could be if we put the pursuit of our debts or paying for them above the Lord and paying our debt to him.
I pray daily for "freeing up" while knowing I owe on my home for 30 years. My investment in my future is huge, but should not be more pursued them my investment in eternity.
To clarify my thought... rent and mortgage are both a debt. One is paid with interest with an eventual payoff, one is interest free without any long term benefit. My home is used to house children that have been brought to me because of my home.
It is no different then church buildings. Churches should not get indebted for massive buildings that are just "show" and instead ought to give more to the poor, needy, missions etc. However, when rent or lease (debt) is greater then mortgaged debt, we must be faithful stewards of what God has given us.
My mortgage payment is less then I could rent a home for, but many people pursued wealth and got into debts that exceeded return or ability to pay.
Be faithful with what the Lord has given you and don't try to take more. Don't be greedy and greed rules real estate.
Thanks for those comments Ted.
For my purposes, I don't call rent debt because there is no money borrowed and therefore nothing owed to anyone; and this is the issue at stake: not being financially obligated to others. A renter pays in advance with his own money for the use of a house for the following month.
Not having a long term benefit from renting is a matter of perspective - your money gets you a roof over your head. So often I hear people say, "Renters are throwing their money away."
This thinking...
1. ignores the benefit that the rent payment has given you: a roof over your head
2. assumes a guarantee that going into debt for a mortgage payment will eventually payoff with a home that has increased in value. Not a guarantee as so many are painfully discovering right now.
3. doesn't take into account that the renter is NOT indebted to another while the "owner (actually bank-owned)" IS indebted to someone. So if it is a matter of following Scripture, future payoff would not matter.
Great discussion! Thanks for taking the time. :)
True on all your points. The one aspect again that I look at is amount of payment. if you can rent your home for $1000 dollars a month or have a mortgage of $2500.00 or more the burden of being a slave to paying that mortgage is great. However, if rent is 1500-2500 and mortgage is 1000-1500 is it not better to pay the lesser? My thought concerning my homes has always been not how much will this make me in future return, but what will rent be in 30-40 years? If my monthly payment is less and then is no longer after 30 years I am now freed up of thousands of dollars of monthly bills that I can use for the Lord and his kingdom.
Again, a church that can save thousands each month renting instead of owning should, but if they can save money monthly buying instead of rent and in 15 years not owe at all, they too are now freed up to use that money to further God's kingdom.
I do not see this as sin if the motivation is obedience to the Lord, faithfulness, good stewardship and long term goal of glorifying him and furthering his kingdom. God does not need my money or wise financial decisions to accomplish his will, yet he has given us all a mind to use and a priveledge to serve him.
If it is his money and not my own, again I must use it to his glory and not my own.
PS: I love these type of thought provoking discussions. Keep them coming.
I definitely see where you are coming from and trying to make the best financial sense.
What I am now chewing on is the "cost" of being indebted to someone. In other words, true in some cases, you may even have a lower mortgage payment than a rent payment, but how do we measure the price of being indebted to another?
Thinking out loud here, but it seems so much of the counsel of Scripture seems to make any kind of debt equal to a curse or equal to slavery.
And so while things may make financial sense by American standards, I want to evaluate how much spiritual sense things make by kingdom standards.
So it looks like the next post may need to be something on stewardship and indebtedness. Whereas renting (to completely exhaust the subject :)has commonly been called bad stewardship because there is no return on investment, maybe it actually is better stewardship because you never owed anyone money. Hmm. Still pondering.
One thing also with stewardship are we to leave a heritage to our children to the third and forth generation? If so would it not imply leaving them blessings of property, estate or accumulated wealth (lord willing)if the Lord has given the means and so freeing up future generations.
This to is against American culture which is microwave instant. When I built my home it was with the thought that this gives a place that my great grandchildren can enjoy and is so written in our trust.
Lord willing many of my descendants will be blessed by my painful slavery to this debt.
I will stop writing, I am not trying to take over your blog!
God Bless you and keep you from the curse of home ownership, credit cards and best buy cards!:)
This is what blogs are for!
Another blog post:
"Why leaving an inheritance is unnecessary and contradictory to the principles of Christ's kingdom."
18 Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. 21 For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? 23 For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
24 Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? 26 For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Eccl 2:18-26 (NKJV)
The mortgage is a difficult dilemma. On one hand, you are a slave to the debt until it is paid off and the interest on the loan is enormous. On the other hand, after 15/30 years, you make no more payments and own something of value while the "renter" will still have to pay for his/her dwelling and have nothing of value for his/her years of payments. A mortgage loan thus can be somewhat of a savings account. A good topic; one that I've given a lot of consideration to lately (reading George Muller's biography). Just a little something extra: Proverbs 13:22 " A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just."
I would be curious to hear what Jesus would have said about leaving an inheritance...
"Easy there Zaccheus, you can't give that much away, don't forget about leaving an inheritance."
"One thing you still lack rich man: sell almost everything to give to the poor, but don't forget about leaving an inheritance."
Or the parable about the fool who stored up instead of being generous to God. He could have argued his storehouses were for his kids.
Or how about the Macedonian churches giving out of their poverty to help the Jerusalem church? Perhaps it would have been wise to counsel them away from that generosity for the sake of the inheritance.
And of course we have the early church in acts laying their property and houses at the apostles' feet. Were they unwise? Shouldn't they be thinking about their kids' inheritance?
Examples are endless. There are far greater purposes for wealth in the kingdom than inheritance. The point is... accumulating wealth, even for the noble purpose of leaving an inheritance seems to be unnecessary for the kingdom and a hindrance to everything Jesus and the apostles taught on wealth.
Darren,
the more I read from you on this, the more I want to sell my home and give it all away. I think Jesus was after the heart of the wealthy man as well as my heart. Where my heart is there will my treasure be.
The saddest thing in all of this to me is not my home (rented or otherwise) but how many churches have set the wrong example with huge buildings, outrageous mortgages and a gospel that is focused on raising the money to fill those seats.
I cringe with the thought that I might be putting my home before my God or that the church has put it's splendor above the splendor of the kingdom.
I know you spoke of debt in general and we (I) have made this about house, but I think it is hard to be debt free. I owe a monthly debt for phone, cell phone among others and annually for taxes. It is still a debt. Rent is a debt in my mind because it is payment for a service recieved. Many rents are a signed contract stating I will stay here this long for this much and it is hard to find month to month type.
My point being if one knows that something is wrong and continues to do it to him it is sin (Iam not certaian of that verse/context)the Lord seems to be convicting you of something or convincing you of something I think you should follow that conviction especially when it is based on truth. In so doing you can be an instrument to change hard hearts such as my own.
May God richly bless you my friend.
Jumping in from the shallow end; What about the causes of debt? With rent or ownership you have some sort of tangible real property. But debt for food, entertainment, vacation, fashion??? Those issues need to be addressed first.
I think that foundational to this current topic is the understanding about not living beyond your means. If we are truly kingdom people, we are called to put everything aside that is in the way of following after Christ.
I think we need to teach more about household reality in order to help us teach our children about not being overly consumed by the world. Bottled water, fast foods, lattes, etc. are sinful when they are considered essential items in our monthly expenses. Taking on debt for these items is foolishness, however, good or tempting they may be.
Application of what to do with money is something that will take continued teaching and refinement until we learn to be at peace with what we have, not what we think we want(I really need this).
My own conviction comes when I look in my closet and see more than two coats, more than two pair of shoes. How do I keep it simple and not become envious of what someone else has?
If I have not saved out of what I have earned and only spent all that I had. I am truly foolish. If I have not honored God out of the first of what I have earned, then I am not grateful for what God has provided. I need to think on these things before I go window shopping or consider pulling out the plastic.
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