By
Lee Jenkins
for
Gospel Today Magazine


Scandal, public humiliation, and job loss. Some folks even find themselves out on the street.
Today we are seeing the results of America’s love affair with money. Our obsession with collecting, consuming, and possessing more stuff has crippled and even demolished many households, churches, communities, and entire industries. It’s a form of gluttony, one of the “seven deadly sins” and has led us away from God and into the seductive arms of debt.

The Bible and Debt
Although the debt lifestyle has become the norm in our society, it is not the norm, according to God’s principles of finance. In Deuteronomy 15:6; Psalm 37:21; and Romans 13:8, debt, especially long-term debt is considered abnormal.

Proverbs 22:7 (NAS) states, “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant (or slave) to the lender.”

The Bible doesn’t say that being in debt is sinful, but is does say that being in debt is tantamount to being a slave. Just look at the relationship most of us have with credit cards, the new slave masters of today - Visa, which should stand for Volunteering for Institutional Slavery Always, and MasterCard, aka MassaCard.

Debt and the Crisis
The subprime mortgage crisis was born out of greed and packaged as a gift by the financial and housing industries. Most Americans however, wouldn’t have been seduced by debt if we weren’t already in love with money. If we weren’t obsessed with the accumulating material things even when we can’t pay for them, then it wouldn’t have been impossible for 55% of Blacks, and 17% of whites (according to Federal Reserve data) to gobble up sub-prime loans to purchase or refinance their homes.

Between1994 and 2005, subprime lending was the fastest growing segment of the U.S. mortgage industry. Subprime loans were originally designed for people who typically have a poor credit history, low income, lack of collateral, and spotty financial situations. Banks and brokers were looking for ways to make more money and consumers were happy to pay for a house later if it meant they could get into it today. Loans were given to people who didn’t need them or couldn’t afford them and over the years unscrupulous people gave and took loans in order to make more money, hold on to more money, and accumulate more stuff.

By 2006 record numbers of people with sub-prime mortgages began to default on their mortgage loans.


When Debt is Dangerous
In order to right our course, we must realign ourselves with God’s teachings, end the love affair with money, and deny debt seduction. We can start by recognizing when debt is dangerous.

1. Debt is especially dangerous when a possession’s resale value is less than what is owed. We’ve all heard of folks who’ve been upside down on a car loan – owing more than the car is worth, but no one expects to be upside down on a house! That’s exactly what the subprime debacle has done, leaving homeowners and financial institutions with a big problem.
2. Debt is especially dangerous when it tempts us to violate our convictions. Many couples want to create a situation where the wife can stay at home to create a nurturing environment for their children, but can’t because the mortgage payments demanded two incomes. Mortgage debt wouldn’t allow it.  
3. Debt is especially dangerous when we’re tempted to rob our primary creditor (God), to pay our secondary creditor (people).  I believe if we are faithful to God first, then, and only then, can we look to Him to help us find the resources to pay men.  God says when people give to Him, He will “open up the floodgates and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  (Malachi 3:10).  Isn’t that exactly what people need if they want to get out of debt?  Holding money back from God is never a financial solution-it’s a source of financial problems.
4. Debt is especially dangerous when our monthly payments leave us little freedom to respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to give generously and to meet other’s needs. Life brings us numerous opportunities to meet other’s needs.  This may involve giving cash, buying someone groceries, or taking them out to lunch.  If our indebtedness leaves us unable to respond to God’s promptings, then we’ve robbed ourselves and others of blessings.
5. Debt is especially dangerous when it restricts our freedom to respond to the Holy Spirit’s call to move or change.  If God called you to do something different, like relocate, change your job so you can serve in the Kingdom more, go to the mission field, could you pull up stakes and follow His will?  Most people can’t because they are a slave to monthly payments and obligations that keep them stuck.  

Financial Armageddon
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Can anyone doubt this is true after experiencing the current financial crisis? The love of money encouraged lenders to push subprime loans on folks who didn’t need them or couldn’t afford them. It also contributed to an overwhelming number of consumers accepting the loans. What happened next was like financial Armageddon.  

Sub-prime mortgage defaults started an avalanche of record foreclosures, which directly correlated to declining home values (because foreclosures pull down the value of homes in the area).  When home values decline and foreclosures increase, financial institutions lose billions of dollars and stop making new loans. Thus, the availability of credit dried up which affected businesses that use loans for payroll, inventory, and working capital. Without access to capital they can’t make money so they start laying people off and unemployment begins to rise. Those who’ve lost jobs also can’t pay mortgages and more loans default. Those who still have jobs begin to spend less and consumer confidence wanes. The economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) starts to falter and we spiral into a recession.

Questions That Make You Go Hmmmm
It’s time to begin asking hard questions and offering honest answers in order to get out of this crisis and avoid the traps set by debt.

1. Is debt our way of getting around depending on God?  After all, why trust and wait on God to provide tomorrow when you can get a loan and have what you want today?
2. What effect will going into debt today have on our ability or willingness to serve God with our tithes and offerings?
3. What effect will going into debt have on tomorrow’s freedom to follow God wherever He wants us to go? Debt can tie you down to a job with guaranteed income even when the Holy Spirit has called you to join the ministry, start a nonprofit organization, or start a new business.
4. What message are we sending to God when we go into debt rather than live on what He has provided? How does it reflect our view of God? Does taking out a loan for something we don’t need mean we question God’s sovereignty, goodness, wisdom, or timing?

Here’s the bottom line, Proverbs 22: 6 states, “It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.”  When God blesses you with something you shouldn’t always have to fight to keep it.  You shouldn’t be stressed out about it all the time.  If you are constantly struggling to make your mortgage payments, credit cards payments, and car payments then I question whether or you’re house, the stuff you bought on that credit card, and your car is truly from God!  You see the best economic stimulus plan I can prescribe is ending our love affair with money and dependence on debt, and replacing them with an undying trust and reliance on God.  That’s the kind of economic stimulus plan we need…a Kingdom one!