To Borrow or Not To Borrow, that is the (steward’s) Question!
Unless we have an absolutely sure way to pay back a loan, the “experts” say we are “presuming on the future” and the James passage is certainly a good one to point that out. There’s only one way (maybe two) to be absolutely sure. If the lender is willing to “collateralize” the loan, he agrees to accept the item for which you borrowed the money in case you stop making the scheduled payments. For example, if you borrow money to buy a big screen TV with a collateralized loan and you stop making the payments, the lender can retrieve the TV, sell it and pay off the loan. Another term we use for this kind of loan is “secured”. The loan is secured by the value of the item purchased. The danger, of course, is that the value of the item purchased with the loan may depreciate faster than the balance of the loan. In other words, you end up owing more than the item is worth. This is sometimes referred to as an “upside down” loan. Lenders who offer secured loans try to avoid this “upside down” problem by requiring a down payment in advance.
There is only one other way to guarantee ability to repay and it is for one particular kind of loan. Most mortgage lenders require mortgage insurance when there is little or no down payment involved in obtaining the loan.
Secured loans are usually for the purchase of “big ticket” items like houses, boats, cars, planes, RVs, etc. The only other kind of loan is what we refer to as “unsecured”. In other words, there is no collateral the lender can come and take away and sell to pay off the unsecured loan when you stop making payments. Credit card balances fall into this group. As I mentioned earlier, the average American has 14 credit cards with unpaid balances totaling $7000. The average high school student has unpaid credit card balances of $2800. That seems awfully high to me. I hope you aren’t in this group because Prov 22:7 says The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave. That’s a real problem for us Christian stewards because of what it says in Matt 6:24-25 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Borrowing could cause us to have to choose between God and mammon and our God is a jealous God. Take a look at Deut 4:23-24, Deut 5:9-10, Deut 6:14-15, Deut 32:20-21, Josh 24:19-20, and/or Nah 1:2-3.
I’ve mentioned Randy Alcorn’s book Money, Possessions and Eternity before but I want to share what he has to say about three important issues associated with debt. First, there are times when debt is especially dangerous.
- When the resale value is less than what is owed. I just mentioned this. Most of the stuff we buy depreciates and some of it pretty fast. You know what happens when you drive a new car off the lot. It’s all of a sudden worth 25-30% less than you just paid for it.
- When it tempts us to violate our convictions. When my daughter and her husband started having children, they were convicted that she should stay home with them. They were tempted however for her to continue working because they had some debt. It was a hard decision because staying home meant living at the “poverty” level for some time. She did stay home and God has blessed their decision. They made it through two kids graduated from college and now employed.
- When we are tempted to rob our primary creditor (God) to pay our secondary creditors (people). This issue always arises when the subject of giving comes up. How can I give anything when I am just barely able to make minimum payments on my credit cards. I am just barely making ends meet now.
- When our monthly payments leave us little freedom to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been convicted to give to someone in need but couldn’t because of your overwhelming debt? This is really a sad situation for both you and the person in need.
- When it restricts our freedom to respond to the Holy Spirit’s call to move or change. What if He calls you to change jobs? What if He calls you to the mission field? Can you respond or are you burdened with significant debt (especially unsecured debt)?
The second issue associated with debt mentioned by Randy is consequences. I know you don’t want to hear it but you can’t remain in a state of denial forever.
- Debt lingers. The debt usually lingers far beyond our enthusiasm for whatever we bought with the borrowed money. I know someone who just had to have an RV/travel trailer and borrowed a lot of money to buy it. It has been parked in their driveway several years now and has never been used. That’s an extreme case but you know what I’m talking about.
- Debt can cause worry and stress. Usually the bigger the debt the bigger the stress. Randy even goes so far as to say it can raise mental health issues.
- Debt can cause some of us to enter a state of denial. If we just ignore it, it will go away. You know where that leads don’t you?
- Debt can lead to dishonesty. You are all familiar with the expression “The check is in the mail”. Surely a Christian steward would not ever use that phraseology.
I think that’s enough bad/hard news for this week. We’ll continue next time. See you then……
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Deut 4:23-24 So watch yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. NASB
Deut 5:9-10 ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. NASB
Deut 6:14-15 You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth. NASB
Deut 32:20-21 “Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom is no faithfulness. 21 ‘They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, NASB
Josh 24:19-20 Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.NASB
Nah 1:2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes engeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. NASB