Freedom to Prepare: Forgive Us Our Debts

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

There's an old story about two churches that decided to hold joint services during summer's low attendance months. They alternated locations, holding Sunday morning worship at the Anglican Orthodox Church one week and at the Presbyterian Church the next.

When reciting the Lord's prayer each week, everyone followed the practice of host church: "Forgive us our trespasses," and "Forgive us our debts," respectively.

Their last joint service fell on labor day week end. During announcements, the pastor said, "Next week we will resume our normally scheduled services, when the Anglicans can return to their trespasses and the Presbyterians to their debts."

It's cornball humor, but it reminds me that churches in general no longer preach against debt as a bad thing, in spite of the Bible's warnings that debt serves as a sign and warning of God's displeasure with a society. For example,


But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: . . . The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. (Deuteronomy 28:15, 44)

Sadly, although Christians today like rhetoric that rails against a debt- base currency and Congress' profligate projects that add to our mushrooming national debt, they have personally and institutionally bought into the culture of debt. Joe Evangelical does not own a house, he owes a house; he does not own a car, he owes a car.

Furthermore, you can hardly expect pastors to preach against debt-base living when they have encouraged the congregation to saddle itself with a mortgage for their church building. And, of course, the pastor probably has committed himself to 30 years of servitude via the mortgage on his own house. 

Thus we hear comments like these at prayer meetings:

• Please pray for us, that the mortgage will go through on the house we're buying;
• I have a praise. The bank approved our mortgage today.

We pray the signs of God's judgment upon ourselves, and then instead of repenting of our servitude, we act as though it were a blessing. So, if you're prepping for uncertain times, and you want freedom from debt, don't expect a lot of help or encouragement from your church.

Here's a site that does have some classic good advice about how to free yourself from the servitude of debt. It's not original or flashy; it's just good sense. It's not a magic bullet; it's a call to discipline. 

How about you, Christian Warrior? Do you have the financial freedom to prepare for an uncertain future, or have you signed away your freedom as a debt-slave? 

A word to the wise is sufficient.