Re(Tro)View: Cash Or Credit

Cash or Credit When I was still a young college student there used to be these folks (I imagine there still are) who used to set up tents in the college quad and give out free stuff if you would apply for a credit card.  Being broke and in general need of pretty much everything I used to sign up for all sorts of things just to get a free umbrella or set of novelty glasses (two or the free prizes I actually got for signing up for credit cards).  I also got credit cards... a lot of them.  I would like to say I was a responsible consumer who used his new stack of credit cards wisely, but what 19 year old fits that description.  Needless to say I fell into the black hole of the "minimum monthly payment."  Years have gone by and I am now what credit card companies call a "deadbeat."

Deadbeat: A "deadbeat" is the unflattering term sometimes used in the credit card industry to describe consumers who pay off their balances every month, using the lenders' money but paying no interest on it. The more-polite, official term is "transactor."

Now, it should be noted that it took me a good couple of unhappy years paying off outlandish quantities of interest to learn my lesson.  However, lots of my fellow Americans have not somehow learned that hard lesson, and I think it is an issue that bears some investigation.

Now, of course these numbers are averages.  So, you have to think that for every "deadbeat" like me with no debt there must be a credit card holder with double the average debt....because....math.  Did you know that the Bible forbids charging interest on loans?  (One day I will write you a whole article on how the misuse of this by the church led to the rampant antisemitism that gripped Europe until the end of the second World War)

Ususry: The practice of charging interest on a loan.  Forbidden in multiple places in the Bible in both the new and old testaments. Boy, this week is full of new terms...

The reason is simple.  Debt is a form of enslavement.  Taking a person's freedom from them by financial means, even with the most benevolent of intents, leads to abuses.  God wants his people to be free from these sorts of enslavements, and at the same time to be willing to lend to those in need without selfish ambition or greed. If you were part of the housing bust, or if you were hurt by the recession that was a direct result of predatory lending practices around the turn of the century, then you know that lending abuses can have lasting and damaging effects. So, between the predatory mortgage lending practices of our banks, and the honey trap offered by our credit companies is it any wonder the average American is swimming in debt (and the sharks are circling for far too many).

Dire times my friends; we live in dire times.  Wouldn't it be nice if we all had those numbers reversed.  If we all had ample savings but limited debt instead of ample debt and limited savings.  This may not be the place to get to in-depth on how to accomplish that, but there are certain Biblical principles that govern how to live a debt free life.   Luke 12:13-21Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?"And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly.And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?'Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." In today's scripture Jesus seems to be painting the exact opposite picture. Here is a person in the story that has worked hard, succeeded, saved for the future, avoided poor financial judgement, and Jesus is condemning him? Would you be surprised if I told you that Jesus is actually demonstrating a principle that will help you deal with debt, build financial stability, and avoid future financial ruin?

No.  I have not gone over to the dark side.  Prosperity Gospel (the misinterpretation of the faith that tells people that God wants them to be rich, happy, and healthy if they are faithful) is still the work of the devil and one of the most evil facets of the false church of today.  (Whewww....sorry, that came out harsh.)  Let me try that again: What I mean is that it is patently satanic and composed of pure unfiltered evil.  (Hmmm. Seems there is no way to be gentle about describing Prosperity Gospel...oh well). The American dream as imagined in 1950's Americana of consumerism is the problem.  The rich man is not in trouble with Jesus because he was diligent and hard working, or financially prudent.  He was condemned by God for putting his faith, hope, and trust in STUFF. Jesus is fine with a person being prudent and hardworking.  He tells lots of great parables about exactly that sort of thing.  The problem here is that the rich man built up his stuff, but not his soul.  He stored up things, but built no relationship with God.  He loved his stuff, but not his neighbor. While most of us don't think of ourselves as filthy rich, we still live in an astoundingly affluent place, in an astoundingly affluent time.  Don't think so?

By adequate sanitation it means "bathrooms".  So, lets review:  We live in an affluent time, we live in an affluent place, we spend more than we earn on things we don't need, in houses too big to afford, while living well above our means, and rack up staggering debt in pursuit of what?  Happiness?  Isn't that what the rich man said about his STUFF?  "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry" When we invest our time, effort, and hope in things of God though, we are set free from our stuff by the Holy Spirit so that we may live life unfettered by fear, worry, and avarice.  God wants to free us from our addiction to stuff and free us to live more fully.  In doing so we see our debt fall, our financial stability rise, and our financial future come to rest more fully on the rock of our faith.  Does this mean that the faithful are never in need of financial help?  NO. Some of the most faithful in the world are also in dire need of financial help. But the riches of heaven comfort them and give them strength.  Though they face trials that would enslave a different person to fear and hopelessness they still are free in Christ to feel the joy and hope of the kingdom. Being free is a state of the soul, not of the wallet.

A final note.  Maybe if those of us living here in the heart of wealth were less attached to our stuff and more attached to God and his people those glaring fiscal disparities might come to a crashing halt when we tear down our barns and silos not to build bigger ones, but to better enable us to distribute our abundance to those who have nothing.