Does Debt Matter?

This week I would like to address an issue that has been prevalent and prominent in the conversations that we have been having as a culture when it comes to money, possessions, and treasure. And that issue is the issue of debt. My hope and prayer this morning is that we would be able to wrap our heads and hearts around three specific answers to three specific questions. First, my hope and prayer is that we would be able to wrap our minds around the state of debt in our culture today. In other words, that we would understand on a practical level what the financial state of our culture is in when it comes to the issue of debt.

Second, my hope and prayer is that we would be able to wrap our minds around the significance of debt in our culture today. In other words, is the state of debt in our culture a big deal? Does debt really matter? And third, my hope and prayer is that we would be able to wrap our minds around a strategy that would enable us to get out of debt. In other words, in a practical way, how can we as individuals and as a culture begin to get out of debt?

So, what is the state of debt in our culture today? How are we doing individually? How are businesses and corporations doing? How is our country doing? How are we doing when it comes to this issue of debt? Let’s start with the national debt. The most recent projections estimate that our national debt is a little over 15 trillion dollars. Now, I don’t know about you, but the number 15 trillion is so large a number that I cannot seem to wrap my mind around it. So here is a mental picture to help. If you were to take dollar bills and lay them from end to end to signify our national debt, the distance that those dollar bills would stretch out to would be to the sun and back. Actually, they would not just go to the sun and back; they would go to the sun and back over 7 ½ times. That is how large a number that 15 trillion is; so, is our national debt significant?

Let’s talk about corporate debt, which is the amount of debt that corporations carry. The most recent projections, that I am aware of, estimate that the current corporate debt in the United States is approximately 2.5 trillion dollars. To give you a bit of perspective, the average corporation in the United States spends approximately 51 percent of their profits to simply pay the interest on their debt. So, is our corporate debt significant?

Then there is individual or personal debt. Studies have shown that the average family spends $400 dollars more than it earns each year. In addition, the average family in the United States spends 23% of their annual take home pay is to make payments on debt. While that number sounds o.k. at first, that number does not include mortgage payments. In other words, in addition to their house payment or rent, the average American family spends almost ¼ of their after tax money on consumer debt such as credit cards, car loans or leases, and the like. So, is our individual or personal debt significant?

Now this leads us to the second question, which is “is the state of debt in our culture a big deal? Does debt really matter? I mean, aren’t we simply going to grow our way out of debt, because that is what I hear on talk radio and T.V.” For those of you who may be here and believe that is that case, my answer is this:  remember what we talked about last week? The issue is not the amount of money, because making more money will not solve our financial problems. Instead more money only multiplies our financial problems.

And the Bible has a great deal to say about debt. In Proverbs 22:7, the writer of Proverbs, a man named Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived, writes a single proverb that provides us stunning clarity when it comes to the issue of debt. Let’s discover this proverb together:

The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

So, why is debt a big deal? According to Solomon, the reason why debt is a big deal; the reason why debt matters, is because the rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave. This little word rule here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to exercise dominion or to Lord over someone. Solomon’s point is crystal clear: debt is slavery. Just as a slave has lost his freedom and is responsible to his master, a person who is in debt is no longer free. Instead, they are responsible to his or her master card. Or visa. Or car lease. Or adjustable rate mortgage that they entered into to be able to purchase that dream home. The person who is in debt has their life dictated to them by their debtors.

If you are here and do not think that is the case, then let me ask you this question. If your boss was willing to allow you to take off work for a few weeks, without pay, would you have the freedom to do that? If, not, why not? “Well Dave, there is no way that I could do that. I have bills to pay: You know car payments, credit card payments, student loan payments”. So here is my question: Do you have freedom, or are you a slave to the debtors as a result of the debt that you have? Do you have the freedom to use God’s treasure to reflect His generosity and advance His kingdom, or is God’s treasure wholly committed to the financial responsibilities that you are enslaved to as a result of debt?

You see, debt is slavery, pure and simple. Debt removes the freedom that we should have as followers of Jesus and instead makes us a slave to the responsibilities that are placed upon us by financial institutions. But not only does debt matter because of the fact that debt is slavery. In a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of our Bibles today, we see James, the half brother of Jesus address why debt is such a big deal. And it is in this section of this letter that we see revealed for us the underlying motivation that often drives us into debt.

Tomorrow we will look at this section of this letter…