As we seek to walk with God, it is important that we routinely practice self analysis. If we are facing difficulties in some aspect of our life – marriage, job, getting along with others – we need to ask ourselves how our own behavior may be contributing to these problems. Debt is often one of the most serious symptoms of the financial difficulties that Christians experience. Asking ourselves why we are in debt can be a vital step in making the changes we need to make to get our financial house in order.

 

Note that I referred to debt as a symptom. Debt is generally a result of financial problems such as greed, a failure to plan for the future, careless financial management, or an unforeseeable financial catastrophe. The first three of these problems, in turn, often result from a more fundamental cause – immaturity. Understanding Solomon’s counsel will produce wisdom, which will lead us to spiritual – and financial – maturity. In this article, we will look at two debt-related ideas from the wisdom of Solomon – the fact that debt is bondage and the dangers of guaranteeing someone else’s debt. Seeing God’s perspective on debt more clearly will enable us to make a more informed self analysis regarding any debt we may have.

 

Debt is bondage. In Proverbs 22:7, Solomon tells us that “[t]he rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Some translations have the word “slave,” rather than “servant,” and the idea of bondage is definitely included in this word in the original language. God is trying to let us know that a person who borrows places himself in bondage to the lender. Yet so many of us rush to the lenders, begging to become their slaves!

 

Debt robs us of financial freedom. How many of us sit down to review our budget and realize that debt obligations have removed most, or all, of the slack in our budgets? We do not have the freedom to save for the future, to give as we would like to God or the needy, or to simply cover unexpected events. Debt is like a strait jacket, which will not allow us to use our financial resources as God would want.

 

God wants His people to be free. Freedom from sin should be our foremost concern, of course, but the Scriptures plainly teach that God also wants us to be free from the stress, worry, and limitations that financial problems such as debt bring to our lives (see Matthew 6:25-34). Understanding the root cause of our debt can help us begin to escape this bondage.

 

The dangers of surety. Solomon discusses at length the dangers of serving as surety (or, guaranty) for someone else’s debt (see Proverbs 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13). The most common type of surety in our time is co-signing a loan. According to Solomon, guaranteeing someone else’s debt is foolishness, whether the other person is a stranger or a friend. Notice especially Solomon’s instructions, in Proverbs 6:1-5, to those who have agreed to act as surety for someone else. They should do everything they can to be released from this obligation. They should seek to deliver themselves from it “like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.” A wise person will simply avoid serving as a guaranty for someone else’s debt.

 

Consider another important implication of the instructions regarding surety. God’s people are to serve others. If a brother or sister in Christ cannot get a loan, shouldn’t I serve them by agreeing to co-sign? Solomon says “no!” If someone needs my financial help, co-signing a loan for them is not the kind of help God wants me to give them. In fact, it is not really “help,” at all. If they really need this money, and we are able to help them, we should give them money, rather than trying to help them by increasing their debt.

 

Since the Scriptures consistently present debt as undesirable, Christians should be very reluctant to incur debt, and should make every effort to pay debts as soon as possible. To use debt routinely to feed the impulses of greed, or because of careless financial planning or management, is foolishness, according to Solomon. Which pattern do we want to follow – the “American way,” or God’s way?

 

Stan Bullington, Ph.D., has taught economic analysis for engineers for over twenty years. He is the author of Solomon on Wealth.