Is there a slave anywhere that does not yearn to be free? Do not those who live in freedom abhor the thought of being enslaved? The apostle Paul had some interesting words of advice to the Corinthians about this topic: “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:21-23 NASB). Paul seems to be poetically stating the obvious, whenever given the honest opportunity to upgrade from slave to freeman you should take it!
For reasons to be explained shortly, I am convinced the greatest 21st century application of these words is counseling us to avoid debt. I write this hoping you will find the freedom that can come from sharing this conviction. I do not write this with any intention of judging, and certainly no desire to pry into what I consider a very personal matter. However whether these words offend or intrigue you, it’s my hope that if you haven’t yet considered these things, you will thoughtfully read God’s Word, and through prayer, invite Him to guide you on the matter.
Slavery to debt
The Bible plainly equates owing money to slavery — saying, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov 22:7). In the previous quote from Corinthians, Paul implied that there are two types of slaves: those who do not choose to be slaves (note the words “if you are able to become free”), and those who are free and can make the personal choice to “become slaves of men”. Likewise in the 21st century there are two types of people in slavery to debt. For a variety of reasons ranging from illness (Luke 8:43) to bad decisions of which we have long since repented (Luke 15:11-19), we may find ourselves in debt. If such is your case, remember that Paul issued no condemnation for such slavery. The enormity of such cases can sometimes feel crushing — since the “if you are able to become free” can seem like a very unlikely “if”. However “…with God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26). Although Paul issued no condemnation for those already enslaved to debt, he offers wonderful advice to seek freedom, not a harsher enslavement. In 21st century terms, that means that if you are in debt, try to pay it off and owe no man anything — and do not dig yourself deeper into debt. As crazy as it sounds, there is a second type of people who voluntarily become slaves of men via debt. Sadly, I know this describes me, and I don’t think I am alone! Such a person begins as a believer who is free of debt, and slave only to Christ. Their situation is such that they are able to satisfy their every need while owing no man anything. They have food, shelter, and clothing, and perhaps even some more luxurious home comforts, vehicles, and other quality items. However at some point their sinful nature gets the better of them and they lust after a bigger house, an exciting vacation, a nicer car, more exquisite things with which to fill their house, or maybe even a better education — and they use debt to obtain these things. Thus apart from any necessity or forced external pressures, we willingly surrender our freedom and make a pledge to do whatever it takes to pay the lender $X per month, for X amount of years.
Sadly, we struggle to keep our hearts aligned with the Word of God in the midst of a constant barrage of the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13). The result is that we react to the Word of God with at best doubts that question the authenticity of its counsel, and at worse a mocking spirit that scorns the thought of anything useful coming from it. We say to ourselves things like “who I owe and how much I owe them has nothing to do with my discipleship”. Whether you are already a slave to debt doubting the need to seek out your freedom, or you are free from debt and for reasons of your own are willing to give that up in anticipation of some reward, please consider the following and ask yourself if your financial decisions affect your journey to the Kingdom of God.
Practical examples
You see the flyer for the big sale at the local furniture store and you decide that it really is time to replace your ragged old mismatched living room furniture. You’ve been living “pay check to pay check,” so you decide to buy the furniture on your credit card. After an afternoon of shopping, you find the perfect matching set of furniture. It is $5200, but you imagined how the colors would look in your house, and the sizes would fit perfectly in your living room. Lucky for you, when you go to pay, the cashier is young and in training — and because they were rushing, they accidentally rang it in as $520.00!!! That means you hardly need to go in debt at all to get exactly what you wanted! Will you have the faith to tell the young cashier, “sorry I think you made a mistake, you should be charging me $4680 more”?
Having just been married, you buy your first house together. As a couple you decided to fulfill your dreams of starting out in a nice house that you could invite people over to and stand at the front door with a smile and say “welcome to our home.” No “fixer upper” would do for that, so you had to take out the biggest mortgage the bank would approve you for. Thankfully there have been rumors around the office of a big raise coming if the company gets some of the work it is bidding on. However instead of a big raise, the slowing economy hits your company hard and there are now rumors that in three months your company will be starting layoffs. Brother or Sister in Christ, will your mind be on the memorial table on Sunday morning, or will thoughts of bankruptcy be gnawing at you?
You have just graduated high school. Like most people, you are not entirely sure what you want to do for the rest of your life, so you decide to live at home a little longer and save while working full-time. However, the rusty ’92 Corolla you have been driving for years, dies. You go to the car dealership to replace it, and to your surprise, since you are now working full-time and have zero living costs, the bank approves you for the $50,000 Audi TT on the lot. A month after you buy the sports car, you realize that with the fuel & insurance on top of the payments, you are constantly broke. There is a CYC study weekend coming up, and you are looking forward to it because you could really use the spiritual boost. Suddenly, on the Tuesday before the study weekend, your boss says something came up and he needs you to work that same weekend!!! You insist that you already booked it off, so he tells you “you don’t have to work this weekend, but I might have to drop you down to part-time hours to make room for other employees who are willing to work the extra hours!” How will you pay for your car on part-time hours? Will you forfeit your much needed spiritual boost?
These are questions and scenarios that we may find helpful to ponder. Every circumstance is different, so we can’t — nor should we want to — judge someone’s private intentions. However, what could possibly be a worthy substitute for freedom? Jesus said, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). If you continue in Jesus’ words, then the truth has the power to set you free — but only if you let it.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One