Dr. Jack L.
Arnold
Biblical Giving
Lesson 8
GIVING, BORROWING AND BUILDING
Is
it right for a Christians to borrow money and go into debt? The rightness or wrongness of borrowing
money and incurring debut must be solved on the basis of the Bible. Does the Bible speak about lending,
borrowing and debut? If so, we
must heed what it does say.
This
subject applies to local churches that are seeking to build a new church
structure. Is it right to borrow
and go into debt?
Romans
13:8. Let
no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.
This verse has become a controversial verse because of
the King James translation: ÒOwe no man anything, but to love one
another.Ó The KJV gives the
impression that Christians are never to owe any person anything at
anytime. Everything is to be on a
cash basis.
The
context of Romans 13:8 does not deal with money issues but with
relationships. However, it
may indirectly deal with money. If
money is involved, this verse teaches that when a Christian owes anything,
whether taxes, revenues, respect or honor, he is to pay it. No debt is to remain outstanding. To default on any agreed loan would be
classified as sin. Debt is not
wrong until a person cannot pay that debt.
Proverb
22:7. The
rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
At face value, this verse says that a person who
borrows (goes in debt) becomes a servant (slave) to the lender. The deeper the debt, with no ability to
pay off the debt, does put a person in bondage to the lender proportionately to
the debt.
Proverbs
22:7 should be understood in its context.
A contrast is being drawn between rich and the poor. The Mosaic Law was very clear that the
rich Israelites were not to take advantage of poor Israelites. In fact, the Mosaic Law taught that
money should be loaned to the poor with no interest. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is
needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest (Exo.
22:25). When poor people
do not have enough money to meet their basic needs, they often borrow out of
desperation for food and shelter.
When this happens, the poor become slaves to the rich. This verse, however, does not say the
rich cannot lend to the rich with interest, but it warns of taking advantage of
the poor by the rich.
Any
form of borrowing brings a certain amount of risk and the possibility of
bondage if the debt cannot be met.
Indebtedness always destroys freedom to some degree. The lower the risk, the less the
sense of bondage. The amount of
money borrowed when weighted against the liquid assets is a very important
factor in the total equation. Yet,
it needs to be asked each time a loan is made: ÒWhat will we lose if we cannot
repay the loan?Ó We could
refinance which means paying more interest and going deeper in debt; we could
sell existing properties or other things to pay the debt; we could lose
everything, and we could go to jail.
Psalm 37:31. The
wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously.
The
Old Testament taught that if Israel obeyed the Lord, it would never be
necessary for the nation to borrow money from its pagan neighbors (Deut.
15:6). On the other hand, wicked,
unsaved people, who do not obey GodÕs laws, will find themselves in a state of
desperation. They will have to
borrow money to survive and never have enough resources to pay it back.
Only
the wicked (unsaved) man does not repay his loans. The implication seems to be that bankruptcy is not an option
for a Christian. While bankruptcy
is legal according to law, a Christian has a moral responsibility to pay off
debts. This verse, however, does
not prohibit the Christian from taking out a loan assuming he can pay it back
The
question might be asked, ÒWill faithful and generous Christians ever need to
borrow money to meet their needs?Ó
The Bible does not speak directly to this question. GodÕs provision may be an opportunity
to be involved in responsible borrowing to meet special needs, but it should be
short-term and not long-term. God
promises generous Christians He will meet all their needs for food, clothing
and shelter. However, for special
needs there many be a reason to borrow providing there
is a clear plan for paying off the debt.
Borrowing and debt, while not spoken against in
Scripture, may not be a wise action to take for a local church if: 1) borrowing
denies GodÕs people to experience His overwhelming blessings in response to
giving which is clearly within GodÕs will for them to do; 2) a debt within the
church restricts its ability to serve God and every decision is made on the
basis of whether there is enough money pay the mortgage; 3) the ability to
repay the debt depends on the ability of the pastor to preach or he may
compromise the Faith for popularity and money; 4) huge sums of GodÕs money
could be used to further ChristÕs kingdom instead of SatanÕs kingdom.
Borrowing
money in some cases can be sin and the Christian is out of GodÕs will when: 1)
there is no reasonable plan or resources to pay back the loan; 2) we buy things
to glorify ourselves and not God (Matt. 6:3-4); 3) we borrow when we are in
bondage to materialism (Matt. 6:24); 4) we use any form of dishonesty when
borrowing (1 Tim. 6:10); 5) we use borrowed money to achieve any goal that is
out of the will of God (Rom. 12:1-2).
New Testament. In the
New Testament, there is no instruction for ways to finance and build
buildings. The main reason is the
church for its first two hundred years had no buildings. They met in homes.
Old Testament. The Old
Testament does have some examples as to how the Tabernacle and Temple were
financed and constructed.
The
Tabernacle. The Tabernacle in
the wilderness was built by free will offerings of the Israelites. The LORD said to Moses,
"Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose
heart prompts him to give (Exo.25:1-2). It was supplied with things of
value not just money. And
everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering
to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the
sacred garments. All who were
willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds;
broaches, earrings, and ornaments. . . yarn, linens,
wood, onyx stones, oils. . . All the Israelite men and women who were willing
brought to the LORD freewill offerings for all the work the LORD through Moses
had commanded them to do (Exo. 35:21-29).
The Tabernacle offerings were so many the people had
to be restrained from giving more.
They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had
brought to carry out the work of construction the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring free
will offerings morning after morning.
So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the
sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, ÒThe people are bringing more than
enough for doing the work the LORD command to be done.Ó . . . And so the people
were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than
enough (Exo. 36:3-5, 7). The
people raised every penny of the TabernacleÕs invaluable worth. They obviously could not go into debt
because they were in the wilderness with no one to borrow from. The Israelites had some resources that
the Egyptians gave them as they were leaving Egypt (Exo. 12:36), but they were
still quite poor. Yet, they still
had enough resources to build the Tabernacle. This does show what happens when GodÕs people get behind a
project with their resources, talents and heart.
The
Temple. King David provided
for the Temple with great sums of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and precious
jewels. With all my
resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold
work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood
for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various
colors and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in larges
quantities (1 Chron. 29:2). The
leaders within Israel following King DavidÕs example gave liberally to the
LordÕs work. Then the
leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of
thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the kingÕs
work gave willingly (1 Chron. 29:6).
The people gave willingly to the Temple project. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance
that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes
from your hand, and all of it belong to you (1 Chron. 29:16).
The leaders and the people, when they decided in their
hearts to meet the needs of the Temple, the money, resources and talents of the
people came flooding in. This is
the ideal and best way to construct a building – to build without
borrowing.
1. No one would deny that it is ideal for a church body never to
go into debt just as it would be ideal for a Christian family to never go into
debt for a home.
2. To never borrow might make it
impossible for smaller churches with limited resources ever to get a
building. For some to have a
permanent facility, it is almost necessary to borrow.
3. In most cultures, more people come
to a church that has its own building.
This lends stability and permanence to the work. A building, while not a necessity, is
very important.
4. Hopefully, a new building will
attract more people who in turn will give regularly to the LordÕs work so the
debt on the building can be paid.
This is pragmatically prudent but it is presuming on the future that may
change with the loss of a pastor, a church split, a
decline in members, an economic downturn and so forth.
5. There is always a risk in borrowing
and going into debt. Faith
believes God to meet all needs.
There is, however, a huge difference between faith that sees reasonable
ways to repay debt within the general resources of the congregation, and folly
that rushes headlong into debt with no plan to repay except to say, ÒGod will
provide.Ó