Is debt always wrong?

Question 12060.

Borrowing money is not always wrong, and the short answer to this question is no, though borrowing money carries warnings in Scripture that most Christians in Britain have never heard preached. We live in a country built on credit, and a teaching that never examines it has quietly surrendered a large part of discipleship.

So let me set out what Scripture actually says, which is more nuanced than either the prosperity teachers or the debt-is-sin campaigners will tell you.

What Scripture says about borrowing money

The Bible never forbids borrowing money. It regulates it, warns about it and constrains how lenders may behave, which is not the same as prohibition. Under the Mosaic Law an Israelite could borrow, and the law protected him with limits on interest, on the taking of pledges and with the release of debts every seventh year, Deuteronomy 15:1-2.

What Scripture does say, memorably, is that the rich rules over the poor and the borrower is the slave of the lender, Proverbs 22:7. That is not a command, it is an observation, and it is one of the most accurate sentences ever written about personal finance. Debt transfers a portion of your freedom to somebody else.

Paul writes to the Romans to owe no one anything except to love each other, Romans 13:8. Some read that as a prohibition on all debt. In context Paul has just been discussing taxes and honour owed to authorities, and I take him to mean that obligations should be met rather than that no obligation should ever be entered. The verse is about paying what you owe.

The warnings are sharper than we admit

Proverbs is remarkably persistent about the dangers of standing surety for another person’s debt, telling the reader who has done so to go and plead urgently to be released, to give no sleep to his eyes until it is undone. That is urgent language and it concerns guaranteeing someone else’s borrowing money rather than one’s own.

The reason for the urgency is that debt removes options. A believer with substantial repayments cannot easily take a lower paid job to serve a church, cannot easily give generously when a need arises, cannot easily weather illness or redundancy. Borrowing money does not simply cost interest, it costs flexibility, and flexibility is often what obedience requires.

There is also the spiritual dimension. Debt frequently grows from discontent, from wanting sooner what patience would have provided later. That is a heart problem wearing a financial disguise, and no repayment plan will fix it.

Where borrowing money can be wise

A mortgage is the obvious case. Buying a home usually involves borrowing, the asset generally holds value, and the alternative is paying rent indefinitely. I would not tell a young couple that a sensible mortgage is sin. Business borrowing to fund something productive falls into a similar category, as does a student loan in some circumstances, though the sums involved now deserve far more scrutiny than they usually receive.

The distinction I find most useful is between borrowing to acquire something that lasts and borrowing to fund consumption. A mortgage buys a house. A credit card balance buys a holiday that finished nine months ago and is still being paid for. The first is a calculation, the second is usually a symptom.

Even where borrowing money is wise, three questions are worth asking. Can I repay this from what I actually earn rather than from what I hope to earn? Would this survive a change in circumstances? And am I doing this because it is wise or because I want it now?

What about lending, and interest?

The Law forbade Israelites from charging interest to a fellow Israelite in need, Exodus 22:25, while permitting it to foreigners in commercial dealings. The concern is exploitation of the poor rather than commerce as such, and the prophets return to it repeatedly when they list the sins of the nation.

Modern high-cost lending, where those with the least pay the most, would fall squarely under that condemnation. A Christian working in finance should think seriously about which side of that line his employer sits on. I have said more in my answer on charging interest.

Jesus takes it further and tells His disciples to lend expecting nothing in return, which is not commercial advice but kingdom generosity. When a believer lends to a struggling brother, the safest approach is usually to decide in advance that it is a gift, because a loan between Christians has ruined more friendships than almost anything else I can name.

The theology underneath the budget

Behind every financial decision sits a belief about who owns what. The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, which makes me a steward rather than a proprietor, and stewards give account. That single conviction reframes borrowing money entirely, because the question stops being what can I afford and becomes what should I do with what belongs to Him.

It also reframes anxiety. Jesus tells His disciples not to be anxious about what they will eat or wear, pointing to birds and lilies, and He finishes by saying that their heavenly Father knows what they need, Matthew 6:31-33. That is not a promise of affluence. It is a promise of care, and it is aimed squarely at the fear that drives so much of our financial behaviour.

The believer who has grasped this can make hard decisions calmly. He can sell the car, downsize the house, take the less impressive job, because his identity was never invested in any of it. I have watched Christians do exactly that and come out lighter than they went in. My answer on biblical stewardship develops the wider picture.

A word about gambling, get-rich schemes and shortcuts

Debt makes people desperate, and desperate people reach for shortcuts. Proverbs warns that wealth gained hastily will dwindle while whoever gathers little by little will increase it, and that pattern has not changed in three thousand years. Anyone offering you a quick escape from a slow problem is usually selling something.

The same applies to borrowing money to pay off other borrowing without changing anything underneath. Consolidation can be a sensible tool in the hands of someone who has dealt with the cause, and it is a trap for someone who has not. The arithmetic looks better for a while and the habits do the rest, usually within eighteen months.

If you are already in debt

Most people reading this are not deciding whether to borrow. They are already carrying something and feeling the weight of it. Hear this first. Debt is not the unforgivable sin, and God has not disowned you over a credit card. Shame keeps people from opening the envelopes, and unopened envelopes make everything worse.

Get an accurate picture, however unpleasant, and get help. In this country there are excellent free debt advice services, including Christian ones, and using them is wisdom rather than failure. Tell your spouse the truth if you have not. Secrecy about money is corrosive in a marriage and it always surfaces eventually.

Then deal with the cause as well as the symptom. If the underlying issue is discontent, comparison or the belief that possessions will settle something in you, no budget will hold. My answer on how much money is enough goes further into that.

What the church should be doing

Churches teach on giving and almost never on borrowing money, which is a strange imbalance given how many members are quietly struggling. I would rather a congregation learned to handle money faithfully than gave slightly more while sinking.

Practical help matters. A church with a benevolence fund, someone who understands budgeting, and a culture where a family can say they are in trouble without losing face is doing real pastoral work. The early church shared so that no one among them was in need, and that principle has not expired.

There is also a teaching responsibility. Contentment is learned, Paul says, and he presents it as something he had to learn rather than a temperament he was born with. A church that never teaches contentment leaves its people entirely at the mercy of advertising.

So, now what?

Open the statements this week and write down the real number. Nothing changes until the number is known, and most people find it is either better or worse than the vague dread they had been carrying around for months.

If you are considering borrowing money, wait a month before deciding, and use the month to ask whether the purchase still matters. If you are lending to a friend, decide now that it is a gift. And if you are free of debt, use that freedom for something other than a larger version of what you already own.

Whose servant do your monthly repayments make you, and is that the master you meant to choose?

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Proverbs 22:7, ESV