YOUR START-UP NAME

YOUR TAGLINE

Should A Church Have Debt?

This is an overview lesson from Pastor Joey concerning the age-old debate of whether a church should use debt to fund expansion and grow ministries. 

OUR VISION

OUR MISSION

We are engaged in helping the Gospel Click in the hearts and minds of people while making a place where the Gospel can Climb to new heights in our lives so that everything about Christ is in Clear view.

 Romans 13:8a, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other."

Joey Hill

Senior Pastor

My wife Brownie and I have been married for over 21 years and when it comes to how life is lived out in our home, we get pretty picky. Especially when it comes to money. My wife and I subscribe to the school of Financial Peace University when it comes to personal finance. We are astute disciples of Dave Ramsey and have taught his course dozens of times in our Church. We teach our children the dangers of debt and we preach, (or more like threaten) they will work and save up to pay for things in their lives. For instance: If they goof around in school, or take the ACT flippantly, and lose their opportunities for scholarships or aid, they will have to get a job to work their way through school. There will be no student loans to get through school. We are very serious about this even if it takes more than 4 years to get a 4 year degree. 

While we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, Brownie and I live what we preach on this. We are almost on Baby Step 4 of Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps. We have cut up credit cards, become laser focused on savings, and  have had the talk with parents about long-term care. Our percentage of giving has hit new heights and we don't intend to stop. I guess some could say we are gazelle intense about winning with money. 

However, should my views of personal finance be a "One size fits all approach," when it comes to financial decisions I have to make as a senior pastor? Should a church operate on a "Cash Only" basis and run from debt with gazelle intensity like I would at home?

Does the command in Romans 13:8 "Owe no one anything, except to love each other" actually rule out all borrowing for Christians. Does that mean we cannot borrow a shovel from a neighbor, a phone charger for our phone, Wifi for internet, $150,000 for a house, or $2,000,000 for a Worship Center? I will argue that it does not teach that, but teaches that whatever we owe, we should pay, and that all our paying should be done with love. 

Here are a few texts about the dangers of borrowing money.

Proverbs 22:7  The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is the lender’s slave.

Deuteronomy 28:44-45  They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.

Deuteronomy 28:12 The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. In other words, it is a great blessing from God to be in a position in which you do not have to borrow. But does that mean that the Bible teaches that all borrowing is unwise?

How do we address these verses as good Bible-believing Christians?

Thomas

But what about other verses in the Bible that teach about the dangers of borrowing money?

It is a great blessing from God to be in a position in which you do not have to borrow.

But does that mean that the Bible teaches that all borrowing is unwise?

Why do we think it is sometimes biblically permissible to borrow money?

Let's Break Down Romans 13:8

1

The apparent "don'ts" of debt in scripture are not absolutely prohibitive.

If we took Romans 13:8 absolutely, it not only rules out borrowing a shovel from your neighbor but also contradicts texts in the Bible that give instruction for how to lend, since lending makes you complicit in someone’s borrowing. For example, Psalm 37:26: “[The righteous] is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.” Or Psalm 112:5: “It is well with a man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.”

(See also Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 28:12; 23:19.)

If lending only put borrowers in the position of sinning, would it be righteous to be “ever lending”?

Romans 13:8

 "Owe no one anything, except to love each other."

2

The Context surrounding verse 8 suggests that we should not take it as an absolute don't.

Notice the parallels between verses 7 and 8. Take note of the words “what is owed” in verse 7, which we are to pay back, and the words “Owe no one anything” in verse 8. The words “owed” (v. 7) and “owe” (v.8) are related in Greek just as they are in English: apodote pasin tas opheilas  (“Pay to all what is owed”) mëdeni mëden opheilete  (“Owe no one anything”) Verse 7 says it is right to “owe” “taxes,” “revenue,” etc., provided we “pay what is owed.” Since verse 8 uses the same kind of word for “what is owed,” we should take it to mean: Yes, when you have a debt, pay it. End your obligations each time they arise. Every time the bill comes in the mail, pay it and be done with it so that it is not owed anymore. Except in the case of love! Never end that obligation.

Romans 13:7-8

7  “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 8 "Owe no one anything, except to love each other."

When you pay your bill (or your mortgage payment!) you are done with it until another comes. You have kept your obligation. But when we have loved someone, we are just as much in debt to love them again immediately as we were before—or we should be!

3

When we look at everything in verse 7 and 8 together, we learn that paying a debt is an act of love. 

Since the debt of “honor” is in verse 7 as well as the debt of “taxes,” and since honoring people is not a debt that can be paid up and put away like taxes, that means verse 8 can’t mean: Love is in a category different from the debts of verse 7, namely, it can’t be paid up. No, that won’t work because verse 7 also has debts like “respect” and “honor,” not just taxes and revenue, and like love, honor and respect also can’t be paid up. So we would have to hear verse 8 like this: “Owe no one honor . . . except to love each other.” In other words, the way to owe honor is to do it lovingly. That is, let every debt you pay be an act of love. 

Romans 13:7-8

7  “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 8  "Owe no one anything, except to love each other."

Thomas

Hold on before you move on! That may explain Romans 13:8 but what about the other verses that warn against debt like Proverbs 22:7?

4

The warnings against the dangers of debt describe what may happen, not what must happen, and usually picture the exploitation of the poor by the rich. 

 Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the lender’s slave.”  Both halves of this proverb describe what often happens, but do not condone either result. The rich are often harsh and oppress the poor; the lender often extorts slave labor from a poor borrower who has no collateral but must sell himself, or precious things, to pay. The fact that both of these situations often happened was a warning to keep ourselves from the kind of poverty that must depend on the rich for life.

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the lender’s slave.”

Proverbs

22:7

HighPoint is not poor by biblical standards, but rich.

HighPoint does not have to depend on the rich for life. We are blessed in so many ways. God's provision has been there for us down through the years in mysterious ways that would give anyone goosebumps. But we also know God works in ways that are more than just mysterious. He led us in the very early days of the church to be strategic in our planning and start a banking relationship with Peoples Bank of AL. We felt led to build that bond into a strong trust between our organizations. Thanks to that relationship we are able to sit in the facilities we currently enjoy. We have been building this trust now for over 12 years and we wait in anticipation for how God will use it next to help us reach more for Christ. 

5

It is very important to note that the Bible does condone and regulate some lending and borrowing.

For example, Jesus said to a man who squandered his “one talent”: “Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest” (Matthew 25:27). We realize that Jesus is not focusing his teaching here on the legitimacy of banking. Nevertheless we assume he did not illustrate his point with an unlawful suggestion—namely, investing money with banks that pay interest, and presumably make loans to earn the money to pay the interest.

 Deuteronomy 15:7-8 says, “If, among you, one of your brothers should become poor . . . you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”  Even more directly to the point of borrowing, Exodus 22:14 says, “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.” And Deuteronomy 24:10 says, “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge.” And in 2 Kings 4:3 Elisha instructs the widow, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.”

“Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest” 

Matthew

25:27

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor . . . you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.”

Deut.

15:7-8

The Bible is against a person profiteering at someone else's expense.

The biblical opposition to charging interest does not seem to be absolute and seems to be mainly not a condemnation of banking, but of personally profiteering at another’s expense.

The verse Matthew 25:27 seems to say that Jesus did not oppose banking that charged interest. This is probably because he saw a difference between the lending among brothers in need (as in Exodus 22:25 and Deuteronomy 23:19) and the strategic borrowing and lending as part of an economy that sometimes needs large capital outlays for construction and purchasing. We don’t think the Bible had anything like modern banking in view when it forbade interest-charging.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Thomas

Wait a minute, before you go! Just one more question: "Do you feel you are running your home differently than you run the church? Is that an integrity issue? If you teach Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course at your church, are you worried about sending two messages to your congregation?

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

Dave Ramsey has a course he has created for the church as a whole called Momentum. In it he talks about the 5 Characteristics of a Debt-Free church: 1.)Trusts God Completely 2.) Saves money consistently 3.) Recognizes God's Ownership 4.) Embraces it's God-Given Vision and 5.) Commits to Life-Long Generosity.

While I 100% agree with what he is saying, I also know that he is not implying a church who has debt are not those 5 things. Currently, we have debt as a church and I would say as a whole we demonstrate all 5 of those characteristics. HighPoint is a church plant that started with 7 people. Without those 5 characteristics in play, we would have never made it past our 2nd year. I do agree with Dave that a debt-free church is better-positioned to help its congregation embrace these characteristics in their own walks of life. I am committed to being a debt-free church and I know one day we will be. But I do not feel that requires us to say we are no longer allowed to borrow money to strengthen our position as a church and in the community. Especially if we feel that time is of the essence and windows of opportunity are closing.

I believe that Vision is the ability to see change and act upon it. That is how we have come to realize where we are today at HighPoint. We saw a need for change and we acted upon it. Our community needed a place like HighPoint that was a little outside the box, but not so far that people would doubt our biblical stance. So, we built it and we had to borrow money to do so. Now it stands as a monument to what God can do when His people are obedient. Since it's inception, HighPoint has achieved that edge and today over 2,000 people have experienced HighPoint over the last 12 years. Would I trade that edge to be a church that is debt-free? Not in a million years!

I believe there is an opportunity cost for every move a person or an organization makes. I teach this principle to my own children. I did a series in our church called "The OC." where I put this principle center stage. Opportunity Cost is basically something you give up in order to have something else. You give up being with your family in order to be at work. You give up going to the lake so you can be at church. Every decision has an opportunity cost. I do not feel that strategic position is a cost we can give up in order to be debt-free. But I am open for anyone to discuss this with me as I only want to do what best positions HighPoint for the future.

Do I run my home differently than I run the church? 1 Tim. 3:5 says..."If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?" Notice the order. This verse is a qualification verse for an Overseer of the church. So I take this verse with great personal weight. This verse implies that I am not a hypocrite in my own family. I should never put undue pressure on the church that I am not living first in my own family. For example: If I tell the congregation that watching R-Rated movies with their family is wrong, I should not be watching R-Rated movies with my family no matter how popular the movie. This is an issue of integrity as a leader. Integrity starts in the home and then it's exemplified in the church. 

Here is why I do not believe I am being hypocritical in my church because of what I am doing in my own household.

I choose to not use debt in my home because I know how easy it can put the house in a bind and you feel like you are just spinning your wheels and never making progress. However, I don't feel this way about strategic debt. Strategic debt would be debt that allows you to better position or leverage your current situation.

Take for instance, a Mortgage. Even Dave himself has modified his 7 baby steps to include a mortgage. Even he saw that it is simply impossible to ask a young family to put off the most valuable investment they will ever make, buying a home. He saw how unrealistic it is to wait until you have cash to pay for the largest investment you will ever make as a family. That is why they now call it Baby Step 3(b).  Dave says, "Get yourself cleaned up before you buy a home. Debt-free except for the home and have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. That is the route to go."  Dave does have limitations like only a 15-year term and you have to save up and pay cash for the down payment.

In the same way, the Church must be wise with debt. Not to overextend ourselves and to borrow from a place of strength. So No, I do not run my home differently than I run the church. I have one strategic debt in my home and that is the mortgage, while the church has one strategic debt and that is a mortgage as well. I am committed to paying off strategic debt at church just like I am at home.  This can be seen in the recent paying off of our Land which was over a $150,000 debt we incurred. Today the land our church sits on is paid for and not one ministry was put out on the streets because of that debt. If the church incurs strategic debt, I am resolved to see that debt dissolved just as I am in my own home. 

I believe there is only one Hope for the world and for the Church. I pray we live like it.

Joey

Knees To The Earth,

Our Hope Is In...

HIM

“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalm 23:6)

185 Morris Cobb Road Empire AL 35063 Phone: 12345678 Fax: 12345678
email : [email protected]
website : www.yourstartup.com

CONTACT US