Stewardship, part 3

This is the final posting concerning stewardship for the present. There is much more that could be said about the subject, but this blog is not going to be spent in an exhaustive research into the matter, at least not now.

I want to look at the matter of debt. I know something about this, because I have both personal and business debt. All my debt is covered by real estate or other tangible goods. Most of it is business debt (which is no different than personal debt, just a lot more.) Throughout most of my adult life I have tried to either stay out of debt, or keep it very small. When my wife and I were younger and much poorer, we almost never used a credit card because we didn’t know if we would be able to pay off the balance if we did use it. And herein lies a problem that some have not learned, or have learned the hard way. Debt is not necessarily bad if backed up by assets. Credit card debt is not backed up by assets and therefore can be dangerous.

In Romans 13:8 Paul says, ‘Owe no one anything except to love one another.’ Although some strictly interpret this to mean we should have no debt, I take this to mean we should have no debt that is not backed up by tangible assets. If I buy a brand new luxury car with only one month’s payment, there is a possibility that I would be violating Paul’s injunction because when I drive that beautiful BMW off the lot, it is no longer worth $60-80,000 – and it makes me sick to think how much money I have just lost! (My Corolla works just fine and I am elated getting 38 MPG on the highway.) Now if I am buying a house and am able to put down 10%, the debt is backed up by the real estate I have just purchased. I realize that real estate has been going down recently, but in many parts of the country, we haven’t had the wild speculation that was evident in the West and in Florida. So in the second example we have a case where I technically owe the bank $150,000, but the bank actually owns the house, and as long as I make the payments, I will eventually own the house myself and if I default the bank owns a nice house worth at least the principle left on the loan. The whole time the loan was covered by the real estate. The point is as Christians we need to be very prudent with God’s money. And never should we allow ourselves to get into serious financial debt. By that I mean if there is not a reasonable assurance that the loan can be paid off in a timely fashion - don’t get into debt. Sometimes it is better to hold off purchasing something that isn’t absolutely necessary until you can pay cash. Now that is a novel idea!

I thank God for a wife who kept me out of foolish debt. Slick salesmen would lure me into wanting to make a large purchase. I would try to convince Kathy that we could make the payments. I am thankful that I lost those arguments. I am also thankful that our children never saw us foolishly spending our money. They all have shown wisdom in their own finances, and I am proud of them.

As Christians let us remember that all we have is God’s. As alluring as material creature comforts can be, let us all be wise stewards of what God has entrusted to us, whether it be money, time, or talents.