Here is where faithful individuals find themselves: Not only are their churches in debt, not only is leadership embracing faulty financial strategy that threatens the growth of existing believers and prevents the advancement of the Kingdom to those yet saved, but as individuals, believers are being bound as well!
The Shackle of Debt
Yes, bound. And while debt in and of itself is not technically a sin, Paul reminds us in Romans 13:8 to “owe no man any thing.” The Bible is extremely careful to warn against, even going as far as bringing it up in the Prayer of all Prayers, The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 10
Notice how we are to pray for God to forgive us our debts! Notice, too, how we mention in our prayer “as we forgive others.” After this prayer the Messiah continues to say: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”11—referencing plainly the text about being forgiven as we forgive others.
Now there may be some that say the Messiah is clearly not talking about financial debt but rather sin, as sin places us in a spiritual debt to those we have sinned against. This is why some translations state “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
When we look at that in depth, we find that the Greek word used here is opheilema, a derivative of opheilo, which means to owe in debt morally or financially. This means that Biblically speaking, to owe someone financially is akin to sinning against them. Meaning that having debt is not something that would prevent you from Salvation, it is something though that goes beyond our thought of just money. Debt has moral and spiritual consequences to it, so much so that even sin that does require God’s salvation is referred to in financial terms. So with this truth in mind, when a church of all entities enters into a debt relationship with a bank, it is willfully placing itself, its members, and its mission in a position of willful servitude and obligation to the lender. Now we could add in there a bunch of stuff about entering into an obligation with a lender who is not of the same faith, which the Bible calls “unequally yoked,” and no, it does not refer just to marriage. However, I think the point is clear enough that debt is a major concern to the Father. And when a body of believers places the purpose and objective secondary to their desire to secure debt, not only is immature leadership a given, but sin is also a legitimate concern.
Debt Keeps Us from Being Our Mission
Let us go back to our story of the hero who can save the world, yet due to his or her own actions (and maybe ignorance) finds himself bound in a jail cell. As an ambassador for Elohim, the Church (as a collective and as individuals) is called to be a solution to a doomed world, to bring rescue from an unwanted future. They are charged with bringing the lost to Salvation and to bring leadership to the Saved on how to live in the world but not be of it. The Church cannot answer the call if it is shackled with debt. Regardless of how heartfelt the desire to save, believers cannot focus on the rescue of souls when they’re held in bondage by debt, just like our hero could only sit in jail wishing and hoping he or she could do something.
The father of lies has been telling the elect that if they build a bigger church, bigger temple, or bigger synagogue, then more people will come. A large church usually has to compromise on what should not be compromised to “draw a crowd.” This fact is amplified by the obvious call from the Word to go out to the world, not to bring the world into your building.
The astute will point out what I have already stated—that the Church is not a building or a denomination, but rather a body of believers. Some may inappropriately assume that the failings of many church buildings may be of no consequence to those believers who do not participate in corporate worship.
Strategically, that mindset is faulty. Yes, it is true that the Body is the actual church; brick and mortar are just things that will decay in the erosion of time. However, there is a need for a place where believers can come together, and that need is supported not only with historical evidence, from the first European settlers of North America to the persecuted Body of believers in places of modern-day persecution, but also with Biblical support as well—the disciples all knew coming together was vital to strength and strategy. Scripture reveals (Ezekiel 40–48, for example) that in the future there will be collective corporate worship in a designated temple building.
Also, while it is true that believers know that it is the individuals that make up the Body, nonbelievers do not. When they see church after church obtaining mortgages, filing bankruptcy, and renting space to nonbelieving companies to raise money, these nonbelievers who only see the building as the “church” are subtly turned off to your message of salvation—why would they believe you offer solutions to eternal problems when you don’t even know how to deal with the financial problems and the ruin that comes from them, even though “money is not that important”? Instead, they see a body of people who seemingly cannot even handle the unimportant issue of money, while seeing no evidence of God’s instructions in your professional efforts. So why would we even expect them to believe us when we talk about how to get rewarded in Heaven? This is true whether you attend a cathedral or a home-based church with family.
If nonbelievers do understand that the Church is composed of individuals, their perception of “the Church” actually gets worse, not better, because the majority of individual Christians are in bondage financially. Believers are called to be holy—set apart—but by and large we’re not doing that financially, which prevents us from being an example of how His ways are different (and better) than the ways of the world. The majority of Americans have debt in the form of mortgages, student loans, car payments, credit cards, and the like, and with 80 percent being at or near the poverty level,12 getting ahead of the debt is like swimming upstream . . . up a mountain. Missing just one paycheck would put most families into a financial tailspin, as two-thirds of American families live paycheck to paycheck.13 What impression will non-believers have of the Church and the financial teachings offered therein when the average parishioner cannot write a check for $500 because, like most Americans, he or she doesn’t even have that much saved?14
A constant battle with poverty. Very little, if anything, in savings. Paychecks eaten up by debt. No control over your time or decisions. No means to be generous, even to one’s church. That is bondage!
Please understand that if you find yourself in this form of bondage, I don’t mean to offend you. Lord knows that I have had times in my life where five bucks in my pocket was akin to feeling wealthy. My point is that as a body of believers we cannot ignore this any longer—we need to swallow our pride and humbly admit that there is an epidemic placing believers in bondage. Poor stewardship of money has placed nearly eight out of ten readers of this book in a financial jail cell—and a spiritual jail cell, because it hampers your witness and your work.
Forget the conversation about how to use money for good. Forget about talking about the love of money being the root of all evil. Forget about telling others that money is not the most important thing. When you are in debt, you have no real ability to participate in the discussion of money, be it for its good or evil uses.
Nor can you participate in the flow of money. You may hear of jailed believers in Libya who are being milked for bail money. If you are broke, you cannot help. You may be presented with the opportunity to send Bibles into North Korea. If you are in debt, you cannot help. A member of your church prays that God moves someone to give, so her husband can have a lifesaving procedure. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, you are not able to give.
Usually, at this point in the conversation, pride raises its ugly head and I hear an egotistical response like,