It doesn’t take long in any conversation dealing with current events for the topic to turn to the financial struggles many in our country are facing today. You watch the news and it seems to be the underlying subject of most reports. Many are worried and uncertain concerning their future.
It’s time for the church to shine a light to a world that is hiding in fear of a complete financial collapse. People are willing to listen more than ever to the wisdom the Bible has to give on money. Are we offering help and hope? Are we showing our churches and community how to avoid financial pitfall in the future?
The Problem
How did we get into the mess? There are many detailed economic answers that could explain it but the overall issue is that we, and our government, have lived beyond our means for far too long.
Crown Financial Ministries stated, before this economic downturn began, that “the average person in our country spends $1.10 for every dollar earned.” That means the average person is overspending on a regular basis and going for broke, literally! Banks willingness to extend loans to people who are already in debt up to their ears has not helped. This is one of the major reasons for the “toxic loans” that we hear about in the news.
Many homes were purchased with a mortgage equaling 110% of the value of the home, cars are bought by rolling over debt from a previous car that wasn’t paid off, we shop till we drop and don’t ask if we can afford it but “how much balance is left on my credit card”. This lifestyle proves the wisdom we see in Proverbs 22:7, “The borrower is servant to the lender.”
Often when I hear of plans to “rescue” the economy, politicians speak of the need to get credit (another word for debt) flowing again. This is what got us in the shape we are in! Easier access to more debt will not help the problem of having too much debt!!!
The average credit card holder has more than six cards and owes more than $9,300. Most only make the minimum monthly payment which with most banks will take you close to 20 years to pay off. Living with debt has become a way of life for many in our world and in the church. So how do make a change?
Digging Your Way Out
The first thing that must happen is a change of attitude about debt. Dave Ramsey said, “Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can’t even envision a car without a payment, a house without a mortgage, a student without a loan, and credit without a card”. We need to get mad at debt and kick it out of our lives, for good!
I challenged my church to add up all the payments they are making on debt each month and then figure out how many hours they have to work on their job to earn enough to make those payments. You will then see how much of your life is spent in slavery to debt. Are you mad yet?
Secondly, you have to stop going deeper into debt. The only way to do this is to create a spending plan (a budget). Spend your money on paper each month before you ever spend a dime at the stores. Make sure your expenses are less than your income. This will force you to start saying no to yourself in certain areas of your finances.
Next, you have to enter a period of intense focus and sacrifice in your life like never before. Your household must be united in the effort to cut back and start making extra payments on debt.
Once when I was a bi-vocational pastor, I decided I had to get rid of a credit card debt I had been carrying for some time. I took an extra early morning job, in addition to my pastorate and full-time secular job, for the sole purpose of knocking out that debt. I paid 100% of that income on that credit card and knocked it out in a year. We weren’t meant to work at this level all the time, but a season of extreme sacrifice is often needed to finally kick debt out of your life. Selling things, like a boat or an expensive car you can’t afford, can also be away of making progress on knocking out debt.
Maybe Grandma was right!
The Builder generation that lived through the great depression learned a great life lesson about money. If you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it. Maybe we need to take grandma’s advice to fix our personal economy.
When you ask someone why they keep a credit card, they will often say, “just in case there is an emergency.” When we live on debt, a credit card becomes our safety net in times of “emergency”. To kick the addiction to debt, we must swap nets. Our new safety net becomes our savings account.
Personal savings has decreased over the last few decades. In 1984 the average person saved 10.8% of their income, in 1997, it was 3.6%. In 2005 savings dropped to negative 0.5%. This means the average person stopped saving and was in debt. This trend has just started to change during this down turn in the economy. People are realizing that we do have to save for a rainy day because the rain will come sooner or later.
Proverbs 21:20 says, “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.” To start living debt free, we need to build our savings to equal three to six months of our living expenses. Ask yourself, “How long would it take me to find a new job if I were laid off?” That is how many months of living expenses you need. When emergencies come, we turn to our savings, not the credit card. This is the first step in living the debt free life.
The next step is to practice patience. Greed and debt says, “Buy it now and pay for it later.” You will pay far more and far longer than you thought. We need to learn to start saving up for purchases in advance and commit never to go in debt ever again! When need to change our decision making for making a purchase from “can I afford the payments” to “can I afford the total cost”. Living without debt is a freeing experience! Put God’s word into practice, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another ...” Romans 13:8. Why not start the journey to getting free from the bondage of debt today?
Free Resource
Two years ago I set out to find a curriculum that I could use to help my church discover how to experience debt free living. Most of the materials I found were expensive. One would cost the church $400 and each family that participated over $150. How could I ask people who were struggling to keep the lights on to pay more?
I started reading several books and developed my on Financial Freedom Workshop. I have made it available free of charge to any church that will use it. You can download it from our church web site: http://www.lisbonwc.org/free.htm. Powerpoint, worksheets, detailed teaching notes, and overhead projector print outs are all included. I hope the journey God has lead me on can help you and those in your church find freedom from debt and experience the joy of giving!
Rev. Aaron Mishoe is the Pastor of Lisbon Wesleyan Church located in upstate New York .
