Financial Debt Workshop - Ministry Exchange (MX)

Notes For Urbana Seminar “Getting Out of and Staying Out of Debt”
by Curtis Chang / cchang@emerald.tufts.edu

A very real scenario that may happen to you in the next few days.
Suppose that you are sitting in one of the plenary sessions and you hear
the speaker talk about country X and its unreached people group. Something
stirs in your heart. Soon, you’re wandering through the exhibit hall when
you suddenly run into a mission agency putting together long term mission
teams for that very country. It all clicks together: they are looking for
someone with your blend of language background and mix of talents, you’ve
been looking for a team setting just like they are describing. And, the
representative says, “It’s great you’ve met up just now because the teams
are about to leave in six months! This gives you just enough time to quit
your job and raise support.” The support needed is actually a low amount,
just enough to cover living and travel expenses during the mission. But then your shoulders sag. You can imagine raising enough support
to live on for the mission, but there’s one other problem. Debt. You owe
money on a school loan, your credit card, and you haven’t even paid off
your car loan yet. How can you just suddenly quit your job for a mission
that will just provide for the basic necessities? Sadly, you turn around
and leave. And somehow, the rest of the Urbana sessions just don’t seem as
exciting, because in the back of your mind there is the realization that it
will be years before you can imagine paying off all your debts, before you
can just leave and go.

NATURE OF DEBT:

This is not a purely hypothetical situation. This will happen for
hundreds, maybe thousands here. I assume you are here now because you’re
worried this might be true for you. And this is one of the real dangers of
debt: you become restricted, chained, enslaved to it. Proverbs 22:7 warns
of this: “The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Debt enslaves us. It
is a chain which restricts our range of movement. Whatever choices we face,
it becomes this yoke that prevents us from taking certain roads. In the
Biblical eras, debt literally created slaves. That is why in the Old
Testament, God commanded Israel to institute the Jubilee (read Lev. 25:29-
42). Every 50 years, debts would be revoked and slaves freed, because God
did not want people restricted by their debts for a long time. And God so
desires freedom from debt because ultimately God desires that we have the
freedom to obey His call. Jesus warns in Matthew 6:24: “No [slave] can
serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both
God and money.” Debt is an issue of discipleship. It is not just a private issue.
Debt by its very nature enslaves. And if we are in debt, that we will be
enslaved to money and not God. If you are in debt, it is a matter of
discipleship that you work your way out of debt, so that you can be free to
serve God, free to respond when the Master calls, free to love the world in
Jesus’ name. As Paul warns in Romans 13:8: “Owe no one anything…EXCEPT
the debt of love.” The rest of this seminar will focus on practical steps you can take
then to “owe no one anything except the debt of love.” However, I want to
comment a little on the nature of different types of debt. While all debt
restricts, some restrict more than others.

Mortgage: Most people have to go into debt to buy a house, take out a
mortgage. There is definitely a certain restriction that comes from having
a mortgage; but, one can generally get out of it by selling the house. It
takes a little time and one runs the risk of depreciation, but it is
possible to free oneself when necessary.

School loan: Many of you wouldn’t be able to go to college without
school loan. In the last three years school loan debt has jumped from 18
billion to 33 billion. While I think this certainly may be acceptable—I took out a school loan to go to college— I also think too many people
do not consider the enslaving nature of school loan debt when choosing
further education. This is especially an issue of discipleship for those
of you considering graduate education. For example, suppose there is this
pre-med who claims she wants to go into medical missions or minister in
underserved areas. She can go to Boston University or Univ. of
Massachusetts. Boston Univ. means 100,000 dollars in debt, Univ. of Mass.
has a debt forgiveness program for doctors who work in the inner city or
the Third World. Boston Univ. is more prestigious and offers more research
opportunities… but it also forces you to take a decent paying job for
years. But people are so used to automatically always going for the more
prestigious program even if it means years of enslavement. For that pre-
med, if she decided to go to Boston Univ., I would at least question
whether she really is going to medical school out of a sense of calling to
mission. Note also that even seminiaries can enslave with the debt that
comes with it. If you’re going to seminary in order to be trained for
missions, but you have to take out a lot of school loans, realize that
probably you’re not going abroad for a while!

Credit Card debt: Sometimes people get credit card debt because
emergency came up and that was the only way they thought they could get
money. We’ll talk about why that’s a problem. However, much of credit card
debt simply comes from consumerism. Consumer debt is the most illegitmate
and evil of all debts: as the cover of Christianity Today said, “The Devil
takes Visa.” You are bombarded with an average of 3,500 ads per day geared
to getting you to buy ever more items. These ads promote a vision of the
“good life” that can only be obtained with ever more purchases. It is bad
enough when we allow ourselves to be seduced by consumerism, worse when we
sell ourselves into slavery to satisfy a false need. More and more people
are falling into slavery. In 1986, consumer debt stood at 140 billion
dollars, in 1996, 460 billion dollars. {Show the nature of credit card
debt on a spreadsheet}

If you are currently in debt, my point is not to shame you. But I do want
you to recognize the spiritual importance of debt. People who often get
into credit card debt are often addicted to buying. When they feel some
pain, some emptiness, they try to fill that pain or emptiness with
spending. But like a drug, the spending only satisfies the need
temporarily. The underlying pain or emptiness remains and comes back
stronger, requiring more “hits” of shopping. If that describes you, I
urge you to seek spiritual help because your issue is larger than simply
financial. You will need to work with someone in spiritual authority on
how to repent from this pattern of addiction. However, repentance will
also involve practical steps to free yourself from this ball and chain, and
be free to respond to God.

REST IS PRACTICAL DEBT RELIEF STEPS

1. Make a list of all your debts and assets, ranking debts by interest
due on each and assets by interest earned on each.

2. Use your lowest interest earning asset to pay off your highest
interest debt.

3. Shift debts into lower interest situations:

Call up your credit card company or shop around for a lower
rate Low interest consolidation loans from family or friends

4. Organize a debt payment schedule, using the principle of attacking
the highest interest debt first with the maximum amount and paying the
minimum on everything else. Remind people that they can come up for a free
debt analysis and optimum pay off plan.

5. Cut up your credit cards or at the very least deduct from your
checkbook with each credit card purpose. (If you can’t cut up your credit
card, you must ask, “Why not?”)

6. MAKE A REAL BUDGET WITH REAL ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES!

Determine what is your current ACTUAL budget Determine where you can free up more money for debt relief (demonstrate the power of an extra 100 dollars a month). Set aside debt reduction money immediately when you receive
your paycheck.

7. Ask someone you trust to help you thorough these steps and keep you
accountable.