Comparing sins to debts in Christian teaching and preaching is not as common as it once was. Even though, we sometimes sing, “Jesus paid it all” claiming he paid our debts we could not pay, we do not hear about it from the pulpit enough. We often hear sins compared to crimes in teaching and preaching. Crime is the preferred metaphor for sin in the minds of many Christians. Youth are often told accepting Christ as their savior “wipes the charges” away. Somehow God keeps an ever-growing rap sheet of your sins he will act on in some way. Either the you will be held accountable for all of them or Jesus took the punishment for them. This sense of forgiveness and guilt has distorted our view of morality. And it has, oddly enough, made us think forgiveness is itself immoral.
Debts And Sin
Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer links forgiveness of sin to forgiveness of debts (Luke 11: 4) Jesus uses parables of relief of indebtedness to illustrate forgiveness of sin. One in particular is the one that bewilders many lay teachers. It is sometimes called the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward (Luke 16: 1-9). The master hears charges brought against the steward and moves to fire him. The steward proceeds to help the people indebted to his master rob him by reducing their debts to his master. The master praises the unrighteous steward for his shrewdness in the matter. What moral lesson is supposed to be drawn from this?
Jesus does not make it any easier to understand the parable when he concludes, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” (16:9) First the steward steals from his master. Now Jesus says the indebted people will greet those who treat them well into eternity. One can hear the would-be teacher calling in sick before Sunday School.
“All have sinned…” says St. Paul. And we often claim no sin is worse than another. But we really only believe that on Sunday mornings.
The Worst Crimes
A Christian reading a headline about murder, rape, or child-molestation will usually claim hanging is too good for the person convicted of such a crime. Grudgingly, we will accept the idea that a person can be forgiven by God. Yet, we will often claim the criminal owes “a debt to society.” Christians do not put small acts of theft (say taking a few pens home from the office) on the same level as the above mentioned crimes. This is not merely secular reasoning. No society that punishes all crime the same way would survive for long. Everyone would be either executioners or executed. Practical theology does not equate these actions the same way either. St. Paul may claim all have sinned. But he claims those who distort the Gospel are anathema. He does not use the term for any other sin.
Chronic indebtedness may not be a crime. But we often consider it a moral failing. The reasons given for not forgiving student debt (or even to allow student debts to be included in bankruptcy) reflect this type of thinking. “They should have majored in something that paid better”(poor choices). “They should not have borrowed so much” (lack of self-control). “It is a slap-in-the-face to everyone who paid off their loans” (moral superiority). It is telling too that arguments over the debt of the US government is couched in this same language.
Debts As Moral Failure
United Methodist clergy are asked to affirm that we do, are doing, or will do many things after ordination. But there is one question we are asked to deny. “Are you in debt so as to embarrass you in your ministry?” This Wesleyan question recalls that John Wesley’s father Samuel found himself in debtor’s prison more than once. When it is asked of new ordinands every year, there is much knowing twittering among the clergy. Masters of Divinity degrees are costly in time and money. They are required for ordination. Many new clergy have a large amount of debt upon leaving seminary. Added to that are the minimum or low “starting salaries” that are poverty level for families of four while not being so for individuals. Yet, failure to pay one’s debts is a moral failure whereas failure to pay better salaries is merely “living simply.”
Paying one’s debts is the means of maintaining respectability. Who would listen to a clergy person who recently had the car repossessed? How embarrassing would that be to the congregation? Having debts is not a crime. Jesus does not condemn it as sin. But the Proverbs contains this passage, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7) There are many other texts in the book that caution against indebtedness. We quote it without asking what the words are saying.
The Way of Things
Sadly, we do not know how to use the Proverbs or any of the wisdom literature of the Bible. We make the mistake of thinking we are looking at a level field where everything is the same. The Proverbs can be observations. They can also be advice. But they are never absolute laws. Parents make the mistake of using verse 22:6 of the Proverbs to reinforce feelings of guilt about a wayward child. But the passage should not be taken as an absolute. Something that happens often does not mean it happens all the time.
We hear people quote, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender,” as if the passage says it ought to be that way. But the proverb is merely an observation of how things are. Yet, some teachers (Dave Ramsey comes to mind) hold that the borrower is morally obligated to work for the lender. They do not take into account how the lender could be at fault through usury or monopoly. Is there still a moral obligation to pay everything the lender demands?
Sins And Debts
And now let’s look again at the Parable of The Unrighteous Steward. The story’s outcome offends a moral sense that is wrong. Forgiving debts is not morally wrong. Claims that it reinforces bad behavior on the part of the borrowers never ask about the bad behavior of lenders. When we consider the mortgage crisis of 2008, it was unthinkable on the part of governing officials to think the borrowers were victims to be compensated. It was, however, the lenders who put their hands out and received aid for their bad behavior.
The moral sense of Christians regarding money is confused. So, the preachers and teachers find it easier to compare sin to crimes. But Luke, quite literally, holds the person needing forgiveness is the lender. The one who will receive it is the lender who forgives the borrower.
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