Borrow to Produce, Not to Consume

Weekly Devotional by Patrice Tsague

What is your philosophy on borrowing? Do you have any personal debt? Is the debt for consumption or production? 

Let’s explore this topic together in today’s devotional:

In 2 Kings 4:3, we find the Prophet Elisha giving a bankrupt widow business advice that seemed counterproductive and even unscriptural. He tells her to go borrow, and not just a few, but borrow plenty. How would you like to be in a financial dilemma hoping for a gift, and the preacher asks you to go borrow more money? Isn’t that how she got into trouble in the first place? Is borrowing biblical?

Debt is a very misunderstood concept in the Body of Christ. We go from the extreme worldly mindset that encourages us to use other people’s money and charge for everything we need, to the extreme of viewing debt as evil and even sinful. The truth of the matter is that there is a type of debt that is evil and sinful, but not all debt is evil and sinful. If all debt was sinful, the Prophet Elisha would not have instructed the bankrupt widow to go borrow and Jesus would not have instructed the servant with the one talent to deposit His talent with the banker so that He could receive it back with interest. I think debt has created the same confusion in the Body of Christ that sex has because of its inappropriate use and the fear that if our theology does not condemn it, then irresponsible people will misuse it.

I believe that rather than “throwing the baby out with the bath water”, we must teach people the proper use of things. Sex is only bad when it is used outside of the context of marriage or as a tool of abuse by one of the partners in the marriage. It is a tool for married couples to use for mutual satisfaction and procreation. Debt then is only bad when it is used for consumption, when there is an over-dependence upon it, and when there is a lack of commitment to satisfy your creditors. However I cannot find any biblical rationale for consumer debt; thus I conclude that most, if not all consumer debt, is evil and sinful. To consume means to use up, destroy completely, or spend extravagantly. Why would you want to borrow something just to consume? You will still be liable for the debt and would have depleted the asset that you could have used to generate revenue to meet your needs.

Consumer debt destroys families; it turns our focus from depending on God to depending on others to provide for our needs and it cultivates the spirit of greed and discontentment. The concept of consumer debt is based on the assumption that God cannot meet our needs; therefore, we must find a way to meet them ourselves. Matthew 6: 25-34 teaches us that we ought not to worry about what we will eat, drink, or put on because our God knows that we have need of these things. As we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will provide everything that we need. Therefore we ought to live within our means and trust God to provide anything else we need through the works of our hands and the generosity of others.

What brought the widow to the point of bankruptcy? The Bible does not give us a lot of detail as to how she got there, but we can assume that she got there as a result of either her husband’s failed business ventures or his dependence on debt to support his family. I don’t believe that she became bankrupt as a result of failed business ventures because she did not realize that she had an asset in her home to generate revenue, thus her husband could not have been a businessman. What he did teach her was where to go if she should face trouble. This is evidenced by the fact that she did not turn to prostitution, she did not give in to the creditors, nor did she file for bankruptcy, rather, she sought godly guidance and assistance. The debt must have been a consumer debt.

There are times when what we have is neither enough to meet our needs nor to turn into something of value to trade in the marketplace. In those cases, we must be able to access capital outside ourselves. One of the ways to access capital is through debt financing. Debt financing is choosing to be in temporary bondage with the goal of achieving a greater end. Proverbs 22:7 states that the borrower is a slave to the lender. So, whether you borrow to produce or to consume, as long as you owe the debt, you are a slave to the person or institution that you borrowed the money from. This is why it is never a good idea to borrow for consumption since you have no other way to repay the money, putting you into permanent bondage.

Why would you want to put yourself in bondage for something that only gives you temporary pleasure and then is completely depleted or completely loses its value? The only time borrowing is acceptable is for production, never for consumption. In essence, the loan I receive will be invested into something that will produce a greater value than what I had before, enabling me to trade it in the marketplace and generate enough money to cover all of my expenses, including the debt service, and generate a profit.

My prayer for you is that God will provide all of your needs so you will not need to borrow and if you need to borrow, He will give you a way of escape unless it is for production.