Bible verses
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 ESV
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 ESV
“The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.” Psalm 37:21 ESV [Note, this verse does not say the righteous borrow and pay. It contrasts the fact that the wicked are so bad they don’t even pay back what they owe and the righteous are so good they give generously even when they don’t owe the receiver anything or have to.]
George Muller’s views
George Muller believed going into debt for any reason, even for a house was a sin. He never entered into debt.
Dave Ramsey’s views
“The Bible doesn’t say anything good about debt. There is not one time it is mentioned positively in the Bible…Biblically speaking, debt is stupid. It’s not a sin or salvation issue” Dave Ramsey on the Dave Ramsey Show.
I agree with Dave on everything except that it might just be a sin. It probably is. Sin is missing the mark, not doing God’s best for one’s life is a sin.
Dave Ramsey in the same show says he will advise people on how to buy houses and tries to slow them down as much as he can. It’s almost like a concession he makes. He continues, “I, however, personally never borrow money, for anything, in any circumstance. You cannot make me afraid, or happy, or greedy enough to borrow money to go into a deal. There is nothing I want that bad, ever. I want to be debt free more than there is anything on the planet I want. And so, I’ll never trade that because it has given me that much freedom. It has given me that much peace. And I am convinced that’s one of the reasons I’ve become wealthy. There are not any stinking payments. And if you don’t have any payments, do you know what you have? Money! All the money is not going out of the door. When all you do is make money and make payments, you are broke!….the borrower is a slave to the lender. So I’m gonna tell you. If I can talk you into paying cash for everything, I’m going to try to.” Dave Ramsey on the Dave Ramsey Show.
DaveRamsey.com says, “The only type of debt Dave won’t yell at you about is a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage with a payment that’s no more than 25% of your take-home pay.” Dave actually says “the best way to buy a home is with 100% down. Paying cash for a home may sound weird, but imagine all the fun you could have without a mortgage payment weighing you down!” It’s only you can’t wait to save that he recommends otherwise. Yet, remember that Ramsey is not scripture and he makes a concession in this culture where everybody is in huge debt to at least reduce it.
Also, watch this Dave Ramsey episode about renting vs. buying a house. He quotes an interesting statistic, “70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.”
My view
The way I read the scriptures, I agree with George Muller.
How do you read the scriptures?
