Rats Love a Full Pantry
September 15th, 2010No One Robs an Empty Bank
The other night, for no apparent reason, the following thought kept repeating in my mind: “There will always be people who owe you, and you’re going to have to get used to it.”
I thought that was weird. But eventually it started to make sense to me. If you are blessed, you will be required to give and lend to others, and they will owe you. This is how a blessed life works. You are supposed to be like God, and God has what it takes to bless people, and he helps them, and often, they don’t thank him or make any effort to repay. If you give and lend and people don’t have any gratitude, welcome to God’s situation. This is what he deals with every day.
I think this means I will continue to be blessed, and that I have to bless others, and that I have to get used to giving them more than I get.
That’s actually a very good deal. It sure beats owing and lacking. People who owe and don’t repay are not blessed. They are cursed. They live in failure and defeat. They live with worry. A person who can afford to be taken advantage of is much better off.
It’s clear that this is a good way to live, because the Bible repeatedly says blessed people give and lend.
Examples from Psalm 37:
“The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy and giveth.”
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.”
We are told that if we are blessed, we will lend and not borrow. That is true in my case. I have no long-term debts. Not even a car note. God has certainly kept his promise with regard to me, and I can’t say I earned it.
Deuteronomy 28:12: “The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
It’s important to understand that lending gives you power and borrowing makes you a slave. Fools think it’s the other way around. The other night, I saw a movie about Chess Records. Muddy Waters was telling a new artist–Howlin’ Wolf–he wouldn’t have to keep driving a dirty old truck, and Howlin’ Wolf said, “I own this truck. It doesn’t own ME.” Later on in the movie, it became clear that Howling Wolf had money, and Muddy Waters–the bigger star–lived in debt and had no net worth.
If you have debt, you are the slave of the person from whom you borrowed. You can’t quit a bad job, because you need the money. You can’t afford to be sick. You can’t get ahead. The things you think you own can be taken away from you in a day. And a good deal of what you earn will go to pay interest, which buys you nothing and extends your servitude. If you default, you lose your reputation, which is worth more than the money you stole. Your credit report will follow you like a bad smell, helping assure that you will continue to lack. Worst of all, you won’t gain real wealth, which is the set of habits and beliefs and skills that lead to prosperity. You will always fail, until you change. Even if people give you money, you will lose it, and you will lose more than you were given.
Last night I was talking to another Armorbearer at church. He said he took out a loan to help a relative’s business. The relative can repay, but chooses not to. The relative is not on the hook with the bank; my friend is the one taking the hit.
I thought it was odd that he was telling me this right after I heard that thought rolling around in my head, so I told him about it, and I told him what I thought it meant. He found it very encouraging. So, was the message given to me so I could give it to him? Could be.
Here’s the funny part. There is a young man at church who mooches rides from me. He lives a long way off, in a really bad area. He’s a big fan of my garlic rolls. Last night we heard a sermon about the need to be dedicated and serious and grateful for blessings, and the pastor talked about all the free stuff his parents had given him when he was a kid, and he mentioned bread and rolls. The ride guy yelled “GARLIC!”, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew who it was.
While I was telling my AB friend about the debt thing, I looked over his shoulder and saw the garlic roll guy looking at us, and I knew exactly what was going to happen. God was going to make me put my money where my mouth was. I ended up dropping him off in the hood at about 10:30, and I felt better about it than I have on the other occasions when I have given him lifts.
I have to get used to being owed. I am going to owe or be owed, and I would rather be owed. And I have to acknowledge my own debt to God. If he can live with my large debt to him, I can live with the little debts others owe me.
It’s not enough to apply this principle to money. I have to apply it to time and works, including prayer.
You can either be a sink or a source, and a source’s nature is such that people take from it. That’s how things work, and I accept it.
September 15th, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Nice message Steve…I’m feeling a bit taken advantage of in a number of areas these days and you put things in a good perspective for me.
.
I guess I shouldn’t mind giving and being “owed”, and I need to work on patience while I’m at it because sometimes you do get repaid in ways you never expect and at times of God’s choosing, not your own.
September 15th, 2010 at 6:57 PM
I’m a firm believer in Karma (or whatever): “Doing Good” is repaid, at least 3 times over, in my experience. Not necessarily from the person you Did Good for, but it’ll come back to you.
Of course, it works the other way also: Do Bad and you had better hang onto your shorts, as you’ll probably loose them.
To me, being able to help someone who needs it, in whatever way, is like them doing a favor for ME.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:20 PM
Well written and how right you are.
September 15th, 2010 at 9:35 PM
OK, that was timely and well considered.
BTW, if I try to say something here that I shouldn’t it won’t post. Weird huh?
September 16th, 2010 at 10:02 AM
If you give a gift, the receiver doesn’t owe you. Which category does the rider fall in?
September 16th, 2010 at 11:53 AM
“If you give a gift, the receiver doesn’t owe you.”
.
Then no one owes God anything.
September 16th, 2010 at 10:09 PM
“If you have debt, you are the slave of the person from whom you borrowed.”
.
One day, I hope somebody finds a way to put that at the top of every college loan application.
September 17th, 2010 at 7:21 AM
It’s not truly a “gift” if you have to earn it or pay it back, even in kind.
If it comes with strings attached, it’s called a “hook.”
We can never repay what we owe God. My view is that our service to God should come out of reverence, and love, and thankfulness, not out of a sense of obligation.
That, to me, is the essence of the servant’s heart. I like the idea of being a “source,” understanding that a lot of times what we give will not be appreciated, repayed, or reciprocated. Sometimes not even noticed!
More like “paying it forward.” We give to others because of what God gave to us. And we forgive that debt, as God forgives ours.
September 17th, 2010 at 10:53 AM
I don’t know where this controversy about paying back gifts came from. That is not what this blog post was about.
.
In any case, the Bible says obligation comes with every gift God gives us. The NIV says, “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:47-48.
.
The whole principle of tithing and giving offerings is based on our obligation to recognize the fact that everything we have is a gift from God. Whether you say this means we pay for gifts is a matter of spin, but the entire Bible makes it very clear that God does not give things to people with the expectation that they will continue doing as they please.
.
As for the people who have done me good, I owe them, too. To say otherwise would be shameful.
September 17th, 2010 at 2:00 PM
I suppose it’s more complicated than my tossed-off note. I think where it came from was from your language of “takers,” and my projection of negative conotation onto that. On reflection, that’s silly. When one gives, another takes.
But return to your example. You gave a ride. The other person took it. Does he owe you? That’s really up to you, isn’t it? If you believe he owes you gas money, or a lunch, or gratitude, then I suppose he does. If, on the otherhand, you don’t believe he owes you anything (one might say, “Forget about it, it was my pleasure, I was going that way anyway”) then he doesn’t. That’s where I was coming from with statement that when you give a gift, the receiver doesn’t owe you anything. I should say that the receiver may not owe you anything.
Since, as you show, God has made it clear what He believes we owe Him, there’s little question there.
September 17th, 2010 at 2:25 PM
“If you give a gift, the receiver doesn’t owe you.”
.
Then no one owes God anything.
Many people refuse to receive in the first place.
September 18th, 2010 at 6:46 PM
When you take issue with something someone writes, you should consider the effort that person made and try to match it. If you haven’t read closely enough to understand, you haven’t earned the standing to comment.
September 20th, 2010 at 7:05 AM
I do wholely concur that as servants of God, we incur many obligations/expectations as a part of our Salvation. I guess my thought is that we should all strive to get to the point where tithes and offerings, and any other services to God are given much more out of adoration than obligation.
My view is that one of the ways we honor our obligation and express our thanks for God’s gifts, is to share them with others without maintaining a sense of being “owed.” Giving of our time, gifts, and energy to others is one of the ways we “repay” God.
Kind of goes back to the Unforgiving Servant in Matt. 18:21.
If the gifts we give others come from God’s equipping of us to do His work, then ultimately the obligation (the “owe”) of those we help is not back to us, but back to God. If I work at Midas replacing mufflers, the customers owe money to Midas, not to me. Midas pays me to do its work. And in doing the best job I can, the reputation of Midas grows, and maybe more customers come our way.
September 20th, 2010 at 10:37 AM
I think you didn’t understand what I wrote. You and Greg seem to think I was criticizing people I have helped and holding them to their debts, and this post was about doing the opposite.
September 20th, 2010 at 5:54 PM
I’m a brand new reader here. My husband used to tell me about things you posted on your former blog. The other day, just when I needed it, he read me the first 4 paragraphs of this post. It has gotten me through a rotten, turmoil-filled couple of days. Thank you.
September 20th, 2010 at 9:08 PM
That’s fantastic. Glad to hear it. Maybe it was meant for you.
September 21st, 2010 at 4:00 AM
I think I get, and agree with, most of your post. I wholeheartedly agree that indebtedness makes us the slave of those who hold our debts. It’s very liberating to be debt free, and it gives you so much more flexibility and freedom to be responsive to God’s callings in your life.
My reply was more about not treating/perceiving certain things as debts in the first place, but I’ll let it go. Probably just semantics.
Hey Candy! Fancy meeting you here!