Ask Chuck: Credit card debt and eternity

Dear Chuck,

My elderly father recently asked why so many young people have credit card debt. He commented, “Seems like they’re so preoccupied with the present they can’t think about their future?” Can you give me some facts and insights to prepare me for my next talk with him?

Credit Card Facts

Dear Credit Card Facts,

I understand your father’s concern. He is from a generation that would never consider borrowing money to go out to dinner or buy clothes. America has moved from a nation that feared debt to a nation that embraced debt as normal to a nation that has become addicted to debt.

When people carry a credit card balance month to month, they are borrowing, with interest, to pay for basics like food and clothing. Inflation has taken a toll on many households, but phones, computers, and television have radically impacted the way people spend money. For many, their purchases have become their meaning and purpose in life.

Bankrate.com reports that over half of Americans are in debt. Thirty six percent have more credit card debt than emergency savings, and 35% would have to borrow to pay for an emergency expense greater than $1,000. See more debt data here. Good debt is backed by assets and can increase in value or generate income over time. Bad debt is used to purchase items that lose value. When bad debt strains resources, it negatively impacts the individual, their family, their legacy, their community, and their nation. But don’t get lured into the “good debt” trap either.

God provides resources for us to manage according to His financial principles, not to spend as we desire. When we take our eyes off the Lord and His leadership, money becomes the driving force of life. Because of this, it is important to examine our financial motives.

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit” (Proverbs 16:2 ESV)

Answering a few questions is helpful to understand my point about our motivations regarding money.

• What’s your motive for work? Is it to get rich? Store up a retirement fund so that you can eat, drink, and be merry? Or is it to glorify God by taking care of your family and doing work that pleases Him?
• How about your spending? Does pride subtly lead you to the latest gadgets, the highest quality, and exclusive brands? Or do you spend knowing that you’re a steward of God’s money?
• Why do you want to get out of debt? Are you seeking financial freedom to simply live more comfortably than others, to suffer less guilt, and to have lower overhead? Or do you seek to be free from the control of any masters so that you can serve God to the fullest?
• What’s your motive for giving? Is it to get something in return, to impress others, or to make a name for yourself? Or do you give to please God and look only for the rewards He promises to cheerful givers? 

Motives matter

It is vital to consider whether the decisions you make truly please God or yourself. Many people work, give, spend, save, and invest without ever considering their motives — the reasons why they do what they do.  

Rich or poor, we all have the same responsibility: to keep our priorities straight, to commit our work to the Lord, to avoid wasting our lives on things that will not last into eternity, and to be good and faithful stewards.

Sixteenth century theologian Martin Luther wrote that as a practical matter, there are three conversions a person must experience to be fully committed: a conversion of the heart, a conversion of the mind, and a conversion of the purse.

Every dollar spent on materialistic consumption is a dollar less to invest. In the long run, there are consequences.

“A society that tends to focus greater attention on investment than on personal consumption tends to be a more prosperous society in the long run. This is true whether that investment is aimed toward meeting the needs of others (through charity), through reinvestment in production or market investments (which, in turn, create wealth), or through savings. This focus on creation of wealth through investment (as opposed to the reduction of wealth caused by over- consumption), when combined with an attention to the needs of others, allows for a greater ability to meet those needs and a fulfillment of the creative capacity inherently placed within humans as they were made in the image of our Creator,” explains Ken Boa.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next ... It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

Your father’s comment, “Seems like they’re so preoccupied with the present they can’t think about their future,” reminded me of this verse, which instructs us to keep an eternal perspective:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1–4 ESV)

If credit card debt is holding someone you know in bondage, a valuable and trusted resource is Christian Credit Counselors. They can help consolidate debt to get one on the road to financial freedom.