Debt

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  Romans 13:8

Back 30 years ago, I took a couple of accounting classes.  Didn’t like them.  It was part of the business degree I was working on at the time.  I can remember the teacher I had, who himself was a C.F.O of a major cooperation, spending time, perhaps too much time, on a simple math formula called the “Debt Ratio.”  Now it took a long while to gather the information, but as far as he was concerned, any company’s potential for growth was tied up in this rather simple ratio.

Once you had all the correct figures, the formula was simple. The Debt ratio equals the total liabilities over (or divided by) the total assets.  Or like this D=L/A.  If I remember correctly if the resulting number came out to .5 or larger, there was trouble brewing.  If a creditor called in any loans…the ability to pay back through the assets was in question if the ration was too high.  I’m guessing the same sort of thinking and perhaps ratio applies to households also, although I am no economist and always have had difficulty with accounting.

In the reading above, the apostle Paul calls on believers and trusters to have a rather high debt ratio.  It is one that my old accounting teacher would have had a lot of trouble with.

Paul says, “Owe no one anything”…but then he clarifies that there is a debt that we are to build up.   “…Love each other,”  he says, because “for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

As Christians we have a lot of assets, because of what Christ has done for us.  As Christians, our debt of love, because of what Christ has done for us, is going to equal our assets.  The ratio, I’m guessing, is going to be close to 1.

I can see my old professor’s eyes opening wide and the word ‘No’ being formed in his mouth.  Because to him, the math would be scary.

But in Jesus, the math is perfect.  Be in debt.  For him and because of him.  Love.