Freedom from debt truly does liberate God’s people. It sets them free to give to the needy and to the Lord’s work. It sets them free to make provision for emergencies and for the time when they will no longer be able to earn a living. It sets them free to follow God’s leading into a new sphere of life and ministry. The borrower is still a slave to the lender, and it is a slavery that God’s people should avoid whenever possible.

Proverbs 22:7 says that the rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender. This counsel runs contrary to North American sensibilities. The most recent figures (for 2020) indicate that household debt in the United States totals $14.35 trillion, for a mean household indebtedness of $145,000. Of that number, mortgages account for the majority—about $9.86 trillion. Even with mortgages subtracted, however, household debt runs to nearly $4.5 trillion. Of that amount, Americans owe $1.36 trillion on car loans and another $807 billion in credit card debt.

These numbers are genuinely staggering. They are for household debt, not commercial debt. The average household in the United States earns only $61,000 plus change—less than half of its indebtedness. No wonder many Americans feel like they are impoverished—their income is going to service their debt.

Some people want to argue that Proverbs 22:7 no longer applies. These people point out that in previous generations debtors could literally be put in prison. They could lose their personal freedom, or even the freedom of their children, who could be taken as slaves to pay the debt. Interest rates were exorbitant. Now, these objectors argue, laws limit rates of interest, and they protect both the freedom and basic property of the borrower. This line of reasoning leads to the conclusion that in the modern financial system, borrowers are no longer slaves to lenders.

We can certainly celebrate the protections that modern laws provide. Nevertheless, those protections do not void the warning of Proverbs 22:7. If a household earns $61,000 and owes $145,000, then it cannot possibly pay off its debt for more than two years. During those years, everything the debtor earns goes to the lender. In a very literal sense, the borrower is not working for himself but for the lender. In that sense, he is a slave.

Very few people can actually put more than two years’ income into paying off their debts. They must also buy food, clothing, gasoline, and other necessities. They will also pay their taxes, purchase various insurance policies, and usually spend some amount on simple enjoyments. Consequently, they are going to have to stretch out their payments over many more years—perhaps even over decades. While they are making those payments, however, interest on their loans will continue to accrue, stretching out the arc of their repayment even further. For that entire time, these borrowers will be working to pay off the lender. In that sense, they will be slaves.

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