“A. B.” You ask, “Is it right for Christians who are in debt to give money for benevolent purposes?” Most assuredly not. We must be just before we are generous. If I am in debt, I have no right to give money in charity. Were I to do so, there would at least be, as another has said, a measure of honesty in my writing on the hack of whatever I bestow, these words, “Borrowed from my creditors without their consent.” But, dear friend, we should go very much further than this. We believe that, as a rule, Christians should not go in debt at all. “Owe no man anything” is a precept so plain, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein. We do not here enter upon the question of how far persons engaged in trade can carry out this holy and happy rule. There are certain terms upon which the manufacturer sells to the warehouseman, and the warehouseman sells to the shopkeeper, such, for instance, as, “Cash iii a month,” or the like, and so long as these terms are observed, it may he questioned how far one is actually in debt. We believe that it would be far safer and better, in every way, for persons in trade, to pay cash, and take the discount. And, unquestionably, a man is in debt, if his stock in trade and the debts due to him are not amply sufficient to meet all liabilities. It is a poor, hollow, worthless, unprincipled thing for a man to traffic with fictitious capital, to live by a system of “kite-flying,” to be making a show at his creditor's expense. We fear there is a deplorable amount of this sort of thing even amongst those who occupy the very highest platform of profession. As to persons living in private life, there is no excuse whatever for their going into debt. What right have I, before God or mall, to wear a coat or a hat not pail for? What right have I to order a ton of coals, a pound of tea, or a joint of meat, if I have not the money to pay for it? It may be said, what are we to do? The answer is plain to an upright mind and a tender conscience, we are to do without rather than go in debt. It is infinitely better, happier, and holier to sit down to a crust of bread and a cup of water paid for, than to roast meat for which you are in debt. But, alas! dear friend, there is a sad lack of conscience and sound principle as to this important question. People go on, from week to week, taking their places at the Lord's Table, making the highest profession, talking of high and holy principles, and all the while they are over head and ears in debt, living far beyond their income, taking food and raiment on credit from any one who will trust them, and knowing in their hearts that they have no reasonable prospect of being able to pay. Surely this is most grievous and dishonoring. Indeed, we do not hesitate to pronounce it practical unrighteousness, and we most solemnly warn the Christian reader against all such loose and unprincipled conduct. We have seen a great deal of it latterly, and we can only regard it as one of the many bitter fruits of the spirit of Antinomianism so rife at the present moment. Oh for a tender conscience and an upright mind!
55. Laying up for the Future
“S.” You ask, “Is it right to lay up money for the future?” This is entirely a question between the heart and the Lord. If one cannot fully trust the Lord for the future, both for himself and for his family—if one has not such a sense of what God is, and what the life of faith is, as to lift the heart entirely above the range of creature confidence, human hopes, and earthly expectations, he can, of course, only lay up money, or insure his life, In the case of a mere man of the world, it is very laudable to deny himself in order to lay up for his wife and children; but the roan of God stands on different ground altogether. We believe it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in a store of money, or in an insurance policy. “Leave thy fatherless children to me, and let thy widows trust in me.” We have often seen the truth of the old proverb: “If you lay up for a rainy day, God will send you a rainy day,” And as to children, the best provision you can make for them is, to teach them to provide for themselves by honest industry.