This is a guest post from Shannon who is the author of minoritythinker.blogspot.com.
“When I was in Zambia, I was bothered that more people didn’t answer the call to missions,” said Mary, who spent more than two decades as a missionary nurse in Africa. “Now that I am back in the States, I can see that people are more tied down then they used to be, with mortgages and other things. It’s harder to go than it was at one time.”
Mary isn’t the only missionary who sees an unpaid mortgage as a hindrance to doing God’s work. Randy, a missionary in Arizona, saw being mortgage-free as such an advantage that he prayed God would provide free housing in one of two towns so that he would know which town should be his base on a new field. Two weeks later, a supporter called to offer his family the use of her home in one of those towns in exchange for some caretaking duties.
Mortgages are so common that few people even view them as part of their debt. Dave Ramsey makes paying off a mortgage step six in his plan for becoming debt-free, four steps after “pay off all debt.” Home ownership is usually a wiser choice than renting, but few people can afford to pay outright for a house, so mortgages make sense. Yet, for better or worse, people who owe money on mortgages usually are less mobile, and less likely to make radical lifestyle changes on short notice.
Could it be that missionaries are few in number partially because our debt makes answering a call to missions difficult? Mortgages, credit card payments, even long-term cell phone contracts – all of these financial obligations can be taken on for good reasons, but they tend to make life more complicated. Simply going is not easy.
When God called Abram to leave his home and go to a new land, he took all he owned with him. How many people today, once committed to mortgages and other long-term obligations, respond to a call to missions the same way? Now, most North American Christians would say, “OK, God, but first I have to sell this house, pay off my credit cards, finish out this contract…I owe too much money to be able to take a financially insecure job like missions right now.”
The Bible says that single people are better able to devote their time to God: “An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs–how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world–how he can please his wife– and his interests are divided” (I Corinthians 7:32-34, NIV). The same passage suggests that because time is short, we must treat the things we buy as temporary possessions (verse 30). Buying on credit practically ensures the opposite response – rather than treating our possessions as temporary, we are closely tied to them. Sometimes those ties last far longer than the things we buy are useful to us, and sometimes they are so strong that we are not truly free to do the work God has planned for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
(Note from Bob: While we aren’t all called to become missionaries, I think this article brings up an extremely valid point. What things are in our lives that if removed would allow us to serve God more fully?)
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
The only thing that keeps people from their call is their flesh not their mortgage. The real problem is that most are not willing to be obedient over the small before they can be obedient over the larger issues.
Tithes are the Law in OT not in the new covenant under Christ. Tithes today are just another way for Carnal religious people to justify their greed. Open forum Open comment! Disagree all you need to but I challenge you to prove my comment in error.
This one hit home, since my wife and I had to postpone our full-time mission endeavors in Zambia because we couldn’t sell our house.
@Bob, seeing how this guest post showed up on your blog, how will you respond while you are in the process of getting a house? I was in the same predicament and we were able to cover our mortgage in order to do what God called us to do, now to eliminate the mortgage all together…
As you mentioned the world does need more missionaries. I currently work as a missionary overseas. There are two sides to this discussion. First, I’m sure some have felt called to missions, but were unable to answer because of a mortgage (as attested by Jonathan Curtis in his comment). Personally, I have never met a missionary who has such an issue. However, I once heard that only 15% of people who decide to do missions actually make it on the field. The number one reason why people don’t end up going is they cannot find support. Perhaps debt is a factor, but likely the debt that church members carry is a more significant hindrance than the debt an individual family carries. This, of course, is both a spiritual and financial issue.
However, we can all be assured when God calls someone he does not dial the wrong number. He can work out amazing things for His will and His glory.
Pastor Jeff, if you get a chance, read Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna. The book discusses the tithe issue in some detail, and it mirrors exactly what you’ve written. I think there’s validity to the point, but of course, no where do they challenge a believers need to give.
But getting back to the subject at hand, the mortgage analogy is an excellent one, but it may be even broader than what Shannon has written. Once we become believers, we’re no longer “of this world” (John 17:14). We need to take stock of that point, and gradually begin implementing it.
If we live as believers, but our roots in this world are too deep, our witness is compromised. A mortgage is one such example, and probably magnified in the present day by the fact that the average household is carrying mortgage debt at far higher levels than at any time in the past. Consumer debt, career, politics, social issues, etc, are all part of those roots that can keep us from acting on our faith.
Excellent article!!!
The article, “Is Your Mortgage Hindering You from Fulfilling God’s Call? is an excellent one. Thank you.
I guess this is proof that I still am on the far fringes of Christianity because I still don’t get it. If God has called you into the Ministry what of this life should/can stop us?
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
I mean when I was called to help start a church in Jacksonville Fl I had a trailer that I just paid off free and clear. Yes it was old (like me) but it was mine. I was called and tried to see the home but could not so I abandoned it. The park I lived in took it for their own and made tons of money by renting out MY Home. My point is if God calls you Nothing of this world should stand in the way. Never mind a Mortgage.
Oh well I said my piece – what do I know right.
@Parrott84,
I don’t think we are going to be called to the missionfield any time soon… My calling (or what God has for me to do right now) is in my local church. We have prayed long and hard about buying that house and believe that it is God’s timing for us. So, I feel perfectly fine buying our house – that said, as stewards we have worked to pay off all our other debts and will do the same with the house. The plan is to pay this house off asap – in order to be the best stewards possible with what God has given us…
Pastor Jeff–I think that as long as we’re in this world, we’ll always face that tension between a God who calls us up, and a world that wants to keep us down. We’re in the middle, wanting to follow God and being pulled back by the world. Then complicating it are our own fleshly desires… we’re in a tough spot, but I think God works through our conflicts and brings us to where we need to be anyway.
Bob–agree with you as well. Not all of us are called into “high adventure”! But God can and does use us right where we are. The missoin field is increasingly here in the not-so-Christain West, America included. Being close to home and working to strengthen the churches we belong to is an underestimated mission field!
Gosh, so much good stuff here.
@Pastor Jeff, I would echo Kevin’s thoughts. How do we balance Matt. 19:29 with 1 Timothy 5:8 (If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever). It’s tough. A pastor friend of mine refers to these things as ‘Holy Tensions’, insinuating God’s providence within the tension of the Kingdom that has come…but not yet fully.
Additionally, I would suggest a distinction that should be made about ‘mortgage debt’. Mortgages, although still a debt, are one of the few debts that Americans carry that is easy liquidated. Because it is an appreciating asset, the vast majority of people owe less against their home than its value. Thus, the ability to dumb this debt would be much greater, due to the ability to liquidate it (or sell it) and walk away with no financial obligation. Compare this to a new vehicle note (which is upside down the second you leave the lot) or a credit card debt.
Similar to Bob (& Dave Ramsey, although I have never heard him give this explaination), my wife and I have prayerfully decided to live our lives debt free, with a mortgage being the exception to the rule. If prompted by the Holy Spirit to transfer to the mission field, a new career, or a new town, we could liquidate our lives with relative ease. Subsequently we are minimizing the bondage that debt has on us. Besides, we would (Dave Ramsey Baby Step 6) pay it off as quickly as possible. This is why I would suggest that mortgage debt is different than ‘other debt’.
FFF–I would agree that mortgage debt is different from other debt–but within limits. It might be better to say “conservative mortgage debt” is different, that is a a fixed rate mortgage taken in conjunction with a 20% (or greater) down payment. The 95% and 100% loans of the past few years have been anything but conservative–big picture, they were designed as mortgages for people who can’t afford to buy a house, especially if they were ARMs or interest only. These are the loans that have so many people in trouble, and they need to be avoided even now. Too many people have found that mortgages aren’t so easily liquidated after all.
If your mortgage balance is too high in relation to the value of your house, you’re merely renting the money to “own” your house. That’s no better than being a tenant, except that a tenant is free to move without the burden of first needed to sell his home. So a mortgage is different only if it’s conservative.
Totally agree. I should have emphasized conservative. The truth is, the last few years has been a very abnormal time in the mortgage industry. With the exception of this short time period, most mortgages have been more traditional and thus ‘conservative’. Thanks for pointing that out.
TRUE! Historically a mortgage was a conservative arrangement by virtue of the fact that the bank wanted to be paid back. In recent years, the bankers and the borrowers drank the Kool-Aid, buying into the myth that a mortgage is a risk free venture, now we’re coming back to earth. It’ll sort itself out and revert to more normal dimensions, but in the mean time it’s best to be purposefully conservative, even if the industry is still pretending that the experience of the past few years is somehow normal.
As believers, we need to be discerning, and one of the things we need to do is be on the lookout for is anything that hints of easy money. It’s a snare! That’s what the mortgage industry has been peddling for the past 10-15 years. Ignore it and assume that what ever you borrow you will need to pay back, sooner rather than later. The magic mutliplier of OPM–other people’s money–is gone.
Just to add a totally unrelated issue to the mix…I would add that there is an assumption here that the “mission field” is somewhere else…that everything is a-okay here in the States. I live in a small town that has the second highest per capita rates of alcoholism and domestic violence in the nation. I am already in my mission field.
Praise the lord!
I 2nd that Liz. ” live in a small town that has the second highest per capita rates of alcoholism and domestic violence in the nation. I am already in my mission field.”
Let us not lose sight of problems in our own community and if your debt holds you from being a missionary overseas then focus on your communities needs and you will reap instance rewards.
Another couple of thoughts to add into the mix is that in the UK at least, the huge bulk of of Christians make their decision for Christ in adulthood [even those who have grown up in church very often "drift away" and then come back]. Subsequently their debt [including mortage debt] is something that has been entered into before their step of faith – the question then is if this is a burden that is stopping them from responding to God’s call, how do we help them to overcome it?
In addition, a much bigger tie that stops people responding to a misison call is children – especially when they are young and still in education.
I believe that both these issues in my church [in a relatively affluent area in Somerset, UK] are the reason that people are much more willing to go on short term missions. “Holiday missions” are attended by over 60% of my flock, who have in the last year proclaimed the gospel alongside local christians in France, Uganda, Turkey and even Texas!