Forgive us our debts

An evangelical pastor recently emailed me with a simple question. A member of his church is overwhelmed by the burden of credit card debt he accumulated during a long period of unemployment. Is it ever acceptable for a Christian to file for bankruptcy?

I don’t know the congregant or enough about his finances to offer an opinion on his situation, but I do believe bankruptcy is sometimes appropriate.

Some years ago, I read a number of the leading books on Christian financial ethics, and many gave the opposite answer. Nearly all of them quoted Psalm 37:21, which says: “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.” The Bible calls us to make good on our promises, they concluded, which means that Christians should never file for bankruptcy. “It’s understandable that under the pressure of excessive debts a Christian might see bankruptcy as a quick fix,” as the late Larry Burkett wrote, “but relief from financial pressure does not make bankruptcy scriptural.”

The Bible clearly commands us to fulfill our commitments, financial and otherwise. After all, we worship a promise-keeping God. But the Bible also has a great deal to say about the forgiveness of debts. In the Old Testament, all debts were to be forgiven and property returned to its original owners during the Jubilees that the Israelites were instructed to hold every 50 years (Leviticus 25). In the parable of the ungrateful servant, Jesus condemned a servant who refuses to forgive a small debt after the servant’s very large debt was forgiven. And in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray: “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Jesus is talking about the forgiveness of sins, of course, but I think He also has literal debts in mind.

Can these two very different ideas—that we should fulfill our promises, and that debts should be forgiven—fit together? I think they can. It seems to me that the biblical principle that we should keep our promises suggests we should never use bankruptcy to discharge obligations we can realistically honor. Our yes should be yes, and our no should be no. But if honoring the obligations becomes impossible, it is appropriate to seek relief.

The American bankruptcy laws are far from perfect. Debtors should have more opportunities to apologize for failing to honor their commitments, and should explicitly ask forgiveness. It might make sense for the bankruptcy laws to require debtors capable of repaying at least part of what they owe to do so. (Congress tried to achieve this in 2005 but made a mess of it.) I spend much of my time writing about other ideas for improving our bankruptcy laws. But I think the American approach reflects and was shaped by the biblical pattern.

Given the 910,090 bankruptcy filings last year—and more than a million in many previous years—I doubt the pastor who emailed me and his congregant are alone in wrestling with the question whether bankruptcy should ever be an option for Christians. I hope the congregant will not need to file for bankruptcy, and I don’t think those who can realistically repay their obligations should consider the bankruptcy option. But for those who can’t, I believe bankruptcy is an acceptable and fully biblical solution.