Pastor's Corner

4 May
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Mid-Week Challenge

If there were not enough issues weighing on the White House right now, President Biden has chosen to take on another issue: student loan forgiveness.  During a press conference last Thursday, President Biden said he was considering "some debt reduction" but not up to $50,000, and that he would have an answer on forgiveness in the "next couple of weeks."  When asked about this statement, Federal Student Aid (FSA) Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray told Yahoo Finance, "That's a decision that the White House will make. It's up to the White House to make a judgement about that. At the same time, there's quite a few existing programs that provide for pieces, bits and pieces of loan forgiveness. And some of those bits and pieces are rather large."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loan-forgiveness-white-house-152320712.html

These statements have many Americans calling foul.  If those goes through, most see it as another tax and simply unfair to millions of others.  Will Bach, a financial advisor based in Ohio sums up the feelings, "While some may view this debt forgiveness as a slap in the face to people who were responsible and paid off their student loans, this is a bigger slap in the face to those Americans who never went to college."  Great point! Why should those who never went to college be on the hook for those who did?  And what about all those students who spent years paying off their own debt only to learn that if they waited a few more years they could have them forgiven?  This whole debate has nothing to do with the church but I find the language very interesting as it parallels the theological language used to describe personal sin and eternal forgiveness.   

The Bible makes it clear that all of us have fallen in favor with God due to the Fall of Adam.  We can do nothing to earn forgiveness but redemption has been made by the sacrifice of Christ.  The language of the loan forgiveness debate is interesting because its caused people to see how unfair and impracticable it is for someone’s debt to just go away.  Someone has to pay; debt just doesn’t disappear! In this simple real-life example, we get a small sense of the injustice at play when people believe they can come before a holy and just God and by the wave of His hand all debts is forgiven.  The debt is so large that we cannot hope to pay, but the love of God is so great that a perfect price has won our spiritual freedom.  

There is a sense of justice in us all and when we see something that is unjust it should cause that within us to rise up.  At the same time, it should also make us reflect on our own personal liability and be humbled by the lengths the Savior went through to win us from the chains of death. 

It must feel good to be in power and in a position to help those who are in need.  The problem is that no amount of earthly power or authority can make things simply go away. A price must be paid, even if it cannot be by the original debtor. Praise be to our Lord and Savior for the price He paid that we might all be set free.     

But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:6-7

Serving the Savior,

Bro. Jonathan

By: Dr. Jonathan Richerson

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