After some thought and reading I’d like to post a follow up to this last post on money and debt.
Debt money, which is basically based on an assurance from one person to another that the debt will be paid (you may wish to re-read the above mentioned post) can suffer from a confidence problem.
When you accept a promise from someone you are trusting that it will be kept in the expected manner. However, over history many governments (the largest promiser of IOUs) just attempt to print their way out of trouble, creating more and more ‘IOUs’ (credit notes/cash that doesn’t have intrinsic value) thus making the existing money more and more worthless.
So the promise of efficient money by using promises to repay (debt money) is tempered by the risk that the promise will be undermined.
On the other hand using valuable assets as money is far less risky – what is the risk that an asset that is considered to have worthwhile value will plummet to a tiny fraction of it’s current worth? However, it can happen, asset values do vary. So what kind of asset would you want to bank with – something which is useful perhaps, something which is rare?
Ultimately, it is a speculative choice either way – debt money (promises) or asset money (valuable commodities).
With regards to yesterdays post “Having All in Common” I’m tempted to imagine that money isn’t something that would exist in the full on coming (and here) Kingdom of God. After all isn’t money something that gives us ownership of something, something we use to trade something we own for something someone else owns?
So, does God prefer asset money to debt money? I don’t know! He says don’t owe others stuff, but then he says that we should continue to return the debt of love…
Ah well, maybe the above discussion is irrelevant? Maybe I’ll have to give it some more thought…
With regards to yesterdays post “Having All in Common� I’m tempted to imagine that money isn’t something that would exist in the full on coming (and here) Kingdom of God. After all isn’t money something that gives us ownership of something, something we use to trade something we own for something someone else owns?
I don’t think money will exist in the full-on coming Kingdom of God. Money fulfills two basic functions: to facilitate trade by giving everything a measure of value, and to ration finite resources.
In the coming Kingdom there will be no scarcity of resources and also no greed or consumerism which are manifestations of sin. Therefore there will be no need to ration resources.
Since we will all be motivated by the love of God without even a hint of selfishness, we will all be able to give away our the fruits of our labour, trusting that God and our brothers and sisters will likewise supply all that we need.
The issue about asset vs. debt money is fairly arbitrary. I spent a week in Myanmar (formerly Burma) last October. There the local currency is worthless and people prefer to trade in US dollars. The locals are not allowed to possess US dollars, but foreigners may. The government sets an official exchange rate which is largely ignored by the locals. The government-owned phone company only allows people to pay for mobile phones in US dollars- so how do the locals who are not allowed to own US dollars pay for their phones?
Here you have an example of debt money (Burmese khyats), recognised as not being worth the paper they are printed on. To get around this they use another currency which is also “debt money” yet for all intents and purposes it is basically a valuable asset in the eyes of the Burmese people and even their government.
Blessings
Keith
Thanks Keith. What a crazy situation in Burma!
I wonder how we transition, as the Kingdom is “here but not yet”, to the different approach to money? I guess we start by not treating it as our own, but as God’s.
The transition is part of the journey we are all on- being transformed from self-direction to God direction.
The issue of money, and possessions in general, is very difficult. Not because we necessarily want to evade it, but because there are so many interpretations of the different passages relating to money… the classic one is to tithe or not to tithe, and if so to whom?
The real starting point is to be committed to the process of dying to ourselves so that God can transition us in His way and in His time. We also have to show that grace to others, allowing them to walk with God and go through this transition process in God’s way for them.
blessings
Keith
Thanks Keith. You seem so patient compared to me 🙁 – great stuff!
Mark