The Debtor’s Ethic

Growing up, I remember learning two maxims for receiving gifts. The first goes like this, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Maybe you’ve heard this one too. The essence of it is to remind us that too often gifts come with strings attached, so be wary and wise about what you’re receiving for “free.” The second goes like this, “Never find yourself in another man’s pocket.” This maxim also warned about gifts not being truly free. Instead, it teaches that gifts often make you a debtor to someone else, and that debt will need to be repaid. I know, you are probably thinking, “Where did you grow up, and what made everyone so cynical!?” The working-class neighborhoods of Pittsburgh were interesting places! Maybe you didn’t grow up in a place that was as jaded towards gifts as the place that I grew up, but I’m still willing to bet that we all have some sense of “being in debt” to another person’s generosity in our lives. Think about it this way: have you ever received a gift or a Christmas Card from someone you did not already have a gift for or send a card to, and then uttered out loud or under your breath, “Now I have to get them something too, or send them a card.” That is the debtor’s ethic. I am now in debt to someone because of their generosity, and I need to pay back that debt. We’ve all been there, and maybe we’re still recovering from it recently.

See, the problem with the debtor’s ethic is twofold. First, it robs the joy of giving a gift to simply be generous. If generosity has to be repaid, then it really isn’t generosity, is it? Secondly, it robs the joy of freely receiving generosity. Gifts then just become coercion and manipulation to reciprocate generosity. Which, by the way, is the opposite of generosity. We understand just how unhealthy this is for our relationships here on earth, yet too often we operate with a debtor’s ethic in our relationship with God. And, as you can imagine, it is just as corrosive for our relationship with God as it is with anyone else.

Pastor and theologian John Piper likes to talk about future grace being the thing that protects us from the well-intentioned but destructive mindset of the debtor’s ethic. He writes, “Faith in future grace is the secret that keeps impulses of gratitude from turning into the debtor’s ethic. True gratitude exults in the riches of God’s grace as it looks back on the benefits it has received. By cherishing past grace in this way, it inclines the heart to trust in future grace. We might say that gratitude has a strong appetite for the enjoyment of looking back on the outpourings of God’s grace. And since God enlarges the past reservoir of grace by pouring out more grace through faith, therefore, for the sake of this accumulation, gratitude sends its impulses of delight into faith in this ever arriving future grace.

This is expressed in the words of Psalm 116:12–13, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” That is, what I will render to the Lord for so much past grace is the call for more future grace. Gratitude exults in the past benefits of God and says to faith, “Embrace more of these benefits for the future, so that my happy work of looking back on God’s deliverance may continue and increase.”

The same kind of thought is found in Psalm 50. God warns against a wrong kind of payment when he says in verses 12–13, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” In other words, “Don’t view your ‘payments’ as ordinary payments that meet my needs or add anything to me. I own your ‘payments’ already.”

What then? Verses 14–15 answer, “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Here again, the way to pay vows is explained as calling on the Lord in the day of trouble so that he will do the delivering and he will get the honor. This makes clear that “performing” vows in the Old Testament is not part of the debtor’s ethic. It is an act of faith in future grace. Perform your vow, that is, call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you with future grace. And you will give me honor.

In sum, we can say that true gratitude does not give rise to the debtor’s ethic because it gives rise to faith in future grace. With true gratitude there is such a delight in the worth of God’s past grace, that we are driven on to experience more and more of grace in the future. But this is not done by “payments” of a debt in any ordinary sense. Rather, it happens when gratitude for past grace quickens and energizes faith in future grace. The grateful gaze at all God’s past grace gives confidence and courage to faith’s contemplation of God’s promises.” [1]

As we begin a new year, you might be motivated to step into a new rhythm of Bible reading, prayer, or giving. It is noble to earnestly pursue God and the priorities of his Kingdom. But, whatever you do, don’t let it be motivated by the debtor’s ethic. God wasn’t generous to you so that you would “do something” for him. He was generous to you through his Son, because he loves you that much. Let’s have confidence to pursue God’s future grace in our lives because of God’s proven and demonstrated past graces.

[1] Future Grace – John Piper (p. 36-37), 2012. Kindle Edition. – Emphasis added.