If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. – Exodus 22:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 10, 2012): Exodus 22

There is a debt crisis in Africa. Some have called it a debt cancer. No matter what we do to try and stop the spread of the cancer, it just seems to keep spreading. No help seems to be enough and every interested person has a different solution in regard to what should be done. A decade ago, the nations of Africa had paid more in interest in the previous three decades then they had owed. The interest load on the nations had kept them from addressing other issues such as hunger and the AIDS epidemic. Now, it is true that the situation is more complex and structural change is needed in many African nations, but that does not mean that there is not a serious problem. Nations where the average person earns less than two dollars a day owe millions of dollars in national debt. It is a problem that should disturb us.

The European debt crisis seems to be a different matter. In Europe it seems to be more of a budgeting problem – one that could be solved by changes in expenditures. Yes, it would hurt, but in the long run it is possible. In Africa and some of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) that kind of solution just is not possible – it will not work. In recent years, the Western nations have made moves to alleviate the debt of the HIPC of the third world (or maybe better phrased as the Majority World Nations.) But the problem is far from fixed.

The solution of the Mosaic Law when it came to the poor was simple. Be generous with them; give to the poor and honor them as the precious creation of God. And when you lend, do not charge interest. Do not get rich on the backs of the poor. This is part of what the Bible would call being socially responsible.

And we all need to live lives that are responsible. Our actions toward the poor reveal a lot about both who we are and what kind of a future we share with our society, And if it is going to be a prosperous future, it will have to be a society that has made the conscious choice to be socially responsible as well.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 23