The Duty Of Being In Debt Series

In 1901 Andrew Carnegie sold his Pennsylvania steel mill to J. P. Morgan for 420 million

dollars, and thereby became the richest man in the world. That fortune was made by the sacrifice of

thousands of common laborers. He under paid them ruthlessly, and he forced them to work 12 hours

a day 7 days a week. His labor practices stirred up a lot of hostility, and in Homestead, PA., where

our son Mark was born one of the bloodiest strikes in labor history took place at his mill. Fourteen

people were killed, and 163 were seriously injured.

The good that came out of this is that Carnegie felt obligated to benefit the masses with his

fortune, and so he began to give it away. He endowed 3000 libraries, and I have personally blessed

with generous gift, for I have used some of those libraries. Eighty per cent of his money went to

educational purposes so that millions have benefitted for the thousands who had to suffer. So many

of the blessings of life come to us because of men who felt obligated to do their best to make up for

the damage their past has caused. Paul was just such a man, and because of his strong sense of

obligation he preached the Gospel and started churches all over the known world. Paul felt like he

was in debt to the whole world, and he poured out his life to the fullest of his ability to pay what he

felt he owed.

Everyone is in debt to someone, but Paul was in debt to everyone. In verse 14 he says, "I am

obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish." What he says just about

sums up the entire human race. There might be room to squeeze somebody in between wise and

foolish, but there is no room at all between Greeks and non-Greeks. If you are not a Greek, you are

a non-Greek, and so everyone is covered.

Our national debt is outrageous, but even we do not owe everybody on the planet. Paul was

more in debt than anyone has ever claimed to be, but he was not ashamed of it. He glories in his

debt to all men, for what he owes them is, not dollars, shekels, or any other type of money, but the

Gospel. That is why he longed to get to Rome and to far off Spain, and to everywhere else in the

world. Paul owed the whole world the Gospel, and so he had business everywhere.

Something tells me this is a message we have missed as American Christians. How often have

we ever felt in debt to our non-Christian friends, associates, and neighbors? We do not feel like we

owe them anything. But Paul says that he felt an obligation to all men to share the Gospel. He was

debtor to all because he owed them the Gospel. Why did Paul feel such an obligation? It was

because he knew that all men were capable of being made rich in Christ. The Gospel is not-look at

how good I am-if you were as good you too could be a child of God. Or, look at how good someone

else is. That is not good news. Good news is that you can be saved and be a child of God no matter

who you are, or what you have been. No matter how sinful, foolish, or proud you have been, you

can be saved and be a child of God. It doesn't make any difference if you are a PhD or a high school

dropout. The reason Paul was obligated to all men is because all have an equal right to receive the

Gospel and be saved.

The implications of this are staggering. It means that everyone of us is in debt to every

non-Christian we know. We owe them the opportunity to be saved. This is an enormous obligation,

but I fear we have been so influenced by our culture that we do not take obligations all that

seriously. Clerks are obligated to wait on customers, but they often make the customer wait while

they do personal business. Manufacturers are obligated to produce a product that is safe, but tons of

stuff floods the market that can hurt, or even kill you. The government is obligated to protect its

citizens, but often neglects this and lets dangerous drugs and products into the market place.

Professionals of all kinds let us down for they set their obligations to us on the back burner, and give

selfish goals priority.

We all do our share of griping and complaining, for we are all victims to some degree, but listen

to how Paul starts chapter 2 of Romans: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on