Thank You, But No Thank You
By Tim Keller, Lead Pastor
Last Sunday, during his commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta, billionaire Robert F. Smith shocked the graduating class when he announced that it was his intention to pay off each one of their student loans. The 396 graduates broke out in applause and chants of “MVP! MVP!”
It is anticipated that the total gift for the graduates will surpass $40 million dollars. Smith, the entrepreneur, founder of the investment firm Vista Equity Partners, is worth about $5 billion, according to Forbes, which reports he is the richest black person in America.
The 56-year-old Smith was a chemical engineer for Goodyear and Kraft before attending business school. He worked for Goldman Sachs, specializing in technology investments before starting Vista Equity in 2000. Vista Equity invests solely in software, data and technology companies and boasts capital commitments of $46 billion according to the company’s website.
Imagine with me for a moment that one member of that graduating class, instead of celebrating his great fortune, the day after graduation mailed his first payment check to the lending institution where his loan was being held.
What words would you use to describe a student who would do such a thing? Stupid? Unappreciative? Hard of Hearing? Ill-informed?
The bottom line would be that such a student would be missing out on a tremendous gift and placing himself in a situation in which he didn’t need to be. Instead of enjoying the relief he would be continuing to live with a heavy burden on his shoulders.
For many followers of Jesus this isn’t a fictitious tale. It is often the way we approach our heavenly Father who has graciously chosen to forgive our large debt through the blood of Christ. Despite His kindness and generosity, we frequently place ourselves in the position of trying to “earn” our way into His favor instead of simply receiving the gift.
Consequently, instead of living with a deep inner peace about our future, we strive to live in such a way that God will treat us kindly when we stand before Him. The gift has already been given! The debt has already been paid! I no longer need to make payments because the debt no longer exists.
Instead of making unnecessary payments, the fictitious student should instead just rejoice in what Mr. Smith has done and perhaps even bless someone else with the resources that no longer need to be paid to the government. By being merciful to another student (perhaps a junior at Morehouse?) he would actually be paying tribute to the generosity of the man who started the process in the first place.
This is why God calls on us to be forgiving; because when we forgive others we honor the forgiveness of the One who started it in the first place.
Today, instead of trying to pay off a debt that doesn’t exist, sit down and rejoice in the unprecedented gift that has been bestowed on you in Christ!
