Given how much our world is dependent on credit, we have clearly lost sight of why our tradition has a long prohibition on charging interest.

Yes, we oppose the idea and then condone it literally everywhere. But, because we understand it is how the world works now, we can’t conceive of another world. Like, say, the Kingdom of Heaven, perhaps.

The problem our faith tradition has is not with an amazing 2.9% fixed interest rate so much as how we can’t really draw the line between good interest and bad.

And we write lending laws to entrap the borrowers in debt, placing generous moral responsibility on the lenders and irresponsible motives on borrowers.

In short, we struggle to see modern lending the way Jesus does: as exploitative.

Perhaps the idea of being worthy of another’s trust is not merely one’s ability to pay far more than one borrowed.