Render Unto the Landlord

Q: Should a believer (landlord) sue or evict another believer (tenant) who has been out of work for several months for unpaid rent?

A: The best way to answer this is to reverse the question. Should a believer, who has been out of work for several months, be allowed to stay rent free by a believing landlord? This scenario isn't a question of how Christians should treat each other it is about one particular Christian, the tenant, living up to their contractual obligation to pay their rent. Granted, a landlord can choose to be lenient towards a tenant who has fallen on hard times, but the landlord has obligations as well that need to be fulfilled. And those obligations are directly tied to his or her ability to collect rent in full and in a timely manner. The more tenants allowed to delay paying rent the more likely the landlord will be delinquent in paying their obligations. Eventually, everybody will be adversely effected. Besides, why should a Christian landlord treat a Christian tenant any different than an unbelieving tenant? In fact, one could argue that the landlord should be lenient to an unbelieving tenant, who has been out of work for several months, because by doing so his action could be an opportunity to witness to a thankful tenant about Jesus Christ. There are so many variables involved that you need to simply treat everyone the same in order to maintain order amongst all the tenants.

Think about the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18. In this parable we read where Jesus is responding to Peter's question regarding forgiveness. The players in this parable are a King and his servants. For the sake of argument let us say that the landlord is the "unmerciful servant," the tenant without a job is the "fellow servant" and those whom the landlord owes are represented by the King. The King is desiring to settle his accounts with his servants. "As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. (Matthew 18:24-25)." We can almost see the servant (landlord) begging for leniency when it came to his debt because he had been lenient to his fellow servant (tenant) and now it has caught up with him. The King, in essence, was threatening to "sue" his servant to settle the debt. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go (Matthew 18:26-27)." You would think the servant (landlord) would in turn be lenient on his fellow servant (tenant) regarding the debt (rent) between them, but he was not. Therefore, after the fellow servant (tenant) begged for leniency from the servant (landlord), and was denied, he was thrown in jail (evicted). When the King found out how the leniency he extended to the servant (landlord) was not extended to the fellow servant (tenant), the servant's (landlord) debt was reinstated and he was turned "over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed (Matthew 18:34)." In other words, the landlord could lose the property he is renting to his tenant and everybody loses.

The point I am trying to make is that when a landlord isn't collecting rent from tenants in an effort to be lenient and forgiving, eventually, his act of good will can cause him to be at the mercy of those he owes. Perhaps, like the King in the parable, they will be forgiving and the landlord will have the choice to be lenient or not towards his tenant. However, in order to avoid taking that chance it would probably be best for the landlord to hold the tenant to the standards mutually agreed upon in the original rental agreement. In the Parable of the Tenants, Jesus talks about a landowner who has ungrateful and malicious tenants who abuse the land they were given and even kill the landowners son. Jesus says that the landlord will respond to the tenants by renting "the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time (Matthew 21:41)." In other words, the landlord will evict the tenants and rent to people who will pay him. This is the what I believe is the best answer to your question. While it is unfortunate that someone can't pay rent due to being unemployed, it is not the responsibility of the landlord, Christian or otherwise, to allow them to live rent free. Although, by no means should my answer be taken as the answer. There are so many variables in a situation like this that play a role in what choice is made. We have to leave those decisions up to the individuals involved and hope that, if they are Christians, they stay prayerful and seek the Lord's guidance in the situation.

The Apostle Paul sums up the attitude all Christians should have when it comes to debt. "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Romans 13:7)." If you owe someone rent then you need to pay the rent. If you can't pay the rent you owe, then you should be prepared to suffer the consequences. While it is great if a landlord is willing to give a tenant some slack while they look for a job, he is not obligated to do so regardless of his Christian faith. As a Christian the landlord can be as loving and helpful as possible in his dealings with his tenant. And the tenant should understand the bind he has put his landlord in and be thankful for any leniency he receives and understanding of any lack of mercy directed towards him. My heart goes out to anybody struggling with an extended period of unemployment. The areas effected are a lot deeper than financial, but emotional, physical and spiritual. It is times like these that the words of Jesus should comfort us. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life (Matthew 6:25-27)?"