The Commands of Christ, Part Nine

I think this is going to be a hard one for most of us. Not because we’re selfish or greedy in nature (though some of us are), but because we are skeptical in nature. In Matthew 5:42 (NASB20), Jesus says:

Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

Jesus doesn’t give us a conditional “out” here. He doesn’t say, “Give to him who asks and is worthy.” He doesn’t say, “Give to him whose intentions you trust.” He simply says, “Give.”

Now, if you’re like me, your brain may have gone, “But wait, didn’t Solomon warn against lending money?” Well, sort of. I actually had to do some research here to make sure my memory was right. Cliff notes: it wasn’t (hence the importance of double-checking in scripture before making claims!).

In Proverbs 6:1-3 (NASB20), it reads:

My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor, or given a handshake for a stranger, if you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth, or caught by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself: since you have come into the hand of your neighbor, go, humble yourself and be urgent with your neighbor to free yourself.

It’s easy to glance over this and assume Solomon is telling us not to lend money, but if we dive deeper in to “guarantor” the Hebrew word here means to take on a pledge. So what this is really talking about is vouching for your neighbor. You may not know them or their character and you could end up in a tough spot where your belongings are stripped from you because of the actions (or inactions) of another.

We’ll see this mindset reiterated in Proverbs 17:18 (Solomon tells us we lack sense if we do it) and Proverbs 11:15 (where Solomon basically says if you put up security for a stranger, you will suffer). The closest we get to the mindset many people have today comes from Proverbs 22:26-27 (NASB20)

Do not be among those who shake hands, among those who become guarantors for debts. If you have nothing with which to repay, why should he take your bed from under you?

Again, and I can’t reiterate this enough: becoming a guarantor for someone means you’re guaranteeing what THEY will do at YOUR expense if they don’t. That is what Solomon is warning us against. So how does that conflict with the command of Christ to give? It doesn’t.

See, giving, even loaning to those who ask us if they can borrow from us, doesn’t make us the guarantor for something. It makes us the either a giver or a lender. Those are very different roles. When you give, you expect nothing in return. When you loan someone money, and aren’t a jerk about it, you give them reprieve from a situation that they’re in. In fact, the same Solomon who warns us against being a guarantor also says in Proverbs 11:25

A generous person will be prosperous, and one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

This is reiterated in Proverbs 19:17, “One who is gracious to a poor person lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.

We see it as part of the old law in Deuteronomy 15:10, “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all your undertakings.” In Leviticus 19:9-10 it reads, “And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.”

If we accept that all of our blessings come from God, whether that’s a random windfall of cash or a high-paying career, then it’s easy to accept that he expects us to share our overflow. Christ confirms for us in The Beatitudes that how we give is how we will receive. Luke 6:38 (NASB20) reads:

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure - pressed down, shaken together, and running over. for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

It’s in our nature to worry about what the person who asks us for $10 is going to do with it. Are they really going to buy a meal or are they going to spend it on something we wouldn’t approve of? But here’s the thing: this little, single sentence command doesn’t care about that. We already learned that it’s not our place to seek revenge. If the guy lies to us and says he wants a meal but instead goes and buys drugs or alcohol, we have to trust that God will deal with that. We are not vengeance. We are not justice. That’s reserved for God.

So the next time someone asks if you can give: give. The next time someone asks if they can borrow, let them borrow. It is very likely you won’t always be able to fulfill someone’s full need. In those moments, give as you feel the Spirit lead you. Use the moment to say, “I don’t have much, but my God calls me to give when I am asked to give, so here is what I can do.”

Don’t worry about whether or not the person you’re giving to deserves what you’re giving. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that Jesus told us to give.