Walking with the Wise #510: Using Your Head When You Help

“Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,


and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress."

—Proverbs 27:13

Jesus calls us to help others (Matthew 25:25-40), but we are also called to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16)—which means we need to be smart in how we help others, taking special precautions to protect ourselves. Helping others, especially our neighbors, means using discernment so that we might not be taken advantage of, nor hurt in the process.

Taking a man’s garment was the ancient world’s version of a poor man offering up collateral in order to get a loan. In the ancient world, the average person didn’t have a closet full of clothing to choose from—one garment was normal, but any more than that and they were considered to be extremely blessed.

Scripture frowns upon taking a poor man’s garment as a pledge or collateral for a loan (1:15; 6:1; 17:18; 22:26-27), because that’s all that he owns. It meant, literally, taking the shirt off his back, leaving him cold and nearly naked in the middle of the night, when temperatures in desert regions dropped considerably.

Taking a poor man’s garment as collateral is generally forbidden, but here we have an exception. This guy is poor, but he has loaned out whatever money he had to someone he doesn’t know well (the stranger) or someone who has an immoral reputation (the adulteress). Giving a stranger or adulteress a loan is a bad business investment, because neither can be trusted. Finding himself in dire straights because of their lack of payment, he comes to you asking for some money, offering up his clothing (all that he has) in return. You may give him the loan to help him out, but you keep his collateral because you recognize that you may never see the money he owes you. It's better having a little something you are owed rather than nothing at all.

We are to help people, and perhaps the most frequent need people have is financial. But, before you help someone out, make sure you are being smart. It’s wise to give, but it's foolish if it will prove harmful to your family if the loan is not repaid. The point of the proverb is to make sure that you are using your mind when you help, making sure that your help to the person in need will not come back to harm you or your family later on.

May the Lord our God, whom we serve, enable us to help the hurting and the hopeless, but may He also give us the wisdom to do the work in a way that is honoring to Him and a blessing to our families. Amen.