Exodus 22:25 If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.
With student loan forgiveness in the news lately, people might be wondering if this is fair. Millions of us paid off our student loans, keeping our fiduciary responsibilities. We had signed on the dotted line that we would repay, and we kept our promise, no matter how many years it took and how much it hurt our current standard of living. For many of us, it took away the expendable income for years. We learned to tighten our belts.
But then again, we had learned how to balance a checkbook when in High School, and not as part of an optional college “New Student” orientation workshop. Of course the percentage of our future income potential in ratio to our student debt was probably not as great. I am going to encourage my grandchildren to go into the trades. No college required! No student loans!
But our text isn’t talking about this kind of debt. It isn’t addressing the kind of debt that is voluntarily undertaken to pay for something not needed. Debt for optional things is not addressed here.
So what is addressed? We get the clues from the text itself. The first is that they are part of your community of believers, your family, people you know. This first clue is very important. Since they are part of your community, your family, you know their circumstances.
This is important because as part of a community, there can be appropriate pressures applied over time to help individuals take responsibility for their financial decisions. Laziness was not an option. Social pressure to contribute to your own well-being is a good thing.
We used to have this right. We gave dignity along with charitable help for those who could work. We gave them ways to contribute. We allowed them to push a broom or clean the dishes as a way to give something back in exchange for the help being given. This allowed people some sense of dignity.
But we have stripped help of its dignity by removing the dignity lifting affects of work, even small work. And now with the possibility of working from home, almost everyone could do something to contribute to their own financial stability. Few people are so disabled that they can’t do something.
The second clue in our text is that they are in need. Again, the best place to assess the need is in community. The community can accurately assess the level of true need and respond appropriately. We are to meet the need, not the want. Big screen TVs and fancy cars and cellphones are not needs! So if they have these things, they aren’t in need! Or at least, that is my assessment. I don’t even have a big TV, fancy car or fancy cell phone, and I can afford them.
And the third clue to the meaning of this verse is that there is an expectation of repayment. No interest is to be charged, but it is a loan. This is not a gift. This person is at the bottom, but the expectation is that they will not always be there. They will rise again.
There will always be some among us who have more than others. In a community the needs can be more accurately assessed and met. Even someone with so little that their coat is the only possession they have needs dignity. Give them their coat back so they have something in which to sleep. Take care of the poorest of the poor, but don’t favor them. Favoritism to the poor is not allowed either.
Treat all, even the poorest among us with dignity. Do this even when lending money for their most basic of needs. Help them rise up by having expectations of repayment and by being creative in developing work options. We were poor once.
The Arnold Journey 