Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.
This morning, we're going to be in Proverbs chapter 6, continuing our series this summer in the book of Proverbs.
And you'll remember that the book of Proverbs is a book about wisdom, and wisdom is skill in the art of living.
Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and wisdom continues with humility,
that we have to be people who are willing to learn, who recognize we don't know everything,
and we're open to being taught by God in His Word.
As we come to Proverbs chapter 6, you may know Jesus has a lot of things to say about helping other people.
For example, in Matthew chapter 22, He tells us the sum of the law is to love God and to love others.
And in fact, He tells us that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
And then in Matthew chapter 5, He tells us if someone asks you to go one mile with them, you should go two miles.
And if someone asks you for your tunic, if they sue you for your tunic, give them that, and then give them your cloak as well.
In other words, you should be looking to help other people and to aid them,
which raises a question, when do we not help people?
What are the limits on Jesus' words there?
How do we know wise ways to help other people and unwise ways?
How can we help others grow in wisdom?
What are ways that we end up helping others be foolish?
We're going to be looking at that with Proverbs chapter 6 when it comes to our money.
And so we'll jump in right now.
I invite you to turn with me in your Bible.
You'll find it printed near the very end of your worship guide.
Of course, you can find it on your phone.
But wherever you read it, remember that this is God's word.
And Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5, tells us that every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 1.
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger,
if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,
then do this, my son, and save yourself.
For you have come into the hand of your neighbor.
Go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber.
Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
I invite you to pray with me now as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you give us instruction,
not just in spiritual matters, in our relationship with you.
You give us instruction in practical matters.
I saw last week that you give us instructions when it comes to our sexuality and our bodies.
And this week, you give us instruction when it comes to how we manage our money,
especially when it comes to helping others.
So we thank you that you haven't left us to figure out life on our own,
but you've given us your word.
We ask that you would use your word this morning to make us wiser than we were before.
And as we grow in wisdom, we would look and see Jesus as the one who teaches it to us,
and we'd see him as more beautiful and glorious than we saw him before.
And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.
There's a woman named Michelle Singletary,
and she's a well-known financial columnist.
She writes money advice.
She writes for the Washington Post,
which growing up outside Washington, D.C.,
that was the paper often that we would receive as a family,
but she syndicated in other newspapers as well.
And she wrote an article back in 2016 in June
warning against the dangers of co-signing for other people's loans.
Now, as part of her column,
she receives pushback,
so people will send her stories about, you know,
why she's wrong in the advice that she gives.
And sometimes she'll run an article with that feedback.
Hey, I gave you this advice,
and here's kind of the other side of the story.
Well, when she ran this article about not co-signing loans,
the next month, in July, she ran another article.
She said,
usually I receive pushback,
but this time around,
I received mostly stories confirming everything that I told you.
I received stories confirming the danger of co-signing loans.
And so she shared a couple of those stories.
One, a man had co-signed a loan for a woman he was dating.
It had a terrible end to their relationship.
And now, 10 years after the fact,
he was still receiving notices every time her payments were late.
He then went on to,
she went on to share a story
about someone who co-signed a loan on student loans.
This person was promised they'd only be co-signed for a little bit,
and they'd be replaced by the person's father.
They had a similar experience.
They're receiving calls when this person's late on their payments.
It's a substantial amount.
And one of these individuals realized when they went to buy a home
that this credit was counted against them.
So they had a harder time procuring credit
than they would have had otherwise.
And then she shares a horror story near the end
about someone who co-signed a loan on a car,
thinking they were doing a favor for a neighbor.
However, they didn't realize they were also being signed
onto the deed of the car.
And so when this person failed to pay the insurance payments,
they were the ones receiving calls about that.
And the registration wasn't done correctly.
They were receiving calls about that.
This individual ended up paying all the fines for the car
and, I believe, at one point had to go to court.
She points out the first two stories.
Both readers asked the same question,
how in the world can I get removed from these loans?
And I tell you this story because it's telling us
the exact same thing we're being told in Proverbs 6.
Do not put up security for other people.
And, like these readers, if you do,
do whatever you can to get out of it.
So first, we're told not to do it.
That's in verses 2 through 5.
It's compared to a snare in verse 2 or trap.
And then in verse 5, it's compared to a trap again.
You have to save yourself like you're someone being hunted.
Now, the word surety is used here, putting up security.
And basically what would have happened in the Old Testament
is you would have said,
okay, this other person is going to receive a loan
and I'm going to give you a piece of my property
or you can claim my property if they don't pay.
I'm going to be the one who's going to guarantee the loan.
Of course, the problem is
if they don't pay the loan,
then your property gets taken.
Now, today we could talk about sureties.
It doesn't work quite the same way.
The most common instance is the one here
that this woman warns about.
And it's this common instance of cosigning on a loan.
Someone tells you, hey, I need this loan.
All I need you to do is sign.
I'm going to make all the payments.
You don't need to worry about it.
You're just going to really help me out and do me a solid.
A warning, though, here is the same thing
that these readers experience.
So verses 2 and 5 tells us how terrible it is.
And then verses 3 and 4 tell us what to do.
If you find yourself in this sort of situation,
get out of it.
Get out of it as soon as possible.
Don't let yourself sleep, is what we're told,
until you're able to remove yourself from this situation.
Because you know, as the author of Proverbs is telling you,
as this woman warns in her column,
this is a trap.
This is a great way
to find yourself making payments
for someone else's property.
Now, I've shared with you these stories from this article.
As I've talked with people about this passage from Proverbs,
telling them, hey, this is what we're preaching on this week,
I've heard even more stories.
So if you want to know all kinds of horror stories,
just start asking people about their experiences
or their friends' experiences with co-signing loans.
These stories, of course, help us understand
why this is a bad idea.
And we read in our confession of faith this morning
another verse in Proverbs that tells us how dangerous this is.
Proverbs 22, verses 26 and 27 asks,
why should your bed be taken out from under you?
In other words, you don't co-sign loans
because you could end up losing your own bed.
You could end up losing the very thing
that you need to provide and support for yourself.
You could bankrupt yourself.
You could end up paying a monthly payment
that you have no means to pay.
You could end up destroying your credit.
This is gonna be counted against you
as your total debt potentially
when you go and need to get a loan.
And so it's gonna jeopardize your ability
to provide for yourself
and it's going to jeopardize your ability
to provide for your family.
And so that's why I brought it up
with the Eighth Commandment.
This is going to put yourself in a situation
where other people might be stealing from you.
Put yourself in a situation
where you might be tempted to steal
because it's such a bad idea financially.
In her first article,
this woman shares some statistics.
28% of co-signers see a drop in their credit scores
because the person they helped did not pay
or paid very late.
38% had to pay some or, wait for it,
all of the loan payments
because the primary person didn't pay.
If they go and they have collectors come after you,
you could end up paying late fees,
have your wages attached.
It's reported on your credit report.
And as I mentioned before,
you may be limited in your ability to borrow
because if a lender looks at you,
they're gonna see you already have
this massive amount of debt.
And then finally, she warns us,
you might be thinking at this point,
yes, this is all true.
This is true of people who are irresponsible.
You don't understand, right?
I'm actually co-signing a loan
for someone who's incredibly responsible.
They just have this strange situation.
It's an exception to the rule.
Michelle warns us about that as well.
That person might be incredibly responsible
and you can't guarantee
they're gonna keep their job.
You have no control over their employment.
So they may be the most responsible person in the world
and then, right, the coronavirus hits.
People are losing their jobs.
This person's not able to pay.
Guess who's on the hook for it?
You are.
You cannot, as she says,
guarantee their health and their employment.
In other words,
we don't enable foolish behavior in other people.
We don't help someone else to be foolish.
A final reason we don't do this is,
if banks don't trust them,
why should you?
If banks don't trust them,
why should you?
Think about this for a second.
You know this if you've applied for a loan.
You often get approved for more money
than you should wisely spend.
When I went to buy my house,
I asked how much I had gotten approved for.
I had gotten approved for a number
that was way more than I could ever responsibly spend.
I could sign,
the bank would let me sign a loan
for an amount of money
that would put me under.
They didn't need a cosigner for that.
So imagine if I went and asked you
to cosign a home loan
how much money I'm borrowing.
I must be borrowing
a wildly irresponsible amount of money.
If banks don't even trust someone,
you have no reason,
no position putting yourselves
on the line for them.
It can destroy you.
It may hurt the person
you're helping with that loan.
Now, this raises a question.
This is a church, Sunday morning.
Why in the world are we talking
about cosigning loans of all things?
And why am I reading you financial statistics
about what's going to happen
if you cosign?
Well, there's some principles here
that lie behind what's going on.
First, God commands us
and calls us to care for the poor.
We're going to see that
all throughout the book of Proverbs.
We're told in Proverbs 3.
Remember, we've already seen this.
We preached in Proverbs 3
a couple weeks ago.
Do not say to your neighbor,
go and come again.
Tomorrow I will give it
when you have it with you.
So we've been commanded
to care for people who have needs, right?
So we need warnings
about what the exceptions are.
Proverbs 19 tells us
whoever is generous to the poor
lends to the Lord
and he will repay him for his deed.
So you might be tempted to think,
God commands me to care for the poor.
This person is in a bad spot.
They need me to cosign for them.
I'm going to do
what God's commanded me to do.
No, the book of Proverbs
gives us warnings.
It gives us boundaries
about God's commands.
Proverbs 21 says,
whoever closes his ear
to the cry of the poor
will himself call out
and not be answered.
Except if the poor
is calling out
and asking you
to cosign alone.
Then you close your ears.
So part of the reason
this is in the Bible
is we need boundaries
to give us wisdom
when it comes to God's commands.
There are, in other words,
wise ways
to help other people.
There are unwise ways
to help other people.
So this is a book
about wisdom.
It's an incredibly practical book.
We need to be warned
and not be foolish.
This highlights
another thing for us
which is the necessity
of having wisdom, right?
It's not enough
to just have
a good, tender, generous heart.
You can be incredibly tender
and generous
and a loving person
and still be a fool.
Your heart can be
in the right place
and you can still do
stupid and foolish things.
And so this is a reminder
to us that we need
to study books
like the book of Proverbs.
We need to study wisdom
to protect us
from foolishness.
Part of loving God
is being wise
in this world.
Remember we talked earlier
about the characters
of Proverbs.
We have the foolish person
and the simple person.
The simple person,
one of his characteristics
is that he has trouble
connecting present actions
to future consequences.
Simple person has trouble
connecting present actions
to future consequences.
So a simple person
would have trouble
thinking through
what might happen
to him or her
if they co-signed a loan
or they put up security
for someone else.
And so this just again
highlights for us
the importance of wisdom.
We have to listen.
It's not enough
just to be a good,
loving person.
It's not enough
to just want
to care for the poor.
I'll also point out
that this highlights
God's fatherly heart
towards us.
God gives us advice
about practical things.
We can trust him.
We can love
and praise God
in part
because he's willing
to talk to us
about the nitty-gritty
details of life.
We're going to hear
about the nitty-gritty
details of life
in the book of Proverbs
when it comes to relationships
and emotions.
We've heard about
the nitty-gritty
details of life
in Proverbs
when it comes
to our sexuality
last week.
Of course,
we'll hear about it again
later in chapter 6
and chapter 7.
God loves us
so much
that he talks
to us
about granular
things like this.
God loves us
so much
that he's willing
to talk to us
about the details
of how we handle
our money.
God cares about
our lives
not just on Sunday
morning
when we come
to sing songs
to him.
He cares about
our lives
Monday through
Saturday as well.
There are things
we do Monday
through Saturday
that are wise
wise and unwise
wise or foolish.
And so if that's true
if this is the
floor of the law
as I talked about
earlier
what's the ceiling
then?
If we put off
putting up security
for other people
what is it
that we actually
put on?
What should we
be pursuing?
Well,
we pursue
wise generosity.
We pursue
being generous
and caring
for ways
in ways
that are
helpful.
Wise generosity
restores others.
It doesn't
enable them.
Wise generosity
restores and
helps other
people
rather than
enabling them
to make foolish
decisions.
Remember I
mentioned earlier
if you had
co-signed a
loan for me
in buying a
house
you would
have been
enabling me
to make
a terrible
foolish
decision.
So we're
generous in
wise ways.
You want to
actually help
me and enable
me.
You want to
move me
towards a
place where
I'm self-sustainable.
God in his
redemption
does not just
throw us
handouts.
He doesn't
just buy us
out of our
sin and
leave us
there.
He restores
us.
There's the
process of
sanctification
where God
is making
us more
and more
into the
image of
Jesus Christ.
He's making
us look
like him.
There's
something
lazy about
co-signing
alone.
It's easy
to sign a
piece of
paper.
It's hard
to get
alongside of
someone and
actually help
them in the
situation
they're in.
You're
resolving a
symptom rather
than addressing
the cause,
the problem
that underlies
that symptom.
And so
there's a
variety of
things you
could do.
For example,
you could give
a gift to
someone rather
than enabling
them to take
out a loan.
That gift
means you
measure how
much can I
actually afford.
I know that
I'm giving this
money rather
than wondering
whether I'm
giving this
money, and so I
can calculate
that.
Is this
gift going
to help
them?
There's a
book that we
go through
sometimes in
this church
with our
leaders called
When Helping
Hurts.
And it talks
about the fact
sometimes you
can hurt
someone by
helping them,
and it gives
categories for
the helpful
ways to come
alongside someone.
They give
three categories.
One is
relief, one is
rehabilitation, and
one is
development.
These are
different ways of
giving sacrificially
rather than
destructively.
We give and
we help other
people sacrificially
rather than
destructively.
So I'll give
you some
examples.
Let's say
someone comes
and they ask
you to co-sign
a loan for
them on a
car.
Well, this
might be a
legitimate need,
right?
This person
might actually
need a car.
What can you
do instead of
co-signing the
loan?
Well, maybe
you need to
gather together
a group of
other people
who can all
put in some
money, and
maybe you help
this person
buy a
$4,000
car rather
than co-signing
a loan for
a $20,000
car.
That might be
a wise way to
help that
person rather
than a foolish
way to help
that person.
Maybe that
person, instead
of needing
help buying a
car, maybe
they need you
to counsel
them to use
public transit
instead.
Maybe they
need to do
some budgeting.
That would
be a wise
way.
If you're
helping someone
with a home
loan, by
the way, a
lot of
co-signing
happens
between parents
and children.
Again, don't
think that
this is an
exception, that
these warnings
are an
exception when
it comes to
your kids.
I could tell
you more
stories about
that.
I won't
go there.
Someone asked
for help in
purchasing a
home.
Maybe instead
of helping
them by
co-signing,
you help
them with
a down
payment.
You know
how much
you're able
to afford
and you
give them
a gift.
Maybe instead
of doing
that, this
person needs
help getting
better job
skills.
Maybe they
need a
higher paying
job.
That's a
wise way to
help someone.
Maybe you
pay for some
job training
for them.
That's a
way to give
them development
in those
categories of
relief,
rehabilitation,
and development.
Maybe this
person needs
help budgeting
and saving so
that they can
make a larger
down payment on
a car and
they can have
a lower
monthly payment.
If someone
comes and
asks you to
co-sign for
student loans
for them,
by the way,
this is one of
the worst
things you
can co-sign
on,
there are
wise ways
to help
them.
Maybe they
need counseling
to go to
a cheaper
school.
Maybe they
need to go
to a community
college rather
than a four-year
college.
Maybe this
person needs
to do school
at a slower
pace so they
can work and
pay for it
along the
way.
Whatever it
is, we're
not saying
from this
passage, don't
help other
people.
What we're
saying is
there are
wise ways
that make
other people
wise and
there are
foolish ways
that make
other people
foolish.
We embrace
the wise ways.
We help
people.
We want to
come alongside
of them.
We want to
assist other
people.
We know that
not everyone
is in the
situation they
are because
they're
irresponsible.
Some people
are, some
people aren't.
Some people
need help.
We just need
to help them
in ways that
don't endanger
ourselves and
our own
families.
We help
them in
ways that
model God.
God as
our Father
instructs us
and God as
our Father
shows us how
redemption works.
He comes and
he restores.
He's the kind
of Father who
provides relief,
rehabilitation,
and development.
He provides
redemption for
us.
That's the
logic of the
gospel.
That Jesus
dies for us,
he pays what
he can afford,
which is
infinite.
He's able to
afford paying
the cost of
our sins and
then he
rehabilitates
us.
He restores
us.
He renews
us.
That's the
way he
helps people.
That's the
way we
help people.
Now I've
told you
before,
when we
talked in
Proverbs
chapter 3,
that the
way Proverbs
work is
that Proverbs
are not
rigid rules.
They're
principles rather
than rules.
They're guidance
about how life
generally works,
and so they
need to be
applied at the
right place at
the right time.
What I don't
want you to
hear is that
it is a
sin to
cosign a
loan for
someone.
In fact,
the Old
Testament gives
an example in
the book of
Genesis of a
security being
given, a
surety.
There's actually
a law in the
Old Testament
about it, and
the law is
meant to
protect the
person who
gives the
surety.
It says if
you take
someone's
cloak as
a surety,
make sure you
return that
before it's
cold at
night.
So it's
not forbidden
by God's
law.
It's allowed.
It's just
foolish.
So what are
the exceptions?
When would
be the
situation that
you would
cosign a
loan for
someone?
I'd say
there's a
few principles.
One of
them we
see in
that verse
in Proverbs
chapter 22,
which I
will refer
to as the
bed
principle.
Whatever you
do, if you
cosign a
loan, make
sure that
you are
prepared to
pay every
single payment
on that
loan, and
that doing
so means you
won't lose
your bed.
So you need
to have enough
money in your
budget that you
can add that
payment for as
many years as
it lasts, and
it will not
hurt you and
your family
financially.
You've got to
make sure you
pass the
bed rule.
You've got to
be willing then
to be able to
pay it, and
then you have
to ask, are
you enabling
bad behavior?
Are you
enabling someone
to take out
a loan that's
irresponsible for
them to take
out?
There might be
some exceptions,
right?
And I'll give
you an example
of one exception
to cosigning a
loan or putting
a surety.
When we got
our loan on
this church
building, we
did not have
a cosigner, but
we did have
someone who
put up $500,000
as a surety, I
guess is what you
could say.
They weren't
cosigning, they
weren't taking
responsibility for
our payments, but
they said, I
will be on the
hook for $500,000
if this church
falls down.
For this
individual, this
individual who
did this is
worth hundreds of
millions of
dollars.
So, had
they had to
pay that
$500,000, they
would have
passed the
bed principle.
He would
have not
lost his
bed.
It's a
slightly different
situation with
a church than
a person, and
at the end of
the day, when
we renegotiated
our loan last
fall, we had
this person
released from
the loan.
So, this
man never
ended up paying
that $500,000.
He's not on
our loan
anymore.
The bank
said, wow,
you guys have
done a fantastic
job paying your
loan payments
every month.
We're going to
set this up
well, and this
man's off the
hook.
So, there are
exceptions.
The fact that we
got him removed,
he never paid
that $500,000,
proves that that
was an exception
to the rule,
right?
He decided to
do that.
He's a Christian
man.
He wanted to
help a church.
Ended up
proving to be
wise.
But again, it's
exceptions like
that that prove
the rule.
If you're
cosigning, make
sure you're like
this man.
You can afford
to pay it and
not lose your
bed.
So, we
don't apply
Proverbs
rigidly.
We understand
there are
situations where
it applies,
situations where
it doesn't
apply.
This one's
going to
apply most
of the time,
almost all
of the time.
Of course, I've
been telling you
that Jesus is
our great
wisdom teacher,
and Jesus
teaches wise
generosity as
well.
He tells us a
story in Luke
chapter 10 about
the Good Samaritan.
If you're familiar
with this, you
know that there's
a man who comes
and asks Jesus,
what does it
mean for me to
love my neighbor?
Jesus tells a
story about a
man who's beaten.
He's on the
side of the
road and
there's religious
people who look
him over who
don't help him
and there's a
Samaritan who
comes and he
does help this
man.
What does he do
for him?
Well, he takes
him.
He gives him
relief.
He takes him
to a place
where he can
stay.
He gives his
own money as
a gift, right?
He's actually
being generous,
but in a way
that's wise.
He knows this
man is in a
bad position
not because of
his foolishness
but because of
someone else's
violence.
So he helps
him.
He gives his
own money to
the innkeeper
and he says,
if you need
any more, I'm
here.
I'm going to
be the one
who pays it.
That's wise
generosity, right?
That's a way
to care for
others.
Jesus tells us
in Matthew
chapter 25,
there's going
to be a
time where
he looks at
people.
He tells us
the story of
the sheep
and the goats
and he's
going to
say to
the sheep,
whatever you
did to one
of the least
of my brothers,
you did it
to me.
So Jesus
teaches us,
he commands
us to care
and help
for other
people.
He tells us
when we help
other people,
we are doing
it for him,
we're doing
it to him.
And so we
want to be
generous people.
We want to
be people who
help the poor,
who help people
in need.
Jesus empowers
this as well.
We see in
Acts chapter 2,
in Acts chapter 4,
Jesus' spirit,
the Holy Spirit
is enabling people
to share generously.
They're sharing
whatever they have
with people
who are in need.
And so this is
the character
of the Christian
community.
It's the character
that Jesus gives
to us.
He just gives it
to us in wise
ways.
And then Jesus
models it,
of course,
for it.
He models it
and empowers it.
He models it
and empowers it
through the way
that he lives
on this earth,
restoring people.
And of course,
ultimately,
he models and
empowers it for us
in his death
on the cross.
He shows us
what wise
generosity looks
like.
For those who
are willing to
repent of their
sins and follow
after him,
turning away from
sin and towards
righteousness,
admitting that they
have no hope
in this world
aside from Jesus,
that outside of
their hope and
faith and trust
in Jesus,
they will face
eternal punishment
and separation
from God.
Jesus offers
through his death
forgiveness and
restoration.
He offers relief
and rehabilitation.
That offer is
for us.
It's for you
this morning,
for anyone
who has repented
of their sins
or who repents
of their sins.
Jesus makes
that offer,
that generous offer,
and it doesn't
lose him his bed.
Jesus can afford
it.
Jesus can afford
to offer it
because he's
earned it
through his
death.
And then he
restores us,
right?
He's working
with us.
Jesus isn't
lazy.
He doesn't just
pay off the
debt of sin.
He's restoring
us.
He's renewing
us into his
image.
And so he's
making us
people who
look like him.
We do not
need a
cosigner,
right?
We didn't
need someone
to come
and say,
well,
if they
can't pay
the debt,
I will.
There's no
way we
could pay
the debt
of our
sin.
And so we
couldn't have
a cosigner.
We needed
someone to
completely pay
our debt.
We needed
Jesus.
And so we
look to him.
We look to him
for wise
generosity.
We know
that Jesus
is at work
restoring us,
and he's
restoring this
world.
And so we
can follow
after him,
restoring others,
and restoring
this world
that Jesus
loves and
died for
in ways
that are
wise
rather than
foolish.
Please pray
with me.
Our Father
in heaven,
we thank you
that you
give us
nitty-gritty
instructions
about life.
You teach
us how to
walk in
this world,
not just in
repentance to
you, but in
ways that
help build
others up
rather than
tear them
down.
We ask that
you'd grow
us up in
wisdom,
especially when
it comes to
money, and
that we would
look to you
as our model
and our
example, that
we would
embrace your
restoration of
us, and
that it would
cause us to
work for
restoration of
others.
We thank
you that
you give
us wisdom
through Jesus,
and so we
ask for that
wisdom in
his name.
Amen.