Co-signing

Proverbs 17:18

       Co-signing on a loan can be very dangerous. You take on the other person’s debt. If you are going to do this, then upfront you need to just assume you owe the whole amount yourself. Include their amount in your monthly budget. And if they pay the debt, then you get a blessing. If not, then you are not taken by surprise. You can afford what you have taken on.

      Even if you know the people very well, even relatives (perhaps the worst offenders), co-signing is dangerous. It is dangerous to relationships. Hurt feelings, lawsuits, gunfights, thermonuclear wars all result from co-signing! Well, maybe not the thermonuclear wars!

      Our proverb says that if you co-sign (which is what shaking hands is pledge for a neighbor is in modern terms), then you are someone who has no sense. Bail bondsmen do this for a living. And they have bounty hunters to collect on the debt.

      Part of your evaluation process should be an evaluation of their financial responsibility. If they are not using their own money responsibly, why do you think they will use your money responsibly? If they have problems allowing your oversight of their finances during the evaluation phase, even some suggestions about how they could save some money, then definitely don’t co-sign. Humility must be part of the process.

      Does this mean you should never co-sign? I personally think it is much better to just offer to pay the debt yourself, as a gift. They have no obligation, and you feel no sense of holding it over them. You have assumed in your calculations that you can afford to pay the debt if they default. Why not just pay the debt? There will be no disappointment on your part, and a big sense of gratitude on their part. If there isn’t gratitude, then I would not do it at all.

       The result might be the opportunity for them to learn generosity by seeing your example. Maybe they would pass along this kindness to someone else in the future.

      Jesus co-signed our debt. He took on what was not His. He paid the full price for us. Should we do any less?

Sign on the Dotted Line

Proverbs 6:1-5

Bail bonds, co-signed loans, contracts, vouching for character. Be very careful when doing these types of things. I might add investment schemes, get rich quick and guaranteed income/safety, doomsday provisions, survival gear. Since we can’t know our own heart fully, how can we know the heart of someone else?

So, the writer of Proverbs passes along some good advice. If you have already signed that document, do everything you can to make it right again. Everything! Get out from under the obligation. It matters little whether you are the lender or the recipient of the lending, that obligation is not healthy.

Lots of people understand this every month when they have to pay their bills and they watch the bank balance dip dangerously low. That pressure to stay afloat. Now imagine that you have co-signed a loan and that other person is beginning to sink. You might lose everything because of what they are failing to do. Double pressure!

Sometimes you inadvertently say something that obligates you. We see this in the political arena all the time. A politician makes a side comment to a friend, and then that comment becomes the story. It is taken out of context and they have to retract, redirect, reframe what they said.

As Jesus-followers we must be careful what other labels we attach to our lives. If we join PETA, for instance, then everything PETA does gets attached to us and consequently to Jesus. Right or wrong, that is what happens. Be careful of all other associations.

I want to die having been known as a Jesus-follower. My other connections are less important. I am a faithful husband, but being a Jesus-follower is of greater importance. I have some other ties that exist, but none that I would want to substitute for being a Jesus-follower.

If we make those other connections too strong, then we can become the prey sought after by another. No one wants to be on the wrong end of an arrow!