Lending Tools
Practice
Ask and lend with a clear expectation of when tools will be returned.
Don’t be offended if the answer is no.
Always return tools cleaned, washed, emptied, or refueled.
Don’t ask to borrow tools that neighbors use for their daily work.
Tell the owner if anything breaks, even small scratches. Truth builds trust.
Lending is contagious. Ask to borrow as often as you lend.
“So here comes my neighbor who says, ‘I want to borrow your crescent wrench.’ And I pull it out of the toolbox - kiss it! - and hand it to him. That is loving my neighbor, dying to self, and trusting in God (for the return of my wrench) - all wrapped up in one simple act of obedience.”
The text message from my neighbor came the weekend after he and his family moved out. “Can I borrow your mower tomorrow? If not. That’s ok.” He needed to mow his yard before the new family moved in and had already moved all the tools from his garage. “Absolutely. I’ll have the battery charged.” I replied. It was a punctuation mark on two years of lending tools to each other while he lived on our street.
Sharing tools with neighbors is a practice that builds relationship. At the heart of lending and borrowing tools is the messy relational requirements of risk and trust. The default human condition avoids asking for help. Asking to borrow a tool is acknowledging your lack of self-sufficiency. Your garage does not hold every tool you need to repair or care for your home. A recent survey showed only 50% of people have asked to borrow a tool from a neighbor. Over 80% responded they would lend a tool if their neighbor asked. Asking a neighbor for help with a home project requires risk.
Contemporary society has created a way to creatively commodify almost every one of our possessions. We use VRBO to enjoy someone’s house for a weekend. LYFT and UBER are how we make a request for a ride downtown. And now, there is an app so you can rent your tools to people nearby. But the exchange is always transactional, not relational. We’ve become far more comfortable with a financial agreement that does not require the awkward asking of help from a neighbor or a friend. Asking to borrow a tool is a simple and subversive act against putting a price tag on every act. It is an embodied practice of the words of prayer, “All that we have, we have received from God, we bring nothing into this world, and we take nothing out of it.”
Lending tools to neighbors is where conversations and meaningful interactions are built. Drill bits are brought back along with a six-pack of beer. The return leads to share humbly how no home project ever goes as smoothly as planned. When the ladder is returned, it leads to a conversation about our school-age children or aging parents. Every tool exchange is an opportunity to acknowledge we are all building, repairing, and caring for the people and place around us the best we can. There is nothing better than a neighbor becoming someone you can depend on. Borrowing tools builds friendships.
