As a final note, Benjamin addresses yet another way in which one’s substance may become a division in society. When any possession is borrowed, there is an social obligation of return attached to that possession. Goods not returned as agreed upon can also create strife and division. Therefore, one who does not return the thing borrowed “commit[s] sin”. Notice, however, that by not returning the item(s) that the borrower also causes his neighbor to commit sin. How is this so?
The sin lies not in the thing borrowed, but in the tension and strife that are caused over the item(s). When one loans something, there is the expectation of a return, and if that return does not happen, then the loaner has an issue with the borrower. The more a loaner attempts to retrieve the item, and more that is resisted by the borrower, the greater the contention and strife. It is this contention that is the sin, because it violates the type of community Benjamin is trying to establish.