Sometimes you want to render a node or user field in a template. Argue about modifying stuff in hook_preprocess() all you want. Don't see the difference between using this and render() in a template.

drupal-render-entity-field.php

/**
 * Returns the simple, cleaned, translated value for a node or user field
 * without extra Drupal markup.
 *
 * Examples:
 *   <?php print render_entity_field('user', $user, 'field_first_name'); ?>
 *   <?php print render_entity_field('node', $node, 'field_my_custom_field'); ?>
 *
 * @see http://www.computerminds.co.uk/articles/rendering-drupal-7-fields-right-way
 * @param string $type         'node', 'user'
 * @param object $entity
 * @param string $field_name
 * @param int    $delta        Default 0; The index of the field array value to retrieve
 * @param array  $options      An array of options suitable for field_view_value();
 * @return string
 */
function render_entity_field($type, $entity, $field_name, $delta = 0, $options = array())
{
  $output = '';
  $field  = field_get_items($type, $entity, $field_name);

  if ($field)
  {
    $value = field_view_value($type, $entity, $field_name, $field[$delta], $options);

    if (is_array($value) && isset($value['#markup'])) {
      $output = $value['#markup'];
    }
  }

  return $output;
}