The Slow Creep of Questionable Decisions

I've posted before about how small ethical lapses lead to larger ones, but I was recently reminded of a story that really drives this point home. When Abraham settled in the land God had promised him, his flocks and Lot's flocks had gotten so big that they had to separate. Even though Abraham had the right to choose first as the family elder, he let Lot decide where to live (and Abraham took what was left over). We all know the story of how evil Sodom and Gomorrah were and how God saved Lot as He destroyed the area.

Here's the fresh perspective that I have on this story. Lot was in Sodom because of a business decision. It was a little decision to choose the land that looked good rather than trust God and seek out righteous people to surround you. And from Genesis 19:1, we know that Lot must have continued to make those small decisions because he was a leader of the city by the time the angels came to rescue him--he wouldn't have been recognized as a leader if he wasn't integrated into the city.

In discussing this story, a friend mentioned the idea of a "slow creep" of decisions that led to Lot being in a position of needing to be rescued. Lot made a bad decision, one that seemed right by the world's standards but that was made with God in mind. That decision led to other decisions, all of which led to other decisions.

For all of us, complacency is our default. It doesn't require effort. Making small decisions that are fine by the world's standards but might be questionable to God is easy. But those are the same decisions that lead us in a slow creep away from God. Think about the positions that you are in, the decisions that you make at work. Where is the slow creep in those positions, the complacency in your decision making? How can you reverse course and focus on God?

What's Rightfully Yours

Genesis 13:5-12

Genesis 13 shows us a remarkable business transaction. It's probably more common to look at the outcome of the story (Lot goes to live near Sodom and Gomorrah, which are eventually destroyed) rather than looking at the negotiation that led to that outcome. Abraham, because he was from the older generation, had the right of first choice. Think about that. He had the right to choose the best land for himself. Lot would have been stuck with the leftovers. But look at what Abraham said to Lot in verse 9: "If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left." Basically, you get to choose. You can have what's best. I'm sure people of the land would say "what was he thinking?!"

Abraham wasn't interested in pressing for his right. Let's be clear--there would have been nothing wrong with taking the best for himself. But by giving up his right to choose, Abraham was allowing God to take control. Verses 14-17 relate how God blessed Abraham because of his faith. Abraham didn't know about God's blessing ahead of time, and that blessing may not have taken the form he would have liked (for example, Abraham was still childless at this time). Those blessings also do not always come immediately. Abraham had to buy someone else's field to bury Sarah ten chapters later--he still didn't "have" the land. But he knew to trust God rather than holding on to his rights.

Sometimes, we're so concerned about protecting our rights that we forget that God can bless us, even when we allow others to trample on those rights. Jesus' instructions about turning the other cheek (Matt. 5:39, Luke 6:29) are a New Testament example of that same teaching. In Abraham's case, by letting go of his right and trust God, he settled a conflict (verses 7-8) and was blessed by God (verses 14-17). As you interact with others, don't worry that you don't get all of the things that you are due. Don't worry about your rights. I know that's easier to say than to do. Just trust God. His blessings may not be immediate and they may not take the form that you want or expect. But He calls you to love and trust Him more than you love and trust your rights.

Working in a "Christian" Organization

It's interesting to think about how your faith might be challenged while working in a Christian organization. On the one hand, you'd think that working in an organization where the leadership claims to use Christian principles to make decisions would make it easier to live out your faith. I think that's true to a large extent. I've had the opportunity to work for several universities that were unabashedly Christian, and it was much easier to be open about your faith at these institutions.

There is almost more pressure in a sense (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). You know that your work is expected to honor God. You know that people are holding you to a higher standard.

I can remember a time in college where the engine in my car was making funny noises. A friend recommended a Christian mechanic. The store had Bible verses all over the walls, giving me the assurance that I was dealing with someone who's business was run by someone with similar values. Unfortunately, this person said that the noise was not a major problem--two days later, my engine seized. It reminded me that to be a good Christian mechanic, you first have to be a good mechanic.

A friend of mine one time chose to not go with a fellow church member for a job for similar reasons. He didn't want there to be awkwardness if the job went wrong.

If you work at a Christian organization, don't assume that gives you leeway for sub-standard work. At the same time, enjoy the freedom to be open about your faith at work. It's a freedom that many do not have. But don't fall into complacency. I'm sure you realize that, just because your organization is led by a Christian, that doesn't mean that you are immune from faith challenges at work.

Do Not Be Yoked with Unbelievers

1 Corinthians 6:14-18

This is a tough passage. Compare any two Bible commentaries on this passage, and you're likely to get at least two positions on its meaning. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that most version of the Bible translate this passage differently. For example, the TEV and Phillips versions specifically talk about not working with an unbeliever. So I want to start by saying that I'm still exploring this passage and this post is not the final answer, by a long shot.

Earlier this month, I wrote about how difficult it would have been for early Christians to do business while not paying homage to Athena or the Roman emperor. That's probably a big part of what Paul had in mind.

But more than that, there's an idea of an unequal partnership here. You wouldn't yoke an ox and a donkey together to plow your field. The animals would move at different paces, pulling different amounts, and they'd probably hurt themselves and definitely wouldn't get your field plowed. The same is true for partnerships between Christians and nonChristians. This passage is often applied to marriages, cautioning young Christians to focus on courting only other believers. But I think this idea of equal partnerships also applies to the workplace. A believer and a nonbeliever see the world in fundamentally different ways. Even a nonbeliever who can admit that serving others is a good idea or that maybe the bottom line shouldn't be the ultimate goal is still a long way from acknowledging God as master of the universe and Jesus as His Son. If you believe that your faith should directly influence who you are at work (which is the point of this blog), then you have to acknowledge the difficulties inherent in partnering with people who see the world in very different ways.

I don't think that means that you can't have any workplace contact with nonbelievers. If you look at the Greek words that Paul uses, they are words that refer to casual relationships. In each instance, the words refer to partnerships where there is a heavy degree of mutual dependence. According to this passage, these are the relationships to avoid--those that put a believer in a position of dependence on someone who has different values and a very different way of approaching existence.

So what to do? How do you function in our heavily interdependent society and not form partnerships with nonbelievers? I have to confess that I don't know. I work with and for people who do not seem to be Christians. I am dependent on them in many ways. Similarly, I've worked with others on projects when I'm not sure about the religious values of the other person. So I don't know what to do about this passage or how to handle workplace connections with nonbelievers. It's something that I am continuing to think about.

A Den of Robbers

Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; John 2:13-22

How would you describe your workplace? Some people have used metaphors like "when you work here, you're like family." Maybe your workplace isn't quite that warm. But look at how Jesus describes the temple in these passages. After ransacking the place, Jesus accuses the merchants of "making My Father's House a Den of Robbers." These businesses fulfilled an important need. People would come from far away places to worship at Jerusalem. They needed to buy an animal to sacrifice, so merchants were there selling such animals. And if you needed to exchange your currency to buy in this market, there were kiosks of the day ready to help you with that as well. The problem was that these people were not really interested in helping people worship God. Rather than any altruistic motives, they let laws of supply and, in particular, demand determine costs. These people didn't know the city that well, they didn't have the means to seek out other places to buy these things. So merchants were charging top dollar and getting rich off of the people's desire to worship God.

So think about where you work. Could Jesus make the same accusation against you? Does your workplace profit from the desperation of others? I think one plausible interpretation of these passages is a critique of supply and demand economics that privilege profit motives over the needs of people. You may not be able to control the economics of your industry, but what about how your department or specific responsibilities function? Are you putting profit and performance above people?

It's tough because I think the temple merchants would probably have done very well in 21st century America. Certainly, they would have been in step with the Enrons of 2001 or the Countrywides of 2007. I think "Den of Robbers" is a completely accurate title for some of the upper eschelons of those companies (although the majority of people working for both companies were not involved in either scandal). But the actions that made those companies personify greed were not decisions that were made overnight. The actions of a large number of individuals over a long period of time created the conditions for infamy. Your actions, no matter what your position or status, your actions matter. How can you privilege people over profit in your job? And then, how can you lead others to do the same?

Give to Caesar...

Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26
cf Matthew 17:24-27

It's one of the two things in life that people say will always be a certainty. Taxes. Nobody likes them, and that has probably been true since the beginning of organized government. But for just that long, the people governed have had to foot the cost for the coordination, protection, and services of their government. Like any people, the Jews of Jesus' time hated paying taxes. But they had more reason to hate it than you or I because they weren't supporting their own government--they were supporting an occupying, conquering government. You may resent supporting a government dominated by a political party with which you disagree. The Jews were in that position to the ultimate extreme. So naturally, with the exception of a couple of groups such as Herodians and tax collectors, almost every Jew had a uniform opinion about taxes--they're terrible. However, you couldn't openly disparage Roman taxes. Remember, this wasn't a democracy. They had no Bill of Rights or Freedom of Speech. So the Jews hated Roman taxes, but they kept quiet about it in public out of fear.

Which of course makes this the perfect trap for Jesus. Ask him about taxes. If He says, "no, don't pay taxes," the people will still love him, but He'll be Public Enemy Number 1 with the Romans. End of problem for the Pharisees. If He says, "yes, you should pay taxes," the Romans won't pay Him any mind, but the people might run Him out of town for seeming to support Rome. Yes, it must have seemed like the Pharisees finally had Him. So, the question was asked, and the people leaned in to hear Jesus' answer.

But wait a minute. Jesus asks, "who's picture is on this coin?" "Well, it's Caesar." "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's." The Jewish leaders walked away, stumped, because he had evaded their trap.

Part of the genius in Jesus' response was recognizing that it wasn't an either/or question. But for us today, it demonstrates that we have a type of dual citizenship with responsibilities in both areas. In a spiritual sense, we're foreigners here, and citizens in God's kingdom. Thus, we owe God (everything). But in a different sense, we have obligations materially on Earth as well. We are obligated to pay taxes, for instance, and to be fair in that and in all other business transactions. Jesus' point about taxes keeps us for thinking that we are too removed from the materiality of this world (though that is different from materialism, which Jesus cautions against). We cannot escape being part of the material transactions here, and we need to think about how Jesus would approach those. In this case, that means knowing what our obligations are and not evading them.

Tax Collectors and Roman Soldiers

Luke 3:11-14

The context of this passage starts at the beginning of chapter 3. John is teaching and people are coming out to hear what he has to say. His message is one of repentance, that people need to change their ways. When they ask him to be more specific, he says, share what you have with those in need. Then two groups of people ask what they can do in terms of repentance. This is where I wanted to focus this blog post. Both groups were notorious for cheating people. Tax collectors collected money for the Romans, which alone would have made them hated. But there weren't any IRS manuals or Turbo Tax programs in that day. Instead, people had to "trust" the tax collectors that they were being charged the correct tax. And of course, being entrepreneurs, the tax collectors found that they could say whatever they wanted to in terms of how much tax was required. So they would collect the Roman tax as well as more than a little extra on the side, which they were allowed to keep for themselves. Soldiers were also hated because they represented Rome, an occupying force. But in addition to that, soldiers could require someone to "help out" with various tasks and the person was required to comply. So if they didn't want to carry their equipment, they would "recruit" someone else to do it for them. Now they were limited in that the person was only required to carry something one mile. But still, would you want to walk a mile doing someone else's work only to then have to walk a mile back to your house? Soldiers were also known to extort money from people in exchange for protection or sometimes just for not harassing them. So tax collectors and Roman soldiers were among the most despised people in all of Judea.

These are the people that Luke reports came to John, wanting to repent. You can imagine the shock and possibly a little sarcasm from the others that came to hear John. "Yeah, right, like the Messiah will ever have a place for those people. He's coming to overthrow your kind." But John basically said, "just treat people fairly." Don't charge more than people owe. Be satisfied with what you have. Don't extort money. In other words, be fair.

We generally have laws that are supposed to protect us from some of these things. But people constantly find loopholes, trying to get ahead at the expense of someone else. Luke, using John's words, is calling us to be fair in our business transactions. Just because you can make a buck at someone else's expense doesn't mean that you should do it.

Honest Scales

Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:10, 23
cf Amos 8:4-6; Micah 6:11

Another prominent theme in Proverbs is that of unfair scales. In an economy before digital scales where merchants would carry measuring cups and weights/scales for doing business, one way to “get ahead” was to have one set of measures for buying goods that perhaps were slightly over-sized (so you got more than you paid for) and another set for selling goods that were undersized (so you sold less than they paid for). This was condemned in Leviticus, but apparently the practice was common enough to still be an issue by the time Proverbs is compiled. Proverbs 11:1 states that God “abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.” Proverbs 16 praises the business person who exercises honesty in business practices saying, “honest scales and balances are from the Lord.” In chapter 20, we learn that God “detests” unfair weights and scales.

And it seems that the Israelites didn’t listen particularly well to these proverbs. One of the complaints against both the people of Israel before they were conquered was that they were using dishonest scales. Amos says that God will not forget dishonest business practices, particularly when they disadvantage the poor and needy. Micah says that a person with unfair scales would not be acquitted.

So what about you? Are you honest in your business transactions? Are you looking for accounting tricks so that you come out ahead of others? When you deal with customers or clients, are you using the same yardstick with them that you would expect from your distributors? Whatever it is, take time today to consider the equivalent to unfair scales in your own industry. How can you ensure that your transactions are fair? If you feel confident there, then consider your transactions with the government. Are you trying to find a reason that those golf clubs really are a medical deduction? Are you honest about the money you made last year? You wouldn’t want a client being dishonest about the money they owe you, so reconsider your honesty with the money you owe the government.

God calls us to honesty in all of our transactions. As people of God, we need to be “above reproach” in this matter. We need to set examples for others in terms of fairness.

Fair Weights and Measures

Leviticus 19:35-36

God specifically wants His people to be honest in their business dealings. These passages (and there are others throughout the Bible) indicate that God wanted to Israelites to use the same standards in their selling that they do in their buying. To put it in context, the practice of the day was, if you wanted to buy a pound of something, you would take a set of weights out of your bag and measure out what you're scales said was one pound. But then, if you wanted to sell that product, you would have a different set of weights. When your buyer came, you would use this second set of weights that would give the buyer slightly less than one pound. The result is profit for you at the expense of either the buyer or the supplier (depending on which weight was false). God says His people are to have one set of weights--that is, they are to deal honestly in all business transactions.

Our society today have many types of "dishonest weights"--everything from Enron-style accounting and risky derivatives to questionable tax deductions. The business transactions in which we engage during the week are under God's eye just as much as our worship assemblies on Sunday. He expects us to glorify Him through honesty.

A Fair Price

Genesis 23

In Genesis 23, Abraham negotiates for a field in which he can bury Sarah, and we can see several important principles for business transactions here. First, the transaction was public and therefore, transparent. Abraham wasn't trying to hide anything from the Hittites or from the person who owned the field. Second, Abraham offered a fair price. He wasn't trying to cheat or swindle the other party. Third, he didn't want to be indebted to another person. He wanted to buy the property rather than receive it as a gift, presumably because he did not want to owe anything to Ephron (the seller). Consider your business transactions. Are they transparent? Would you be ashamed if they were? Are they fair? Do any of your transactions put you in debt to another? I don't think this passage is saying that Abraham's way of doing business is the only way to conduct yourself. Perhaps it's better to think of these as best practices of sorts.