The business relationship usually starts with the sincerest motives.
Example 1: A businessman wants to bless other Christians with his products or services and promotes them through the church address book, or through Christian networks. He has an expectation that Christians will look to him first in meeting a particular need and sometimes feels a little disappointed if they trade elsewhere adding to the profits of the ‘ungodly’.
Example 2: A person sincerely seeks out a Christian provider trusting that the profits from the business he gives him will be applied to “Kingdom purposes”. Sometimes the motive in asking may not be quite so altruistic and the person requesting the service or goods hopes he will receive a discount because they are ‘Christian brothers’.
Example 3: A Christian employee chooses to work for a Christian boss, only to discover that some of the work practices are, in the employee’s opinion, not Christian. Conversely, I have heard Christian employers admit they prefer not to employ Christian employees because many of them take advantage of the ‘Christian’ bond and use work time to do phone counselling, or long lunch breaks to ‘do witnessing’. Some Christian employees find it hard to be corrected by a boss who is a Christian ‘brother’ and possibly ‘younger in the Lord’.
Sound familiar?
In far too many instances, expectations are dashed, people feel they are exploited and brethren become estranged from each other. Remarks such as “if that’s a Christian, I don’t want to know one”, or “Christians are the least reliable employees” are a poor testimony and often accompany people falling away from church attendance and even the Faith. Christians take Christians to court, or if not, become more deeply embittered because they don’t believe they can sue a brother for redress in a secular court.
Paul writes to the Romans and advises them to “not be slothful in business” (Romans 12:11). That suggests to me that the problem has been around since the birth of the church and probably before that. Here are some suggestions on how to avoid business blues and blows in the church:
• Expect to pay normal prices for products and services. Do not expect favours from workers or contractors unless those favours have been freely offered. Do not expect discounts as a matter of course just because the trader is a ‘brother’. Do not take shortcuts, or be erratic in your attendance on the job. I have seen contractors who have been under time pressures delay a Christian brother’s job and rank other work ahead of it on the pretext that the Christian won’t mind or make a fuss because ‘he is a brother and will understand’. Give the Christian boss, employee or client the same business courtesy and integrity you would give an unbeliever.
• Put all agreements and contracts in writing before starting the job. God made promises: He put them in writing and stands behind what He has written. Before commencing a contract with another Christian, ensure that all requests, quotes and expectations are in writing and accepted by each party before work begins. Any changes encountered during work should be negotiated and accepted in writing before further work begins or changes are implemented. It used to be considered a truism that in British culture a man’s word was his bond and to be relied upon. It is still what is expected of the charactered Christian according to Psalm 15:4b. Unfortunately today, most of us fail in our words and often give promises too glibly. To accept a person’s word on a matter just because he is a ‘brother’ is foolhardy and not doing all things “decently and in order”. (1 Corinthians 14:40) Christians have fallen out of fellowship over mistaken expectations based on worksite discussions that have not been confirmed.
• The church phone list is a pastoral list, not a prospect list! Do not use Christian brothers and sisters to build your business. The church is not a trading ground. The church phone list is a prospect list. People within the church may want to support others within the family, but do not take that support for granted. Contractor and clients should not feel obligated to use someone from within their church. Nor should they have to explain themselves if they don’t. People are entitled to obtain the best deals or person for the job, wherever they may be found.
• Sir Len Southward who established the Southward Car Museum near Wellington said, “If you use friends to build your business you will lose both, but if you use your business to build friends, both will endure.”
• Let your product stand on its own merits. Do not use the Gospel to legitimise your product. Let it stand by itself. How many times have we been approached by Christians to sign up to their schemes because the same system can be used to witness for Christ, or because the Bible College students could pay their fees from proceeds. Such ploys are not honest, hide more acquisitive motives and are often a means of defrauding a brother or sister.
• Pay workers their proper dues and more if you are able. Do not underpay your workers because the work you are involved in is a ‘faith job’, unless they have specifically volunteered to do the work on that basis. The boss has his own exciting vision and is trusting that ‘the Lord will provide’. People who are contracted to work on the project are worthy of their legitimate wages and costs. Non-Christians who provide services will be expecting payment and so should Christians. If the initiator of the project has the faith to ‘believe God’, then let him trust God for all that is required, to all who provide goods or services, whether they be non-Christians or Christians. Your vision, your faith: their service, their remuneration.
• Make sure accounts are paid on time, especially to those of ‘the household of faith’ (Galatians 6:10). If you are having a lean time, do not delay payment to a brother on the basis that ‘he will understand’. Remember the ‘flow-on’ effect. He also has a testimony to maintain and your delay can cause him to be made a liar if he has given someone else an assurance based on your obligation to him. Sometimes it can be perfectly innocent. You may give your word in all sincerity on the assumption that other ‘down line’ transactions will proceed smoothly. Then when there is a hitch with someone further down the chain, such as a supplier, or a delayed settlement, you are made to be a liar.
• Always use quality materials and workmanship. If you quoted new, use new! Do not use a sudden ‘bargain’ you come across because it will give you a greater margin. Honour your word according to your contract. If you are on the receiving end, do not waste a contractor’s time by consuming long tea breaks, offering excessive hospitality, or causing unnecessary interruptions. Remember, after your job, he has other promises to keep.
• When you sign off on any job, remember your accountability to the Lord. Ensure that the work is the best you could do so that it will not be blasphemy or a shame to say, “Done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”. At Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire, England, a 1559 inscription carved into the sills of the windows reads, “Rycharde Dale Carpeder Made Thies Windous By The Grac of God”. Old English spelling but the attitude of worship is unmistakeable. Workmanship is the result of injecting worship into work. When you lift your hands to the Lord for inspection, they should be clean. (Ephesians 3:23)
In the next newsletter I will look at how Christians should resolve matters when disputes occur in business.
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology:
Further to my earlier email, it is confirmed that the opening of the university will now take place in the northern spring – March/April 2008. Those who are overseeing the project request continued prayer for perseverance.
Personal Diary:
I was recently in Tasmania assisting at the opening of the Tailrace Project – an innovative church building development in Launceston. I also conducted a seminar for a company in Hobart on “Business as Family.”
On 16 August I fly to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for 3 weeks of meetings. The itinerary covers a diverse range of meetings and, as usual, I am looking forward to interacting with the zealous spirit of the South-east Asians.
"We were most impressed by the research and thought that Douglas put into his presentation of The Power of Music."
M. Bennss
School for Seniors, Tasmania