Rules for Doing Business With Christians

Visiting today with another business owner who I know to be a Christian, he mentioned a guy I only know as an acquaintance. I met this other guy a few years ago when he was one of four partners in a business; a supposedly "Christian" business. I confess that when I run into a company waving the Christian flag high and mighty, warning bells go off inside.

Their website talked about how they operated on Christian principles and how they were going to donate money to missions. Blah, blah, blah. Back then, another friend told me that this guy was a brand new Christian. He had given his life to the Lord as a guy in his 40's before going into business with these other so-called "brothers in the Lord". And he got the financial screwing of his life. Yep, sure enough, those warning bells rang true. The main guy (president) royally ripped off the others.

When all of this came down, I prayed for this young Christian that he wouldn't become bitter against God. The failure of that business left him broke but he eventually found a good job. My friend today didn't know that this guy had ever had claimed to be a Christian. Let's just say that his vocabulary and temper on the job these days doesn't reflect a Christ-like behavior.

Still, I hurt for this guy. As an outsider looking in, it appears he trusted in the Lord and then trusted some guys who said they were brothers in Him. I wish I could pull him off to the side and encourage him to not judge Jesus by how His people behave.

How many times do we see this played out? I'm not talking about crooked preachers. I'm talking about business owners or managers who claim to love God but are liars, cheats and anything but Christ-like in their business dealings. Quite frankly, I am more careful around those who wave the Christian flag the highest. I'd rather do business with moral guy who doesn't mention God than most of those who belong to the "God loves you and wants me in a Cadillac crowd.

So, with that in mind, let me lay out a few rules for dealing with those who claimed to be Christians in a business setting.

Rule One: Not all who claim to know Him actually do. Oh, they may say the right stuff and will likely be deacons. But they don't have a clue as to what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Nor do they really want to. They just want to have enough Jesus to look good in business. It's all about making the deal.

Rule Two: None of those who claim to know Him are finished products. I know a lot of guys who truly love the Lord but they may not have known Him very long. As a result, the momentum of their old BC ways (Before Christ) sometimes mean they don't entirely act like they should. It's not that they don't want to get it right. They just dropped the ball.

Rule Three: Not all of the folks who don't say a word about Him are godless heathen. They might be very intent on walking honorably before their Father in heaven. They may be like me, guys who don't advertise being a Christian, hoping instead that God might open the door for discussion but only after I have served Him faithful by doing a good job. No, make that... doing a great job.

I take Colossians 3:23 very seriously where it says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord..." I work for God, not a paycheck.

And finally, Rule Four: Some guys don't have a relationship with God but are still honorable folks to do business with. They may have many of the same positive ideals as Christians are supposed to have and may well do a better job of it than those who claim to love God. Hey, I really like doing business with these guys. I find a lot of these in m work with renewable energy as well as in m hardhat and steeltoes type work. These are guys where a handshake still means something. They are good guys.

In closing, please don't judge my Lord on the behavior of either His people who drop the ball or the behavior of people who claim to be His and are liars.