Run, Samson, Run! Delilah is on her way. So the old song goes. Which is right. When it comes to sexual temptation, we run.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality.” Sexual sin is dangerous. Like any other danger, we should stay away from it. People don’t need to test their faith when it comes to sexual temptations. Just turn around and run.
You, as a Christian business owner, should rightfully be concerned and should keep your business place free from sexual sin. Sexual sin destroys marriages and homes. Several generations of lives can get hurt. You don’t want your business to have any part of that.
Here are some practical ways that you can keep your employees from falling into adultery or fornication.
How to keep your workplace free from sexual temptation
Watch what they’re watching
Sexual temptation starts with the eyes. In Matthew 5:28, we read,” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Job even made a covenant to keep his eyes from sexual temptations. In Job 31:1, he said, “I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?” This was a discipline Job practiced in his life.
1. Have your IT person block out all adult websites from your office Internet. Surveys found that nearly 60% of respondents watch pornography at work. The bigger problem is that watching porn makes the person less ethical.
2. Include a dress code in your employee’s Code of Ethics manual. Dressing attractively and decently is good. We are talking about overtly displaying physical features. This applies to both males and females. Any cleavage for women and thigh displays should be discouraged. For males, avoid displaying chest hairs or pants that squeeze out their bodies.
3. Hire and promote for qualifications not for looks. Studies have shown that attractive people tend to get more job interviews than Vanilla Val or Plain Pam. Studies have also shown that attractive people tend to get promoted quickly. Christian business owners should avoid doing so.
Don’t inadvertently play matchmaker
The workplace is ripe with sexual attraction and tension. It’s a place where members of the opposite sex spend at least eight hours together. The majority of these people are in the prime of their life, healthy, attractive, and libidinous.
A survey by job site vault.com, found that 58% of employees have engaged in a romantic relationship with a colleague. A big 72% of those over 50 years old have been romantically involved with a coworker. The biggest downer is that almost three in four (72%) would participate in an office romance again if given the chance.
We do understand that people fall in love in the workplace. But you don’t want to be the hand that fans the flames of lust. In 2 Timothy 2:22, we read,” So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Here are some policies you can enforce.
- Always have a third wheel
- Meetings should always be between three persons
- Have at least three persons in the same car during fieldwork
- Keep doors open when it can’t be helped that two persons of the opposite sex need to meet. Do it in the conference room and keep the blinds open.
- Don’t assign a two-person team of the opposite sex to do a project, work late at night, or out on field work.
Keep their distance from each other
Familiarity breeds attraction. If people spend long hours working together, they are bound to find each other attractive at some point.
The Bible tells us to be on guard. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 — For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the gentiles who do not know God.
Do you know that 66% of office workers started their romance during the winter months? The seemingly innocent office Christmas party results in 31% of first kisses between colleagues. Definitely, control the wine during parties.
Here are some practices you can employ to keep workers from spending too much time with persons they should not be intimate with. These can also save someone from sexual harassment.
- Encourage employees to have lunch with different persons daily. Do this as a part of an HR program or a year-long search for friendliest employee. The more a person meets each employee of the company, the less likely of spending too much time with someone. This can only be good for the overall employee morale.
- When going on business trips:
- Tell your employees of the opposite sex to book separate hotels
- If separate hotels are not possible, book on different floors
- Have group dinners
- Watch out for touchy colleagues. This is something that should be covered in your employee manual. Get your rank-n-file, supervisors and managers trained on proper physical contact. There should be clear guidelines on reporting, investigating, and disciplining such possible sexual harassment incidences.
Guard the heart
Sexual sin doesn’t appear in a vacuum. It is the result of a sad chain of events. It may be addiction to porn, lustful glances, private moments, or past experiences.
Christian business owners need to teach their employees how to guard their hearts. Psalm 119:9-11 say. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
Here are a few tips to put this into practice.
- Institute a short weekly Bible-study service and encourage workers to voluntarily attend. People should know what the Bible says about life, sex included. Without the Word of God engraved in your company culture, sexual sins will be just one of the problems you will be dealing with.
- Have family day events where everyone can get to meet the family. Everyone gets to meet the spouses. This puts in perspective what is at stake for those contemplating adultery.
Two kinds of sexual sin
There are two kinds of sexual immorality that you should guard against in your business place.
First one is adultery. This is when at least one of the parties is married. Hebrews 13:4,
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” Definitely, not something your employees should be doing.
Second one is fornication. When both parties who engaged in sex are single. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 , “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” That’s a serious list that will have grave results.
Between the two, extra marital affairs are easier to spot, prove, and discourage. But fornication is a different matter. It’s consensual sex between two adults. Sexual promiscuity is something that the world panders daily.
You cannot argue against fornication on the basis of Christian morals to two consenting adults. You must have a legal leg to stand on. You can do this by prohibiting employee romance in your company policy on the basis that it can cause harm to the business.
A clearly written company policy should be enough to dissuade any potential Romeo and Juliet among your employees. If anything, it’s a way they can prove their commitment to one another should they take their relationship to the next level.
One of them has to be willing to be transferred to another team or resign based on company policy. If they can’t make that sacrifice for one another, then it’s a relationship that would not have worked out after all. They should just break up before any serious emotional damage is done.
Final thoughts.
People find their true love in the workplace all the time. This is a good thing. We have nothing against this.
But the workplace is also where a lot of sin takes place. Christian business owners, who dedicated their businesses to God, and pray over their employees should ensure that their workplaces are free, from not only sexual immorality, but from all kinds of sin – the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – 1 John 2:16.
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