The Bible is not a business book. Let’s make that clear. We are not going to find details about every problem that we encounter as entrepreneurs. It is silent on stock options, maternity leaves, and warranties.
The Bible is a much more important book than that. It is a book for living our lives according to God’s will. And that includes our businesses.
We are called to be different from the world. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” — Rom 12:2. Not conforming to the world includes the way we act within our homes, the church, and places of work.
As business owners, this means we are to rise above the minimum that the law requires and what the market will bear. It doesn’t matter if your competitors are doing it. It doesn’t matter if your board approves. Is it the right thing to do before God? That’s the main question we should be concerned about as business owners.
If you want to do right before God in running your business, the Bible does have a few things to say that places our business under its authority.
Biblical principles to apply to your business
1. Human rights
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–22) is very clear that each person has inherent human rights. These moral duties should guide our lives. And we are to respect each other’s human rights. Whoever is in the office or on the production floor, their rights and dignity must be honored if you are to call yourself a Christian business owner.
2. The Golden Rule
“Do to others as you would have them to do to you” (Luke 6:27; Matthew 7:12). The Golden Rule is unique among proverbs of similar veins. It is very proactive in doing good. We are encouraged to take the first step in treating others with respect, and fairness. If you were to buy your own product or services, will you be delighted?
3. Stewardship
In Genesis Chapter 2, God put man in charge of his creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Bible, Genesis 2:15). “Tilling” refers to cultivating, plowing, or working, while “keeping” means caring for, protecting, overseeing, and preserving. Nature, from which we draw massive resources, is to be protected and preserved by man as its steward.
This idea should be embedded in how we do business. We have to ensure and take measures to limit the footprint that our business leaves behind in nature.
4. Servant Leadership
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:13-15)
Jesus never asked his disciples to do something he never did. Jesus said: “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:27–28). He fed, protected, and mentored them for three years. Jesus modeled the behavior and the disciples imitated it. This method of servant leadership allowed the early Christians to change the world.
Employees respect bosses who take them under their wings and show them the ropes. Spend time in the trenches with your workers. Talking to an irate customer, nurturing leads, closing a sale, doing fieldwork, scouting for suppliers, and simply working hard should be modeled by the owner.
5. Contracts
“You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised” (Deuteronomy 23:23). There was a time when a person’s word of honor was enough. Now we have contracts on top of contracts and still, the lawsuits fly left and right.
Jesus said “, Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Mat 5:37). Christians should be as good as their word. Contract or no contract. We represent God each time we face the world. Holiness, justice, and love must be our calling cards.
When Christian businesspeople back down on vows that have been made in good faith, it is usually because of greed. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).
6. Debts
The Bible advises against going into debt. You are to limit your debts or it becomes a trap. “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender” (Prov 22:11). Debt is not evil in itself. Like money is not evil perse, but the “love of money is” (1 Tim 6:10).
God does not want us to go into debt for silly reasons and then fail to pay. “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives” (Psalm 37:21). Defaulting on debt is bad for your testimony as a Christian. You also prevent your suppliers and contractors from bringing food for their families which is a sin, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 5:8).
7. Fair Value
“You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you” (Leviticus 25:15-16).
The Bible is talking about giving fair value because the land goes back to the owner in the seventh year of Jubilee. The farther Jubilee is, the more crops you can harvest so you must price it accordingly.
Pricing our services at a fair value is how God wants us to conduct business. Monopolies or competition can artificially inflate or deflate market prices. Christian business owners are to go by what’s the fair value.
Our free economy is prone to predatory pricing. For example, farmers often have their profits bleed out by greedy middlemen who buy below market price when there’s a glut in supply. These same middlemen hold on to their stocks to artificially inflate retails prices so that they can sell at windfall profits. It’s a double whammy for the guy at the bottom by being forced to sell at a loss and then find his dollar is able to buy less at the local grocery.
Business owners keep an eye out for these peaks and valleys, ready to take advantage of these opportunities. But in a capitalist economy, when someone rakes in windfall profits, there’s also someone who loses.
8. Weights and measures
You don’t have to be a Christian to know that underweight, substandard, and lousy services are wrong. In most cases, it’s criminal. “Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord, your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.” (Deuteronomy 25:13–16)
A Christian business owner must be totally honest with the quality of his product or services and price if fairly. To advertise a product as having a high quality when it is a lemon is a “dishonest weight.” Same with offering services, with a lot of shady terms in the fine print, is “dishonest measure.”
9. Focusing on the Character of God
If you noticed, I didn’t detail how you are going to apply each Bible principle to specific business scenarios we entrepreneurs often encounter. It is impossible to cover the number of situations that we get ourselves into. More importantly, we want to avoid reducing these Bible principles into a list of dos and don’ts for business owners.
Christian business owners who are serious about following Jesus in their places of business. Should focus more on imitating the character of Christ. We follow the law-giver rather than the law.
Focusing on a set of rules reduces our faith into a collection of good works. It didn’t work before we knew about God’s amazing grace. When we worry about doing good works the tendency is to rely on ourselves. It becomes a battle of the will. It’s not sustainable and prone to our pickled minds and emotions.
The Bible, its narrative, the principles it lays, are all focused on Jesus. Let us not miss the forest for the trees. Jesus is the center of it all. We should try to mirror his heart and character. “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
10. Wisdom that comes from God
With the character of Jesus as our foundation, we can ask God to fill us with wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).
We need this heavenly wisdom to be able to discern the best course of action. The choices we are confronted with are not always black and white. Often, we don’t have enough information and time to weigh our options. Decisions that could mean sink or swim, or people losing their livelihoods, are decisions that we need God the most.
When we reach the end of the rope, that’s when we surrender and let God do his thing.
11. It is by grace
Let’s not forget that our Christian journey started with God’s grace. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8, NLT). So let’s not abandon His Amazing Grace mid-journey.
We can’t do anything on our own. We will continue to struggle against the flesh. That was Paul’s problem in Romans 7. Exasperated Paul said “ Wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).
Paul’s answer was in Romans 8. It is by the Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. He is the same Spirit that dwells in you. It is by walking in the Spirit that we will overcome our sinful tendencies.
The Holy Spirit is our Helper, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, the will bear witness about me.”(John 15:26).
The CEOs of Enron and WorldCom are showcases of what happens when Christians are exposed to “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (2 John 2:17) on a daily basis, with the wisdom and strength that comes from the Holy Spirit.
Final thoughts
Even after all is said and done, practicing Biblical ethics in your business could still cause you to lose money. If it worked out all the time, then everybody would be doing it. Sadly, no. We live in a fallen world where the good guys do finish last. Christians are still thrown into the arena of suffering. Society idolizes money and proposes that it can buy happiness.
You are not here on earth to earn money. You are not even here to be happy. You are here to bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16). You have to allow God to use your business to produce that fruit, in any way that He wills. That’s how a true Christian business owner should think.
