Honesty

I had an interesting conversation with a young woman yesterday. 

We were talking about honesty in business, and the following scenario was brought up. 

If two companies were bidding for your product, but the bids were lower than you want, would you lie to them and tell them that their competitor was offering a higher price?

Without hesitation, she said yes, the reason being that, “this was business.”

I pushed her a little further and asked, “What would happen if these businesses would found out you lied to them?”  

She answered, “Well, we’d probably lose their business.”

“And if your boss found out what happened,”  I asked.

“Oh, he wouldn’t mind.  He would understand it was just business and we’d find other clients.”

I don’t know if she’s reading her boss right, but one thing I do know.  God abhors that kind of thinking.  He said,

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)

Yet the world in which we live doesn’t always think that way.  Instead, lying becomes almost an approved business practice. 

Until you get caught anyway.

Several years back, a company in Japan named Snow Brand Milk lost its reputation after being caught in lie after lie. 

There was a food poisoning incident in which 15,000 people were affected.  But instead of coming clean with the problem, they tried to cover it up. 

Later, they lied about where their beef was being produced in order to gain government subsidies. 

And finally, they got in trouble for relabeling the expiry dates for their butter.

Yet this is the kind of thing that can happen when you start saying, “Well this is just business.”

God doesn’t accept those kinds of excuses.  He expects his people to deal with others honestly, whether it’s in business or in our personal relationships. 

Why? Because when we don’t, it not only destroys trust in a relationship, but puts  a stain on those who follow dishonest practices. 

And as God’s people, we need to be above reproach.

As Paul wrote, we are not to “conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  (Romans 12:2)

In business and in your personal life, how honest are you?