“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” - Matthew 5:37
Have you ever mentioned your Christian faith and that you are a business owner or leader only to hear “Let me tell you about my experience in dealing with "Christian" business people."
You cringe because you know the next thing out of their mouth will not be good. The damage is done. You have just been lumped into the ugly mess of integrity gone bad!
It is easy to talk about integrity but it is very difficult to do when the complexities of business create "gray" lines of demarcation. You wrestle with how to work with "Integrity" in a world that screams "compromise", "middle ground", "scratch my back and I will scratch yours" and so on.
- Stealing is bad but how honest do you have to be on your tax return? - Lying is wrong but how much of the truth needs to be shared with the customer, employee, vendor? - A little compromise to gain the sale is okay, isn't? Where is that line of "integrity"? At what point do we move from the "state of being whole and undivided" to being broken and split? Maybe you are one of the few who believes the lie of the devil that your success is from your hard work. Maybe you operate as under the delusion that you are "lone ranger". The reality is you had help along the way and, by being a "lone ranger" you are denying God's plan for you to be in the community of counselors. Our members, throughout the US, know that a community which allows authentic, transparent, and intentional interacts are the keys to their success. They honor God by acknowledging their need to seek counsel, to put their egos in check and gather to encourage and be encouraged. Who are you following - the lies of the world or the wisdom of God?