God takes honesty in commerce very seriously.
HisChurchatWork.org - (This is a transcript of five short radio talks)
Does God care about how you conduct your business affairs? Does He even take notice of the manner in which you buy and sell? If so, does He only care about the business life of Christians, or does He care how non-Christians behave in the business world as well?
Proverbs 11:1 gives some clear insight to answer these questions: "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight." This verse is addressed to people in general, whether Christian or not.
Dishonest scales represent cheating people. Suppose, for example, you went to a grocer to buy bananas which sold for $.49 per pound. When you went to pay for the bananas, the scales said you had five pounds of bananas, so you paid $2.45 for your bananas. If you discovered later that your bananas only weighed four pounds, you would accuse the grocer of dishonest scales. He cheated you out of $.49, assuming that the scales were deliberately mis-calibrated.
If you purchased gasoline for your car for $2.00 per gallon and then learned that the service station owner had adjusted the pumps so that one gallon registered as 1.2 gallons, you would be furious because of those dishonest scales. He would be swindling you out of money, and thereby improving his profits dishonestly.
The Lord abhors any business practice like that, whether simple or sophisticated. Another translation of Proverbs 11:1 says that a false balance is an abomination to the Lord.
This is very strong language. The Holy Spirit wants us to know that God hates deceitfulness and deception of any kind when it comes to business transactions. It offends Him personally when we mis-represent anything in a business transaction, when we fudge the numbers a bit to make a better impression, when we tip the scales in our favor. God sees it; He knows it; and He hates it!
Therefore, all of us need to be extremely careful in all of our everyday business dealings to make sure we’re not guilty of using "dishonest scales" of any description. We need to be squeaky clean in all of our business transactions, whether we’re the buyer or the seller, because God hates dishonesty in business.
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Does God see how we do business, and if so, does He care when people are deceived? Proverbs 11:1 shows that indeed God does care. It says "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight."
This indicates that God has an emotional, strong reaction based on how people transact business. He vigorously hates swindling and deception, but He takes delight when someone is very honest in their business dealings. This applies to Christians and non-Christians alike. If you want to please God—and certainly if you’re born from above, that should be your highest priority—then you will want to make certain that you use accurate weights in all your business dealings, because the Lord delights in that.
Here is a modern day example of what is meant by "dishonest scales":
When a seller does not reveal the whole truth about what he or she is selling, that is tipping the scales toward dishonesty and deception. Those of you who are in a sales position have a great responsibility to pay attention to the admonition of Proverbs 11:1, because your selling techniques can easily slide into the deceptive mode. I know, because I began my career as a sales representative for IBM, and you can want to close that sale so badly that it is tempting to say whatever you have to in order to get a signature on the dotted line.
I’ve noticed lately a radio ad for an insurance company where the sales representative informs the prospect that he cannot give him the best price on that particular policy. The customer is shocked at his honesty, but the sales rep replies that they do the right thing for the customer regardless. How refreshing to see that marketing approach—that honesty is still the best policy. And believe me, in the long run being honest with your customers is good for business.
Even if a prospective buyer is not educated enough to ask the right questions, you should disclose all the important facts about your product, positive and negative. Remember, God hates dishonest scales and He knows when you do anything deceptive in order to close a sale.
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Do you try to get the best bargain you can when you shop? I can tell you that I love a bargain and it makes me feel really good when I get a really good value for my money. Certainly all of us should be good stewards of our money, doing our comparison shopping so that we get the biggest bang for our bucks, as we say.
But you know, you must be careful as a buyer that you don’t take advantage of a seller. We’ve been looking at how God feels about dishonest business transactions. Proverbs 11:1 is the verse we’re focusing on. It says, "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight."
Previously I pointed out how people who are in a selling position can fall into this tendency to tip the scales a bit in their favor in order to get the sale. God hates that. But He is delighted when you get the order honestly and fairly.
Not too many of you are in sales positions, but all of you are buyers. When a buyer tries to pay less than the honest value of an item, that is an example of what Proverbs 11:1 means by dishonest scales. I’ve made many missions trip to Africa, and their bartering system calls for negotiating on almost any product you buy. The published price is intentionally inflated, assuming that all buyers will barter. That’s similar to our garage sales here in America.
However, if a buyer takes advantage of a seller’s situation and uses it as a way to swindle that seller out of a fair price, that is a false scale in God’s eyes. We may call it shrewd negotiating, but when we knowingly take advantage of a seller, it crosses over the line of good business sense and becomes sin.
Proverbs 20:14 describes this scenario vividly: "'It’s no good, it’s no good!' says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase." I’ve heard people do that, haven’t you? They brag about how they fooled somebody and got something dirt cheap, or how they took advantage of someone needing money badly and bargained them out of a fair price for their product.
God hates it. It’s an abomination to Him. Remember that the next time you’re tempted to cheat someone out of a fair price. It delights God when we do the right thing in business dealings, whether buying or selling.
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I’m asking the question, "Does it matter to God how we conduct our business affairs?" Proverbs 11:1 says "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight." Indeed it does matter to God. He is passionately and emotionally involved when He sees dishonest business dealings.
Notice also Proverbs 20:17: "Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel." We are warned that if we use deception or dishonesty of any kind to secure our earnings, it may seem sweet at first. It may feel successful at first, but it will end up choking us.
This would include any dishonesty on our income tax returns. Now, none of us like to pay taxes, but the truth is, we owe taxes for services we receive. Yes, I know there is far too much waste and corruption in our government. It’s true that our money is not always used well and the bureaucracy of government can be disgusting. But Jesus taught us that we are to render to Caesar what is due to Caesar, and Caesar represents the government over us.
What about your expense accounts? How easy it is to fudge on those expenses! But that is money earned by deceit, by fraud, and it will choke you. You know, I’m convinced that people who try to cheat in matters like these, even though they think they earned a little money, will pay for it dearly some other way.
I think of a business man I know who tries to squeeze every penny out of every person and every transaction. He seems to be obsessed with getting as much money as he can, and he is not always up front and honest in his dealings. People have learned that you can’t take what he says at face value. As I’ve watched him over some time, I’ve noticed how he never seems to get ahead like he wants to. Something always happens to use up that money he’s deceptively earned.
Remember, God is passionately concerned with how you conduct your business. He hates dishonesty, taking advantage of people, trying to get something that is not rightfully due to you. Whether it’s a small thing on a business expense or a large swindle, God abhors dishonest scales. But He delights in the person who is scrupulously honest in business dealings.
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Proverbs 11:1 is the verse we’ve been expounding: "The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are His delight."
Think of what Jesus told us. He said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). He teaches us that good deeds, doing the right thing, being honest and forthright is a testimony to the dark world around us, and it will cause people to praise God.
I remember many years ago my mother bought some curtains, and when she got home she realized that the clerk had under-charged her for those curtains. Well, she just couldn’t get in the car and get back to that store fast enough to clarify that mistake and pay the fair price for those curtains.
The clerk was astonished when mom returned to the store to pay what she owed. Can you imagine how many people would ever do that? Haven’t you ever thought, "Well, if they made the mistake, then they should pay for that mistake. I’m not obligated to point out their mistakes to them." Most people would certainly react that way, and just figure they got themselves a good deal in those curtains. But my mom and dad have always been scrupulously honest, and it never even occurred to her to do anything else except go back and pay what she owed.
In her own simple way, her light was shining bright before people who most likely were not believers. And her behavior was unexplainable from a human perspective. How do you explain that kind of honesty? Only God could make a person want to be that honest, so the glory goes to God.
Think about that: When people see our good deeds, our honesty in the business world, our refusal to take advantage or deceive or fudge the numbers, it causes them to stop and think about what makes us that way. And that gives us an opportunity to glorify our Father in heaven. God delights in us when we have that kind of honesty in our business transactions.
So, remember, as you go about your business dealings, God cares deeply about how honest you are. He abhors dishonest business deals, but He delights when we are careful to always be squeaky clean in our business transactions.
Mary Whelchel is founder and president of TheChristianWorkingWoman.org, This set of five talks was broadcast during the week August 1-5, 2005. ©Christianworkingwoman.org Used by permission. Content distributed by HisChurchatWork.org > Used for non-profit teaching purposes only.
