Summer series berrys chapel church of christ

Christians
in
Business
Summer Series
Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ
July 22 & 29, 2009

A Crisis
“We are not in a crisis
of economy,
we are in a crisis of
integrity.”
~ Mike Huckabee
Berry’s Chapel Summer Series 2009 Slide 2

Secrets to Wealth…
 Does God have a plan
and purpose for the
marketplace?
 Does a Biblical
approach to the
marketplace differ
from what the world
teaches?
Slide 3Berry’s Chapel Summer Series 2009

Secrets to Wealth…
 Is a Biblical approach
distinctive when
compared to ethical
atheism?
 How would you expect
Demetrius’ “secrets”
course to change, if at
all?
 Would there be enough
evidence to convict you?
Berry’s Chapel Summer Series 2009

Business and Competition
 The Golden Rule of Business
 Do unto others as they would do unto you…
 Just do it first
 He who has the gold rules
 Nothing personal, it’s just business
 Survival of the fittest; it’s kill or be killed;
you have to destroy the competition

Christ and Competition*
 Christ resists competition
 Competitive desires (I win, you lose) and Christ-
likeness are inherently, irreconcilably opposed.
 Christians who advocate competition are doing
so only as a pretense to sanctify their desire for
worldly pleasure and success.
 Christians should avoid the entrapping lure and
attendant perils of competition.
*From paper & presentation by Sharon Johnson & Galen Smith

 Christ and competition in partnership
 The Bible commends competition as an exciting
condition to be embraced.
 Christians can and should compete, and doing
so helps us grow spiritually, physically, socially,
and economically.
 Successful (principled) competition is seen as a
reward and blessing from God.

 Christ reforms competition
 Christ comes to competition as a transformer,
seeking to rediscover God’s design for
competition.
 Many of the practices of competition are “of the
world” (cheating, win-at-any-cost, etc.) and are to
be challenged.
 Christians are called to engage as God’s warriors
to reclaim competition for His glory.

 Christ and competition in paradox
 Christians are to engage in the paradoxical call to be “in”
but not “of” competition.
 Participating in competition where we are called (and
gifted) to, yet fully knowing that competitive situations may
bring tension when the “rules of the game” challenge our
Christian values.
 Christians are called to “witness for Christ”. For some,
participating in competition is the best way to further that
cause. Business is seen as a mission field.

You and Competition
 What is your perspective?
 How do you resolve the question of
Christians and competition, Christians and
business?
 How do you defend your position to those
who do not share your Christian faith?
 How do you defend your position to those
who do share your Christian faith?

Approaches…Choose One
 Lift Yourself Up
 WIIFM
 Don’t let them forget
who’s boss; don’t
show weakness
 Always be on the
lookout for a better job
 Make sure others see
your good works
 Humble Yourself
 The Golden Rule
 Be a servant-leader
 Serve where you are;
have faith that God
will raise leaders
 Give God the glory for
all good things (also
give credit to others)

Approaches…Choose One
 Lift Yourself Up  Humble Yourself
Slide 12
You choose which one will receive
your focus and energy.
God will take care of the other one.

Finding the Right Balance
Slide 13
Family
Work
Religion
Personal

Finding the Right Balance
 The secret to balance in your life…
 You will never achieve it
 God doesn’t call us to a balanced life; He calls us
to a fully committed life
 Romans 12:1-2
 Romans 12:9-21
 Matthew 6:19-24
 Matthew 10:37-39

The Integrated Life
 Colossians 3:23
 Colossians 3:17
 The Practice of the Presence
of God, Brother Lawrence
 Your career cannot be
neutral…it must be a God
thing
 Glorify God through…

A Look at Ethics in
Business

Ethics
 Motivations based on ideas of right and wrong
 A system of moral principles
 A set of principles of right conduct
 The discipline dealing with what is good and
bad and with moral duty and obligation
 Knowing the difference between right and wrong
and choosing to do what is right

Business Ethics

Ethical Framework
 Spiritual Integrity: Can the decision be
made and implemented without violating
the will of God? Will taking this action, or
not taking this action, cause me to sin? Will
it cause others to sin?
 The Greatest Commandments (Matt. 22:36-38)
 The Golden Rule (Matt. 22:39)
 Man’s law (Rom. 13:1)

Ethical Framework(continued)
 Distributive Justice: Never take any action
that would harm the least among us, those
with the least income, education, wealth,
competence, influence, or power.
 Special concern for the poor; for those who can
never repay you (Luke 14:13-14)
 Love all people; don’t treat the rich better than
the poor (James 2:1-9)

 Contributive Liberty: Never take any action
that would interfere with the rights of
everyone – not just the poor, the
uneducated, and the weak – to develop
their skills to the fullest.
 The Golden Rule
 In concert with distributive justice, consider the
admonition of the Hippocratic Oath – first do no
harm

 Deontology (universal duties): Take no action
that you would not be willing to see that others,
faced with the same or an equivalent situation,
should also be free or even forced to take.
Treat each person as an end in himself or
herself, worthy of dignity and respect, never as
a means to your own ends.
 We can only speculate about the outcome
(utilitarianism), but if we are honest with
ourselves, intentions can be known.

 Teleology (utilitarianism): Achieve the
greatest good for the greatest number (or
the converse, suffer the least harm for the
least number)
 Count the cost (Luke 14:28-33)
 Outcome orientation (Mark 8:36); points us back
to spiritual integrity

Living an Ethical Life
 Our focus should be on a life that is a
product of our faith, not a life governed by
application of an ethical model.
 Our daily walk
 The thousands of small decisions that reflect who
we are and whose we are
 Spiritual integrity
 We need to decide today how we are going to
live tomorrow - avoid making decisions in the
heat of the moment

Decide Today
 Will you obey the laws of the land?
 Will you always tell the truth?
 Will you miss worship opportunities to work? To
play?
 Will you avoid situations that can lead to
temptation or the appearance of impropriety?
 Do you chose to live a disciplined life?
 Whom do you serve?

Is Right Always Obvious?
 Looting 2 days after hurricane Katrina
 Reporter: “Don’t you think looting is wrong?”
 Looter: “Naw, if it was wrong the police would be
stopping us.”

Why Is Right Not Obvious?
 Personal perspectives differ
 Laws and interpretation of laws
 Culture
 Upbringing
 Faith/belief system
 Experiences

Why Is Right Not Obvious?
 Societal influences
 Secular humanism
 Situational ethics
 Moral relativism
 Different ideologies
 Teleology (utilitarianism)
 Deontology (universal duties)
 Distributive justice
 Contributive liberty

Ethics – Doing What’s Right
Ethical behavior rests on two factors:
Discernment
Motivation

Discernment
 Laws
 International
 National
 Local
 Policies and Guidelines
 Specific/General
 Company/Association/Profession

A Moral Compass
 There’s No Such Thing As
“Business Ethics” (John Maxwell)
 There’s only one rule for making
decisions…
 The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule
 Christianity: “Whatever you want men to do
to you, do also to them.”
 Islam: “No one of you is a believer until he
loves for his neighbor what he loves for
himself.”
 Judaism: “What is hateful to you, do not do
to your fellow man. This is the entire Law;
all the rest is commentary.”

The Golden Rule
 Buddhism: “Hurt not others with that which
pains yourself.”
 Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty; do
naught unto others what you would not
have them do unto you.”
 Zoroastrianism: “Whatever is disagreeable
to yourself, do not do to others.”

The Golden Rule
 Confucianism: “What you do not want done
to yourself, do not do to others.”
 Bahai: “And if thine eyes be turned towards
justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that
which thou choosest for thyself.”
 Jainism: “A man should wander about
treating all creatures as he himself would
be treated.”

The Golden Rule
 Yoruba Proverb (Nigeria): “One going to
take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird
should first try it on himself to feel how it
hurts.”

Other Shared Values
 The Seven Faith Tribes” (George
Barna)
 Americans share 20 core (“faith”)
values

America’s Shared Values
 Represent the truth well
 Develop inner peace and purity
 Seek peace with others
 Demonstrate wisdom
 Be forgiving
 Practice self-restraint
 Get yourself together before criticizing

 Invest in young people
 Respect life
 Treat others how you want to be
treated
 Be a good citizen
 Justify people’s respect
 Avoid harmful behavior

 Honor the elderly
 Be generous
 Do not judge or condemn others
 Be mutually respectful of human
rights
 Cultivate Civility
 Belong to a caring community
 Facilitate basic skills

Discernment to Motivation
 “To be sure, I don’t believe B-schools can
turn someone who is dishonest into a
virtuous person.”
J. E. Garten, Juan Trippe professor at the
Yale School of Management

Motivation
 The difference between knowing what is
right and doing what is right is motivation.
What motivates us to do what is right?
 Extrinsic motivation – motivation derived from
rewards and punishments that result from my
behavior
 Intrinsic motivation – motivation derived from an
internal need or desire to do well (and to do
good)

Motivation
 How do we most often try to motivate
people to do the right thing?
 Extrinsically
 We punish unethical behavior
 We reward ethical behavior

Motivation
 What is the most effective form of
motivation?
 Intrinsic: the needs and desires that come from
my core belief system (who I am)
 Intrinsic motivation patterns are formed early in
life (“Train up a child….”)
 Later in life, receptivity to change comes only as
a result of “life events”

Personal Responsibility
 When faced with ethical dilemmas, I must be
able to convince myself of what is right, then I
must be able to convince others (others who
may not share my beliefs and values)
 I must be a critical thinker
 I must have a strong moral compass that drives
me to do what is right
 I should have people who hold me accountable
for doing what is right

Final Words:
Discernment
Motivation
Do well and do good

Summer series berrys chapel church of christ

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Summer series berrys chapel church of christ