Christian businesses giving God a bad deal

20 Dec, 2019 - 00:12 0 Views

eBusiness Weekly

Joseline Sithole

Finally, some Christmas lights and decorations in Meikles Park. I have settled for goat meat this year after not finding that elusive turkey. Either way I am hoping for a very Merry Christmas and judging from the responses I got from my readers, they too still believe in the true spirit of Christmas.

However, as we celebrate this holiday it is important to reflect on true Christ like values in our everyday business dealings and how we should make our businesses as clean as possible.

It is important to note that, acquiring wealth in itself is not sinful. According to Dr Doug Mamvura: “If it was a sin to create wealth why would God give us power to create wealth”.

In fact, in the Bible we have some examples of extremely rich servants of God such as, Abraham and Solomon. Solomon’s cups were made of gold. However, what is universally condemned in the Bible is the extreme love of money. According to 1 Timothy 6 verse 10: “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

And indeed the “jury is out” for Christian run businesses. And the verdict is not looking so good. Gary D. Seale in his book, “Business Principles from Proverbs’ notes that: “Unfortunately, this vision for a pure level of conduct in the marketplace slams head-on into the realities that we experience in a fallen world. We encounter significant deviations from God’s standards and everyone experiences the consequences.”

Overall the survey that was conducted among the general populace and SMEs themselves revealed some negative perceptions to Christian run businesses. Conversely most pastors interviewed seemed to believe that they would unequivocally trust businesses that are run or owned by Christians.

Pastor Makombe an AFM pastor based in Rusape, noted that he would trust a Christian run business as they are “centred on God’s principles and they benefited communities.” The majority of the respondents did not agree though. Sadly most of these responses were not perceptional but experiential.

The most popular response was that “Actions should speak louder than words.” As such respondents were of the opinion that advertising one’s business as Christian created expectations.

According to Rumbidzai Munhuwaani, a leading travel agent in Mutare, the disappointing thing was that, these expectations were not always met. Jessie Nyakatawa points out that: “She tends to investigate all businesses even though 98 percent claim to be Christians.

Other SMEs pointed out that there were churches that they will not deal with as they leaned towards tendencies of “thuggery” and “extortion.” Ishmael Sithole a leading honey producer in Mutare pointed out that what was important to him was “the track record” not religious affiliation. According to Sithole, the church does not hold a monopoly on ethics.

Moses Nyandoro’s observation is poignant as it beautifully summarises this argument. According to Nyandoro, during whichever generation, trust in any sphere should not bestowed on any member because they are Christian, rather let their works earn their label Christian. . .

However, there are companies that are widely known to run on Christian principles and deliberately place known Christian CEOs on their helm. The largest Chicken American fast food restaurant chain, Chick-fil-a was founded by Trueth Cathy who was a devout Southern Baptist. The Marriot Hotel Chain was founded by Willard Marriot a devout Mormon. Bibles are and the book of Mormon are still placed in the rooms.

Similarly a lot of top 500 fortune companies have certain thematic words that are engrained in their value statements. A survey done by Ferguson Values. Com reveals these top 5 values and principles. The top ones are; Integrity (Ethics and Honesty), Respect (Trust, Dignity), Excellence (Quality, Performance), Responsibility (Accountability, Commitment) and Teamwork (Collaboration, Cooperation).

Still we hope that SMEs can learn from the biblical book as it has an abundance of good counsel. We hope that adopting this old age counsel will lead to better values in our business community. Currently Zimbabwe is ranked number 160 out of 175 of least corrupt countries in the world. Adopting Biblical counsel will go a long way in improving our business ethical integrity. In later articles we shall also explore other religions business principles. What then should we do to increase the level of integrity in our business?

Under promise and over deliver

It is important for SMEs to ensure that they deliver a quality product and service. Ken Gosnell, a CEO Christian Mentor calls this a “second mile mentality”. He says: “Too many companies expect second mile results without giving second mile effort. Mathew 5 verse 41 sums this principle by saying,” If someone forces you to go with him one mile go with him two miles.”

Treat your employees and stakeholders with respect

Luke 6 verse 31 gives us a poignant reminder on how we should treat others. The verse says: “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you”. In addition, Deuteronomy 24 verse 14-15 exhorts us not to oppress our “hired servants.” The verse goes on to say that, “You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; so that he will not cry against you to the Lord and it became sin in you.”

Does this ring any bell in Zimbabwe where employers have stopped trying and just let workers retire without being paid any benefits? Some employees do not have medical aid or they go a long time without being paid.

Amidst this glaring neglect, we often find owners living large. To this end, Proverbs 27:23-24  reminds us that: “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.” SME owners will do well to appreciate their employees who deserve it through rewarding them and also investing in wellness programmes. For a start do hold a Christmas Party for your employees this year.

Deliver a quality product and excellent service

A sizable number of respondents in the survey lamented lack of honesty among Christian based SMEs. If goods and services were delivered they noted that more often than not it was the wrong quality or design. In many cases no reimbursements were given. According to Ken Goskell: “Christians are not called to do their work in average but Christians are called to do their work with excellence in a way that honours God.” Philippians 4 verse 8 expounds this notion very beautifully when he says: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

In her ground breaking book “Excellence” Imelda Tsumba defines Excellence as the “quality of excelling and possessing good qualities in high degree.”

Focus on clean profit

It is important to note that every business is established so that it can get profits.

However, it is important to distinguish between making a profit and profiteering. According to the Cambridge dictionary, profiteering is the act of taking advantage of a situation in order to make a profit especially when these are scarce products.

According to Deuteronomy 25:13-15: “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” SMEs should thus desist from profiteering from vulnerable customers through inflating prices of scarce commodities.

The law of reaping and sowing

Successful SMEs take this law seriously. In 2 Corinthians 9 verse 6, the Bible states that whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. There are many facets to this rule. For instance, the amount of time one invests in their business will translate into the results that one gets. Again investments in business development.

Office space, information technology will help to grow your business. Conversely if SMEs still believe that they can grow without the right investments then they will “reap” small returns.

Similarly gaining wealth through unsavoury means also leads to some problems with the law. Jeremiah 17:11 warns about this when he says, “Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.

Respecting the journey to the top

My article on Microwave Entrepreneurship published in this paper encourages SMEs to respect the journey of entrepreneurship.

A Microwave Entrepreneur is prone to “cut corners” and pay bribes. Proverbs 13 verse 11, warns that “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” Wealth should also be generational and in the event of your death your descendants should be able to benefit from your investments. Proverbs 13 verse 22 says this “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.”

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar

In the conferences I have attended SMEs are fond of giving the government their shopping list. The need for working space is always part of this list. But are they paying their taxes?

The Bible is very clear on business obligations to the State.  Romans 13 verse 6-7 reminds us to “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed and In Mathew 22 verse 17 Jesus says: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

The Bible is awash with sound Biblical principles on how to run ethical businesses and it is important to note that Business Biblical Principles are now part of the conversation within the Business fraternity. The Clean Wealth Creation (CWC) is a project founded by Petros Mandaza with the sole aim of teaching Kingdom Business Economics to the Business                                                                                                 fraternity.

We hope it starts in schools through” training up a child in the way they should go so that they will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22 verse 6). To this end CWC will start creating a generation of clean wealth creators.

 

Joseline Sithole is the Founder of Southern Africa Development Consultants and writes in her own capacity. You can email comments to [email protected]  or whatsup 0773634062

 

Share This:

Sponsored Links

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds