Secular compromises

As this world goes more secular, the U.S.A. anyway, that's where I live, we as intentional Christians are tempted to make moral compromises in order to not be ridiculed or marginalized.

A big one with some people is accepting homosexuality as something other than sin. It's just sin. There is nothing normal about it. We have not discovered something new. It's is awful. It is often caused by the sins of our parents or others around us. Our culture has not all of a sudden discovered something overlooked by all the cultures that came before us over thousands of years. People who feel abnormal sexual cravings of any kind can get help. But some would ridicule you if you do decide you want a normal family with children and you have been formerly labeled a homosexual or lesbian. I know several people who have resisted sin and gone on to have normal families with children.

Others will make "green" or environmental issues into something of a religious cause, worthy of persecution if you do not agree. In some circles you can lie, overstate, make outlandish, unproved (and often unprovable) statements in the name of the environment and be applauded for your care. There is nothing wrong with being environmentally friendly. I hope I am. But we do it out of love for God and the wonderful world he gave us to take care of. Nature is not a god or gods in and of itself. We have a wonderful God who created the world. The world itself is not to be worshiped for itself alone.

Others will allow the business of making money to be all important. Any tactic goes it seems with some people. You can get ridiculed for not accepting the adage, taken from sports, "You ain't trying if you ain't cheating." This might be amusing when applied to sports but it is dangerous and sinister when applied to financial markets.

Governmental rules will never stop all cheating. We in business must be self-policing or the whole structure of capitalism will fall apart. Much of the reason for the horrible morass we are in now economically is because too many people are cheating, trying to beat the system, trying to find a loophole.

After the fact people will create more rules. And in so doing it will make life harder for the many people trying to follow the rules, trying to do the right thing. Others ridicule those trying to do business ethically. One can apply many proverbs here. But we trust that God will reward those who do ethically, who do try to keep honest weights, to use an old analogy found in the prophets.

It is good for a businessman or woman to look at the spirit of the rules and not just the letter. Some encourage us to look for the loopholes but we know that doing as they advise will be immoral. Some will ridicule us for taking a higher road. But often later the rules that looked OK will be reinterpreted by regulators as illegal causing you financial harm. We can look at the Enron debacle as a case in point. Many of the men who were prosecuted here were active Christians who allowed themselves compromises. I can just imagine them thinking, "Well, everyone else is doing it." This is not good enough. One must think for himself. Because of the financial ramifications for others their actions were found criminal.

Christian businessmen must take their faith to work with them. Trust God for the increase. Be patient, do it right, you will get there. Do not be tempted with short cuts. Pray for your business dealings. Ask God for wisdom in your decisions. Think of the proverbs. God will ultimately judge even when he looks like he is tarrying. He can judge through government regulators later.