Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Black Sheep and Golden Rules
It is confusing to me why a company would call itself a "Christian company." After all, organizations are only as sanctified as the people who work for them. There is something to be said for wanting to represent the Gospel using your business, but when any time someone is dealing with you and feel they haven't been treated fairly (or their expectations weren't met), it puts a black mark on the body of Christ. People don't forget the bad taste, and the bitterness of the gall is more memorable when it bears the Christian name.
Better to do business well and treat people better than they expect to be treated. If they see a difference, then it's easy to point to Scripture as your road map and explain to them that you try to operate your company with Biblical principles.
A large company is especially vulnerable, because the principals may be Christians, but not all of their employees will share their conviction. So the first time someone lies to a customer or doesn't attend to their needs with a "servant mentality", the Gospel is compromised, because you put a sheep's name on a wolf's face. The only protection one has against this, I suppose, is to force employees to commit to a specific code of conduct and fire them if they don't follow through. Then all the heathens have to at least ACT like Christians, even if they're not.
Better to do business well and treat people better than they expect to be treated. If they see a difference, then it's easy to point to Scripture as your road map and explain to them that you try to operate your company with Biblical principles.
A large company is especially vulnerable, because the principals may be Christians, but not all of their employees will share their conviction. So the first time someone lies to a customer or doesn't attend to their needs with a "servant mentality", the Gospel is compromised, because you put a sheep's name on a wolf's face. The only protection one has against this, I suppose, is to force employees to commit to a specific code of conduct and fire them if they don't follow through. Then all the heathens have to at least ACT like Christians, even if they're not.
