RELIGION, BUSINESS, ETHICS.
Religion in the world is like any other profit-making business. The only difference is that the business of operating a religious institution is tax-free, whereas McDonald's and Burger King are not. They promise some form of physical or spiritual nourishment to their customers. They promise some kind of satisfaction that will meet their needs while they are alive, or after they are dead. And they all employ local salesmen to sell their products on-site, just like any business. For example, a car dealership employs car salesmen and a church employs Jesus' salesmen, such as Pastors, Preachers, and Bible teachers. They all have products to sell. A church wants to sell us Jesus' promises of eternal life, and a car dealership wants to sell or lease a car to us that will make us happy. Unfortunately, not all salesmen are honest, car’s or Jesus' salesmen.
Where do ethics fit in? Ethics, I believe, should be an important and integral part of religion and business! In fact, I believe that ethics is such an important part of life that neither religion nor business has the right to exist without ethics in their policy. Ethics are based on logic. Some of the components of ethics include sincerity, transparency, honesty, trustworthiness, concern for others, and fairness, to name just a few. You know the parable about the good neighbor from Samaria. He saw a man who was beaten and injured badly on the road where he was traveling. Some onlookers passed by, but no one stopped by to help. The logic of the Samaritan man must have told him that he must help, or otherwise, that man might die from his injuries. He was concerned about the injured man, and not about his pocket. He took the injured man to a caretaker at a lodge, paid him a deposit of some amount, and promised that when he returned he would pay the caretaker in full for taking care of the injured man. He made his business of helping people who are in need. This story illustrates ethics in action. Caring for strangers who are not related to us is what Jesus wants us to do. This is also the Sacrificial Law that most Christians misunderstood. The Sacrificial Law is still alive. It is not about sacrificing dead animals. The sacrificial law is about sacrificing ourselves for others. When we help others who are in need, we are sacrificing ourselves. We are the object of the Sacrificial Law just as Jesus was the object of the Sacrificial Law. He was willing to die to defend and protect us with His life. He is the good Shepherd. He set an example for us to follow. His death, however, has nothing to do with our sins or debts. Taking care of our sins is our job! If Jesus had died to pay for our sins, does that mean that Jesus also died for the sins of the billions of people who perished during the big flood? Who drowned them? It was Jesus or God the Father who drowned them because of their bad intentions. And now, after He drowned and killed them all, we say that He came to earth to redeem their sins? Holy cow, what has the devil done to us? Does that make sense at all? No, it doesn’t make a bit of logical sense! It is a dirty ploy to make money. Don’t count on His “death” to redeem our sins. Jesus has the power to forgive our sins without ever dying on the cross. The idea that Jesus died on the cross for our sins is just a cunning plan to make money. There is no ethical reason for Jesus to redeem the sins of those whom He has intentionally killed during the big flood. And we should not be making money while He was asleep for three days. What makes sense is when Jesus said that if we commit a sin we should pray and ask God the Father to forgive our sins. I add, with the understanding that we will try to repent. That’s how we can get forgiveness of our sins. The problem with us Christians is we stay up all night long to find one or two verses that almost fit our idea, and then we say aha, there it is, Jesus died for our sins. Jesus was not found guilty of committing any crime, though the Jews found Him guilty of blasphemy, and crucifixion is the appropriate sentence for blasphemy in the land where Jesus lived.
Where do ethics fit in? Ethics, I believe, should be an important and integral part of religion and business! In fact, I believe that ethics is such an important part of life that neither religion nor business has the right to exist without ethics in their policy. Ethics are based on logic. Some of the components of ethics include sincerity, transparency, honesty, trustworthiness, concern for others, and fairness, to name just a few. You know the parable about the good neighbor from Samaria. He saw a man who was beaten and injured badly on the road where he was traveling. Some onlookers passed by, but no one stopped by to help. The logic of the Samaritan man must have told him that he must help, or otherwise, that man might die from his injuries. He was concerned about the injured man, and not about his pocket. He took the injured man to a caretaker at a lodge, paid him a deposit of some amount, and promised that when he returned he would pay the caretaker in full for taking care of the injured man. He made his business of helping people who are in need. This story illustrates ethics in action. Caring for strangers who are not related to us is what Jesus wants us to do. This is also the Sacrificial Law that most Christians misunderstood. The Sacrificial Law is still alive. It is not about sacrificing dead animals. The sacrificial law is about sacrificing ourselves for others. When we help others who are in need, we are sacrificing ourselves. We are the object of the Sacrificial Law just as Jesus was the object of the Sacrificial Law. He was willing to die to defend and protect us with His life. He is the good Shepherd. He set an example for us to follow. His death, however, has nothing to do with our sins or debts. Taking care of our sins is our job! If Jesus had died to pay for our sins, does that mean that Jesus also died for the sins of the billions of people who perished during the big flood? Who drowned them? It was Jesus or God the Father who drowned them because of their bad intentions. And now, after He drowned and killed them all, we say that He came to earth to redeem their sins? Holy cow, what has the devil done to us? Does that make sense at all? No, it doesn’t make a bit of logical sense! It is a dirty ploy to make money. Don’t count on His “death” to redeem our sins. Jesus has the power to forgive our sins without ever dying on the cross. The idea that Jesus died on the cross for our sins is just a cunning plan to make money. There is no ethical reason for Jesus to redeem the sins of those whom He has intentionally killed during the big flood. And we should not be making money while He was asleep for three days. What makes sense is when Jesus said that if we commit a sin we should pray and ask God the Father to forgive our sins. I add, with the understanding that we will try to repent. That’s how we can get forgiveness of our sins. The problem with us Christians is we stay up all night long to find one or two verses that almost fit our idea, and then we say aha, there it is, Jesus died for our sins. Jesus was not found guilty of committing any crime, though the Jews found Him guilty of blasphemy, and crucifixion is the appropriate sentence for blasphemy in the land where Jesus lived.
How about us Christians? Are we willing to help strangers who are not related to us in any way without expecting some form of reward in return later? Are we willing to help those who are less fortunate than we are with our time and money? I agree that this is an individual decision. But the decision is easier to make when we have high ethical values! People with high ethical values help because that is the right thing to do, and not because of expecting some reward in this world, or for some reward in the next world from Jesus. Do we know what is the right thing to do? Where do we learn what the right thing to do is? Who taught us what the right thing that we must do is? The right thing that we must do is found in the Bible, in His words, and in His commandments. Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. "And he thought within himself, saying, `What shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?' "So he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. `And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, [and] be merry."But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So [is] he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. "Life is more than food, and the body [is more] than clothing. "Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke chapter 12).
Here, I believe, is where religion, business, and ethics meet.
Here, I believe, is where religion, business, and ethics meet.
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