One of the easiest and most dangerous traps to fall into is the love of money: greed, covetousness, materialism (1 Timothy 6:10). But God’s commands save us from that trap. God took special care to provide us with specific laws for finance and business. And when the whole world keeps these laws of love, it will revolutionize commerce, down to the last cent!
God commands that we love our neighbor as ourselves, and His law spells out how to live this principle in our business dealings. God specifies how to apply His law of love between a businessman and his customer, and between a supervisor and his employee. God’s system really is one of justice and fairness for everyone.
A Godly Business Transaction
Read Leviticus 25:14. The Revised Standard Version reads, “And if you sell to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.” The context of this law is the selling of land in relation to the year of jubilee, but this business principle applies broadly. If you are selling, don’t overcharge the customer. And if you are buying, don’t underpay the merchant. Transactions should always be conducted in the best interest of both buyer and seller—each being concerned for the other’s well-being. This is living the way of give.
See an amplification of this principle in Leviticus 19:35-36. This scripture discusses measurements of length, weight and volume, and it commands us never to commit fraud in measuring. You are accountable before God to ensure that you measure what you are selling accurately and honestly. God hates it when we choose to represent something we are selling as bigger and better than it really is. He commands that we be absolutely upright in our dealings with all men!
Think of buying or selling a car. This involves a lot more money than your average transaction, so it is tempting to try to get as much as possible out of the deal—and to give as little as possible. When you’re buying a used car, the temptation is to make your list of compliments short and your list of critiques long in order to pressure the seller to lower his price. When you’re selling that car, the temptation is to maximize your compliments and minimize your critiques. God’s command in either case is, you shall do no unrighteousness in judgment or in measure. Obviously, God does not command you to get suckered or to get the short end of every deal. But He unequivocally commands you to describe goods accurately and honestly.
Consider the compassionate foundation of this law in Leviticus 19:36-37. You know what it is like to live in a world that disobeys this command. You know what it’s like to be cheated and taken advantage of. God brought you out of that depravity and freed you! You don’t have to be a part of that selfish way of dealing. You can exemplify a better way of life. Because God brought you out of this world, He expects you to conduct yourself differently. God wants you to love the person across the counter from you as yourself!
See how Romans 12:17 emphasizes this command. You really are a representative of a different and better world. That should change the way you treat everyone you deal with.
Eliminating the Way of Get
Read God’s instruction to business owners in Deuteronomy 25:13-14. A merchant, when buying something, would use a heavy weight so it looked like he was receiving less than he actually was. When the merchant turned around to sell, he would use a light weight so his customer paid him for more than he was actually giving him. What label does God give such fraud? Read verses 15-16!
See where God condemns this again in Amos 8:5. It is amazing how many places in the Bible rail against fraudulent business practices: The law, the proverbs, the prophets (Ezekiel, Amos and Micah) and the Gospels all reveal God’s commands against such forms of stealing. God hates business practices that enrich the seller at the expense of the buyer. The next time you face a hard choice in business, God commands you to be motivated not by expedience and profitability, but by honesty and accountability—to Him!
But our world is saturated with selfish economic practices. Even though our governments constantly devise new regulations to prevent the most egregious offenses, people constantly find ways around those regulations. And so we are saturated with economic curses!
For a truly fair economy, human nature must be changed! People must obey the Ten Commandments—which forbid stealing, lying and coveting. That would eliminate most of the problems in business and produce unimaginably strong economies.
“In God’s Kingdom, these commands of His will be obeyed,” Herbert Armstrong wrote in The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like. ”They’ll become the standard for regulating commerce, business, finance, and the entire economic structure of the world. And all will be on the giving basis. … The giving standard will be followed in God’s rule on this Earth—not the grasping, conniving, striving, deceitful, clandestine, furtive, scurrilous, devious, cheating and lying chicanery that is commonplace in today’s business world.”
Mr. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages that a “fixed [monetary] standard will be set up; and values will never change.” He said there won’t be general price inflation. Purchasing power won’t shrink. In fact, it is very possible that as production increases, prices will generally go down.
That future may seem a long ways off. But God gives you the wonderful command to live that giving way of life right now!
Keep the Quality High!
Look at another precept God gives us in Leviticus 19:19. There is a vital principle discussed here: We should keep things pure, as God made them. This law was given to keep the quality of livestock high and to prevent problems that would result from mating animals of different sizes and skeletal proportions.
The end of the verse forbids making clothing that mixes linen and wool. Read a restatement of this law in Deuteronomy 22:11. Linen is a plant-cellulose fiber, from the flax plant; cotton is also plant-based. Wool, by contrast, is an animal-protein fiber; silk is also animal-protein-based. These two basic kinds of fabrics are quite different: They react differently to different kinds of washing and treatment. Using them both in the same garment will create problems and decrease the quality. (Just look at the settings on a washing machine: Silk and wool are washed at cooler temperatures than cotton and other plant fibers. You could mix plant-based fabrics such as cotton and linen. You could also wear clothing that mixes natural fabrics with synthetic fabrics like nylon, polyester and rayon; this does not violate the principle in Leviticus 19:19, because the synthetic threads are manufactured with similar characteristics to the natural fibers they are to be mixed with.) The purpose of this sometimes-misunderstood law was to help guarantee the quality of Israelites’ clothing while reinforcing the broader principle: God keeps diverse types separate to preserve the special properties of each.
How do we keep Leviticus 19:19 in the workplace? In business and manufacture, we should always produce the best quality possible while also looking for ways to give customers good value. Fundamentally, business owners should always consider how they would want to be treated as customers. Imagine what sort of world we will have when merchants always make that their priority rather than just getting all they can!
Be Kind to Your Employees
The Old Testament actually contains little specific instruction about the relationship between an employer and employee; the New Testament contains more of those details. In a future installment of this series, we will look at the intriguing laws God established in the Old Testament to regulate the practice of slavery. Many of those principles are relevant to modern bosses and workers.
Read the command to employers in Deuteronomy 24:14-15. God tells the boss to be concerned and compassionate for his workers—including their financial state. God specifically says He will hear the cry of the employee who is wronged by a boss who denies him his pay.
Look at Leviticus 19:13 for more about this law. God said a day laborer should be paid that very day. He didn’t want an employer taking advantage of his workers. Does this mean that you as an employer need to run payroll five times a week? Not necessarily. God’s command here is that you not manipulate your position as paymaster to take advantage of your workers unfairly. Your Creator commands you to pay the wage you promised when you promised it, with no unfair surprises.
You might have noticed a pattern emerging as you study God’s laws. In many cases, it favors the person who is more susceptible to being wronged. God is very consistent about defending the rights of the disadvantaged. In the next article, we’ll see how God applies that thinking—with perfect wisdom—to one of the most hot-button issues of the present day: welfare for the poor.