Video Transcript

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

This verse is often applied to marriage, but if you look closely at the context it actually is dealing much more broadly than just marriage. It seems to be just as applicable to business.

But, it begs the question, “What does it mean to be unequally yoked in business? Let me share a story about Jerry to illustrate the point.

Jerry was a partner with two other people in a professional services business when I introduced him to the concept of being unequally yoked. He shared with me that he didn’t believe this principle applied to business, because he trusted his partners more than most Christians and he didn’t see it as an issue.

A few months later Jerry called to share with me, “I wish I would have listened to you about being unequally yoked.” He went on to say, “Recently, my two partners and I were having lunch and began discussing our views on a deep moral issue. As I mentioned my belief in God and how it shaped my view on the subject, both partners became upset and claimed that they were both atheists.

At the very next monthly board meeting the two of them announced that they no longer felt they could work with me and the two of them voted to kick me out of my own business and to force me to take far less than what my business was worth.”

Jerry learned the hard way that worldview does matter in business and that being unequally yoked can either force you to be at odds with unbelieving partners or to feel pressured to cave in on your beliefs.

Paul intentionally used the visual image of a yoke, because oxen are strapped together in a yoke so that when they are similar in size and strength the two can actually perform like three instead of two. But when one ox is much smaller than the other one then it’s easy for one large ox to bind up and tear up the smaller one. In business, we need to realize that being in partnership with another puts us in a legally binding relationship similar to being in yoke with another. In those cases it often times is the Christian who gets pressured to sell out on his faith, rather than the unbeliever.

If you are considering a partnership with someone who does not have the same beliefs as you, please carefully consider Paul’s words and the risks inherent in being unequally yoked.

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