One of my daughters recently experienced car trouble and was needing to take her car to a repair shop. Before she left, she said to me, “I’m really nervous about going to these kind of places, because I don’t know much about cars, and I’m afraid they’ll take advantage of me.” When we’re forced to buy services that we don’t ...
Tim Weinhold, Director of Faith and Business for Eventide Funds, recently wrote about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. Not only has the world’s wealth become concentrated to just a few individuals, the middle class’ net worth has declined 25% from 1983 to 2013, during record economic growth and corporate profits. Weinhold’s research points to the 1980s ...
Prior to Philadelphia’s famous Wanamaker’s department store, prices were usually established by haggling with the shopkeeper. John Wanamaker, a department store legend in the early 1900s, had a philosophical problem with haggling so he invented a fixed price amount for price tags and the money-back guarantee. His problem with the practice of haggling flowed out of his spiritual roots. He ...
In my book, “Unconventional Business,” I highlight four marketing challenges that many of us face in the marketplace in trying to do marketing with truth and love. The final marketing challenge is “Sponsoring Sin.” A friend of ours owns a consumer product company which frequently advertises on television and radio. Early on they discovered the importance of monitoring what their ...
A banker I know says it’s been hard to convince his colleagues to embrace Christianity when they see churches who won’t honor their loan agreements. My friend’s experience has been that many churches are quick to renegotiate when interest rates decline, but they would never allow the bank to renegotiate when rates increase. Some churches teach integrity matters more than ...
At one of my first jobs, several of us were loading merchandise when a new employee named Bob jumped into action. He locked the manager in the bathroom, kicked open the shipping door and began loading his truck with new TVs and stereos! Then he drove off to sell his merchandise. Those of us watching were stunned! Even though the ...
Many organizations reward sales people with bonuses, while the administrative staff is forgotten. This may seem fair to some, but is it? King David was victorious over the Amalekites, but 200 of his men, due to exhaustion, had stayed behind to manage the supplies. Some of David’s warriors refused to share the plunder with them. In 1 Samuel 30:23 David ...
For years we hired therapists for our son, Jeremy. Years ago, my wife, Kathy, lined up an interview. While interviewing this person, this young woman shared, unsolicited, that she was an atheist, and from a family of atheists. Kathy and I reasoned: If there’s no belief in God, or any eternal consequences for their behavior, that’s potentially one less reason ...
Michael Ramsden, the international director for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, spoke at my church recently on “Integrity in Business.” One point he drove home, multiple times, is one we often want to avoid discussing – the cost of integrity. In order to coerce integrity, some will try to convince others that integrity will help us make more money, rather than ...
George was a new Christian when he landed a job in a retail industry that many believe to be immoral. His pay and bonus opportunities were incredible! Over the years, his family and friends challenged George’s decision to stay in this job, but he didn’t want to give up his 6 figure income. He began rationalizing the morality of his ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
