Doing Justice in the Marketplace

Richard Chewning

From: Biblical Principles & Business: The Practice (NavPress, 1990)

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With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?…

Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

(Micah 6:6-8)

One of the most frequently quoted Old Testament passages is this:  “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  I had memorized it years before I wrestled with its deeper meaning, especially with what it means to “do justice.”  I had always thought of justice as something related to making judgments about one’s guilt or innocence, or about the appropriate retribution due as a consequence of causing harm.  I did not realize that doing justice was usually synonymous with the idea of righteousness in the Scripture – doing what the Lord wants in the manner He wants it done.  In fact, justice and righteousness come from the same root word in the Hebrew.  So, the first thing the Lord requires of us is to do what is right (godly) in the marketplace.

Yes, in the marketplace!  The prophet Micah is speaking explicitly to people involved in the marketplace.  Through Micah, God addressed the injustices He saw as men and women went about their daily commercial tasks (cf. Micah 2:1-2). 

In fact, the very context of the Micah 6:6-8 passage is concerned with economic justice.  God asks, “Can I justify wicked scales and a bag of deceptive weights?” (v. 11).  And the seventh chapter begins,

Woe is me! For I am like the fruit pickers and the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes [for the grape pickers] to eat, or a first-ripe fig which I crave.

Malachi also cries out in God’s name “against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages” (Mal. 3:5).  The reference is not to the unemployed but to those being paid the competitive market rate yet are still in poverty after receiving their wages (while the owners grow wealthy).  Amos is burdened with the same concerns (see Amos 2:6-7; 4:1; 5:7,11; 8:4-6).

Over four hundred times Scripture speaks of justice and righteousness and frequently calls for them in the context of the marketplace.  The character and behavior embodied in the concepts of justice and righteousness are obviously extremely important to God, and we will explore here what it means to do justice in eight different business relationships.  As we do this, though, we should remember that true righteousness (doing justice) will frequently cause those with whom we work to have mixed reactions regarding us.  On the one hand, our superiors will frequently admire and respect us for righteous conduct.  On the other hand, our peers may come to dislike us because of the very standards we set and uphold through our conduct, which convicts them of their own substandard conduct.  This is precisely why Cain slew Abel and is one of the primary reasons the world hates God’s children (see 1 John 3:11-13).

Doing Justice to Employers

Work – Most employers would agree that good employees are difficult to find.  They typically are referring to employees who work hard and effectively.  Working hard, or the work ethic, has its genesis in the biblical ethic our forefathers brought to this country.  Max Weber dubbed it the Protestant Ethic.  The Apostle Paul espoused it when he wrote to the Colossians, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for me” (Col. 3:23, emphasis added; also see Rom. 14:6-9; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17).

One of my earliest memories of work involves being encouraged by a fellow worker to follow him around so he could teach me how to look busy and generate the impression I was working hard while not really doing much.  (I neither followed him nor practiced his deception.)  But we do not have to go this far to cheat our employers out of our wages.  Halfhearted work qualifies as theft; habitual tardiness and early departures are no better than stealing; taking advantage of sick-leave policies to go hunting or to just rest when one is not “up to par” are dishonest behaviors; and wasting time talking with others (two or more people are now taken from their work) is a violation of the Eighth Commandment regarding stealing.  This point even applies to evangelizing on the job during business hours when both persons should be doing what they were employed to do.  Doing justice means we will give a full day’s work for a full day’s pay.

Stewarding resources – Employees have many opportunities to practice responsible stewardship over the assets entrusted to them – from the selections of hotel accommodations and food on a business trip on the careful preparation of a capital budget that will eventually compete with similar requests for a company’s limited resources.  Another everyday example is the perception that there is nothing wrong with taking business supplies home for personal use.  However, it is absolutely unethical to use business materials at home without explicit permission.  We must be faithful in small things before Christ will trust us with larger responsibilities (see Matt. 25:21).  The possible illustrations are many, but if we are aware that we have such stewardship responsibilities, it is not too hard to figure out what is just and right with regard to the use of business property.

Obeying policies - A general biblical principle regarding submission tells us we are to take seriously our obligation to do what those in authority over us ask of us, so long as the request does not contradict God’s expresses will (see Eph. 5:21; 6:5-9; Col. 3:22; 1 Tim. 6:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:13-17).  An owner or a manager has the responsibility to determine which policies will help the business reach its goals most effectively.  Persons placed in positions of responsibility may, therefore, establish policies regarding everything from outlining dress codes (for reasons of safety or the projections of a business image) to prohibiting employees from accepting invitations to sporting events as guests of suppliers and customers.  (Christ gave directions to us for combing our hair and washing our face to guard what may be communicated when we fast [see Matt. 6:16-18].)

Loyalty – Biblically, loyalty and faithfulness are closely related.  So long as we choose to work for people in an organization, we are obligated to respect and protect their good name and to avoid all conduct that might undermine their or the business’s reputation in the marketplace.  Bad-mouthing an employer – whether off duty or on duty – is unrighteous conduct.  Or accepting employment with an organization that has a quality training program, with the intention of leaving after garnering the benefits of the training, is deceitful and disloyal.  Being careless with proprietary information in the marketplace or intentionally using it to secure employment with a competitor is also absolutely unethical.  Doing justice to employers covers these and many more concerns.

Doing Justice to Employees

Compensation – Although the free market system has over time enhanced the physical standard of living for a larger proportion of society’s population than any other economic system, the free market is still not devoid of rather widespread compensation injustices.  Israel enjoyed a predominantly free market during its biblical days, but the prophet Malachi was moved by God to pronounce His imminent judgment on persons “who oppress the wage earner in his wages” (Mal. 3:5).

In our country, the gap between the incomes of those in the top fifteen percent of the income scale and those in the bottom fifteen percent continues to widen.  Executives in the United States, for example, earn approximately ten times what the average employee earns, while in Japan the ratio is about four to one.  These differences reflect pervasive ethical values that influence the market, and not some natural economic law.

Compensation discrimination occurring along sex and race lines reflects entrenched and perverted values.  The same can be said for the compensation packages frequently offered to top executives but not generally to those in lower echelons.  Profit sharing and stock option plans, for example, should be as readily available for one class of workers as another.  Economic laws alone do not determine equity in the marketplace.

Stewardship of Ideas – Our economic system rewards managers and monetarily discriminates against laborers on the grounds that managers are the innovators and risk bearers while laborers contribute little besides their physical and technical skills.  This position is not realistic when examined in the light of the experiences of organizations that encourage and reward employees for the experiences of organizations that encourage and reward employees for creative ideas and stewardly conduct.  The lower ranks seem as capable of innovative thinking as managers.  Supervisors who want to glorify God should search for ways to encourage and release the creative abilities of their subordinates so that their greatest possible contribution can be achieved and their highest potential developed.  It is incumbent upon every steward to provide opportunities for others to grow and assume meaningful responsibility.

Health and Safety – God’s precepts assert that “when you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it” (Deut. 22:8).  From that statement and similar ones, we can rightly conclude that health and safety are equated with blood guiltiness in the mind of God and should therefore be extremely important to us.  It is no violation of the intent of God’s Word to carry this interest in health and safety to the point of being concerned about stress in the workplace and its effect on the health and well-being of workers’ family life.  For example, too much overtime work, though financially rewarding in the short run, can be detrimental to health and family needs in the long run.  Justice demands that we have a sincere concern for the health and safety of our employees on the job.

Discrimination – Discrimination is an inherent part of the natural order and an essential component of choice.  We all must make decisions involving some process of selection that automatically results in discrimination.  Moral judgments are essentially discriminatory.  Unjust discrimination, however, is the result of improper judgments, and that is at the center of our society’s historic concern regarding this entire issue.  At the very core of unjust discrimination lies the use of inappropriate criteria for making moral judgments.  Unjust discrimination reveals an ungodly form of favoritism and rejection that violates biblical norms.  God is not a respecter of persons, and unjust discrimination is an abomination to Him (see Deut. 10:17; Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; James 2:1-9; 1 Pet. 1:17).  The first line of defense against unjust discrimination must be constructed in our thinking as we realize that our “old nature” will automatically become protective and defensive when our psychological comfort is threatened.  This perverted reflex is at the root of discrimination and generally reveals personal insecurities or false pride. 

Doing Justice to Peers

Building up, tearing down – The apostles gave Joseph of Cyprus the name of Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, because of his propensity to build up his fellow workers (see Acts 4:36).  He enhanced life and elevated people’s worth by encouraging their good while simultaneously covering their sin and deficiencies with love.  Barnabas, as you remember, did not abandon John Mark when Paul refused to let him go on the second missionary journey (see Acts 15:36-41).  Love covers a multitude of transgressions and problems (see Ps. 32:1; Prov. 10:12; James 5:20; 1 Pet. 4:8). Love encourages the best, even in the face of inadequacies.  Personal insecurities, bitterness, jealousy, and an unforgiving spirit frequently generate gossip, sow seeds of distrust, find fault in others, and impugn the reputation of others.  God hates all these things.  Justice cries for the spirit of Barnabas and repudiates the spirit that tears others down.  We are to build up our peers in an honest, constructive manner.

Crediting others – Plagiarism is not confined to the academic world or the profession of writing.  Taking personal credit for good ideas or results for which others deserve recognition is rampant in the world of business, too.  For example, a group leader can easily report to a superior and imply (if not overtly claim) that the positive results coming from the group ought to be credited to the leader rather than group members who actually made the specific contributions.  The biblical standard calls us to look out for the interests of others, not just our own (see Rom. 15:1-2; 1 Cor. 10:24; Phil. 2:4).  Stealing credit is just that – stealing!  Justice demands that credit be accurately awarded as surely as it requires the careful placement of blame.

Helping – Bearing one another’s burdens fulfills a vital aspect of the law of love (see Gal. 6:2), that of helping our peers (and others) who may be overwhelmed with their work at a time when we are free to assist them. Being of help (bearing their burdens) can run the gamut from stuffing envelopes to performing computer tasks at our work station that can be reintegrated into their work at a later point.  Righteousness expressed in this form does two things:  It lightens the load while reducing the pressure, and it expresses an interest in and concern for the individual being helped.  This is doing justice in the marketplace.

Doing Justice to Customers

Truth telling – At the point of sale, when the seller and the buyer meet face to face, the seller has opportunities to be “less than candid” to make the sales offer appealing.  Stretching the truth, exaggerating performance expectations, being silent when less than positive facts ought to be shared, answering questions with half-truths, and making promises that cannot be kept are all ethical temptations. The inevitable rationalizations accompanying such behavior are generally grounded in the belief that statements “smoothing the way” are insignificant.  If people truly believed such behavior was insignificant, though, they would avoid it and build their reputation on impeccable integrity, which God desires.  God cannot ignore such self-promoting behavior.  He hates lying in any form, and broken promises violate His will.  David once asked and noted,

O Lord, who may abide in thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart… [And] swears to his own hurt, and does not change. (Ps. 15:1-2, 4)

Quality / price – Tampering with a product’s quality while maintaining the price, or even raising it (without disclosing the intended change), is likened to harlotry by God (see Isa. 1:21-22).  In a world of material abundance, the opportunities to adversely alter quality yet maintain existing price structures in highly competitive markets facing rising costs are temptation many succumb to.  If the product can be reengineered to reduce costs without adversely affecting the quality, that is good stewardship.  But reducing a product’s quality while maintaining its price is deceitful.  The intentions of the heart are always open before God, and we must avoid self-serving rationalizations in such matters and carry out justice in the marketplace for our customers.  God’s requirements for behavior and standards are clearly devoid of even the appearance of deception or dishonesty, and ours ought to be, too.

Service – Because the United States economy is rapidly becoming service oriented, doing justice in service areas is going to become much more ethically significant.  It is important to meet the expectations for service we generate at the time of the original sale.  To do less is to perpetuate injustice.  For example, the quality of replacement parts used in servicing products should be a major concern of persons offering the service.  Customers need to be made aware of their choices as to quality of replacement parts and the extent of the service made available.  To illustrate, if a new fully warranted (three years) electric motor costing $785 is available as a replacement, and a rebuilt motor with a ninety-day warranty is also available for $350, the customer needs to be fully informed of these options and allowed to choose accordingly.  Otherwise, potential problems and the appearance of deception cannot be avoided in the future.  If the owner assumed a new motor was installed, but the cheaper motor was used and it broke down in 250 days, a misunderstanding is obviously at hand.  Although customers can bring disappointments on themselves by “sharp bargaining” and the self-generation of false expectations, Christians should make every effort not to create those situations or allow them to develop.  Clarifying actions should be taken up front to minimize this possibility.

Doing Justice to Competitors

Pirating – Efforts to secure proprietary information from competitors, which are widespread in many industries, are simply forms of stealing.  Such activity can occur intentionally by hiring personnel from a competitor, by attempting to purchase inside information from willing informants, by collecting a competitor’s trash and searching it for revealing information, or by taking the competitor’s product and making just enough minor alterations to it to claim that the differences are significant and not an encroachment on a patent or copyright.  Competing in this manner is really an admission that the perpetrator is incapable, for whatever reason, of being a genuine leader on individual merits and must therefore cheat to gain an advantage.  It is a form of stealing that is as wrong as robbing a bank.

Intentional attacks – Does the Bible ever encourage or permit the intentional hurting of someone?  Can God delight in one human trying to tear another one down?  No!  We are told, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it and be displeased” (Prov. 24:17-18).  Efforts such as employing “disinformation” and the intentional fanning of harmful rumors are ungodly behaviors.  The Scripture warns us not to delight in another’s troubles; any form of acrimonious competition between people in the marketplace is called “vanity and striving after wind” (Eccles. 4:4).  Scripture never urges us to focus on our neighbors in an effort to get ahead of them.  Instead, we are to use our imagination, creativity, resources, and abilities so that we can glorify God as we serve others.  Competition is a fact of live and a part of the natural law operating in a fallen world, but it is not the purpose behind business or the motivation force for Christians.

Respect – We are commanded to love our enemies (make a commitment to act in a godly way for their best interest), so it is not asking too much of us to love those who work beside us in the marketplace, offering alternatives to our products and services.  These people are surely not our enemies but fellow sojourners who are also attempting to exercise dominion over the created order.  We are to respect them and avoid all demeaning and disrespectful conduct that could reflect adversely on them.  We are to be kind and build up their self-worth when it is in our power to do so.  Acknowledging another’s success, complimenting (encouraging) the other’s integrity, and gracefully handing our own successes in the presence of our competitors are all part of doing justice in the marketplace.  Christ would have us do no less.

Doing Justice to Owners

Financial fidelity – Earlier in this volume I discussed the “business investment” subject of corporate directors and managers becoming owners of the very corporations they had been managing through leveraged buyouts (LBOs).  The inherent conflict of interest in those particular circumstances was described and the practice denounced.  For an agent who represents a body of owners to profit at the owners’ expense is simply unethical.  The same conflict of interest issues are present when managers and directors take actions to provide themselves with special monetary benefits (extraordinary severance pay known as “golden parachutes,” for example) should an unwelcome corporate raider buy the business and then dismiss them. This practice is self-serving and seldom in the best interest of the owners, even though it is widespread today.  Still other directors and managers create what have been called “poison pills,” which are designed to set in motion, at the conclusion of a takeover, specific disruptive policies that would create adverse financial conditions in the acquired firm.,  They do this to discourage potential uninvited buyers from trying to take over the business.  Behavior of this kind is also highly unethical, for it drives away legitimate buyers who might benefit the existing owners.  LBOs, “poison pills,” and “golden parachutes” are all unethical practices.

Compensation – In a free market economy, one would hope to see some correlation between the salaries executives earn and the level of efficiency and productivity of the organizations they manage.  Such a correlation does not exist.  There is a correlation, however, between the size of the corporations (dollars of sales) and the salaries of the chief executive officers.  There is a great deal more interest in corporate mergers and acquisitions that create larger economic units than there is in pursuing relationships that might result in greater efficiency and productivity.  That size represents financial power has proven more valuable to the personal interests of the executives than has the rate of return on equity or the return on a dollar of sales.  Doing justice for the owners would mean that efficiency and productivity play a more significant role in the evaluation of officers and their financial rewards than they do.  This compensation issue raises a fundamental question about the accountability (and ultimately the legitimacy) of corporate management in larger corporations where the owners are numerous, scattered, and unable to monitor the directors and managers.  Directors and managers in the largest corporations have ascended to their seats of power through means other than ownership and are able to self-perpetuate themselves with little accountability apart from the internal standards they established.  This does not create the best climate for doing justice to the owners.

Doing Justice to Government

Obedience – A careful reading of Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1-2, and 1 Peter 2:13-17 makes it abundantly clear that God is the establisher of governments; He has established governments to be His ministers for good; we are to obey and live in submission to the governing authorities; and we are to pay taxes, observe governing customs, honor those in authority, and fear their authority.  Therefore, we are to obey the laws in the marketplace, even when we disagree with them.  In the 1970s, as federal regulations multiplied, there was an enormous increase in the reporting of businesses breaking the law.  The two major reasons offered by businesses at the time for their behavior were that (1) business leaders resented the regulations and chose to ignore them and (2) the economics of breaking the law were better than the economics of obeying the law (that is, the penalties were not severe enough).  Such illegal conduct, on both accounts, was wrong.  The law, however, should be a minimum (not a maximum) standard for business conduct.  While there are certainly some unreasonable and counterproductive government regulations (we must obey these, too), the majority of the concerns embodied in the law are legitimate.  Christian businesspeople should, in most cases, exceed the government’s standards.  Christians should see that God’s standards of justice are being met, and if they are, it is unlikely that the government’s standards will be higher than those they have voluntarily selected.

Doing Justice to Society

Community responsibilities – A major disappointment with modern business is that corporations are often silent and fail to act responsibly on behalf of the larger community interests.  As the most powerful economic entities in our communities, they ought to assume responsibility for seeking social justice and economic justice – the two are often inseparable.  Business leaders will complain bitterly when local, state, and federal governments pass regulations requiring them to do what they ought to do voluntarily, but they rarely act for social righteousness.  For example, no one seriously doubts that automobile emissions and industry pollutants are the principal culprits in the creation of acid rain.  Yet industry has done little to seek a solution or to encourage self-regulation in an effort to eliminate the problem.  In fact, much lobbying has been conducted to stop or slow the development of emissions regulations.  How sad!

Christians in the marketplace should lead efforts encouraging self-regulation, and if this fails, they should be prepared to seek public assistance in bringing about justice in the marketplace through incentives (first) and, if necessary, through legal mandate.  Someone must look out for the general public’s interest.  I would like to see business leaders in the forefront of such concerns so that those who govern have less reason to further regulate business.

Companies generally avoid public involvement in social issues, such as public housing or voter registration matters, but the leaders of our largest corporations should speak out as community leaders for social justice or economic justice whenever they discern its absence.  Christians must learn to take seriously the reality that “like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked” (Prov. 25:26).  Christians must call for justice and righteousness wherever they are perverted.

Doing Justice Requires Love and Wisdom

The examples above of doing justice to employers, employees, peers, customers, competitors, owners, government, and society barely scratch the surface of what is embodied in Micah’s call to do justice in the marketplace, but they are a start. Christians in the marketplace must explore, with God’s help (biblical study, prayer, and fellowship in a Christian accountability group), how to realize God’s call to do justice where they work.

Being salt and light in the marketplace depends on our attitudes, motives, and actions, which ought to manifest a loving concern for the accomplishment of justice. Our love needs to be expressed “in such a way” (Matt. 5:16) that it truly reflects God’s means and ends, so that those who see it are affected by it. They will ultimately have to acknowledge to God that they were without excuse when they resisted justice. To do this requires a good deal of wisdom, but we lack such wisdom only when we fail to ask God for it, because He delights in providing it (James 1:5).

From: Biblical Principles & Business: The Practice, (NavPress), copyright © 1990 by Richard Chewning. Used by permission.