Three Rules for Promise Keeping

William Nix

From: Transforming Your Workplace for Christ (Broadman & Holman, 1997)

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Rule 1:  Promise Only That Which Is Consistent with God’s Word and His Will.

In the Old Testament, Jonathan promised loyalty to his friend David. When Jonathan’s father, King Saul, demanded that Jonathan find David so that he could kill him, Jonathan instead kept his promise of protection to David. Why would Jonathan side with David over his own father, the king? Because David was acting in a godly manner while Saul was not. Killing David would not have been consistent with God’s Word or God’s will.

To take a contemporary business example, what about Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy’s promise to close his restaurants on the Sabbath?  Is his stand consistent with God’s Word?  I believe Cathy is perfectly in line with God’s Word, so he appears to be following this first rule of promise keeping.

What about you?  Do you run your commitments through the filter of Scripture?

Rule 2:  Promise Only That Which Is in the Best Interest of the Recipient.

Often we are asked to “help” people in ways that are not in their best interest.  A clear example of this occurs when a transient person asks you for cash for food or travel or some other worthy-sounding purpose.  I advocate helping homeless people, but the most appropriate way to help them may be to take them to a restaurant and buy their food for them r to accompany them to the bus station and purchase their ticket for them.  Unfortunately, cash I often used for purposes that harm rather than help.

We must be shrewd because often we are asked to help people in the workplace when our involvement may actually hurt.  Jake, my coworker, invited me to lunch to discuss a problem he was having.  He sought my advice and help to stop drinking.  Jake had been ticketed for driving under the influence, and his initial attempts to quit cold turkey proved difficult.  I helped Jake find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.  We met for lunch regularly, and I would ask Jake if he had taken a drink.  For a while Jake seemed to make progress, but one day he admitted to taking a drink.  Then a pattern developed.  Every time I asked Jake if he had taken a drink, he quickly answered yes.  I insisted he find a treatment facility and check in, but he ignored my advice.  Therefore I stopped meeting him for lunch.  Why?  Because my continued presence at lunch communicated a message to Jake that his alcohol abuse was somewhat acceptable.  My promise to share lunch and hold Jake accountable was becoming hurtful to him.

Sharon was Patti’s coworker.  Sharon was always late for work and asked Patti to cover her tardiness until she arrived.  Patti promised that she would.  One day turned into two, then three, and soon a regular pattern had developed.  Sharon always had a great excuse, but rarely did she have a good reason for being late to work.  Patti soon realized that while covering for Sharon seemed compassionate at first, a destructive habit had formed.  Patti confronted Sharon, ending the cover-up and forcing Sharon to confront her problem.

To keep our promises, we must sometimes look beyond what we are asked to do and determine the real need.  That is, being a promise keeper means acting on the need and not necessarily the request.  My alcoholic friend asked me to meet with him and advise, but he needed to confront his problem.  Sharon asked Patti to cover her tardiness for what sounded like very good reasons, but Sharon needed to change her bad habit.  Patti and I could have continued to accommodate our friends, but true promise keeping means we act on a person’s need, not their request. 

Rule 3: Promise Only That Which You Know You Can Deliver

Income is important.  That is a major reason why we work.  For some, it is the only reason they work.  Barry is a stockbroker; he sells stocks and bonds.  He works on commission.  If Barry sells a security to a customer, he gets paid.  If Barry fails to make a sale, he does not get paid.  So who could blame him if he overstates the potential of an investment to make the sale?  Many commissioned salespeople say whatever is necessary to get a sale.  Then again, there are many commissioned salespeople who understand the long-term nature of good relationships.  These promise keepers understand rule 3 of keeping promises.

Income is not the only motivation for promising more than we know we can deliver.  Some people push us to promise delivery of a good or service that we know is not realistic.  The easy response is to agree to something we know cannot be accomplished just to get the pushy customer off our back. Watch out! This trap will sink your ship.

Take the Threefold Test

Before you make a promise, take the threefold test.  Will your commitments be consistent with God’s Word and His will?  Are you promising to do only that which is in the best interest of your coworkers, customer, and friends?  Are you promising only that which you know you can deliver? Tasks as simple and seemingly unimportant as returning phone calls on time can affect your witness, so become intentional about keeping your promises!

From: Transforming Your Workplace for Christ, © Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997. Used by permission.

William Nix is president of Faith@Work, a ministry that challenges, teaches, and encourages Christians to bring Christ into the workplace.