Full-time Servant

By: Jack McCall

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

It is so hard to stand our ground when it comes to telling the truth in business. Being the "people-pleaser" and winning at all costs has become very popular in today's society. Unfortunately, it often comes with a costly spiritual price tag. There's such a strong impulse to do anything that will help us retain important relationships with family, friends, employers, customers and people in general. However, this attitude and behavior often stands in the way of being a servant of God.

Recently, I delivered a pricing quote to one of my commercial customers of well over $100,000.00. I knew the customer had invited quotes from my competitors. When all the quotes had been delivered to the customer, I was told that we were significantly lower than any of the competition. A day later an e-mail came to me though, asking if I could beat an even lower price submitted by a competitor. I asked if our quotes had been given to the competitor and the answer came back “Yes”. I told the customer that it would be unethical for us to encourage cheating in order to get him a better price. He asked, "Are you sure?" I said, "I'm very sure." He didn't seem to think he had entertained an unethical practice until I asked if he would tolerate that type of bidding in his business. The customer called back a short time later and said that he had decided to honor our original quote.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE: Do I look away from God's truth when I am searching for the approval of people? Do I talk about being ethical but find backing it up way too difficult? Am I only Christ's servant on a part-time basis or do I stand up for his truth when it really counts?