Why we should embrace and welcome Christian values in business as they are beneficial and conductive for both Profit & Fun

The Bible

The Bible is written by men, and whether there is truth or not beneath the stories in the Bible we cannot know - we can only Believe.

The Bible is in essence a series of moral lectures about what is good and what is not. It is a set of rules for living.

The Bible, true or not in its description of God, is however based on thousands of years of acquired wisdom. It has been built upon experience in human interaction and social settings, and entails the conclusions about what set of rules work well for man and what does not work and the relation to God.

Christianity has brought the basic values which are the fibers of the fabric on which our western culture has established society. It can be argued that the 10 commandments are expressed normative, and therefore they do not constitute values. However there are underlying general principles in the 10 commandments - and thus values. 

The relative peaceful interaction between citizens in the western world is based on these basic values, and in no small manner on the wealth created through and reinforcing them.

As such, if you have come to the conclusion, that we as men can learn from experience and this knowledge can transmit from one man to the next and through time, i.e. learning from history by example, then the values from the Bible are important - even if you are an atheist.

Even if one would not agree with the postulation that Christian Values has been the basis for prosperity in the western world, at least such an assertion calls for reflection.

In the following each of the 10 commandments are discussed and the importance for business and society is assessed.

I. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. 

Man is easily prone to follow other gods - wealth, prestige, ideology or the like. However for moral guidance you should only follow the rules of God, and you should not make up a complex set of rules from different angles from which you can pick and choose. This will be your ruin.

The marxist and socialist ideology will often put the state in place of God, so choosing a system of flawed humans in place of a value system created over thousands of years - and placing social constructions above morals and ethics.

As Thomas Aquinas states you have to preserve the dignity of God. Whether you have a more holistic view on God or a more classical literal understanding of God having a personality, the dignity of God has bearing on you, i.e. it is the dignity you give to God and thereby the importance you give the commandments themselves. If it is not important, then you can follow some of the commandments, and choose other rules as you see fit. This does not work if you want to base a moral system on values. Aquinas also elaborates this as the strength of promise, even though his interpretation is much different. However not to pick and choose in the commandments but follow them as a whole is the consequence of both and also a rational logical conclusion.

In any business setting having some basic rules for engaging in a contract for delivering and receiving goods, is a prerequisite. If you can not expect delivery of goods in a satisfactory condition or expect payment for goods delivered, there is no incentive to do business. So some moral code or value system is necessary.

This basis of the moral framework for such a value system is established by the first commandment.

II. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Words have meaning and will create real change. You must let God be God, and man be man. You shall never raise man to the status of God - then you will be on the wrong path. Man is imperfect and will not be able to create his own morals to follow. So therefore you should avoid idolizing wealth, people or power.

Also trust and consistency is at stake here, as in the first commandment.

Men need to trust each other for society to work, however if you are not trustworthy towards authority how can you be trusted in relations between men.

In "Treatise on Theology and Politics" Spinoza by long winding and logical argument concludes that only the universal rule "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" is enforced and all commandments leads to this. I.e. the golden rule.

In another interpretation, you shall not use the name of the lord to invoke authority where it is not appropriate, i.e. use the commandments for supporting positions that do not work for good. That is, to argue in the name of God for evil ends.

Staying true to the original intention of any value system is crucial for it to work properly, so too is the value system in any business setting - following the spirit of a contract and not any reinterpretation fitting your agenda at the moment is important for anything other than short term relationships. 

III. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

You should prioritize a pause from the everyday wealth creation. This is a time for reflection and a time to evaluate your own position in relation to the moral code and if you live up to Gods commandments. 

The importance of this commandment has a major place in debate in society today in various forms of work-life balance and the resulting burn out when not heeded.

Whether you can work 80 hours per week or your limit is 40 hours, you will need to rest, and also rest for prolonged periods of time, i.e. by example have a day of not working each week. 

IV. Honor thy father and thy mother.

You should honor your parents, as they possess the wisdom of a life lived. 

They have brought you life, and as such you will honor life and show gratitude by honoring father and your mother.

Your parents have been where you are, and they are also your closest network. We all need other people to thrive and create - no man is an island, as it was and is.

The same goes for business, and honoring your parents is a first step in showing appropriate respect for your colleagues, customers and other stakeholders.

V. Thou shalt not kill.

In most civilized countries this commandment is also stated in the law.

There is good reason behind this as following the Kantian Golden Rule of the Categorical Imperative. You do not want others to kill you, so do not do that to other people.

Also many instances in the Bible, show by stories what social unrest killings inflict in societies - which is also legion throughout the literature in fiction as well as in non-fiction.

It is indirectly framed in this commandment, that the value of a human life can not be determined by man, but is solely judged by God.

Without a moral code and values which directly explain that killing is wrong, this is not obvious to man. In many cultures before Christianity, it was thought reasonable and just for the strong to kill the weak. However that line of moral will create an unsafe society with death lurking at the corner. This is not a productive and efficient organization of society for producing wealth and prosperity, unless wealth is created by war on others.

So this value is of high importance for a prosperous society, where freedom can flourish, and thus the implication for business follows directly.

VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

If we give in to our lusts and instincts, we break down valuable social structures. It is valid to question, what is wrong with having sex with someone other than your spouse. It is an act like any other, and you would not deem it wrong to have a BBQ with your friends wife. However throughout history and even in today's free and liberal society, where anything goes; having sex with someone purports something more than simple social relations. It will arouse envy, jealousy and resentment in most people regardless of their religion, culture and upbringing. 

Adultery thus brings unrest in the family at the least.

Having a household with no father brings from all empirical evidence a lower achievement of the offspring, which is a real danger of unrest in the family.

In addition to risking unrest and possibly break up of the family, there is also risk in revenge on the part of the other possible family to which harm is done, as it takes two to do the adultery, unless it is rape. The other part may be unattached, but may also themselves be committing adultery, and thus the risk of some retaliation in kind or other form.

So from an experienced wisdom viewpoint on society it is best if people do not commit adultery for societal peace to persevere.

The implications for business are somewhat indirect, albeit that social unrest is never a good basis for productivity and business in general. 

However, reining your lust and instincts is necessary to participate in cooperation with your fellow man towards any goal, so this commandment has some direct import on business when interpreted.

VII. Thou shalt not steal.

Trust is an important social component, which has a big impact on any social setting, and so naturally also in private enterprise.

Having a rule which prevents you from breaking the trust of others is a good moral rule for securing a productive and prosperous society.

Private property and the protection thereof is key for social peace, as the only other way is for the strong to fight and win, which again might spread to war among the social circles of men - and there will always reside the possibility that someone even stronger will come along and take what has just been acquired. Furthermore, who is the stronger shifts with time, so no one is safe.

In addition, protection of private property is also necessary for true freedom of the individual. If the property you have worked hard to establish is not safe, and anybody who is more powerful can take what is yours by force, there is no incentive for progress, and every action and decision is short term. 

This also goes for business, both in external as well as internal dealings. If you steal from your customers or your suppliers, that will end any long term relations. The same goes for working with your colleagues and not rewarding them as agreed.

VIII. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

A society can not exist based on law, if people bear false witness. If lying is an accepted practice there is no way to settle disputes, unless witnessed by the arbitrator himself in the deed.

The miscarriage of justice by the plebeian mobs in their herd behavior in today's social media, is a good example of people not adhering to this commandment. The implications are legion and obvious for creating unrest and uproar in the social peace.

The direct relation to business is obvious, as honesty in business dealings are a basic necessity.

Lying in any dealings with either customers or suppliers will hurt the relationship, and continuing to be untruthful will end the relations in the long run. 

Naturally the same goes for relations between employees, and between management and employees.

IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.

This commandment is in close relation to not committing adultery. However this is even worse if the adultery is committed with your neighbor. This can add another level of seriousness to the problems.

To covet is not necessarily acting upon that which you desire, it can be merely wanting what is not yours. In addition to covet is not wanting the same thing, i.e. an aspiration to the same level as your neighbor, it is to want exactly that which your neighbor has. So in effect both parties can not have it at the same time, so either it is yours or your neighbors, and therefore a real conflict is presented.

The control over thought and feelings that is implied in this commandment also attest to the unrest that will follow when merely thinking about or looking at another man's wife, or possessions for that matter (as in the tenth commandment) - if you are to live side by side for many years day in and day out this will eventually lead to unrest between you and maybe even spread to the social circles around you.

In a broader sense your co-workers are your neighbors, and in this very direct sense this has bearing on business. However this also translates to the more symbolic interpretation.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.

Envy is bad. To strive for a goal is healthy, however to envy others for their achievement will bring only misery. You will only pester your life with regret by coveting what others have. This can in the end lead to breaking the other commandments or the law - both a problem for peace and prosperity.

In stead you should rejoice in the achievements or the luck of your neighbor.

This commandment is special as it regulates thought. This is a harsh law. To regulate behavior is much more lax, as following a law that forbids behavior is easy compared to the control over your thoughts and emotions. However it is also a necessity for social control, and stopping up to think about what your thoughts are and how they will impact on behavior is paramount. If you think about your thoughts you will restrain your self before your emotions get the better of you.

To covet is to want the specific thing, i.e.to want your neighbors property not something similar. To want something in a generic sense might spur you to work towards achieving it, and that is not what this commandment prohibits. This is to set a goal for your self and work towards it, which in many cases can be good. 

But to want the exact specific property of your neighbor is bad, as the only way to get it is to take what is not yours.

The impact on business is easy to ascertain. You should not be jealous of the success of others, and do not try to work against someone to achieve what he has instead of him. This will only lead to a worse outcome for both you, your colleagues and the company. 

The New Testaments Great Commandment

All this is summed up in the old testament.

Leviticus 19

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

And it is repeated more specifically in the new testament.

Matthew 22

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This is a golden rule formulation, which sums up the 10 commandments in 2, or 1 great commandment.

Even if some thought and emotional control is now introduced over all the old action-oriented rules, it is by the aforementioned interpretation clear what is meant. The meaning is more indirect than in the 10 commandments and thereby harder to decipher.

So it takes an elaborate interpretation to get the Kantian categorical imperative from these statements, however almost all human beings in the western world will know, what the meaning is of "love your neighbor as yourself'.

The values of business

Naturally it follows that if these values as argued are good for prosperity and wealth creation, then they are good values to base business dealings on and to build upon in the culture of a firm.

Trust builds through observed behavior, but you have to start off somewhere.

So having a set of common values that makes you trustworthy is a good starting point for agreements about commerce. In essence a contract is just a formulation in juridic terms of a promise to do something - perform work or pay for it.

All work internally as externally in any company is based on a promise to deliver formulated in a contract - written or verbal. I.e. the management and operations carrying out even the smallest tasks are implicitly based in this principle. So then the common set of values become very important, and the specific set of values in Christianity has made it possible in the western world to make this fiber of the fabric of society work smoothly and work so well that it has been internalized to such a degree, that most people are not even aware of the importance of their cultural basis.

Would this be possible to achieve with some other value system? 

One could in principle set up another number of values on which to run a company. However the real efficiency of the values of Christianity is, that it is a shared value system. Not only shared in one country, so that you may actually easily expect this to be the basic value system of your employees; but shared by all countries in the western world, so that when you do business with other companies, you can also expect them to be based on these values.

Christianity was and is pervasive, and it is for practical purposes the same system throughout the world, so you can recognize this in other people who you do business with.

In addition the value system is not underlying in some obscure sense to be derived through text interpretation, but is instead clear and outspoken in the commandments.

Are Judeo-Christian Values real?

The overlap between Christianity and Judaism is large, however most simplistic and condense in its representation in the 10 commandments. 

It is the idea of God, which is important, not the per se existence of God. Which is to a large degree the same in Judaism and Christianity.

There is no immediate or direct punishment for not following the moral laws set out in the Bible - it is your own conscience and in effect the social order, which gives the punitive effect.

The idea of good and evil and the laws of that realm needs authority, and it needs authority not validated by men, but by some higher order.

So in conclusion we have to act as if God exists, in order for us to be moral beings.

Some disagree with the use of the concept of Judeo-Christian Values, others do not believe in God.

However, that matters not. Whether it is your position that it was not Judaism or Christianity that came up with these values, and that they have been around for a long time before Judaism, they are the basis of western culture, and Christianity has been the driver, which has made them pervasive. The Judeo-Christian Values are weaved into our culture even if we are not raised in the faith, and as such we as a society are the product of these values, whether we like it or not.

So heed the Judeo-Christian Values, be aware of them and promote them in your company and you will be successful in your endeavors, and have both: