Image by Rudy
and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
I was having dinner with a friend the other day. We were talking about his business and how he runs it. He said there are two ways, broadly speaking, that you can run a business. You can maximize profit by paying your employees the minimum amount necessary to keep them from quitting and by charging your customers the maximum amount you think they’ll pay. And that works. You’ll make money. But you’ll have a high employee turnover. And if you charge your customers too much, you’ll lose them.
Alternately, you can pay your employees based on the value
they bring the company and the customers, and you can charge your customers a
fair price for the work you’re doing. You’ll probably make less money, but you’ll
have a lower employee turnover and your word of mouth from your customers will
be good because everyone likes to feel like they’re valued.
The conversation moved on, but I was struck by why different
people make different decisions on how to run their businesses. I have, in the time
between then and now, decided that a lot of it hinges on value. More precisely,
the question hinges on who we value.
The first method, the method that maximizes profit, is the
natural choice you would make if you’re the most important person in your
world. It doesn’t matter if customers or employees feel like they’re being taken
advantage of provided you take care of yourself. Put that way, it makes the
person running the business sound selfish. Which is accurate, but we try to
hide the selfishness by calling it business.
The second method doesn’t minimize profits, perse. What it
does is maximize value. It’s the natural choice if you feel like people are
more important than money. That’s not to say money isn’t important. It’s how
the employees and the boss get paid and buy food and clothes and pay for
internet service to read blog posts. It means that making money is less
important than people.
The first method is not compatible with a Christian worldview.
It does not allow you to love others as you love yourself. It does not allow you to see others as eternal
creations loved by God. It turns other people into things, ways to make money,
instead of people to love. It imbalances the order of creation by putting you
above your fellow humans. And it’s the kind of worldview that leads to people
fighting each other to get on top rather than working together to make
something of value.
The danger of the first worldview is not just that it
dehumanizes humans, but that it’s so very easy to fall into. There’s nothing wrong
with profit. And how do you draw the line? How do you know what is fair and
just and shows value for everyone involved? How do you know when you’ve gone
from loving your neighbor to using your neighbor for your own ends?
I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that. Business is
hard. People are hard. Sin is easy to slip into. And the currents of this world
draw us into a life that is not the life we were made by God to live. In fact, I
think that running a godly business requires a life of constant reflection and
evaluation. Which sounds hard. But it is definitely worthwhile.
I’m proud of my friend for running his business in a way
that honors God and respects people. He’s not perfect, but his heart is in the
right place. I don’t own a business, but I hope that the way I live my life also
reflects a love and respect for God and for the people around me.
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