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Ask Pastor John
When Your Boss Expects You to Lie
00:10:11
How do we respond when an employer expects us to compromise the truth? Pastor John offers counsel for keeping an uncompromised faith in the workplace.
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- [00:04]
A
Well, you're sitting at your desk running the numbers and your boss has made it clear if you want to hit your quotas, you're going to have to bend the truth. Just a little. Leave out a detail here, mislead a client there. If you don't do it, you could lose your job and your family is counting on you. But if you do do it, if you would compromise the truth, you would know it. How can you survive a high stress cutthroat industry without selling out your soul? Today on Ask Pastor John when your boss expects you to lie. The question is from a 35 year old man in sales. Pastor John, hello and thank you for this podcast. My high pressure job requires me to mislead clients to meet quotas. That's the blunt reality. Jesus says in Matthew 5:37 that my yes should be a firm yes. I should mean what I say to mislead is evil, and I don't think any good can come from being evil. As Paul says in Romans 3:8 and if I am a new creature in Christ, I should not lie to others. As Colossians 3. 9 says, I tell my children all of these things. So how do I live out this life of honest virtue in such a cutthroat industry that requires coercive practices? Is it permissible to be reserved and not always forthright with clients about what I know? If I refuse to compromise, I risk losing my job and my family. Depends on my income. How do I navigate small daily compromises without losing my integrity?
- [01:30]
B
There's a connection between faith in the promises of God on the one hand and obedience to the commandments of God on the other hand. That's the crucial thing to see. All disobedience, little or big, is owing in some measure to a lack of faith in the promises of God. And not trusting God to fulfill his promises is a vote of no confidence in God. You don't want to do that. So if God says not to steal and we steal, it's because we don't trust him to take care of us. If God says don't be anxious and our behavior is governed by anxiety, it's because we don't trust his promise to meet our needs. If God says not to lie or bear false witness and we fudge on the truth, it's because we don't trust him to work everything together for our good. Faith and obedience go together. Disobedience is a sign of unbelief. Psalm 84:11 says, the Lord is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. If we don't walk uprightly, it's because we don't believe this. We don't believe this promise that he won't withhold anything good from us. Of course, the Lord may require you to have great sacrifices for the sake of your integrity and your faith. Jesus said, whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12 Obedience is costly. It is. It always is, sooner or later. But it doesn't cost you your joy, it doesn't cost your significance, it doesn't cost your integrity, it doesn't cost your salvation. Those are all intensified. Even though we may have to make sacrifices in order to walk uprightly and to maintain our integrity, God won't withhold from us what is most precious. Himself, his fellowship, his salvation, his love, his care, his gift of the ability to do the will of God and glorify His Name and experience profound joy, no matter the cost. Listen to these amazing promises that God gives to you directly to encourage you to do the right thing, to take the risk, to maintain your integrity, and to be a clear witness for him. For example, Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him, he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. I remember my father telling me how when I was six years old, he faced a terrible financial crisis that might have meant bankruptcy and losing everything because of a real estate investment he had made that went bad. And he told me that the main lesson he learned was was the difference between submitting to the Lord and committing his way to the Lord. This is his way of talking. You can agree or disagree, but it was so helpful to me to think in these terms. What he meant was, when you commit your way to the Lord, you do the right thing, you go the right way, and you totally hand over commitment the consequences to God and trust him to vindicate your integrity. And he did. That's what Jesus wants us to believe when he says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 Doing the right thing may be costly, but you will have what you need. What you need to do is will, what you need to glorify his name. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, that is for doing the Right thing for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He's a shield to those who walk in integrity. Yes, he is. He will protect you from things that are far worse than financial stress or even financial ruin. You get a shield, you get heaven. And think of the good that will come to your children if you only think of the material costs and what they may go without. You're forgetting the deep and lasting lessons your children will get from seeing their father do the right thing at great cost. Here's Proverbs 27. The righteous who walks in his integrity, blessed are his children after him. What a blessing to have a dad who does the right thing, not a dad who compromises. And what a warning the Bible gives us about little compromises leading to great sins and great disasters. Oh my goodness. King David takes an innocent stroll on his roof, then a lustful glance, then adultery, then an attempt to deceive his friend, then murder, then the death of the child. You get it? I mean, that's the way it goes. Little compromises lead to big tragedies. But on the other hand, what wonderful examples the Bible gives us of people who did the hard thing and risked their own hurt. Like Psalm 15. Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. In other words, you keep your word at any cost. You do that and you will dwell on God's holy hill. It may be costly, he calls it hurt. Swear to your own hurt, but you'll be with God on his holy hill. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego kept their integrity, thrown into the fiery furnace. Daniel kept his integrity, thrown into the lion's den. Joseph kept his integrity and wouldn't sleep with Potiphar's wife. Thrown into prison, Esther kept her integrity and said, I'm going to do the right thing, and if I perish, I perish. Esther 4. All these examples are meant to help us in little things and big things. To trust God's promises and to do his will no matter what. So I am praying for you. I really am. Right now, I am praying for you that you believe. Philippians 4:19. My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, and that you will do the right thing. Your joy will be deeper and Christ will be honored.
- [09:00]
A
Yeah, the core issue isn't the quotas, it's the trust. Disobedience is always an act of unbelief bending. The truth at work means you don't actually believe that my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. It's scary to risk your livelihood, but if you hold your ground and you do the right thing, your joy will be deeper and Christ will be honored in your life and your testimony We've talked about the pressures Christians face in the workplace. For more Here, see the AskPastreJohn book through that section on how to climb the corporate ladder and glorify God as you do on pages 75 and 76. Other related things of value there too, in that section. If you want more, see the ASPASJohn book, pages 75 and 76. Start there and then branch out next time. We're back to look at how to honor God with the suffering of others that we see on our screens. A sort of digital take on Luke 13:1 5, a text in our reading to start the month of August. August is already here. Important stuff to know in a world where suffering finds its way so quickly to the screens in our pockets. I'm Tony Reinke. Pastor John and I will see you back here on Thursday.