MODULE 9

CHRISTIAN ETHICS FOR THE MARKETPLACE

Learning Guide:

Topic: Christian Ethics for the Marketplace

Time frame: April 2– April 10, 2020
Output (Online Quiz): April 10, 2020

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, the learners are expected to:

• Discuss the concept of Christian Ethics and its role in the propagation of the Gospel
message in the marketplace
• Explain the foundational elements found in the Scripture that support the need for
Christian witness in the workplace
• Discuss the various ways in which Christian moral values can impact the workplace
and foster an environment for Christian witness
• Integrate biblical truths about marketplace evangelism

Christian Ethics for the Marketplace(Soo Hoo, n.d.)

Hill, Just Business: Christian Ethics for the Marketplace, 2008(Hill, 2018)

1. Bearing God’s image by having his character

2. Be holy as God is holy

a. Do not render yourselves detestable … you shall not make yourselves

unclean … For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and
be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean … For I am the
Lord who brought you from Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I
am holy … to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean Lev
11:43:47

1. holy: clean, undefiled by unclean things

2. imitate God’s character
3. God selected Israel to be uniquely his people
4. by delivering them from Egyptian bondage
5. consecration: intentional devotion to the Lord
a) fulfill his purpose in our lives
b) submit to his authority expressed in Scripture
c) living intentional, conscientious lives that please him
6. I am the Lord your God”: a special relationship

b. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God … chosen you to be a people
for His own possession out of all the peoples on earth. The Lord did not set
his love on you nor choose you because you were more than other peoples,
for you were the fewest of all peoples Deut. 7:6-7

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 a. God chose Israel to be his own
b. as an expression of love
c. unconditional election: they were fewest
d. unique identity distinct from all others

c. The Lord will establish you as a holy people to himself … if you keep the
commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. So all the peoples
of the earth will see you are called by the name of the Lord; they will fear you.
Deut 28:9- 10
1. being holy:
2. submit to his authority + obey his commands
3. maintain the appropriate lifestyle: his ways
4. the world knows you bear the Lord’s name
5. fear: awe usually reserved for God Jos 24:14

3. Be just as God is just

a. I proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock! His
work is perfect, for all his ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without
injustice, righteous and upright is he Deut 32:3- 4

1) God’s deeds perfect because all his ways just - any injustice: imperfect
way
2) his faithfulness: faithful to justice, no deviation
3) righteous/upright: character confirmed by acts of justice

b. You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measuring weight or capacity. You

shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the
Lord your God, who brought you out from Egypt. You shall thus observe all
my statutes and ordinances to do them; I am the Lord Lev 19:35-37

1. I am the Lord: authority behind the command

2. no wrong judgment: just measures
3. reflects on God’s character
4. seen in relationships of covenant community

c. You shall not distort justice … be partial … take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the
eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice you shall
pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving
you Deut 16:19-20

1. avoid:
i. distorting justice
ii. being partial
iii. taking bribes: compromise integrity

2. pursue justice to ensure blessings

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4. Love for God is love

a. be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ

also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God
as a fragrant aroma Eph 5:1-2

1. imitate God
i.walk in love: lifestyle characterized by love
ii.“just as”: how we love should resemble Christ loving us
iii.Self-sacrifice so others blessed

2. offering/sacrifice to God

b. beloved, love one another, for love, is from God; all who love are born of
God and know God. Those who do not love do not know God for God is love.
… the love of God was revealed in us: God sent his only begotten Son into
the world that we might live… this is love: not we love God but he loves us …
if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another … if we love one
another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us 1 John 4:7-12

1. capacity to love: gift from God

2. confirms that we are children of God
3. object of our love: fellow believers primarily
4. as we love others we know God better
5. God’s love for us demonstrated by sending his Son to give us life
6. we love others as God loves us
a. follow his example
b. motivation for us to love
7. results in God dwelling within us
8. then his love is perfected in us: fulfill purpose\

5. Faithful as God is faithful

a. He set testimony … law in Israel … future generation might know … put

confidence in God and not forget his works, but keep his commands, not be
like their fathers, stubborn and rebellious … not prepare its heart and whose
spirit not faithful to God. They forgot his deeds and miracles … divided the
sea and caused them to pass … led them with cloud by day and all night with
fire. He split rocks in the desert and gave abundant drink like the ocean
depths. He brought streams from the rock and caused waters to run like
rivers Psa 78:5-8, 10c-16

1. Israel unfaithful: forget his past works

2. stubborn, rebellious, not faithful to God
3. God remained faithful
i. Guided them by day and night
ii. provided for all their needs in the desert
iii. forbore their disobedience, testing, forgetting
4. his people should be faithful to him as he is to them: covenant
responsibility

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 a) he proved faithful even when they tested him
b) implicit: they should be faithful even when he does not seem to
answer

b. do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal … which comes … for your testing …
to the degree you share the sufferings of Christ, keep rejoicing … if you are
reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of
God rests on you. Make sure none … suffers as … evildoer … but if anyone
suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but
glorify God … those who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their
souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right 1 Pet 4:12-16, 19

1. remain faithful even in fiery ordeals

2. ordeals for our testing of faith/faithfulness
3. suffer/endure as a Christian
a. avoid suffering consequences for wrongdoing
b. if need to suffer, do so by doing right
4. blessing in enduring ordeals
a. the Spirit works in us
5. endure by trusting in a faithful God
a. keep doing right, don’t compromise

6. Wise as God is wise

1. With him are wisdom and might; to him belong counsel and understanding
Job 12:13

to the one who is good in his sight he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy,
while to the sinner he gives the task of gathering so that he may give to one
who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind. Eccl 2:26

1. God is wise: counsel and understanding

• proper use of power
2. gives wisdom to those good in his estimation
a. sinner made subservient to those good
b. wisdom =??
o things of God – spiritual wisdom?
o how to do well in this life – practical wisdom?
o how to take advantage of sinners?
c. vanity: applied to
o the one good
o the sinner
o both

2. The proverbs … to know wisdom and instruction, discern the sayings of

understanding, receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice
and equity; give prudence to the naïve, to the youth knowledge and
discretion. A wise man will hear and increase in learning, a man of
understanding will acquire wise counsel to understand a proverb … the fear

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 of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction Prov 1:1-7

1. proverbs: source is God through the wise

2. related concepts: wisdom/instruction about wise behavior,
righteousness, justice, equity
• prudence, knowledge, discretion
3. the wise person: teachable + grow wiser
4. fools: not teachable + become more foolish
5. key to wisdom: fear of the Lord
• essential basis to gain wisdom
6. naïve/youth: can become wise – potential
7. wisdom seen in behavior/character
a. righteous: right attitude/conduct before God
b. just: honorable, decent, integrity, honesty
c. equity: being fair/impartial

7. The problem

a. our fallen nature

1. handicaps our ability to attain God’s character

2. complicates our relationships with others with a similar fallen
nature
3. affects the marketplace
i. company goals: profit, only measure of success?
ii. company culture: cutthroat, dishonest?
iii. co-worker relationships: distrust, get upper hand?
iv. client relationships: promise him/her anything?
v. the competition: spying, secretive, the enemy?

b. checks and balances

1. government regulations Rom 13:17
i. God’s means to govern society
ii. promote the good, punish evil
iii. regulate by fear: bad consequences for violation
• government watchdog

2. industry standards/regulations
i. companies comply, pressure others to comply
ii. not want competitor have unfair advantage

3. common decency:
i. family upbringing
ii. sense of fair play

4. Christians in the marketplace

iii. in management
iv. as part of the labor force

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 v. as policy-makers in regulatory agencies

8. Attribute of holiness in the marketplace

a. holiness:
i. wholehearted devotion to God
ii. separation from idols

1. idol: anything competing for our devotion to God

• security/comfort, grades, career, significant other
2. devotion to God requires his moral/ethical purity
a. constant vigilance + accountability
b. confession + repentance
3. scope of applicability: all areas of life
• home, neighborhood, school, marketplace, church

b. holiness is about priorities

i. what is most important to you?
• is it honoring God and doing his will?

ii. what purpose do other things in life serve?

• family: - is he lord there? Col 3:17-21
a) husband + wife = ministry partners?
• neighbors: care for Luke 10:27-37
• study/work: for the glory of God 1 Cor 10:31
• church: love brothers/sisters 1 John 3;11-18

iii. c. holiness is about purity

1. prevailing corporate culture: non-Christian
a. no conscious effort to serve God
b. some moral/ethical practices due to
• government/industry regulations/oversight
• common decency + sense of fairness
• Christians part of the infrastructure
2. potential for moral/ethical conflict
a. pressure to succeed lead to questionable action

People working as doctors were arrested on criminal charges of having fraudulent

medical degrees. They were residents in psychiatry, pediatrics and family medicine
charged with paying up to $20,000 for a fraudulent degree. One person was charged
with the manufacture and sale of bogus medical credentials. Officials found those with
bogus degrees had student loans. Students received loans of $20,000 or more.

NY Times 7/84

b. sexual harassment in the workplace

A male boss threatens a female subordinate if she does not sleep with him. Is it sexual
harassment? What about when a man cracks a lewd joke and makes a suggestive
gesture around people? A 2008 study by AWARE found 54% of SG respondents

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experienced workplace sexual harassment. It’s a form of abuse. This bullying behavior is
often about power over the more vulnerable. It’s particularly egregious as it often
involves abuse of power and makes it difficult for a person to earn a livelihood.
Perpetrators can be bosses, co-workers, vendors, or clients.

http://www.aware.org.sg/training/wshsite/#sthash.2txDPxjr.dpuf
AWARE: Association of Women for Action and Research

c. gaining unfair competitive edge

Bill, marketing director, paid Anne from a rival company to give him info on her company.
He learned its manufacturing and marketing plans. So, he made adjustments and his
company’s sales increased. Anne’s supervisor fired her when he found out and Bill was
also fired when his CEO was told. They now face civil lawsuits by their respective
companies and possible criminal charges by the government.

• what were the moral/ethical issues?

• what consequences did each company face?
• what would deter such practices?
• how might Eccl 8:11-13 apply?

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not quickly executed, hearts are given fully
to do evil. Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and lengthen his life, I know it will
be well for those who fear God openly. But it will not be well for the evil man and he will
not lengthen his days, because he does not fear God.

d. abuse of holiness

1. legalism: overly concerned for keeping laws/rules

i. Pharisees: classic example
ii. tend to be weak on relationships
iii. corporate culture

1. rigid/institutionalized: policy, procedure,

manuals
2. internal ethics formalized
3. often w/o regard for higher principles

iv. example: employee applies for leave to visit close

friend who is very sick but told
• such leave only for family member
• not enough accumulated leave

2. judgmentalism: highly critical of others

i. tend to be self-righteous
ii. hold others to a high standard
iii. in criticizing others, a contemptuous
attitude looks down on others compared
to oneself
iv. pride and hypocrisy

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 • cover-up own shortcomings and failures
• blind to own faults and mistakes

3. monasticism: withdrawal from the world

i. medieval monks: classic example
ii. asceticism: self-denial + separation from the
world
iii. confuse moral separation as physical
separation

Pharisees and scribes said, Why your disciples break … tradition? They don’t wash
hands when they eat. He said, Not what enters the mouth defiles, but what comes out
defiles. Everything going in passes to the stomach and is eliminated. But things
proceeding out come from the heart. Those defile. Out of the heart come evil thoughts …
slanders. These defile. Matt 15:1-2, 11, 17-20

• does entering the business world defile?

• is making money for your company unholy?
• what is wrong about climbing the corporate ladder and seeking a raise?
• is finding social-time with business associates,
• vendors, and clients rather than only spending time with church people wrong or,
at least, could be better spent with fellow believers?

9. Attribute of justice in the marketplace

a. justice: recognizing and maintaining reciprocal sets of duties and rights for
relationships

1. principle relevant for all relationships: within the family, in the neighborhood,
in school/office
2. rights of each individual
a. the right to be treated with dignity
b. the right to exercise free will
3. threats to our rights
a. sexual harassment, invasion of privacy
4. excessive regulation, prohibiting expression another person’s rights become
our duty to respect and uphold
5. clear-cut duties: negative injunctions
a. if we hurt someone, we are obligated to compensate
b. example: if we fail to make a deliverable to a client and it is our
fault, we are liable
6. not so clear-cut duties: affirmative duties
a. the case of not having hurt someone
b. example: someone struggling with his/her assignment at work, do
we have any obligation to help (assuming that we can)?
• what situation(s) we have some obligation?
• what situation(s) we are not obligated?
• what’s the limit in cost for us helping

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 7. at the corporate level:
a. negative injunctions:
• false advertising, defective products, industrial espionage,
child labor
• just penalties
b. affirmative duties:
• should companies donate to charities?
• should they help a struggling vendor/client?

b. procedural rights: fair processes in decision making

1. due process:

a. decision makers must be impartial

• Joe promote nephew over equally qualified co-
worker: nepotism?
• accounting firm go easy on client in audit to
• keep client’s business: conflict of interest?

b. fair + adequate data for decision - Matt 26:59-62

c. thorough investigation + authenticate findings
d. accused defend self before decision - John 7:51

2. equal protection: no discrimination by decision maker

a. do not favor the powerful:
• HR treat janitor and CEO the same
b. no discrimination based on gender, status, ethnicity, religion, …
c. based solely on merits of the claim/complaint

3. substantive rights:
a. employers: free to hire/fire, determine salary and benefits, expect
employees not waste company time or resources
b. employees: form unions, work in safety, privacy respected,
compensation for work-related injury
c. community: set reasonable zoning restrictions on private
property, environmental impact studies for construction,
advanced notice for factory closures

4. merit:
a. cause and effect: work hard >> be rewarded
b. Prov 28:19 and Gal 6:7
c. criticism: is merit fair?
• favor those with natural abilities
• family/environment more influential to success
d. defense: merit is proper consideration
• morally responsible for our actions + success
• motivation/drive to succeed

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10. Attribute of love in the marketplace

a. emphasize relationships
1. contrast with holiness (purity) and justice (rights)

2. example: violate a contract causing damage

a. holiness: concern about moral failure
b. justice: concern about rights
c. love: remorse/grief over harm to others – care
3. in the corporate world, relationships essential
a. employer engender employee loyalty?
b. project team work well together?
c. cooperation rather than competition between companies?

b. Christian love: three important aspects

1. empathy: sensitive to others’ thoughts + feelings
a. compassion: “heart go out to”
• Matt 9:36; 14:14; Mark 6:34 | - first see person
• Luke 7:13; 10:33; 15:20 | - then feel for person
b. sincere concern for others spawn
• long-term relations w client, vendor, employee?
c. more common: mutual benefit, reciprocal respect
• extra: heartfelt concern for colleague, employee
• no reciprocal benefit
2. mercy: take initiative and action in loving others
a. empathy: feel for others w/o related action
b. artificial categorization as empathy should lead to mercy
c. Bless the Lord, my soul, forget none of his benefits; who
pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who
redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with
lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with
good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle
Psa 103:2- 5
d. what about the “enemy” in the company?

Bart and Wayne were hired at the same time and both demonstrated potential for rapid
advancement. Seeing Bart as competition, Wayne began undercutting Bart’s relationship
with the V.P. Bart vows retaliation when he finds out.

• what does Christian mercy require?

• is Matt 5:3-42 practical in the marketplace?

e. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you
go … shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be
more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in judgment than for
that city. I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be
shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of
men, they will hand you over to the courts Matt 10:1417a
• be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves = ?
• is retaliation ever appropriate for the Christian?

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 3. sacrifice of rights: give up something rightfully ours to benefit
others
a. justice: I get what is rightfully mine
• bonus for hard work
• compensation when hurt
b. example: World Vision calls for donations for emergency relief
efforts for typhoon victims in PH
• you just received bonus of $1,000
• do you give all your bonus, half, some other portion, or
none at all?
• what guides your decision?
4. possible limits to loving others
a. example: Co-worker tells you he mistakenly reported more
overtime than actually worked and can get fired. He asks that
since you worked a lot of overtime tell management you
worked with him. He promises to make up for the bogus hours
soon and assures that there would be no permanent harm to
the company.
• is covering for your friend in this case love?
• the cover-up: lying/deception – justifiable?
• believe his promise?

b. balance the godly attributes of holiness + justice with love

• all 3 preserved?
• any of the 3 more important than the others?
• if you decide not to go along with the pretense, what
reasoning would you give to your co-worker?
c. what is Christian love?
• how does God balance his holiness and justice with his
love?

11. An attribute of faithfulness in the marketplace

a. faithful to the boss

1. mantra: your job is to make your boss look good
a. boss’s performance based in part on your performance
b. slaves, obey masters, with fear and trembling, heart sincerity
as to Christ; … as slaves of Christ, do the will of God from the
heart. With good will render service as to the Lord, not to men
Eph 6:5-7

slaves be subject to their masters in everything, well-pleasing, not

arguing, not pilfering but showing all good faith to adorn the
doctrine of God our Savior in every respect Tit 2:9-10

• being faithful to the Lord > faithful to your boss

• heart sincerity: right attitude
• no holding back, wholeheartedly
• not a trouble-maker
• all good faith: showcase doctrine of God

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 o doctrine: teaching on Christian conduct
2. honoring your boss is honoring the Lord

b. faithful to co-workers
1. holiness + justice imply treating others w dignity as fellow image
bearers (believers or not)
2. love implies valuing relationships
3. team concept

c. faithful to the company

1. parallel to faithfulness to bosses
2. examples of Joseph and Daniel
• civil service parallel w private industry

a. Let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise to set over Egypt. et
Pharaoh appoint overseers of the land … the proposal seemed good
to Pharaoh and his servants. He said, Can we find a man in whom is
a divine spirit? He said to Joseph, Since God informed you, there is
no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house.
Gen 41:33-34a, 37-40a

1) God is source of all wisdom

2) he gave Joseph wisdom to be chief administrator
3) not all marketplace positions have a clear-cut link to God’s
agenda
4) but wherever he placed us work w wisdom

b. uncommon wisdom of the marketplace

common uncommon

work w/n a company work w/n a network

have jobs have work
build shareholder value build stakeholder value
education is smart wisdom/understanding smart
human capital: expense human capital: asset
compete for same space collaborate for more space
get as much as you can give as much as you can

http://www.relationship-economy.com/2013/09/the-uncommon-wisdom-of-the-
marketplace-2/

c. wisdom: apply knowledge and skills to maximize the probability of

attaining the desired result at an acceptable cost in time and
resources based on experience, collective contribution of others, and
attendant conditions
d. showcase God’s wisdom through our wisdom
e. wisdom enables fulfilling Eph 6:5-8 and Tit 2:9-10

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Exercise:

Watch the video through the link below for an additional discussion of the topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atlhjvguXo8

((5)

Marketplace Evangelism—YouTube, n.d.)

Reference:

(5) Marketplace Evangelism—YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2020, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atlhjvguXo8

Hill, A. (2018). Just business: Christian ethics for the marketplace.

Soo Hoo, G. (n.d.). Christian Ethics in the Marketplace [Class Manuscript, Unpublished].

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