Sending Path · Business as Mission · Lesson 5 of 7 · Keeping Integrity in Someone Else’s Culture · about 20 min
The prophet Jeremiah writes to the Israelites carried off to Babylon:
4The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5“Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. 7Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
Jer 29:4–7 · WEB
Decades later, Daniel, one of the captives, serves as an official under King Darius:
3Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the local governors, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4Then the presidents and the local governors sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful. There wasn’t any error or fault found in him. 5Then these men said, “We won’t find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
Dan 6:3–5 · WEB
Paul describes how he preaches the gospel among different people:
19For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; 21to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. 22To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. 23Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
1 Cor 9:19–23 · WEB
The last lesson kept the four accounts. This lesson puts the business into someone else’s culture: in a place that is not your home, how do you live as a guest and still keep your integrity?
Listen first to Jeremiah’s letter to the captives. In Babylon they were foreigners, and they had not chosen to be there. Yet God told them, “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens,” (Jer 29:5) and also, “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it.” (Jer 29:7) In someone else’s place, you do not just wait to leave, and you do not think only of yourself; you put down roots and pray and work for that place’s peace. Anyone taking a business elsewhere needs this heart first: I have come as a guest, and I have come to seek the peace of this city.
A guest starts by learning. Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon to be taught “the learning and the language of the Chaldeans” (Dan 1:4); even their names were changed. Paul says, “To the Jews I became as a Jew,” (1 Cor 9:20) and “I have become all things to all men.” (1 Cor 9:22) Learn the local language, eat the local food, respect the local elders and customs, and do not mistake the habits of home for the gospel. Many things are not right or wrong, just different.
But ‘becoming all things’ has a boundary. Paul adds straight away that he is “not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ.” (1 Cor 9:21) Daniel was the same: his name could change, his learning could grow, but some things he would not do—“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies” (Dan 1:8). In matters of culture, do as the locals do; in matters of integrity, never.
Daniel later became a high official. Other officials wanted to bring him down and “sought to find occasion against Daniel,” (Dan 6:4) but “they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful.” (Dan 6:4) They had to say, “We won’t find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” (Dan 6:5) A man served as an official in a foreign land for decades, his rivals went through everything he did, and they found only one thing: he worshiped God. That is business as mission at its best: people may criticize our faith, but they cannot fault the way we work.
In business abroad, the most common test is bribery. The law is clear: “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight” (Exod 23:8). Yet in many cultures, giving gifts, hosting meals or handing over a red envelope is ordinary courtesy, not always bribery. How do you tell the difference? Ask yourself a few questions: Is this open, or is it in secret? Is it to get something I should not get, or to thank someone for help already received? After giving it, would I dare to write it in the books, and dare to tell my co-workers at church? Proverbs says, “A wicked man receives a bribe in secret” (Prov 17:23)—the words ‘in secret’ are often the answer.
What if someone really does hold out a hand for a favor? It is best to settle your bottom line before you open, and agree it with your co-workers, rather than wait until the moment comes. Holding the line may make the business slower, earn a little less, or even lose a particular deal—Daniel paid a price too. Real situations vary enormously, and on some matters churches and mission agencies see things differently; please ask your own church and mission agency, and also ask trusted local brothers and sisters: they understand far better than outsiders how to tell the difference.
There is another kind of integrity that is often forgotten: toward local employees. A foreign boss has more money, more power and more connections, and employees are often afraid to speak up. A boss with integrity keeps his word and does what the contract says; he does not pay less or demand more because the other person is local or does not know the rules. Paul says, “I brought myself under bondage to all” (1 Cor 9:19)—when we take a business into someone else’s place, we come to serve, not to be masters.
To sum up this lesson in one line: a guest in culture, a master of integrity. Seek the peace of the city, learn its language and honor its people; and in God’s law, like Daniel, give no one an occasion against you.
Use this lesson’s questions to think through the three cases below: Is it open or in secret? Is it to get something I should not get, or to thank someone for help already received? Would I dare to write it in the books and tell my co-workers? (1) At New Year, you give a box of pastries to a neighbor who has helped you all year. (2) Someone hints that if you pay him a ‘handling fee’, your application can jump the queue. (3) A client invites you to dinner and suggests: if you write a slightly bigger invoice, all his future orders will go to you.
For example: (1) is open courtesy, thanking someone for help already received, and can go in the books—most likely fine. (2) is in secret, to get something you should not get (jumping the queue), and you would not want it in the books—this is bribery. (3) inflating an invoice is false accounting; whatever the other person says, it is dishonest. Real situations are often more complicated than these. When you are not sure, do not agree on the spot; go back and talk it over with your co-workers and your church.
but they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful.
Dan 6:4 · WEB
This week, write down three bottom lines of your own: three things at work you will not do, whatever others do. When you have written them, tell a companion.
Just this one thing. When you do it, tap that day below; if you don’t, that’s all right—try again next week.
Good. Tap each day you do it this week:
Putting down roots is not something you do alone. Find a brother or sister you trust (ideally of the same sex) and talk this question over this week:
Have you lived in another city or country? What was hardest to adjust to? Which things were differences of culture, and which were differences of right and wrong?