Paying Our Debt to Others With Our Work - Part 4
There are a few more items we need to address in our exploration of how we can pay our debt to others. Let's start with our current focus on helping the poor.
Why do we single out the poor? We all know that not everyone who needs our help is necessarily poor. The sick come to mind. Many people struggle against disease. Medical science has identified many physical and emotional conditions that we can categorize as "disease." I suspect all of us have known more than one person suffering from one or more diseases, either in our own families, amongst those close to us, in our neighborhoods and workplaces - some worse than others.
We might mention too, the emotionally disturbed. There are many reasons people's emotions run out of control, causing them great pain, sometimes preventing them from functioning normally in the real world, e.g., not being able to hold down a job. Some people suffer abuse at the hands of people close to them; some have diagnosed chemical imbalances, etc.
Back to the poor: One reason we're focusing on the poor is simply because the list of those who might need our help would be a rather long one. So as we continue our discussion, just remember we're considering only one slice of the needy.
We touched on the other reason in our last post. We commented on some rather stunning words in Psalm 9:
In the second, the more subtle example, I really didn't realize what was going on until the deed was done. The company was sold. The partners raked in their profits. The poor folks weren't fleeced, but they were ethically challenged by people who knew the likely results. Of course, no one forced these people to lie. They were culpable. But so were those who encouraged their bad ethical choice, in order to make a profit.
The takeaway for all of us is this: When people are in need, they are vulnerable. We who work in business may be tempted to exploit that vulnerability. In a sense, these people become "easy pickins." But our moral sense must prevail. Not only must we avoid taking advantage of others, but we're called on to intercede in those situations we see people being exploited. My two small examples weren't put forth to pat myself on the back. Maybe I could have done more to help that young man; maybe I should have been savvy enough to realize what was going on at that cable company. I really don't know.
In our work, we need to be vigilant. If we find instances of people being taken advantage of, we can't just turn a blind eye. With the right approach to work, with what we might call a supernatural approach, we can assure our efforts each day align us with God's Plan, even as we work diligently to meet the plan for our business. We'll look specifically at how we can do this next time.
Why do we single out the poor? We all know that not everyone who needs our help is necessarily poor. The sick come to mind. Many people struggle against disease. Medical science has identified many physical and emotional conditions that we can categorize as "disease." I suspect all of us have known more than one person suffering from one or more diseases, either in our own families, amongst those close to us, in our neighborhoods and workplaces - some worse than others.
We might mention too, the emotionally disturbed. There are many reasons people's emotions run out of control, causing them great pain, sometimes preventing them from functioning normally in the real world, e.g., not being able to hold down a job. Some people suffer abuse at the hands of people close to them; some have diagnosed chemical imbalances, etc.
Back to the poor: One reason we're focusing on the poor is simply because the list of those who might need our help would be a rather long one. So as we continue our discussion, just remember we're considering only one slice of the needy.
We touched on the other reason in our last post. We commented on some rather stunning words in Psalm 9:
"He sitteth in ambush with the rich in private places that he may kill the innocent. His eyes are upon the poor man...." The rich exploit the poor.So while some of us diligently work, possibly earning enough money such that we can in some way help the poor, others work at exploiting those same poor. Here are some examples I've encountered in the course of my own work, one an bald, outrageous example of exploitation, the other a bit more subtle.
- A young man from a poor family I had met in the course of my employment at a bank received a modest amount of money as part of a law suit settlement. He was immediately solicited by a company that convinced him to invest a good chunk of that money in a "franchise" opportunity that would make him a successful businessman. Needless to say, they took his money; he did not succeed. He was scammed.
- A cable TV company I once worked for purposely targeted and vigorously marketed to poor areas to install cable service, knowing that the people would never pay their bills. Each time a customer was disconnected for non-payment, another member of the family signed up under another name. The company knew this, but turned a blind eye to it. They, in effect, encouraged it so they could keep them on the books. Seemed like poor business judgement until I found out that the company's owners were negotiating to sell to a national firm and needed to show a certain percentage of subscribers vs. the population. The company didn't take money from these customers; they did, however, encourage them to lie, thereby facilitating a bad moral choice.
In the second, the more subtle example, I really didn't realize what was going on until the deed was done. The company was sold. The partners raked in their profits. The poor folks weren't fleeced, but they were ethically challenged by people who knew the likely results. Of course, no one forced these people to lie. They were culpable. But so were those who encouraged their bad ethical choice, in order to make a profit.
The takeaway for all of us is this: When people are in need, they are vulnerable. We who work in business may be tempted to exploit that vulnerability. In a sense, these people become "easy pickins." But our moral sense must prevail. Not only must we avoid taking advantage of others, but we're called on to intercede in those situations we see people being exploited. My two small examples weren't put forth to pat myself on the back. Maybe I could have done more to help that young man; maybe I should have been savvy enough to realize what was going on at that cable company. I really don't know.
In our work, we need to be vigilant. If we find instances of people being taken advantage of, we can't just turn a blind eye. With the right approach to work, with what we might call a supernatural approach, we can assure our efforts each day align us with God's Plan, even as we work diligently to meet the plan for our business. We'll look specifically at how we can do this next time.
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