The Trap of Ethical Profitability

“This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” (Job 31:28 AV)

That to which Job is referring is a reliance on the wealth and means that he has attained.  What needs to be remembered is the wealth and means he has, was attained by disciplined and ethical industry.  The means he has was not gained by violating his conscience nor taking advantage of others.  His gains were legitimate and a testimony to his character.  Yet, even being an honest and successful businessman can be a stumbling block to a relationship with the LORD.  To rely upon one’s own success as the source of one’s faith is to deny the LORD that is above.

Over the years, I have known many successful people and several very wealthy businessmen.  Going way back to my childhood, I was good friends with a boy whose family owned four lumber yards.  I was also friends with the son of one of the wealthiest families in our little town.  I never was allowed to go over to his home or met his family.  We were good school chums.  Then there were the countless very wealthy clients for whom I caddied several summers ago.  I have even known several wealthy Christian businessmen down through the years.  A rare thing to see is a wealthy individual who walks with both fear and humility towards the LORD above.  Not that they were outwardly and obnoxiously arrogant.  Not at all.  They were self-assured.  As any of us would be.  But very few realized their means were fleeting and at any time, the LORD above could take it all away.  Very few had a vision far enough ahead that eternity was their greatest concern.  Very few were faithfully religious, let alone, saved.  Their means, although ethically and honestly earned, still became the source of security and assurance rather than the God who created them all.

Job, by all standards, one of the wealthiest men at the time, still feared God and eschewed evil.  He still walked with God and saw his material gains for what they were.  Temporary and for the use of God’s glory.  Many have heard of the testimony of R. G. LeTourneau, a businessman who used his success for the glory of God.  Vowing to live off ten percent of his wealth and using ninety percent for the work of God, his fingerprint is all over our nation.  That was a man of character who understood who God is and what his relationship with God needed to be.  Perhaps one of the reasons we do not have all that we desire is that in having those things, we might deny the God above.