In 1987 there was a movie that featured a lead character by the name of Gordon Gecko. You might have heard of this movie, it's called "Wall Street". This lead character is known for the infamous line "Greed is Good". Gordon Gecko was a Wall Street Investment Banker that pursued wealth at all cost. Ethics for him was an option not an obligation and duty. When this movie was released it was a big hit in the theaters. I need not say, for those of us that remember, that the 80's was some interesting times. The atmosphere in the financial industry was one of great competitiveness and filled with young traders that were eager to make "big bucks".
Ethics is a topic that most people would prefer not talking about. Let's take some time to examine this word and see what this word really means and whether we need to hold to the truth of this word in various parts of our lives - namely in the field of business.
The dictionary gives the following meaning of the word - Ethics:
1. a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
4. that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
Listen, I know that it is not an easy thing to live a God-fearing life in the world of business, given the daily temptations and the pressure to perform at an optimum level to achieve corporate success. However, we as people of God are called to a higher standard in Christ.
God's Word declares:
[He] gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and father. (cf. Gal. 1:4).
Until we die, or until Christ returns to establish his kingdom, we live in "the present evil age." Therefore, when the Bible says that Christ gave himself "to deliver us from the present evil age," it does not mean that he will take us out of this world, but that he will deliver us from the power of the evil in it. Jesus prayed for us like this: "I do not ask that you take them out of this world, but that you keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15).
The resounding cry of the Bible is, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom 12:2). In other words, be free, as you are in Christ. Don't be duped by the gurus of this age. They are here today and gone tomorrow.
We must insist on and pursue a character that models after that of Christ, as we seek to honor God in our pursuits.
