Pondering Proverbs - Leadership (3)

 

“A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but a just weight is His delight.” Proverbs 11:1.

 

Have you ever been in an environment, perhaps at work or in school or in a civic organization, or even in a family, in which people were not treated fairly, in which there were favorites to whom normal standards were not applied by those in authority?

 

What did you think in these situations? How did you feel? Had you been in charge, what would you have done differently? Have you ever played favorites, not treating everyone fairly?

 

Have you ever been cheated in a business transaction? Have you ever cheated anyone?

 

Have you known people who are examples of integrity in leadership, who are honest in their dealings and relationships with others and who treat others with fairness and equity?

 

When I used to interview prospective managers in the business world I would ask, “Without giving me any names, please describe two or three examples of good leaders you have worked for.” Then I would ask, “Now, without using any names, please describe two or three examples of poor leaders you have worked for.” One difference that often separated good from poor leaders was equity and fairness – some men and women had a deep sense that they ought to use their positions of authority to treat others fairly, others used their authority to display favoritism and create their own circles of power, privilege, and prestige.

 

When we first read Proverbs 11:1 the image of scales and fairness in business transactions may be in our minds, but as we ponder what the image represents we will see that it applies to every area of life, it has to do with the way we live and who we are. We may also have an image of the “scales of justice” with a blindfold covering the eyes, an image that few pay even lip service to anymore – such are the inequities surrounding us.

 

Consider these words of God to the People of Israel before they entered the Promised Land:

 

“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to Yahweh your God.” (Dt. 25:13 – 16).

 

How critical is it to treat others fairly? Not to do so is an abomination to God. It is bad enough when individuals cheat and practice inequity, but when organizations and businesses and nations adopt cheating and lying and deceit as a way of life (actually a way of death!) then we have Satan working his will in the collective mind and heart – then his evil toxin flows through the veins of a people.

 

Within the past couple of weeks two of the largest banks in the United States, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, have been caught cheating their customers. This is at least the second time in the past few years that Wells Fargo has been caught cheating; after the first time the bank assured regulators and customers that it would never happen again – this was a lie. Once a culture of cheating and lying and deception has taken root in a corporate culture, can it really be irradicated?

 

The banks will pay a fine and perhaps make restitution and nothing will likely change, customers will continue to do business with them because we have become accustomed to crookedness in society and business and politics – we have become a bent people, our souls are twisted and we bear the yoke of iniquity with our eyes to the ground…no longer aspiring to righteousness…preferring slavery…and this includes professing Christians who no longer will stand in front of the mirror of God’s Word but who rather insist that the ends justify the ungodly means they use to achieve their goals.

 

Yahweh’s words in Deuteronomy 25:13 – 16 were a warning to ancient Israel and they should be a warning to us; a nation of cheats and liars which has rejected equity and justice is an abomination to God…and all the glitz and glitter and wealth and material prosperity cannot, and will not, hide such a people from God and His judgment. The Law and the Prophets bear witness to this, but we don’t read them, and when we do we gloss over them.

 

But of course it begins with me, what does my life look like with respect to a just scale and righteousness and justice and equity? Do I treat others fairly and righteously?

 

What about you?

 

How is Proverbs 11:1 speaking to you?