Honesty in Little Things

The human mind has a great capacity to deceive itself. This can be especially true in the workplace when a small group of people has the power to make decisions to benefit themselves at the expense of those less powerful. We’ve seen this over the past several months in the banking industry and on Wallstreet. Executives that accepted taxpayer money to bail out their failing businesses then awarded themselves billions of dollars worth of bonuses. They must have rationalized the facts until they convinced themselves that the bonuses were justified. I can’t help but wonder if any Christians in the industry raised their voices in protest.

An even more difficult question to answer: “Have there been times when I have failed to raise my voice?” I truly believe that the ability to rationalize those big decisions begins on a daily basis as we rationalize the small decisions. We may never be in the position to rationalize billions of dollars worth of bonuses but how about the extra 30 minutes that we take at lunch because we worked so hard this morning that we deserve it?

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10 (NLT)