As a Christian who is also a business owner, I sometimes struggle with decisions where my faith and business intersect. Though that may seem odd to non-Christians, people who truly practice Christianity do so in an all-encompassing way. And as with any other faith, Christians believe that we are in possession of The Truth. This frequently offends non-Christians. Ace, a non-believer, had a post that expressed this phenomenon better than I ever could. It’s long, but here’s a snippet:

Most religions have a dogma. If you believe in it, you’re part of the religion. If you don’t, you’re not. So let’s have an end to this childish insistence that Christians re-write their religion, removing the very Christ from Christianity, just so some people don’t have to feel bad about going to a Christian Hell they’re quite certain is a dark fairy tale told to imbeciles.

But It’s Impolite To Say! No, what’s impolite is cross-examining people until they say so.

Most Christians who get heat for this don’t offer the statement “You’re going to Hell” of their own volition. What usually happens is that non-believers begin badgering them — “You can’t possibly believe I’m going to Hell!” — which Christians initially attempt to deflect away. Because they do in fact wish to be polite, and don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings.

But if you keep badgering a committed Christian this way, your are forcing him to choose between 1) Being polite and 2) Expressly repudiating his religion.

At some point the deflections stop working and this becomes a very easy call.

I don’t go marching around like some kind of eternal life travel agent, telling people where they’re going to go. I think that’s both useless and offensive, and I’ve had to help clean up the mess after other Christians have done that to people I love. I do share my faith; it’s so all-encompassing that I can’t not share it. There is no part of my life which is separate from my faith; my faith IS my life. It affects my business all the time, but in ways of which others are not aware.

I was Googling for information about portolets for a client who tends to give me no information, but who wants content to magically appear on his website. I know nothing about portolets except they’re all basically the same, so I wanted to see what other vendors had to say about them. Instead, I found this distressing article. Evidently the business owner felt that providing any services to pagans would violate his convictions. But… they had a contract. What a terrible witness to go back on your word! How awful that he had to be pressured by adverse media attention into doing the right thing.

Recently I had to make a decision to take on a client who is selling a product which is not compatible with my faith. It’s perfectly legal, and perfectly moral, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it from a worldly perspective. But do I want to spend my time and energy building this site? Will it damage anyone, or hinder them from understanding Christianity? Would the decision to not build it hinder the client, who is a seeker? Is my encounter with him a “ministry opportunity?” These are questions I ask myself, remembering that I am “in the world” and not “of the world.” There aren’t easy answers, and I’m just as susceptible to poor judgment as anyone else. In making decisions, including business decisions, I rely on the bible, prayer, and advice from mature Christians.

Nothing restricts me from doing business with non-Christians, and I don’t do business solely with people I agree with or admire. I’m careful about making commitments to people – careful to find out what is involved before I give my word. And I have referred potential clients to another web developer. Before starting a project, not afterwards. My job involves the promotion of ideas, and ideas matter. That’s why people want a website, after all – to promote something. But if I were selling pencils – or providing portolets – what ideas are relevant then? Is anything being promoted? Will anyone be swayed? Back when my job was to provide computer training, I did so without regard to the client, his industry, or his beliefs. As I see it, in those circumstances, my job as a Christian is to represent.

John Piper writes,

On almost every disagreement that Christians have about what should be believed and what should be done, someone is living in “unrepentant sin”—that is, they are not doing what they ought to do and they are not confessing it as sin…. The question is: what do we do with all these Christians who can’t agree on what ought to be done and therefore do the wrong things and don’t confess it as sin? I argue that every Christian has always had a category of behaviors and a category of attitudes about behaviors that they believe are not what God wants us to do, but do not consign a person who does not believe the same to the category of church discipline. We agree to disagree in the faith, because we agree that the other person is earnestly seeking for the light of God and that the nature of the sin is not such that it calls their faith into question or threatens their soul or undermines the gospel. Admittedly this is muddy, but it seems inevitable (Phil. 3:15).” (from an email newsletter)

I don’t know whether the portolet guy was right or wrong for refusing to do business with pagans.  I know a man with an employment agency who flat refuses to work with the gambling industry.  He just will not do it.  My clients run the gamut of different political persuasions, sexual practices, faiths and philosophies.  For me, I draw the line based on what idea is being promoted.  What about Christian pharmacists refusing to dispense “morning after” pills and Muslim cab drivers refusing to carry dogs or alcohol?

Once you have given your word and signed a contract (or taken a job that clearly requires you to do certain things), it’s a whole other ballgame.  If he felt that strongly about it, he should have first shopped around until he found a replacement at the same price – or made up the difference himself for the length of the contract – then approached his clients and explained that because of his religious convictions, he was asking them to release him, and that the level of service and the price would not change with his replacement.  Reasonable people – and from the post, they certainly seemed reasonable, and even have a pretty well developed sense of humor – would have released him.  But if they had not, in my opinion he should have continued with the contract as originally agreed.

As for me, I’m still working all this out and taking it on a case by case basis.  In the case of that recent project I mentioned, I declined the job and sent him on to an acquaintance of mine.