Here are a few important biblical principles that guide us in dealing with one another.
 
1. Be honest. Leviticus 19:36 says, “Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt.” Huh? In other words, God is saying, “I treated you with grace and brought you out of slavery. Don’t enslave others by cheating them with dishonest scales, a common practice in ancient world and today in markets around the world. The ephah was a dry scale measure, and the hin was a liquid measure.
 
2. Make your intentions clear. Ruth 2 is a great model for how a benefactor and beneficiary interact. Boaz is the benefactor helping Ruth and making his intentions very clear. Ruth is the beneficiary receiving assistance and making her gratitude and intentions clear as well.
 
3. Deal fairly. When John the Baptist preached in preparation for Jesus coming, he laid out several principles for how to follow the new way of Christ. To those who asked what to do, he said to those with too much, to donate the extra. To tax collectors, he said not to overcharge. To soldiers, he said don’t extort money, accuse people falsely, and to be content with their pay rather than turning people over and shaking out their coins by force.
 
4. Don’t overcharge. Prophets and Levitical law prohibits usury, or excessive interest charged to members of the community or even to foreigners. In other words, don’t be a loan shark. Don’t charge excessive interest on loans. Leviticus 25:14, 36 say, basically, don’t oppress one another.
 
These principles are just a few of the biblical examples of how to do business with one another in the church, and with anyone. Be honest. Make your intentions clear. Deal fairly. Don’t overcharge.
 
In addition, we do not expect discounts because someone is a brother or sister in Christ, but negotiating a price to the mutual agreement of both parties is good. Brothers and sisters in Christ do not take advantage of one another, drag our heels to pay back, procrastinate returning something borrowed, or take the person helping for granted.
 
A person receiving assistance can look for ways to pass the service on or apply their own gifts in serving someone else. Jesus was not likely explaining business principles in Matthew 25:14-30, but we do learn from the parable of the talents that Jesus has something to say about those who multiply the good gifts given to them in productive ways to help others and support themselves and their families.
 
In everything, follow Christ’s Golden Rule that we keep shining up and living day after day. We re-state it this way: Do unto others as THEY would have you do unto them. Find out how to love someone and do it in your family, church, work, school, and neighborhood.
 
--Greg