Ecclesiastes 7:7 “Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.”
No doubt, King Solomon observed this problem in some of the leaders in his kingdom.
Principle: Extortion and bribery are two contagious diseases, which can be terminal.
Here are two bad practices which are both bad for business. They infect the participants in significant ways. Extortion is using one’s position of power to illegally take money from another. A bribe involves both giver and taker and has spiritual impact.
There was a church youth minister in Santa Ana, California who was running for City Council but was caught in the act of extortion and bribery. It ruined his political run, his reputation as a youth minister, and had a huge impact on the businesses that were involved.
The thirty-eight-year-old candidate pleaded guilty to shaking down a service station owner to extort campaign contributions. He had promised support of a beer-and-wine license application in exchange for about $31,000. He was involved in similar promises to other businesspeople.
The prosecutor pursued the greedy contributors as well as the candidate for taking money from a business with the promise of favors.
The FBI, IRS and police investigated and arrested the candidate. His ministry ended. He faced a prison sentence. He pleaded guilty on one count and turned State’s evidence against the people he had been working with.
Using a position of power to take money from another is bad for government and bad for business. Watch the motive for political contributions. Bribery (direct or subtle) destroys the ability for right actions by attacking the conscience of both parties. As in the case of the “wanna-be” councilman above, there was sadness, loss of reputation, loss of freedom and crippling of ministry.
Discussion:
1. Have you experienced or seen the repercussions of extortion or bribery in your business life?
2. What drives a businessperson to extortion or bribery?
3. Will you trust God with your business enough not to resort to such practices?
