For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
I Timothy 6:10
This is one of the most misquoted Scriptures. How often have you heard people say, “Money is the root of all evil.” They usually don’t know it came from the Bible. They also don’t know it is a complete misquotation. The Bible does not say “money is the root of all evil” but that “the love of money” is the problem. The love of money could also be called greed.
Many people have done all kinds of unethical things due to greed. Take any widely published financial scandal such as Enron. Things are done to inflate the value of the company so that the executives can get bigger bonuses or make more money on their stock options. These kinds of practices would fall under the category of greed or love of money.
In business, ethics is important. This is especially true when dealing with accounting and finance records. Records must be true and accurate. Decisions on how to proceed with business in the future are often based on the accounting and finance records. If these records have been manipulated for some reason and do not reflect the actual numbers, the decision based on them can be faulty. Bad decisions based on faulty records can have negative consequences for the business, especially if it is found out the numbers were manipulated. In the case of Enron, greed prompted unethical accounting practices which not only brought down a huge business but also destroyed their accounting firm, Arthur Anderson, which was likely complicit in the wrongdoing.
In global business, since various countries do have varying standards and rules, it is imperative to maintain the highest ethical standards. Governments will try to regulate bad behavior with regulations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. While these regulations may prevent some bad behavior, it will not stop everything.
How do Christians balance what the Scripture says about money with the common business practices of some countries?
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