The Morality Of Fairness

I'm going to quote a verse from Deuteronomy. Now, many Saints these days balk at such things, saying that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. But make no mistake, things that were wrong did not become wrong because of the law; they were already wrong. The law simply made man aware of their wrongdoing and established a framework of righteousness by which God judged His people. The point is, just because we are no longer under the law, we are not excused from doing things that are morally wrong. Things that were morally sinful are still sinful, and unless repented of, will cause those who commit them to miss the glory of heaven. We are no longer bound to the ceremonial aspect of the law (concerning the priesthood) , and we are no longer under the sacrificial aspect of the law (concerning atonement), because these were fulfilled in Jesus' work. However, the moral code of the law is still in effect. It is by that code that the conditions of the hearts of men are made manifest, and those who lack purity of heart will not see the Kingdom of God. The Scripture in Deuteronomy says:

Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD thy God [Deuteronomy 25:13~16]

To understand this, consider how things sold by weight were measured in those days. Basically, an weighing object was put onto one side of a scale (let's say the object weighed one pound). On the other side of the scale was placed whatever you were buying. When the scale balanced out, then you knew you had a pound of whatever you were buying. However, if the weighing object actually weighed less than a pound, then you would have been getting cheated. Apparently, some merchants in those days carried objects of divers (different) weights, and by using these they would sometimes not give a buyer all he or she was paying for. God considered this to be an abomination!

It is not at all different today, a business or business person who cheats or otherwise deals with customers in ways that are not in accordance with fairness are abominable to God, even if they call themselves "Christians". Many industries have lobbied Congress to pass laws that permit businesses to carry out unfair consumer practices just to maximize their profits. Consumers and their satisfaction take a back seat to the potential for windfall profits going into the hands of people who, while they are not wrong for accumulating the money, they don't really need it to the extent that such trickery is justified. Everything from misrepresentation to cryptic "fine print" to heavily slanted and one-sided policies, to outright lying are employed for the sole purpose of goading the gullible masses, and they seek to rationalize this by declaring that the masses should take it upon themselves to see through the haze of deception. Such an attitude is not the way of God, and should not be the way of those who call upon His name.

Deception, or shading, hiding and twisting the truth, or knowingly leading, causing or allowing a person to believe something one knows is not true, just to make money, are not the works of a godly person, but of a person who is in league (wittingly or unwittingly) with the devil! The fact that these things exist in the world is neither surprising nor cause for alarm, for the Lord knew (and warned us) that these things would come to pass. But when these things creep (and they have) into the Church, it is all the more abominable. Many charlatan preachers heap loads of promises and high-sounding talk upon the ears of Saints for little other reason than to justify receiving substantial monetary offerings. They make merchandise of the Gospel and those who would be faithful to it by twisting its teachings and traditions into something that too often boils down to extracting money from the Body of Christ, and this with little or no true compassion for the human condition of our fellow men, nor for the souls of those to whom they preach their corrupted gospel.

There is no wrong in being in business and selling a product or service for whatever value it has to the majority of one's customers; neither is there any wrong in a preacher receiving monetary offerings for the spiritual blessings and edifying he might bring to those for whose souls he labors. But in both cases, when there is not a fair and honest measure (of service or product) given for the amount of money received, then an abominable condition exists which causes God to turn away His face from those who practice such things. They might claim to be blessed (and to their spiritually blind eyes their riches are proof of their blessings ), but they are not blessed by God, but rather they have fallen into the deceivableness of riches granted them for their ultimate destruction by their father the devil.