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By Jeffrey Lowe
LAST WEEK, I did a stupid thing: I backed up my car
into my garage, smashing my tail light and bumper.
The insurance adjuster told me it would cost about
$1,200 to fix, and gave me a list of some 100 authorized body shops, none
of which I knew.
I thought it would have been nice to be able to bless a
Christian body shop owner with the business.
Earlier this year, we needed a landscaper to do some
work on our yard; we called several from the Yellow
Pages and some through personal contacts;
but they were either too busy, or did not do work in our area.
Again, it would have been nice to find someone to
bless.
Whenever you do business, two things happen. First, the
business transaction; the business provides a product or service, and the
buyer pays the value of this. Second, there is the relationship, or
connection, between the buyer and the seller.
As a Christian business person or professional, you
have the responsibility to do your best work, as unto the Lord. (Colossians
3:23)
You will always know more about your product or service
than the buyer; hence the Latin warning caveat
emptor, or ‘buyer beware.’ But by
following the Golden Rule, you can bless others by providing an excellent
product or service at a fair price.
You also have an opportunity to build a relationship:
whether the customer is a Christian or not, you can bless them and pray for
them.
In our law firm, we often pray for our clients, of
which more than 80 percent are non-Christians; but they are still blessed
by our prayers, whether or not they realize it.
As a consumer, you have the ability to bless someone
financially each time you purchase something. While you want to get the
best product and value, when faced with several options that are equally
good from a transaction standpoint, you may choose to give some of your
business to fellow Christians – especially in these economic times.
There is an opportunity for relationship with both
Christians and non-Christians; you can be a blessing to whomever you do
business with – and pray for them, whether or not they know
you’re doing so.
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As a consumer, it usually doesn’t make much
difference whether you purchase from a Christian business person or not;
after all, I’d rather have a good haircut from a non-Christian than a
bad one from a Christian!
But in many cases, such as lawyers, estate planners,
financial advisors, marriage counsellors and others, having godly counsel
can make the difference in choosing a course of action.
Other believers can understand your background, take
into account your objectives, and counsel you from a Christian perspective
– as well as a legal or business perspective.
One of the mandates of BC
Christian News is to connect the Christian
community in Canada; this includes enabling Christians to connect with
Christian businesses, and vice versa. We do this through our newspaper, our
website, our magazines and the annual Shepherd’s
Guide directory.
This is not to say Christians should only do business
with other Christians; that would only isolate us from the world.
But we want to be a valuable resource for those
Christians who do want to connect with other Christians to do business. And
with each publication having a distribution of at least 30,000, this can be
a cost-effective way for Christian businesses to reach this market, while
supporting our ministry.
Jeffrey Lowe is an immigration and business lawyer in
Vancouver, and chairs the board of Christian Info Society.
November 2008
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