Is the Compromise Worth It?

I suppose many young people consider me an old man. And that’s okay. I am old. But I like to think that with my age has come a modicum of wisdom. And it is because of what I have learned over the years that I write this note.

I’ve had a very successful work career. Very successful and rewarding.  And I hope you believe me when I tell you I didn’t get to where I got by being ignorant of how the ‘world’ works. Yet, I will quickly add that I also know I didn’t advance in my career by not knowing – and DOING – what GOD wanted me to know and to do in my working ‘world.’

So, during this week of Thanksgiving, let me offer a bit of unsolicited advice to some of you now working your way upward in your particular career. I offer it as a voice born of decades of experience. I hope you will take my words in the spirit of caution and concern in which they are intended:

BEWARE! If you are willing to compromise your ethics – even if the activity in which you are engaged is legal – if you are willing to compromise your ethics, you should know it is a very, very small step from that place of ethical compromise to being willing to compromise what is illegal. And if you think your employer will come to your aid if you get caught, then you don’t know where the term, “Being thrown under the bus” has its origins.

Please. The money, the prestige, the power – you will on that day realize too late that you were played for a fool. And this warning from your Creator should catch your attention: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23)

It may be years. It may even be decades. But in the end, all of what you gained along the way will taste like ashes in your mouth after a house fire.