Modern business practice in our country is almost always guided by the “invisible hand” of 18th century moral philosopher Adam Smith. His notion that a collection of individuals, each acting in self-interest, would together produce a result beneficial to everyone continues to be taught and celebrated among us. A classic statement from his work The Wealth of Nations reads, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”
One would think that people reading the Bible might have doubts about Smith’s basic principle that consistent practice of self-interest will be mutually beneficial. Scripture paints a picture of human self-interest as frequently and perhaps mostly sinful and destructive. The book of Proverbs shares that general outlook of the rest of the Bible.
In any case, Proverbs 20 has a section (verses 13 to 17) specifically aimed at how we practice business, and I’m going to suggest that we can wrap the rest of the chapter around those verses to shed light on God’s expectations for how we do business. Good business in the Lord’s eyes is not just enlightened self-interest, but a concern for integrity, fairness, honesty and work that honors God as well as making a profit.
Frequent references in this chapter to the role of a king in suppressing human impulse toward dishonesty and wrongdoing suggest that we also ought to see a biblical role for government in regulating business.
There is much else here in Proverbs 20 that can be taken as simply good individual moral advice, from the first verse’s warning about over-indulgence in alcohol to verse 19’s caution against associating with gossips who will betray your secrets. Yet the overall picture is a call to work and to conduct buying and selling in a way which reflects a prior commitment to a moral order that comes from God who oversees the world and human affairs.
And verse 29 offers a little encouragement to those of us whose hair is not the color it used to be, without any artificial alterations. That’s good too.