Faith Dilemmas for Marketplace Christians
When Illness Strikes
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
—1 John 3:17
LOYALTY is a thing of the past in many companies. When people with decades of service are cast aside for the sake of profit or convenience, it’s no wonder loyalty is out and cynicism is in. How much loyalty should Christian employers show to their work force?
Should a Christian company be a community where people support and encourage each other, even when they are down? Treating people well only when they are healthy and productive may be similar to what Jesus was talking about when he urged his followers to do more than love those who already loved them (Matt. 5:46-48).
* * *
Roger was coming from the coffeepot with his second morning cup when Nathan passed him in the hallway.
“Morning chief,” Nathan said cheerily, unbuttoning his coat.
Roger returned the greeting, resisting the impulse to glance at the clock. Must be at least an hour late, he thought.
As he watched his employee put his coat away, Roger sensed that Nathan was unsteadier than usual. Maybe this was one of his bad days. There had been more and more of them.
Even on good days, Nathan wasn’t what he had once been, when he was one of the sharpest number-crunchers in town. Then clients jockeyed for his services. He was always on top of changes in tax law and seemed to know instinctively how any new tax interpretation would impact each client’s financial picture. In those times, it was a rare day when a tax audit found something amiss in anything Nathan had prepared.
Roger sighed. Those days appeared gone, perhaps forever. Ever since Nathan’s illness struck, he’d lost his edge.
In fact, there were days when Roger wondered if Nathan could perform his job at all. The treatments sapped his energy and sometimes seemed to cloud his judgment. When it became obvious that this would be an ongoing problem, Roger had quietly reduced Nathan’s load, but even then Nathan made mistakes that could cause tax penalties for clients.
Only last month an error in recaptured depreciation had added a hundred thousand dollars to one company’s estimated tax. Fortunately, Roger always had Nathan’s work reviewed by others, so the mistake was caught before it caused lasting damage. But double-checking meant extra work for others and a financial drag on the company.
For his part, Nathan was making a monumental effort. A proud man, he showed up—if late—on days when others would have given up. Sometimes he pushed himself too hard. Sadly Roger wondered if the physical strain would eventually shorten the man’s life.
There was more than pride at work, however. There was an element of quiet desperation in Nathan’s perseverance. He needed the job to get medical insurance and to support his family. His treatments were expensive; he couldn’t afford them on his own. Despite his shrewd work with other people’s finances, he had never built up much of a cushion himself.
When the illness struck, Roger had vowed to stand by Nathan and be a good Christian brother in his time of need. But, he had to admit, he hadn’t really calculated the cost of going the extra mile. Theirs was not a big company. There was a limit to how much charity they could afford without compromising their fiscal health and jeopardizing the jobs of others in the firm.
Roger wondered how far he should go to accommodate Nathan’s needs.
Questions to ponder and discuss
1. Should Roger continue to carry Nathan, regardless of the cost to his company? How would you answer if you also worked for this firm and your job security was threatened by Roger’s charity? How do you think Nathan would answer?
2. How much responsibility should a Christian employer feel for the health and social needs of employees? Some would argue that such broad concerns might bring us back to a bygone era of corporate paternalism.
3. What does it mean, in today’s society, to support fellow workers in a Christian fashion? Is it idolatrous or materialistic to see one’s job as a place of Christian community?
Additional Scripture
See also Matthew 5:7; 2 Corinthians 9:10-11; Galatians 6:9-10.