Latest / Prayer Before Work / Boss Says to OverCharge - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- Sean Graver: So every time a government office calls for a quote, you're told to quietly tack on 20%, and your boss calls it just how it's always been done. Well, hey, this is Sean. Welcome back to Prayer Before Work. So here's the setup. It's a real life situation. your company does work with local government agencies, and there's an unwritten rule that whenever that agency asks you for pricing, you pat it before you send the quote back. Now nobody's forging documents or hiding a a smoking gun. It's it's just built into the number. And it's been that way for a long time, long before you got there. So your boss shrugs it off. The government doesn't really check closely, and that extra margin helps make sure bonuses happen at the year end. Well, you're not comfortable with it. You said you'd be fine charging that if the customer actually agreed to it, but you're not allowed to tell them. You're just supposed to send the number and move on. Now, this one isn't really about a dramatic crime. It's about a normalized habit that everyone else has decided not to look too closely at. And honestly, those are sometimes the hardest ones to stand against because nobody around you seems bothered by it. But in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs eleven one, it speaks directly to this. It says a false balance. is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. That's a lot of strong language for what seems like a small business practice. But Scripture keeps coming back to honest measurements, honest scales, honest weights, honest prices, as something God actually delights in when we get it right. Now you may not be in a position to overhaul your company's pricing structure today. That's a bigger fight than one person can usually w win alone. But you do have some control over your own participation. maybe that looks like raising it directly with your boss one more time or in writing so there's a clear record of your objection. Or maybe it looks like asking whether you can be moved off of that part of the process. And maybe it's a longer conversation about whether this is a place that you can really keep working at if nothing changes. None of those are easy. And and I know firsthand, I mean, this was my situation at one time. And what I'd ask you to hold on to is this. Just because something's normalized doesn't mean it's normal or right. And your discomfort with it isn't something you should talk yourself out of. It might be exactly the conscience God gave you doing its job. So let's pray. Well God, we work somewhere that's made peace with something we can't quite make peace with, and it's wearing on us. Give us clarity about what's actually in in control here and strength to act on it instead of just feeling uneasy and r remaining silent about the whole thing. And if we need to speak up again, give us the right words in the right moment. And if we need to walk away eventually, well give us the patience and provision to do that with wisdom. And above everything else, Let us be someone who deals honestly even when honesty isn't rewarded. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Go make today count.