Latest / Prayer Before Work / Boss Asks You to Get Him a Kickback - Prayer Before Work
Transcript
- Sean Graver: Well, your boss just asked you to make sure the vendor takes care of him, and now you're the one holding on to that hot potato. Well, hey, I'm Sean, and welcome to Prayer Before Work. There's a verse in the book of Proverbs that's blunt about this exact situation. It reads Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. And that's Proverbs fifteen twenty seven. Scripture doesn't go easy on this one. It calls a kickback what it is, and it's honest about the cost. This is one of the harder spots we've ever gone on with prayer before work, because it's not really about your integrity, it's about your bosses, and now you're stuck in the middle of it. Maybe it was said outright, maybe it was implied, probably Wrapped up in language vague enough that he could deny it later if it ever came up. But either way, you know what he's asking, and you know it's wrong. And you also know saying no to your boss carries real risk to your job and your reputation, maybe your whole career at that company. And there's probably not a version of this that costs you nothing. This could be a lose-lose situation. But here's what I would push back on. The idea that saying nothing keeps you clean. Silent compliance is still compliance. If you facilitate it, you're not a bystander to it anymore. So a few things worth thinking through, ideally before you're standing in the moment. So does your company have an ethics line or a complaint department that exists for exactly this kind of situation? Is there documentation you should be keeping just in case? Is there someone above your boss or outside the company entirely that you trust enough to ask for counsel? And underneath all of that, are you willing to lose your job over this if it comes to that? And that's a heavy question. But knowing your answer ahead of time changes how steady you'll be when that pressure. Actually hits. Now God is not asking you to be reckless or naive about the real risk here, but He is asking you to be someone whose hands stay clean even when it costs you something. And it might. So let's pray. Lord, this is a hard and heavy situation. I don't want to pretend it's simple, but give us wisdom for exactly what to do and who to talk to. Give us courage that doesn't depend on how safe we feel. Protect us if we have to take a stand, and protect our integrity even more than our job. We trust you with what happens after we do the right thing. In Jesus' name, amen. Now go make today count.