# Partnering with Unbelievers



## Mushroom (Jun 5, 2011)

A question for your perusal. 

Should a believer go into a business partnership with an unbeliever? Why or why not? If not, would doing so warrant discipline? Why or why not?


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## christiana (Jun 5, 2011)

Just dont be unequally yoked with unbelievers, in business or otherwise! The discipline from above would render it very undesirable I'm sure!


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## TimV (Jun 5, 2011)

Leaving aside the harder question  discipline would normally be outside the authority sphere of the church. I occasionally team up with a guy who owns a nursery and since I haven't got an artistic ounce in my body he designs the jobs and provides the trees and bushes and I put them in. He's not a Christian and it's always gone well ( Two Kingdoms and all that) but whatever my church leadership thought about it if they ever tried to discipline me for that (which they wouldn't) I'd end up getting their ears boxed at Presbytery.


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## Herald (Jun 5, 2011)

Brad, in business there are necessary relationships (a dairy farmer must do business with a dairy to sell his product), and then there are direct partnerships (Jim and Joe both own and/or run the company together). I don't believe there is a problem with the former. I mean, how would you be able to conduct commerce without necessary relationships? The latter is where there is a prohibition In my humble opinion. 2 Corinthians 6:14 is not addressing, _specifically _, business partnerships; but the principle is sound. I would counsel a church member not to enter into a direct business relationship with an unbeliever. If they disregarded my counsel I would initiate discipline. That discipline may be limited to a rebuke, but I would address it.


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## Mushroom (Jun 5, 2011)

I engage in relationships with unbelievers in my business, to the extent that I will hire a subcontractor, or sub myself out to another contractor, or sometimes we will trade time or equipment use, so that's an area where I want to be sure I'm not getting into something I shouldn't. To clarify my question, it has to do with your second scenario, Bill, where a Christian would enter into a permanent contractural partnership and co-ownership of a business with an unbeliever. But maybe there is really no difference between the two.

There is one unbeliever with whom I do a lot of this type of exchange, and he knows my position on partnerships, but I still need to be careful not to go beyond the appropriate boundaries. Determining where those lie is the tricky part.


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## Pilgrim (Jun 5, 2011)

Some argue that partnerships (as a legal arrangement) are a bad idea in any circumstance. But that's somewhat off topic. 

For those who are against partnerships and "direct business relationships" with unbelievers under most circumstances, what about a corporation? It's easy to point out potential problems with a two man partnership, but what about some venture where there are dozens if not hundreds of people involved? What about an employee owned company or a stock company? Does it have to be a "Christian" company? Or how big does a company have to get before working with or sharing ownership with unbelievers is no longer considered an unequal yoke? 

What about a family business? Must a believer leave a family business because his father is unconverted, etc? 

I am an insurance agent by trade. To outsiders, the insurance business, especially as an independent agent, somewhat resembles multi-level marketing. To contract with most insurance companies, going through a marketing company is required. As far as I'm concerned, that's a "direct business relationship." In many cases, a lot is on the line in that kind of relationship. Am I in the wrong if any of my "uplines" is not a Christian? Some of them are fairly large operations but others are quite small with regard to the number of people they employ. 

I've also known a good many professing Christians who are some of the biggest crooks you can imagine. (If someone who you don't know and who doesn't know you plays the "Christian card" within the first 10 minutes, best to run the other way!) On the other hand, I've known non-Christians who conduct their business in an exemplary manner. 

What if a man appears to be an exemplary Christian when you go into business with him, but he later proves otherwise. Let's assume it's in a way that does not affect business operations and has little or no effect on the company's perception by others. Must the partnership be dissolved? 

I think these examples prove that the question is a lot harder to answer than some may imagine.


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## Mushroom (Jun 5, 2011)

Excellent points, Chris. Having been involved in just about every scenario you cite, I agree this is a difficult one. I've been burnt to the ground by professing brothers, and incredibly blessed by unbelievers. To be honest, this has left me with a jaundiced eye towards most believers in regards to business. With unbelievers I can be brutally honest and incorporate protections in agreements without apology, with believers those types of protections seem to offend.

Fourteen years ago I was offered a partnership with an unbeliever that would certainly have proved lucrative, but at the advice of my Session, I declined, and have held that policy ever since. 

So how would the 2 Corinthians 6 passage then apply to a believer marrying an unbeliever? We say it prohibits such, would it then warrant discipline or not?


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## Micah Everett (Jun 5, 2011)

Pilgrim said:


> I've also known a good many professing Christians who are some of the biggest crooks you can imagine. (If someone who you don't know and who doesn't know you plays the "Christian card" within the first 10 minutes, best to run the other way!) On the other hand, I've known non-Christians who conduct their business in an exemplary manner.



A former pastor of mine once said "never do business with the man with a fish on his sign." Unfortunately, that is almost always sound advice.


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## Herald (Jun 5, 2011)

Micah Everett said:


> A former pastor of mine once said "never do business with the man with a fish on his sign." Unfortunately, that is almost always sound advice.



That is a sad, sad commentary.


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## Herald (Jun 5, 2011)

Brad,

Chris makes a good point when bringing up corporations, but that is similar to the first scenario I mentioned. Corporations, by their very design, are a blend of people and entities. If I were to use the 2 Cor. 6 passage as a general principle I would apply it to intimate relationships that join two people together. In a small business partnership between a believer and a unbeliever there is going to be an intimate working relationship coupled with binding fiduciary interest. I think that scenario is best avoided. The fact that some Christians have been dishonest in business while some unbelievers have been above reproach has no bearing on the matter. It's not wise to elevate behavior as the determining factor in our decision. Keeping that in mind, I certainly am not the final word on the matter. I am just sharing my opinion.


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