Sin in Business: The Contributions of Perversion, Defilement, and Idolatry

Far from being a parochial concern with the ritual observances of the faithful, sin is the fundamental problem of life for all people. It encompasses all of the violations of the peace that a person has or should have with God, themselves, others, and even the natural environment. These violations occur as people pervert parts of God’s good creation away from their created purposes and toward unworthy ones, disrupting the interdependent order of creation and defiling themselves and their objects in the process. It moreover is self-reinforcing, gaining a power over people that makes future sins more difficult to resist, sometimes even against the earnest desires and better judgment of the sinner. This self-reinforcement results from the defilement (or pollution, or corruption) that is the result of sin, and from the defiling practices of disciplined pursuits of instrumental goods that comprise idolatry. An understanding of sin in business ethics helps people of conscience in the workplace to recognize both perversions of God’s intended peace, and the entrapping power of defilement and idolatry, in common business practices; it also helps to highlight the good news that while human efforts cannot solve these problems, God’s sovereign grace can and does.