Can We Partner With Those That Don’t Believe?

Is it possible to have a partnership with someone who believes differently than you, to create a successful business? One of my favorite new bloggers is Mike Eaton at Greater Seas and he posed this question to several of us who write about faith and the marketplace.

Bradley Moore, of Shrinking the Camel said yes, that it was acceptable, because running a business requires many partnering relationships, and “business is filled with gray areas that don’t provide a flat biblical yes-no framework.” True. We have to forge many deals with those that don’t believe like we do. But a true partner in business is a different kind of relationship. Similarly, I have many friendships with nonbelievers, but would not marry someone who didn’t share my faith.

Mike St. Pierre, at the Daily Saint, said it depends. “A person can be honest and not be a Christian,” he says. Fair enough.

Sue Miley at Christian Business Crossroads also says “it depends.” “It is important for businesses to be built on a foundation of Christian values,” she writes. If the partner we choose – whether Christian or not – leads us away from those values, then it isn’t right. I know plenty of “believers” who I simply couldn’t trust.

What did I say? Well, my answer was just a flat out “no” Why? Here’s what I said:
More than a moral code book, the Bible is actually a practical guidebook for successful living. For those of us who have lived by it’s teachings, we find that we reap everyday blessings. Things just work better when you do it by the book. Go figure.

So when I first read the words, “don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers,” I dutifully added them to the long list of commands for my life. But these words are meant not to just keep me “clean,” they are meant to help us be successful in life. — they are there for my own good. You see, when I sign my name on the dotted line next to another name, it means that as a partner, I am sharing the consequences of that venture. Through the good, the bad and the ugly — we’re a team.

The problem is that when the other person doesn’t share the same worldview. On the surface, our outlook on profit, the competition, employees and a host of other principles might seem to be the same, but are drawn from different wells. Why we work, who we work for and how we treat the world around us define us. These ventures often start good, but almost always end up badly. That’s when the command becomes just good sense. And while I can be friends with a non Christian, I would never partner.

Be a regular reader of all of these blogs, but please weigh on this at Greater Seas.

You can also comment here. What do you think? Am I too harsh?

Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
Read all past issues at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidrupert

Can we partner with those that don’t believe?