Cheaters Never Win

In 1977, I was a 13-year-old writer for the student newspaper at the now-defunct Central Junior High School in Moorhead, Minnesota. Among my articles was a music poll to determine the most popular songs and artists amongst my peers. Manfred Mann’s “Blinded by the Light” and the rock group Kiss topped my survey. Eventually, I conducted another poll that included the worst songs and artists. Classmates mentioned some of my personal favorites but were still included in my tallies. I desired accuracy and truthfulness.

There’s an old saying, “Cheaters never win.” Sadly, I later succumbed to peer pressure by being dishonest in areas like cheating on algebra tests. While that helped me get better grades at the time, I was only hurting myself. I continued struggling with algebra in high school and college. Proverbs 28:18 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible says, “The one who lives with integrity will be helped, but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.” 

Companies who cheat customers lose in the long run. I used to fly on AirTran but shied away from doing business with them after they attempted to extract extra baggage fees from me by fudging their scales. AirTran later ceased to exist after being bought out by another airline. Proverbs 22:28 in the New Living Translation says, “Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers set up by previous generations.”

There are people in the Bible who cheated. Jacob stole his brother’s inheritance by using animal skins to imitate Esau’s hairy arms (Genesis 27:23). Later, Jacob got swindled himself after Leah was given to him as a wife instead of Rachel (Genesis 29:25). King David tried to get away with committing adultery by having Uriah killed on the battlefield but was soon called out by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12:7).

Today millions of Americans will be watching the Super Bowl. With the help of instant replay, wrong calls made by officials are often reversed. Nevertheless, a few individuals think NFL games are fixed. Athletes in other sports have used performance-enhancing drugs to gain advantages over their opponents. Many politicians get away with corruption, but ultimately the truth will be made known in this life or the next. I’m still convinced the recent presidential election was stolen (if you have doubts, I recommend watching this video by Mike Lindell).

If you’ve done something unethical that no man will ever know, don’t forget there is Someone in heaven who sees and records everything. Unless you repent, payday will happen in eternity. 

God is watching.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23

Witnessing While Working

Two days ago I read in the news about a state trooper who was fired for proselytizing during traffic stops. Brian Hamilton (pictured here) was a 14-year veteran of the Indiana Police Force. During an eighteen month period, he was sued by two different drivers who were asked questions about their religious beliefs after being pulled over. Despite given a warning after the first lawsuit was filed, Hamilton insisted he was following the Lord.

This reminded me of an incident told by the evangelist who taught me to be a soul winner. Before Nick Kinn went into full-time ministry, he worked for the post office. One day while witnessing to a coworker, Nick was approached by his supervisor who asked, “Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal?’” He then pointed out Nick was stealing company time by witnessing instead of sorting mail. Nick apologized and from that point on witnessed to coworkers only during breaks. 

As much as Jesus wants His people to share the gospel with others, we should avoid doing so in ways that leave a bad witness or disrespect authority. Over the years I’ve witnessed to waiters, clerks, construction workers and other people while they’re doing their job. Usually I’ll offer a tract and encourage them to read it when they take a break. Sometimes I’ve felt led to ask questions about their eternal destiny if they don’t appear to be too busy.

One day I stopped at a Ponderosa restaurant where (to my surprise) the woman behind the cash register offered to pay for my meal. Later when Jacqueline stopped by my table, she started weeping when I began ministering to her. Suddenly more customers showed up and Jacqueline had to get back to work. Immediately I got in line behind the new customers. When I came up to the cash register again, I shared Romans 10:9 with Jacqueline. She prayed to get born again.

As long as we remain teachable, we can increase our effectiveness in reaching the lost while in the marketplace. I pray Brian Hamilton will correctly discern when and how to witness on his next job. Perhaps he could become a police chaplain.

“You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?…do you dishonor God through breaking the law?” - Romans 2:21, 23