What I am about to write/discuss is probably not going to make me very popular, but it has been my experience that working with other ‘believers’ for the most part has been horrendous. Why? I am a Christ-follower and I have learned over the years not to ANNOUNCE/Advertise that I am Christian due to the following:

1. There are expectations on ethics, standards of conduct and professionalism that are missing many times due to assumptions when someone announces “I am a Christian” that many times do not reflect a Christ-follower on both sides.
2. These ‘assumptions’ many times turn into attacks about faith versus dealing with the job, quote, proposal, etc. Many times this usually happens when it comes time to pay the bill.
3. Good-faith handshakes are not in good faith… they are many times doorways for abuse of free work, incessant ‘do you have a quick second’ and expectations to drop all my other clients because you’re a Christian and we love Jesus therefore you come first. Ah…. no…
4. Unwillingness to commit to contracts or to pay their bills on time.
5. Praying before the meeting and then using the same meeting to blast me or my contractors, or not paying the bill.
6. Continual requests to go outside of the clear boundaries of a contract, and if change orders are agreed upon, signed, etc, continuing to make the process horrendous.
7. No being prepared for a meeting or valuing my time. I did not come there to do a Bible Study with you… I already did that and prayed before I came… one of us is not listening…
8. Blurring the lines of responsibility (to/for) as areas of contention.
9. “Nickel -n- Diming’ me to death. Here are my prices, rates and fees. I have to eat too, and pay employees… and make a living too. If we agreed upon ‘free’ (write-off) work, great, if not, then stop taking advantage of our relationship by disrespecting me this way. I am made in His image and worthy of respect.
10. There is probably more… but these have tended to be the filter for most of the ‘Christian’ business issues I have dealt with.

What I am ‘lightly’ showing is that hypocrisy is alive and well, if we are truly Christ-Followers, then we should exemplify that in our business practices NO MATTER who we are doing business with. 1 Cor 6 is very clear for us on how to conduct disagreements and many times Christians are the more litigious of the clients I have had in the past then those who do not draw attention to this. I no longer inform clients of my Christian beliefs until an established and upstanding relationship is part of the history. It works out much better.

*Just for the sake of applicability… One company I worked with in the past (if I told you their name you would immediately recognize them) claiming to be ‘Christian’ choose to leave me hanging with a $7500 because they said, our ‘faith’ was inappropriate and offensive to them. I had a programmer working on their site/database with outstanding $7500 worth of work that they signed and agreed to pay for… I still had to pay my contractor. I guess the ‘Cross’ in our logo (at the time) had little to do with their business. By the way I choose not to take it to court because the Cross did mean something to me.

Derek Iannelli-Smith
IT Strategist
Progressive Integrations, Inc.