(Originally appeared in Lectures to Professing
Christians - #10 – 1836 by Charles G Finney)
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10)
These words are a
principle that our Lord uses in connection with the parable of the unjust
steward. I don’t need to explain the
parable itself because this passage is not really part of that parable. This passage
says:
One, who is dishonest in
small matters, is not really honest in anything.
First of all, when I say
that “One, who is dishonest in small matters, is not really honest in
anything”, I don’t mean:
1. That if a person is dishonest in small
matters, and will take little advantages in his dealings with others, that he
will not deal openly and honorably according to the rules of business in
greater matters.
2. That if someone commits petty thefts, he
will commit highway robbery. There are many reasons why a man who will quietly
shoplift a small item will not go on to commit more daring and outrageous
crimes.
3. That if a man indulges unclean thoughts he
will commit adultery.
4. That if someone indulges covetous desires,
he will steal.
5. That if someone indulges in ill will towards
another person, he will commit murder.
6. That if someone would enslave a fellow man,
and deprive him of instruction and of all the rights of man, he would certainly
commit other crimes that are just as bad.
7. That if he will cheat the government in
little things, such as postage, or taxes on small items, he will rob the
treasury.
What I mean is, that if
a man is dishonest in small matters, it shows that his heart is dishonest. If he is not governed by principle in small
matters, he cannot be governed by principle in anything. Therefore, it is certain that what leads him
to act right in greater matters is not an honest heart. He must have other motives than an honest
heart if he only appears to act honestly in larger things, while he acts dishonestly
in small matters.
I am not going to take
this passage for granted, although the Lord Jesus Christ clearly declares
it. I would like to consider several
things besides this passage. It is
generally believed that if a person is honest in greater matters, he deserves
to be considered as being an honest person even though he is guilty of
dishonesty in small matters.
1. If a person is
motivated by a supreme regard for the authority of God and if this was the
habitual state of his mind, his state of mind would be just as likely to reveal
itself in smaller matters as in large.
In fact, where the temptation is small, he will act more conscientiously
than where the temptation is large, because there is less to encourage him to act
otherwise. What is honesty? If a man has no other motives for acting
honestly than mere selfishness, the devil is as honest as he is; for even Satan
is honest with his fellow devils, as far as it is in his interest or policy to
be honest. But, is that real
honesty? Certainly not! Therefore, if a man does not act honestly
from any higher motives than selfishness, he is not honest at all. And, if he appears to be honest in certain
important matters, it must be because he has other motives than a regard for
the honor of God.
2. It is certain that,
if an individual is dishonest in small matters, he is not motivated by a love
of God. If he was motivated by a love
of God, he would sense that dishonesty in small matters is just as inconsistent
as dishonesty is in matters that are very important. Both violate God’s law,
and one who truly loves God would no more violate His law in small matters than
in large matters.
3. It is certain that
anyone, who is dishonest in small matters, is not motivated by the kind of love
for his neighbor that the law of God requires.
If he loved his neighbor as himself, he would not only refuse to defraud
him in large things but he would also refuse to defraud him in little
things. When the temptation is small,
the person who truly loves his neighbor would never act dishonestly. Job is an excellent example. Job truly loved God, and you can read how
long he was patient, and the distress that he endured before he would say
anything that even sounded disparaging or complaining to God. And when the temptation was overwhelming,
and he could see no reason why he should be so afflicted, and his distress
became intolerable, and his soul was wrapped in darkness, and his wife came in
and told him to curse God and die, he still would not complain, but instead he
said, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept
adversity?” Do you think Job would have
swerved from his integrity in little things, or for small temptations? Never.
He loved God. And, if you find a
man who truly loves his neighbor, you will not see him deceiving or defrauding
his neighbor even in the smallest matters.
But, then, what are some
motives that make someone who is dishonest in little things appear honest in
greater matters?
How can this apparent
discrepancy coexist with what Jesus said?
Our Lord Jesus laid down the principle that if a man is dishonest in
small matters, he is not honest at all.
And yet we have examples, which to many, appear to contradict this. We see many people that exhibit a great lack
of principle in small matters, and appear to be without principle, however, in
larger matters, they appear to be honorable and even pious. This must agree with our passage, or else
Jesus Christ is lying. We can show that
what we see is consistent with what Jesus said if we can show that their
conduct in regard to larger matters can be accounted for by other principles
than an honest heart. If we can account
for their honesty by using selfish principles, then we will have to admit that
when a man is dishonest in small things, he is not really honest at all, no
matter how honest he may act in larger matters.
1. People may act
honestly in larger matters because they fear being disgraced. They may know
that certain small things are not likely to be mentioned in public, or stir up
trouble, and so they may do some little things, while the fear of disgrace
prevents them from doing the same things in regard to larger matters, they will
not be dishonest in larger matters because it will cause trouble. What is this but one form of selfishness
overbalancing another form of selfishness?
It is still selfishness.
2. That person may be
afraid that it will hurt his business if he is caught being dishonest with
customers, and so he deals honesty in important matters, while in little things
he is ready to take any advantage he can, as long as it will not hurt his
business. Thus a man will take
advantage of a seamstress, and pay her a little less than he knows it is really
worth for making a garment, while the same individual, in buying a bale of
goods, would never even think of cheating because it would hurt his business if
he got caught. In dealing with an
abused and humble worker, he can gripe and screw her out of a few dollars a day
without fear of public disgrace, but he would never, ever consider doing
anything that would be publicly spoken of as disreputable and wrong.
3. Fear of human law may
influence someone to act honestly in such things that will likely be exposed,
while in small matters where the law is not likely to notice, he will defraud
or take advantage.
4. The love of praise
influences many to act honestly, honorably, and even piously in matters that
will likely be noticed. Many a man will
defraud a poor laborer out of a few dollars worth of wages, and then, in some
important matter on a public occasion, appear to act with great
generosity. What is the reason that
employers who habitually screw their employees out of a few benefits, and take
all the advantage they can of them, will then, if a severe winter comes, send
out truckloads of fuel to the poor, or give large sums of money to needy
causes? You can see that they do it for the love of praise, and not for the
love of God and their fellow man.
5. An individual may be
afraid of the wrath of God if he commits a significant dishonest act, but he
thinks that God will overlook little things and not notice it if he is
dishonest in such small matters.
6. He may restrict his
dishonest behavior because of his self-righteousness, and act honestly in great
things to bolster his own good opinion of himself, but in little things he will
cheat and deceive.
Now remember, I never
said that if a person would take small advantages, he would certainly never act
with apparent righteousness. It often
happens that individuals, who are mean and dishonest in small matters, will act
righteously and honorably as long as their character and interests are at
stake. Many a man, who fellow merchants
see as an honorable dealer, is known by his closest friends as mean and
knavish, and cheats in smaller matters, or in his dealings with more humble and
more dependent individuals. It is
obvious that what makes him act with apparent honesty in his more public
transactions is not true honesty of heart.
If an individual steals
little things, we cannot say that he will commit highway robbery. He might have many reasons other than
honesty for not committing armed robbery, or to pick your wallet right out of
your pocket in a crowd. The individual
may not have enough courage to commit robbery, or not enough skill, or not
enough nerve, or he may be afraid of the law, or afraid of disgrace, or perhaps
some other reason.
An individual may
habitually indulge in unclean thoughts, habitually, and yet never actually
commit adultery. He may be restrained
by fear, or lack of opportunity, but not by principle. If he indulges in unclean thoughts, he
certainly would act uncleanly if it weren’t for reasons other than purity of
principle.
An individual may
manifest a covetous spirit, and yet not steal.
But he has the spirit that would lead him to steal, if he was not
restrained by other reasons than honesty or principle.
Someone may be angry,
and yet his anger never breaks out in murder.
But his hatred would lead him to murder as far as principle is
concerned. And if does not happen, it
is for other reasons than true principle.
A man may oppress his
wife, enslave her to household chores, deprive her of education, and compel her
to work for his own benefit, and yet not commit murder, or go to Asia to engage
in the slave trafficking because that would endanger his reputation or his
life. But if he will do that which
drains life of all that is desirable in order to gratify his own fleshly
desires or promote his own interests, it cannot be either from the love of God
or the love of man that keeps him from going to any length if his interests require
it. If someone, in order to satisfy his
own selfish interests, takes a course towards any human being that deprives him
or her of all that makes life desirable, it is easy to see that, as far as
principle is concerned, there is nothing in the way of his doing it by force in
the sweatshops of Asia or taking life itself if his own selfish interests
require it.
So an individual who
will defraud the United States treasury of thirty-seven cents in postage
doesn’t have enough principle to prevent him from robbing the treasury if he
had the same prospect of escaping without punishment. The same principle that allows him to do one would allow him to
do the other. And the same motive that
led him to do one, would lead him to do the other if he had an opportunity, and
if it was not counterbalanced by another equally selfish motive.
Likewise, a man may be
guilty of misrepresenting the truth, but he would not dare to tell an outright
lie. Yet if he is guilty of coloring the truth, and misrepresenting facts with
a purpose to deceive, or to make facts appear different than they really are,
he is lying. The individual who will do
this would manufacture as many lies as was in his interest, or if he was not
restrained by other reasons than a sacred regard for the truth.
People can be dishonest
in small matters even while they appear to act honestly and even piously concerning
matters of greater importance.
1. We often find
individuals manifesting a great lack of principle concerning paying off small
debts, while they are extremely careful and punctual in their loan payments,
and in all their other commercial transactions.
Take, for example, a man
who accepts a newspaper subscription.
The price is not much, and the publisher cannot send a collector to
every individual, so this man lets his subscription run perhaps for years, and
perhaps never pays it. That same
individual, if it had been a loan payment, would have been punctual; and would
have spared no pains to pay lest his payment become overdue.
Why? It is because, if he does not pay his loan,
the loan will become past due, and his credit will become bad. But, the little debt of twenty five dollars
to the Tribune will not be protested and he knows it, and so he lets it slide
by, and the publisher has the trouble and expense of sending payment notices,
or go without his money. How obvious it
is that this person does not pay his loan because he is honest, but because of
his own selfish concern for his credit and interest.
2. Remember the
seamstresses? Suppose an individual
employs women to sew for him, and for the sake of underselling others in the same
trade, he lowers their pay below the just price of such work. It is obvious that this individual is not
honest in anything, if, to make more money or undersell his competitor, he
cheats his employees. Suppose he is honorable and prompt in all his public
transactions. Don’t think that he is
honorable! It is not because he is honest in his heart, but because it is in
his own selfish interest to appear honorable.
3. Some people manifest
this lack of principle by committing little petty thefts. If they live at a boarding house where there
are boarders, they will commit little petty thefts, perhaps only for food or
candy. An individual will not be
concerned about obtaining a little chocolate for himself to satisfy his sweet
tooth, and so he gets what he wants by pilfering from the supplies that belong
to others, one piece at a time. Now the
individual that will do that reveals that he is really rotten in his heart.
Someone recently shared this little example. An individual was sitting in a room, where a gentleman had on the
table for some purpose, a tumbler of wine and a pitcher of water. The gentleman
had to leave the room for a moment, but he accidentally left the door ajar, and
while he was out, he looked back and saw this individual drink some of the wine
from the tumbler, and then, to conceal what he did, he filled up the tumbler
with some water, and sat down. Now the
individual who did that showed that he loved wine, and that he was not too good
to steal. He showed, that as far as
principle was concerned, he would get drunk if he had the opportunity, and
steal if he had a chance; in fact, in his heart, he was both a drunkard and a
thief.
4. Individuals often
display great dishonesty when they find articles that have been lost,
especially articles of small value. One
will find a penknife, perhaps, or a pencil case, and never ask those he has reason
to believe lost the item. Now, the man
that would find a penknife, and keep it without inquiring if there was a chance
of finding the owner, as far as principle is concerned, would keep a brief case
full of cash, if he knew that he could conceal his discovery. And yet this same individual, if he should
find a wallet with fifty thousand dollars in it, would advertise it in the
newspapers, and make a great noise, and profess to be wonderfully honest. But, why?
What is his motive? He knows
that someone will be looking for the fifty thousand dollars, and if someone
discovers that he has concealed it, he’ll be arrested. Fine honesty, this is!
5. Many individuals
conceal little mistakes that are made in their favor, in reckoning, or making
change. If an individual would keep
still, say nothing, and let it pass when such a mistake is made in his favor,
it is obvious that nothing but a lack of opportunity and the prospect of
getting caught would prevent him from taking any advantage whatever.
6. Postal frauds are
also small things.
Who does not know that
there is a great deal of dishonesty practiced here? Some seem to think there is no dishonesty in cheating the
government out of a little postage.
Postal workers will steal or open letters they have no right to. Many will postmark letters not only for
their families, but also for their neighbors, all contrary to law. The person that does that is not honest.
What would a person do,
if he had little or no chance of getting caught committing other frauds?
7. Shoplifting is a
common form of petty dishonesty. Many a
person will try to smuggle little articles under his or her coat or in his
pocket as he huddles by some shelves away from sight. Others smuggle small items past customs that they know they
should pay duty to the government, and they think little of it because the sum
is so small. However, the smaller the
sum the more clearly this principle is revealed. Because the temptation is so small, it shows how weak a man's
principle of honesty is that he can be overcome by something so little. The man
who would do this, if he had the same opportunity, would smuggle as much as he
could. If for so little, he would lose
sight of his integrity and do a dishonest act, he is not too good to rob the
treasury.
REMARKS.
1. The real state of a
person’s heart is more often revealed in small matters than in matters of great
importance.
People are often deceived here and think that if they are honest in greater things, it proves that they are honest in heart in spite of their dishonesty in small matters. And so, they are on their guard in important matters, while they are careless with little matters, thus revealing their true character. They overlook the fact that all their honesty in larger matters springs from the wrong principle, from a desire "to appear" honest, and not from a determination to be honest. They overlook their own petty frauds because they guard their more public manifestations of character, and then take it for granted that they are honest. In reality, their hearts are rotten. The man, who will take advantage in little things when no one is watching him, is not motivated by principle at all. If you want to know your real character, watch your hearts, and see how your principles develop themselves in little things.
For example, suppose you
are employed in the service of another, and you start slacking off in your work
as soon as your employer leaves. You
wouldn’t do it if he were present. The
man who will do this is totally dishonest, and cannot be trusted in anything,
and very likely would take money from his employer's pocketbook, if it weren’t
for the fear of getting caught or some other equally selfish motive. You can never really treat such a person as
honest, except in circumstances where it is in his interest to be honest.
Mechanics that slight
their work when it will not be seen or known by their employer are rotten in
heart, and you cannot trust them at all, or any farther than it is in their
interest to be honest.
People, who will
knowingly twist facts in conversation, would bear false witness in court under
oath if they could get away with it.
They never tell the truth at all because it is truth, or from the love
of truth. Do not trust such people.
Those who are unchaste
in conversation would be unchaste in conduct, if they had the opportunity to
get away with it. Spurn the man or
woman who is impure in speech, even among his or her own sex. They have no
principle at all, and are not to be trusted because of their principles. If people are decent from principle, they
will no more indulge in unclean conversation than unclean actions. They will abhor even the garment spotted
with the flesh.
2. The individual who
usually indulges in any one sin does not abstain from sin because it is
sin. If he hated sin, and was opposed
to sin because it is sin, he would no more indulge in one sin than another. If a person goes to pick and choose among
sins, avoiding some, and practicing others, it is certain that it is not
because he regards the authority of God, or hates sin, that he abstains from
sin.
3. Those individuals,
who did not abandon every intoxicating drink to promote temperance, never gave
up alcohol to promote temperance.
It is clear that they
gave up alcohol for some other reason than a regard to the temperance
cause. If that was their purpose, they
would give up all forms of alcohol, and when they notice that there is alcohol
in wine and beer, they will also give them up.
Why not?
4. The person who for
the sake of gain, will sell rum, or intoxicating drinks to his neighbor and put
a cup to his neighbor's mouth and would thus consent to ruin both his soul and
body, would also consent to sell his neighbor into slavery to promote his own
selfish interests if he could profit from the transaction. And if he did not rob and murder him for the
sake of his money, it certainly would not be because the love of God or of man
restrains him. If the love of self is
so strong that he will consent to do his neighbor the direct injury of selling
him alcoholic beverages, nothing but selfishness under some other form
prevailing over the love of money, could prevent his selling men into slavery,
robbing, or murdering them to get their money.
He might love his own
reputation; he might fear the penalty of human law; he might fear the destruction
of his own soul, so much as to restrain him from these acts of outrage and
violence. But certainly, it could not
be the principle of love to God or man that would restrain him.
5. The individual who
will enslave his fellow men for his own selfish purposes would enslave others,
any or all, if his interest demanded, and if he had the proper opportunity.
If a man will take possession of the rights of any other person, he would, without any reluctance, take possession of the rights of all men, if he could do it without it hurting his reputation. The individual who will deprive the poorest, most unfortunate person of his freedom, and enslave him, would not think twice about enslaving anybody possible if circumstances were equally favorable. The person, who contends that the black laborer of the south should be placed into slavery, if he had the opportunity, would contend to have white laborers enslaved. He would use the same kind of arguments such as the peace and order of society requires it, and laborers are so much better off when they have a master to take care of them. The famous Bible argument too, is as good in favor of white slaves as black, if you only had the power to carry it out. The person, who holds the least human being in bondage, would take any person as property if he could do it without hurting his reputation. The principle is the same in all his actions.
6. The man that will not
practice self-denial in little things to promote the cause of Christ will not endure
persecution for the sake of promoting the Kingdom of God.
Those who will not deny
their appetite would not endure the scourge and the stake. Perhaps, if persecution were to arise, some
might endure it for the sake of the applause it would bring, or to show their
determination in the face of opposition.
There is a natural spirit of obstinacy, which is often roused by opposition
that would go to the stake rather than yield one point. But it is easily seen that it is not true
love to Christ that prompts a man to endure opposition if he will not endure
self-denial in little things for the sake of Christ.
7. Little circumstances
often reveal the state of the heart.
If the individual that
we find is delinquent in small matters, we can conclude that he will also be
delinquent in larger affairs if the circumstances were equally favorable.
Where you find people
wearing little ornaments because of their vanity, consider them as rotten at
heart. If they could they would go to
great lengths to display their vanity, if they were not restrained by some
other considerations than a regard for the authority of God and the love of
their neighbor. You see this every day walking down the street. Men walking with their cloaks very carefully
thrown over their shoulders to impress others with their attire; and women with
their skirts accenting their curves. It is astonishing how many ways there are
in which these little things reveal pride and rottenness of heart.
You say these are little
things. I know they are little things, and because they are little things, I mention
them. It is because they are little things that they show one’s true character
so clearly. If one’s pride were not so
deeply rooted, it would not maintain itself in little things. If you give a man the power to live in a
palace filled with riches, you would not be surprised if he should yield to the
temptation of vanity. But when his
vanity reveals itself in little things, he presents all the evidence we need
that it has possession of his soul.
It is very important for
you to see this, and to keep a watch over these little things, so you can see
where your heart is, and to know your character as it appears in the sight of
God.
It is very important to
cultivate the strictest integrity that will manifest itself in small things
just as much as it does in large matters.
It is so beautiful to see an individual acting in little things with the
same careful and conscientious uprightness as in matters of the greatest
importance. Until professing Christians
will cultivate this universal honesty, they will always be a reproach to
religion.
Oh, how much would be
gained if professing Christians would demonstrate entire purity and honesty on
all occasions and to all people, and do what is right, so that they present a
living demonstration of Christianity to the ungodly. How often do sinners observe some petty misdeed of a professing
Christian, and look with amazement that such a thing could be done by someone
who professes the fear of God. What an
everlasting reproach to religion, that so many of those, who claim that hey are
Christian, are guilty of these little, tiny, wicked sins. The wicked have enough reason to see that
such professing Christians cannot have any principle of honesty, and that the
religion that they demonstrate is good for nothing and not worth having.
What use is it for that
woman to talk to her unrepentant neighbor about Christ, when her neighbor knows
that she will not hesitate to cheat others in petty things? Or, what use is it for that merchant to talk
to his clerks who know that, no matter how honorable he may be in his greater
and more public transactions, he is mean and wicked in little things? It is worse than useless.