July 1, 2026

Business by the Book

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

The warning Christ renders here is about religious matters, but let’s take the phrase “Take heed that no man deceive you” and bring it into the realm of business.

Deception is the full time job of many. It is the job of individuals to deceive you. Their words are deceptive, their marketing is deceptive, their products are deceptive and their goal is to deceive. I have often said if some people would work as hard at making an honest living as they work at deceiving others they would not have to deceive. 

Our church receives tons of mail as every business does. A few weeks ago I picked up our mail and was browsing through it as I was walking to my office.  I noticed a very official looking envelope that looked very much like an important notice from a governmental agency. It had all the markings of urgency. I opened the envelope to find it to be a sales flyer for a certain seminar. The information indicated that if I don’t go to their seminar that our church would be in violation of certain laws governing churches.  They didn’t need to use scare tactics, just be forthright and offer the seminar.  I’m sure it’s a wonderful seminar, but their mailers are deceptive. 

Much deception is found on the World Wide Web. To me the web is like the Wild, Wild West.  Gun slingers live in the web, and I am not a fast gun, so I’m very careful about venturing there. When it comes to the web, I, and our church ministry, am out gunned. Scams are plentiful on the web, take the Lord’s warning to heart when perusing there. 

One way that I know to expose deception is to ask questions. Ask for names, details, phone numbers, titles, specifics, and then check them out.  It’s amazing how gullible people can be. I once received a phone call about a Credit Card issued on one of my accounts, so I asked for a return phone number so that I could check it out and call them back. They were reluctant and upon my insistence they became angry and hostile. After the call I called my bank and was told that someone was running a scam. 

It would be nice to live in a society where everyone told the truth. But we don’t.  We live in a society where we must be ever vigilant against deception. The Lord knew this and warned us about it.

Dr. William Howe