“Sir, are you a Christian?” asked the customer.

“Certainly!” beamed the businessman. “Church every Sunday, committee meeting every month, and prayer before every meal!”

“I was asking because of your bill.”

The businessman adjusted the cross hanging around his neck. Unfortunately, it did nothing to adjust the figures.

We Christians sometimes furnish our offices so beautifully that Jesus appears to be our business partner. A Bible on the desk. A cross on the wall. A calendar with Scripture verses.

Then our receptionist answers the telephone.

“Tell him I’m not here!” we whisper.

Apparently, Jesus is our partner, but must occasionally wait outside while we conduct business.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:2, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.”

Which means somebody is reading us.

And quite possibly wondering whether a few pages have gone missing.

Consider our promises.

“Delivery on Monday, sir!”

Our supplier has promised Wednesday. Our driver is attending a wedding. The goods are still enjoying themselves somewhere overseas.

But Monday sounds Christian. Confident. Almost biblical.

On Monday, the customer calls.

“Almost there, sir!”

That phrase has transported more imaginary goods than the Indian Railways carries real ones.

A promise should help a customer plan his work. When we fail, an honest explanation serves him better than another glorious fiction.

Then there is money.

Proverbs tells us that a false balance displeases God. Ancient traders tampered with scales. We have upgraded to hidden charges.

“Processing fee,” explains the businessman.

“What have you processed?”

“Your willingness to pay.”

There is nothing wrong with profit. But when the customer pays for quality and receives something that falls apart before the invoice does, our morning Bible message needs urgent revision.

Would we explain that transaction comfortably to Jesus?

Next come our employees.

“Brother! God bless you!” we say warmly at church.

On Monday, the office boy discovers that “brother” was a Sunday designation.

His salary is late. His rent is due. His child needs schoolbooks.

“Accounts will handle it,” we say, before booking our holiday.

For us, delayed wages occupy a spreadsheet. For him, they occupy sleepless nights.

People also read us when honesty becomes expensive.

A customer overpays. A defect appears before dispatch. An employee admits a costly mistake.

Here comes the examination for which our church attendance cannot supply the answers.

Zacchaeus met Jesus, and immediately his money began behaving differently. Restitution followed repentance.

Perhaps our witness should begin with a refund, an apology or a salary paid today.

By all means, keep the Bible on your desk.

But remember, your customer may never open it. Your employee may never attend your church. Your supplier may delete your daily devotional.

They will still read your promises, your payments and your treatment of people. Those are the pages you place before them every working day.

When they close your office door, will they have discovered something of Christ’s honesty and compassion?

Or will they wonder why the Bible on your desk never reaches your hands..!

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