Cutting Corners

In 1993, four executives from a Florida rental car company were convicted and jailed for defrauding their customers. Using what con artists have long referred to as a “salami technique” (you slice off tiny pieces in hopes that no one will notice and that those little pieces will build up to a large amount of money over time), they cheated at least 47,000 customers over a four-year period. They had modified the computer billing software to overstate the size of the gas tanks on the cars. Then whenever a customer returned the car without filling it up, the gas charge would be increased to cover those “extra” gallons of gas purchased. It took a long time to uncover the scam because most of the customers were only charged small amount—sometimes as little as \$2.00—and very few people noticed.

God demands that we be honest and aboveboard in all of our dealings. With His blessing and favor, what we are able to acquire through honest effort will be enough. Whether we are selling a product or selling our time to an employer, we need to be diligent to ensure we are giving full value for what we receive. Even if you are convinced that no one will ever discover your scheme, God will know. It is far better to live with transparency and honesty.

“Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.”—Proverbs 20:10