“Francis, you are so hopelessly out of fashion,” one businessman remarked. “Of course, honesty depends on the situation of the moment.” This is a typical comment I get from business people.
If you are at a streetlight and it turns red, you stop because it’s red, because you’re supposed to stop. (This isn’t really always true in our country though.) But when the light turns red, and you look at the car next to you and it’s moving, you become unsure whether to stop or keep on moving as well. So what do you do? You put on the brakes… but even then you’re unsure of what to do exactly.
This is relativism. You don’t know where you are, whether you’re really supposed to stop or keep on moving. That is what happens when you do not have a moral reference.
There’s an old story of a man who worked at a factory in the Lester. He used to stop outside a clockmaker’s store and synchronize his watch with a clock. After seeing him do that day after day, the clockmaker remarked, “You stop and synchronize your watch with our clock every day. What kind of work do you do?”
The man replied, “I’m the timekeeper in the factory. I have to ring the bell at four o’clock every afternoon. I’m embarrassed to say that my watch doesn’t work very well, so I synchronize it with your clock each morning.”
The clockmaker confessed, “I have something to tell you. My clock doesn’t work very well either. I synchronize it with the bell that I hear from the factory at four o’clock every afternoon.”
This is what relativism ends up doing.
Truth is absolute. And honesty should be based on moral absolutes.
I have been in business for a long time. I want only honest people to work for me. I think any businessman wouldn’t want anything less. If you’re in business, would you be willing to hire an accountant who’s relatively honest?
In the same way, when I go out of town and do talks and trainings (or get me some training), I don’t expect The Ilocana to say, “Sweetheart, have you been relatively faithful lately?” when I come home.
Truth is narrow. Truth is exclusive. You cannot add to truth and make it more truthful. Neither can you remove a little bit from it and claim it to be almost true.
Life is simple. Ill-meaning, self-interest-wielding people complicate it by coming up with good reasons to do bad or wrong. No matter the good reason, this is still moral compromise.
Be truthful. God sees everything, including what’s in the heart. And drive carefully – stop at red lights as well!
(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong developing your leadership skills this March 28-29 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)