Hypocrisy commands no respect even in the world of commerce. Who wants to do business with a fake—someone who lies and deceives to accomplish his or her agenda? Business is about just and fair trading of products and services. No one wants to be duped. People want to conduct business based on truth and reality not lies and deception.

Those who know Christ are best equipped to conduct equitable business because a follower of Christ works, in theory, not for money but out of a heart to obey Christ.¹ Clearly, the theory is not always practiced; nevertheless, it should be the objective. But what if those who profess to be Christians don’t live up to biblical standards? What if they employ deception? The Scripture reveals such people will be deceived themselves.

In the above text, the Epistle of James discusses two ways that self-deception can affect professing Christians.

First, professing Christians deceive themselves when they know biblical truth but do not obey it. Christ himself, who is the model for every Christian, sought to live by “every word that comes from the mouth of God.”² When anyone professes Christ and does not live according to the truth of biblical revelation, that person is a hypocrite and, according to the above text, self-deceived.

Second, professing Christians deceive themselves when they do not properly use their tongues. In chapter 3 of his epistle, James talked about the difficulty of taming the tongue. He noted that being critical of others while claiming to bless them “ought not to be so.”³ And in the text above, James intimated that anyone who claims to be a Christian but does not manage his speech properly is a hypocrite; that is, his or her profession of faith in Christ is worthless. The word translated “worthless” implies powerless. This intimates that such a person’s profession of faith in Christ is meaningless.

James holds up a high standard regarding what it means to be a follower of Christ. When a follower of Christ uses deception in business, this is inconsistent with the standards of Scripture.⁴ Failing to meet this standard leads the deceiver to be self-deceived. A self-deceived person is a hypocrite whose profession of faith in Christ is powerless.

Here is your business tip. For the workplace to function well, management must promote equitable dealings. All stakeholders must subscribe and be committed to this standard. Anyone associated with an organization and who is self-deceived will be unable to profoundly live up to this metric. When management discovers self-deceived stakeholders, prompt remediation must be offered. And if remediation fails, then timely replacement must be executed. Cultures that tolerate self-deceived stakeholders will be toxic and impaired in their ability to conduct business equitably.

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1 Colossians 3:17, 22–24.
2 Matthew 4:4 ESV.
3 James 3:10 ESV.
4 Leviticus 19:36.