My second Faith & Family Business series considers the book of Proverbs. Though written thousands of years ago, these proverbs still have a timeliness and power today. My aim is to consider these maxims in the context of our current experience of living and working with family members. Thanks for your feedback and sharing this post with others.
At first blush, many of the principles in Proverbs seem to offer a formula for right living plucked straight from Sunday school. But as I read them closely, I find more complexity, meaning, and appreciation for God’s wisdom. Consider the end of the second chapter:
For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. (Prov. 2:21-22)
It seems simple: if you are good, you get to stay on the land, but if you are bad, you’re off! But land in the Bible is both physical, representing safety and security, and symbolic, signifying wholeness, joy, prosperity, and freedom1. Furthermore, integrity is often defined in business today as “doing what you say” or “doing the right thing.” But integrity (an English word) is derived from the Latin integer, as in a whole number, and it really means to be whole or complete.
Reading the verse again using a these broader notions of land and integrity, our proverb takes on a deeper meaning. Like land, your family business is comprised of both physical and symbolic elements. And instead of integrity as a behavior, consider it a reflection of your fullness in family business participation and relationships.
Beyond physical assets, what does your family business represent to you? And what is a full or complete life - a life of integrity - for you and each member of your family?