Welcome to my weekly Faith and Family Business reflections, where I (briefly) probe important questions that arise in family business – questions relating to behavior, relationships and legacy – from the angle of a Biblical story. For more information about this series, click here.
Rebekah planned to trick her blind husband Isaac out of blessing their older son Esau by substituting the younger son Jacob. While Esau was away, Jacob went quickly to gather food and brought it back for Rebekah to prepare.
Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. (Gen. 27:15)
This is a bold attempt by a parent to pass one sibling off as the other, right down to the very best clothes. It’s a risky, almost ridiculous plan, contributing to the theme of deception which is so important to the story and yet so destructive in family business.
But it also suggests another idea prevalent in family business: the desire of parents to mold their children in the image of a successful older or younger sibling. Often unintentionally, parents have communicated, through comparisons, their vision of the “ideal” son or daughter. The result is that some family members feel like they’ll never measure up to the qualities of their seemingly perfect brother or sister, that they have somehow let their parents down by not being someone else.
In your family, or in a family you know, was anyone put on a pedestal? How do we make sure our family members know, despite their differences, of their individual and intrinsic worth — that they are made in the image of God?
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