Can a Christian be a Salesman?

What Does the Bible Say?

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

From the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version--

___Proverbs chapter 2

1 My son, if you'll receive my words, and hide my commandments with you,

2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding,

3 Yes, if you call after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding,

4 If you seek her like for silver, and search for her like for hidden treasures,

5 Then you'll understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom, out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

7 He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous, he is a buckler to those who walk uprightly.

8 He keeps the paths of justice, and preserves the way of his saints.

9 Then you'll understand righteousness, and justice, and equity, yes every good path.

10 When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

11 Discretion shall preserve you, understanding shall keep you,

12 To give you deliverance from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks perverse things,

13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness,

14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked,

15 Whose ways are crooked, and perverse in their paths,

16 To deliver you from the strange woman, from the stranger who flatters with her words,

17 Who forsakes the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.

18 For her house inclines to death, and her paths to the dead.

19 No one that goes to her escapes, nor do they take hold of the paths of life.

20 So that you'll walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright shall live in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be uprooted from it.

___Proverbs chapter 3

1 My son, don't forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments,

2 For they shall add length of days to you, and long life, and peace.

3 Don't let mercy and truth forsake you, tie them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart,

4 That's how you'll find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean to your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he'll direct your paths.

7 Don't be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and go away from evil.

8 It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones.

9 Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase,

10 Then your barns shall be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine.

11 My son, don't despise the punishment of the Lord, and don't be weary of his correction,

12 For whom the Lord loves, he corrects, like a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

13 Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain of it than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to her.

16 Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor.

17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her, and happy is everyone that retains her.

19 By wisdom, the Lord has founded the earth, by understanding he has established the heavens.

20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, don't let them depart from your eyes, keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22 So they'll be life to your soul, and grace to your neck.

23 Then you'll walk in your way safely, and your foot won't stumble.

24 When you lie down, you won't be afraid, yes, you'll lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.

25 Don't be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the desolation of the wicked when it comes.

26 For the Lord shall be your confidence, and shall keep your foot from being taken.

27 Don't withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it's in the power of your hand to do it.

28 Don't say to your neighbor, "Go, and come back later, and tomorrow I will give, when you already have it."

29 Don't devise evil against your neighbor, since he lives securely near you.

30 Don't strive with a man without a reason, if he's done you no harm.

31 Don't envy the oppressor, and don't choose any of his ways.

32 For the perverse person is a dirty thing to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous.

33 The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling place of the just.

34 Surely he scorns the scorners, but he gives grace to the lowly.

35 The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the repayment for fools.

___Proverbs chapter 4

1 Hear the instruction of a father, you children, and pay attention to getting understanding.

2 For I give you good doctrine, don't forsake my law.

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

4 He taught me also, and said to me, "Let your heart retain my words, keep my commandments, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding, don't forget it, and don't decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Don't forsake her, and she'll preserve you; love her, and she'll keep you.

7 Wisdom is the main thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all your getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she'll promote you, she'll bring you to honor when you embrace her.

9 She'll put an ornament of grace on your head, she'll deliver to you a crown of glory.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be many.

Chapter 2

Most businesses have a Sales department.  Of course, with a retail store, the products are on display.  The customer can pick what they want and go to the cash register to pay.

Still, sometimes a customer will have a question that needs to be answered, "If I buy this cell phone, do I have to enter into a contract with the service provider?"

Some stores have more valuable merchandise that is kept in glass cases.  A salesperson will help the prospective customer, and answer any questions.

Manufacturers have Sales departments to move the merchandise out.  It's no good manufacturing products without customers to buy those products.

Businesses have expenses.  You have rent to pay, for the number of square feet of space that you're using, or a mortgage to pay if you're buying the building.  And then, property taxes.

There are the utilities to pay:  the electricity, the water, the gas.

A business has employees whose wages must be paid.  The Janitor.  The Forklift Driver, and so on.

A business won't stay in business very long unless there's money coming into the business.

You either sell a product or you sell a service.  You need customers to be paying.  The way to make sure that's happening is the Sales department.

They get on the phone and drum up business.  Or they go out to the prospective customer's place of business and sell there.

But because sales are so important to any business, there can be a lot of pressure on the Salesmen.  Salesmen work for a Sales Manager.

And that Sales Manager expects his sales people to meet certain sales goals.  If you fall short of the sales goal, you're probably going to get a talking to.

If you fall behind the sales goal for several months, there is the possibility that they'll hire a replacement instead of you.

So then, being a Salesman can be a rather high pressure job.

In an effort to meet your sales goal, you'll be tempted to make some misrepresentations.  You'll be tempted to lie.  You'll be tempted to promise what you can't deliver.  Because you'd like to meet your sales goal.  Because your wife hopes you'll earn enough to pay the rent.

So then, I believe the job of Salesman is a job where those doing it will have an almost daily temptation to lie.

In my youth, I found that some of the "girly" magazines were a temptation for me.  Young men are normally interested in women's bodies.

I sought the Lord about it, and he answered me.  He said, "You're just going to have to stay away from it."

Similarly, it might be best to stay away from sales positions because of the almost daily temptation to lie.

I considered going into working as a Salesman myself, but decided not to do so for that very reason that Salesmen will be pressured to lie to make the sale.

One time I purchased a car from a used car lot.  I said, "If I buy this car, I want you to provide me with a manual for the car."  The Salesman said he would.

They sent me something in the mail.  But it was not a manual for the car, it was just a brochure describing cars like that.  So he lied.

Why did he lie to me?  Because he wanted to make the sale.

If he didn't make his sales goal, he'd catch flack from his Sales Manager, and his take home pay probably wouldn't have been as much, since Salesmen generally work at least partly on commission.

Some of them work entirely on commission.

Your sales commission on zero sales is zero commission.

And the Bible says, "All liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone." (Rev 21:8)

Stong's Greek Dictionary, in the Power Bible, says that brimstone is sulphur.

We did an experiment in college chemistry lab that involved the heating of sulphur.  I'm a witness that sulphur makes a terrible stink when it gets hot, and I'm told it can give you a nasty burn if you get any hot sulphur on you.

Please notice that scripture doesn't say "most liars."  No, it says "all liars."

Of course, while lying is sin, and a violation of one of the Ten Commandments of Exodus chapter 20, ("You shall not bear false witness"), it is not the unforgivable sin.

Apply 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

But do you really want a job where, about every day, you need to be forgiven for lying?

The Bible teaches that we can be forgiven for our sins, but also that we should stop sinning.

The unforgivable sin, Jesus said, is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

I recommend that you pray a prayer asking the Lord to help you to never blaspheme the Holy Ghost.  When you pray, believe you receive the things you ask for, and you shall have them. (Mark 11:24)

In Chapter 1 of this book, scriptures from the Book of Proverbs, right about in the middle of the Bible, talk about the importance of wisdom.

Proverbs 4:5,6 says:

"Get wisdom, get understanding, don't forget it, and don't decline from the words of my mouth.  Don't forsake her, and she'll preserve you; love her, and she'll keep you."

With the knowledge that wisdom is very important for us to apply in our lives, is it really wise to be employed in the vocation of Salesman, where you run the almost daily risk of winding up in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone?

It seems to me very unwise.

And there are so many other legitimate vocations.

I heard a lady ask a question one time, "Why won't so-and-so (I don't remember the name) work with his hands?"

I don't know the person she was talking about, but I think I know the answer to the question.

The guy probably wouldn't work with his hands because he was persuaded that that would be for the common folk, and that he could do so much better selling, doing deals with people, being a "wheeler-dealer."

But probably the reason that question was asked is that the fellow wasn't really doing very well with his wheeling and dealing.

When I was still a teenager, I joined the U.S. Navy.  I knew ahead of time that they would send me to Electronics Technician school.  That was part of the deal, based on my test scores that I had taken at the Navy recruiter's office.

The Navy taught me electronics, and later, as a civilian, I got some pretty good jobs because of my knowledge of electronics.

And there are many other vocations taught in schools of the U.S. military.

Or, you can go to Community College.

Or, a four year college.

Ask the Lord what vocation he wants you in.  And keep seeking him about that until you're pretty sure you know his will.

I met a man through Full Gospel Businessman's Fellowship International.  He had been an Engineer.  But then things didn't go well between him and his employer.

So he started painting houses.  People want to get their house painted every few years to protect the wood, and to keep the house looking attractive.

It also helps to maintain the value of the house, should they decide to sell it.

My friend said, "Whenever I get low on my finances, the Lord gives me another house to paint."

His investment in equipment wasn't very much.  You need some tarps.  Some old clothes that you don't mind getting a little paint on.  A ladder.

I think he had a compact pickup truck, but you wouldn't necessarily have to have that to get started.

You can put the paint on with brushes, or rollers, or spray the paint on.

When I was in Colorado, I earned some money painting an apartment building.

I'm not saying everyone should become a painter.  I'm just saying there are alternatives to being a Salesman.

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.