Just Doing My Job

Have you ever been asked to do something that you knew was wrong? How did you respond? Sometimes it’s a close friend who asks you to lie, or a boss who says to fudge the numbers. Sometimes you may ask someone to cover up for you. I have, in the past, been put into a position to violate my integrity in one way or another. Have you?

We may feel like we are in a tight place, between a rock and a hard place. Either choice you make may bring trouble for you. You might be afraid your boss will fire you if you don’t do it. You might be afraid the boss will put any fallout from the situation on your shoulders. You might think, “I’ll do it just this one time.” The decision should not be as difficult as we try to make it.

It’s about integrity before God and acting as He would want. We need to be careful that we don’t think that the dishonest action is somehow what God wants. He’s given us a guidebook and a guide, but we have to know both in order to get clear direction from God. Whether you initiate the situation by putting someone else in the position of the fall guy, or giving into the pressure from a higher authority to do wrong, you are guilty.

In the 11^th chapter of 2 Samuel we come across a familiar story: David and Bathsheba. However, I never looked closely at the entire story. David chose to go against God’s laws, and then chose to try to hide it. David failed at hiding it by himself, so he brought his army commander into the situation. He directed Joab to set it up so Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, would be mortally injured in battle. Joab went ahead blindly and followed David’s orders. Joab was doing a very unusual thing by putting Uriah in front, closest to the wall of the city they had laid in siege. Uriah was a commander under Joab, and a close contact of David’s. The toughest defenders of the city “went out and fought Joab; a number of people fell, including some of David’s servants, with Uriah the Hittite among the dead” (verse 17). David’s goal of getting rid of Uriah succeeded and that left Bathsheba free to marry.

Not many of us are commanded or paid to kill someone, but we do other things that are unscrupulous so we don’t make waves, or will keep our jobs. We may say, “I’m just doing my job.” Unfortunately, in God’s eyes every party involved in the action is guilty and will receive punishment from God. Our guilt is not erased by not actually doing the questionable action, even as we get someone else to do it. There are two situations in this Scripture passage. 1. David is guilty for trying to cover up his unlawful action, and for arranging for Uriah’s murder. 2. Joab is guilty for carrying out the plan (which he probably knew was fishy since it was not sound military action).

We need to be careful to not use the excuse, “I’m just doing my job,” and have integrity and do what the Bible and the Holy Spirit direct. In order to hear God’s truth, we need to know His truth. That only comes by immersing ourselves daily in the Word of God.