Treating others with dignity

The last few reflections have focused on David’s poor choices. He sleeps with Bathsheba, a married woman, and she becomes pregnant. He then attempts to conceal his actions by bringing her husband, Uriah, home from battle. When that doesn’t work, David sends Uriah into battle and withdraws the troops, leaving him and other soldiers to die, and then plays down the event. Now, with Uriah out of the way, David turns his attention back to Bathsheba.

When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. (2 Sam. 11:26-27)

David finally gets Bathsheba. He marries her and she has David’s son. But God, who has been actively helping David throughout his adult life, is displeased with David’s behavior. David has hurt and abused others for his own goals and his own pleasure, not in service of a greater good or purpose. David’s actions — toward Bathsheba, Uriah, and the other soldiers who die — lack dignity. He doesn’t treat people with honor and respect.

In our families and family businesses, we sometimes treat very poorly those closest to us. We take advantage of their generosity and kindness. We say mean things. We expect unconditional love and support from siblings or parents or children despite a history of conflict. We don’t listen. Or even worse, we ignore them. In short, we don’t treat our family business partners, or they don’t treat us, with dignity. We may think our actions are justified, or that the other person deserves our anger, but each time we behave badly toward others, we displease God.

Have you ever been mistreated, or have you mistreated someone else, in the family business? What needs to happen to restore dignity in how your family business partners are treated?