A pedestrian assumption by organizational leaders is that workers can compartmentalize their private lives from their work lives. The presupposition is that a worker’s private ethical standards can be different from the ethical standards required by the organization but the worker can set aside his or her personal standards and adopt the organization’s standards at will. However, to act inconsistently with one’s personal ethical standards is hypocrisy. Therefore, organizational leaders who assume that ethical compartmentalization is possible are asking workers to live as hypocrites.

Organizational leaders realize the need for high ethical standards to deliver excellent value propositions. For example, they realize that sacrificially and faithfully serving customers is important for their organization to build an excellent reputation.

But for individuals, personal happiness is a common core value. An example of how this plays out is that many times people sacrifice faithfulness in marriage to achieve personal happiness. This means that the core personal value of happiness trumps faithfulness. Accordingly, this personal choice has led to a wide acceptance of marital infidelity. But at work, organizational leaders presume that these people, who will not be sacrificially faithful in their private lives, will be sacrificially faithful in their work lives. In other words, organizational leaders gamble, though perhaps unwittingly, on the assumption that their workers will be hypocrites, if need be, to support the organization.

According to Scripture, hypocrisy is impossible, at least long term. The text above (James 2:17) is part of a discussion in the epistle of James regarding the connection between internal faith and external actions. Internal faith is the belief system people embrace that defines their core values. Decisions and choices both personally and in the workplace emanate from one’s core values. James’s point was that one’s core values will be revealed by one’s actions.

Certainly, a person, with different core values from his or her employer, can pretend to adopt the employer’s core values, but eventually the hypocrisy will be revealed and the true core values of a person will manifest. If happiness trumps faithfulness in a person’s private life, happiness will trump faithfulness in that person’s work life. If a person is unfaithful in marriage, he or she at some point will be unfaithful at work.

In a created universe, the Creator’s values and principles are uniquely efficacious toward wise living. As informed by Scripture, a Christian worldview is the only correct basis for defining core values and principles.

Furthermore, internal beliefs are manifested by external actions. This is an axiom of Scripture. Hypocrisy cannot be sustained. Therefore, gambling on hypocrisy is a bad bet.

Here is your business tip. Management must understand that people cannot compartmentalize their private lives from their work lives. The core values of workers will be manifested in every area of their lives. To deliver excellent value, organizational leaders must embrace biblical core values, such as sacrificial faithfulness. Correspondingly, organizations must have workers whose core values are defined by Scripture. This means that an organization must build with workers whose personal core values are truly congruent with the organization’s core values. Failure to do this means that the organizational leaders are gambling on worker hypocrisy. This is a bad bet.