Zebedee and Sons Fishing Co.
Business Advice from the Bible
by
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Chapter 6
Negotiating with Zebedee
The realization finally hit home; Zebedee was going to have to rebuild his business. “Well, if I’m going to rebuild, I might as well take a hard look at everything,” Zebedee said to himself out loud. As he thought through his business, he realized the starting point was to renegotiate all his existing agreements. Starting over would provide a unique opportunity since hiring a new crew would require negotiating new employment contracts. With no employees, he wouldn’t have any fish to sell, so he now had an opportunity to negotiate new agreements with his “retailers.” It was also possible to add new markets. Maybe it was time for a new boat or to replace his worn-out nets. Whatever business transactions he prepared to undergo, he needed to get his mind ready to negotiate. And he had better, for he was living in a part of the world renowned for its negotiating skills.
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An early business mentor of mine once said, “Remember, everything is negotiable.” At that time, we were discussing his philosophy for dealing with banks and borrowing money, but I think the adage applies to everything in our business life. As far as a primer or tutorial on negotiating, there is no better source than the Bible, especially the stories found in Genesis and Exodus. In these two books are stories of negotiating that cover the gamut of experiences. Some stories are about people trying to buy assets, such as land and cattle; some are about people attempting to hire laborers for harvesting; and some are about people negotiating directly with God. What I want to examine here are three types of negotiations found in the Bible: negotiating with God, negotiating for God, and negotiating among God’s people. In each section, we will use a story from the Bible, and by looking at the details behind the story, we will be able to identify several negotiating techniques from which we may benefit.
Negotiating with God
Just writing “Negotiating with God” seems more than a little odd. After all, God is God. He is the One who created the universe, told the oceans where to start and stop, spoke light into existence, and breathed life into all creation. And yet, in the Bible there are a few instances where people have tried to negotiate with Him and even fewer still who have been successful (at least as successful as God intended them to be).
Abraham and Lot
I think the most famous negotiation in the Bible is the one between Abraham and God. God called Abraham to leave his family home and travel to an unknown, faraway place that God would later show him. As he traveled, he and his family’s livestock increased to the point that it became a problem for their nomadic lifestyle. The solution was to split the herds with his nephew, Lot. Abraham and his entourage would travel in one direction, and Lot and his people would go in another. Lot chose to move to Sodom and become a city dweller while Abraham maintained the nomadic lifestyle, traveling through the lands as guided by God. Abraham still cared for Lot as exemplified in one story where a rival king sacked Sodom and took Lot captive. Abraham marshaled a small army, caught the raiders unaware, defeated them, freed Lot as well as the people of Sodom, and earned the respect of Sodom’s king. Through rescuing Lot, Abraham developed an awareness of the people of Sodom and knew that as time passed, Sodom would develop an unhealthy and nasty reputation. What Abraham did not know was that God had decided to act on Sodom’s reputation.
The Visitors
Our negotiation story begins with Abraham resting in front of his tent when three visitors appear. As is custom, Abraham immediately begins preparing food for the visitors and seeing to their comfort. Through the story we learn the initial reason for the visit is to inform Sarah, Abraham’s elderly wife, that she is to have a son who will be the father of a great nation. Of course, she laughs in disbelief but sometime later bore a son who they named Isaac.
But the real reason for the visit becomes apparent as the three visitors prepare to leave. Here we learn the visitors have been sent by God and are on their way to punish Sodom. At this point, one of the visitors (who is referred to as Lord) somewhat innocently says:
Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. (Genesis 18:17–19)
I have been involved in many negotiations, as I’m sure you have, and this is a setup if there ever was one. Some visitors stop by to deliver some unrelated news (Sarah soon will bear a son) yet drop an outrageous hint of something else they are planning, which has a strong connection to Abraham. This is like stopping by your neighbors’ house to give them their newspaper, which is lying at the end of the driveway, and just accidentally mentioning that you are thinking of selling your house, hoping the neighbors might know someone who would be interested in buying it—someone they would like as a neighbor. Or you have an idea for software that would benefit the front office of medical practices. It just happens you have a medical appointment where you also can talk about your software idea to both a potential user and a potential investor. In my experience these contrived occasions happen all the time.
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About the Book
One favorite story in the Bible is Jesus calling his first disciples along the Sea of Galilee. Unfortunately, when Jesus called James, John, Peter, and Andrew to a life of ministry, he called them away from their business partner Zebedee. Zebedee, a first-century fisherman, devoted Jew and entrepreneur, watched his partners choose to walk away from their business obligations and follow Jesus to become fishers of men.
As Christians, we are taught to turn to the Bible when we are in need of guidance. When we are lost, confused, seeking growth or opportunity, God’s Word is our source of strength and understanding. And even though we may believe and practice Jesus’s teachings – we have unfortunately learned to separate our Christian values from our workplace. We turn to self-help books on management, workshops about accountability, or seminars on increasing our business traffic. We seek guidance from those successful in our industry or other experts in the secular world.As company leaders, we all too often forget that the most valuable source of information we have is from the Creator himself, and is found in His Word which is designed to guide us through all of life’s journeys. This includes even our businesses.
This book is looking at our 21st-century business world through Zebedee’s eyes. It demonstrates that the biblical knowledge from the first-century is applicable to our business world today. Zebedee will show us how we can better understand how God wants us to run our businesses, even in the face of struggles, despair and confusion. He shows us how to establish sound business practices based on His Word, and how to lead our businesses in the way God has called us. The Bible is really the only book we need.
About the Author
Philip Struble has been the President of Landplan Engineering since 1995. This multi-disciplined, urban engineering company has offices in three states and development projects spanning the country. Philip graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Civil Engineering and an MBA. To follow Christ, he later returned to school to earn his Masters of Theology. Philip and his wife, Stephanie, have four adult children and currently reside on a small farm in rural Douglas County, Kansas. Mowing grass, golfing, guitar and snow skiing are a few of the hobbies that occupy Philip’s time when not working or writing.