Struggles of Business Integrity

Do you take the blame or give it? When you boil it down to this question I think it becomes easier. We are called to be like Christ. As business people this looks like career suicide.

Try this question:

Do I stand up to my superior's or do I take the blame for their errors and those of others?

This is hard. Christ did. He took our sin. I am learning what it feels like to take on the mistakes of others. I would never say that I can ever attain to be like Christ, but I think God may be giving me a taste of what His son went through. Though the scale is like a grain of sand versus the galaxy, I have recently had to endure the blame for mistakes, the bad work ethic, and ignorance of my superiors and co-workers. I really believe that my coworkers have made an Olympian sport of blame deflection. This is not for the Christ follower, we should take responsibility for our actions; but what about taking the responsibilities for others?

I'm really struggling with this. I want to uphold my integrity, but is my pride getting in the way? Should I lay down my identity of integrity and take the blame for all of it? Can I handle that? Does integrity include this virtue? Is this what Christ meant by turning the other cheek? Is this what we are called to as Christians in the business world, to sacrifice success for...but what am I sacrificing for? To take another hit on the cheek? How many cheek lashing must I endure? Do I abandon aggressive business behavior to the detriment of supporting my family? Do I become the office scapegoat? And in the end what...? What will happen? Is Christ exalted? Is God glorified?

I know I shouldn't look to earthly and material things to gauge the success of the kingdom, but how do you mark the success of the kingdom in a business? Is it better to attain praise to receive responsibility with which change can be instigated? Or do I remain downtrodden, abused, cheeks red with continued blows? I'm not looking for an escape route, but at what point do I obey the command to care for my family and the understanding of being open to persecution? Or is there a distinction between spiritual and personal persecution? What I mean is do I let myself be killed for the kingdom? or (like this case) try and shift the blame to its appropriate place to assuage myself of the guilt and blame currently leveled at me? or am I to let go of the individual and personal in favor of the kingdom using personal persecutions as tests and trials that in the end will strip me of my selfishness in order to receive the serenity of Christ?

To be honest that sounds more like a Buddhist teaching than the love of Christ.

I guess then I should be asking, am I even in the right place. Should I abandon this materialistic lifestyle in favor of purely following Christ as I seek to save the lost? Should I sell all I own and enter into a missionary life in some deep dark jungle?

Or: Is this persecution the part and parcel struggle to be expected as a Christian in the work world?