God judges corporations

How does God approach corporations? Does the Lord treat corporations as single entities, as we do in our American law code, or does he only deal with the individuals who make up the corporation? The judgment of God against nations indicates the former.

When the southern kingdom of Judah was sent into Babylonian captivity, it was not because every individual had turned from God. After all, the prophets who wrote about Judah’s last days also went into captivity! Other indications, such as the faith of Daniel and his friends, present a picture of a mixed-faith Judah sent into captivity as one community. However, when the Lord speaks about the coming earthly judgment, he indicates that the leaders, rather than a certain percentage of the total, are those who bring judgment on the entire community.

If we apply this to a corporation of one thousand people, two important points arise. First, the corporation as a whole may be judged by the Lord, though individuals have not departed from his ways. Second, God looks most carefully at the leaders, rather than the general population, when deciding that judgment is ripe.

Leaders do have the authority to decide, not only what to do with their private profits, but how the funds of the entire company are managed. Whether the corporation ought to tithe 10%, as Israel was prescribed in the Torah, is less relevant than how the use of the corporation’s resources deliver mishpat, or justice, to the community.