Legal--Yes. But Ethical?

I want to start a three-part series on ethics in the ministry, as well as in the lives of individual Christians.

For the past few years, God has challenged me to think about this issue in a little different way than I hear most Christians discussing it. Almost all Christians are of course in favor of ethical behavior in the ministry and in their personal lives. But perhaps we need to define ethical behavior.

I am finding that if something is legal, most Christians believe it is also ethical. In other words, it's right for them to do. Here is an example--declare bankruptcy? It's legal. But is it ethical? Perhaps it depends on the circumstances. Or does it?

On one hand someone might have started a business and did everything correctly from the planning to the execution. Then the economy went "south" as it did during the 1990's severe recession. People just didn't have the money to buy the business's product. Should the business declare bankruptcy?

Or, a person runs up credit foolishly on their credit card(s) and cannot even pay the monthly minimum. Should they declare bankruptcy?

How about this one? I know a lady who lost her job and did everything she could to find another job--anything. She had scads of interviews and many second interviews where it was between her and one or two others for the job. But she never was offered any job (not even entry level ones since she was always "overqualified" and perhaps too old). Actually, there was one exception-- one that she didn't feel good about. She had another interview scheduled and asked the job offerer if she could wait to give them her answer for a few days. They relunctly agreed. It turned out that after the interview they put her in the top five candidates and asked for a second interview. She went through the second interview but didn't get the job. So, she called up the first company to accept their offer (although she still didn't feel good about it but needed to work). But they withdrew the offer. So, she lived frugally off of her credit cards the whole year and a half through this, since she had no savings and no unemployment (she had been hired as an independent contractor, worked on commission and went through her savings to live). She had to move in with her mother. Then she hit bottom and couldn't pay off her credit cards and her car was repossessed. A few years after that her mother had a major stroke and our lady was confined to the house for 6 years taking care of bedridden mom. She tried to find a job at home but didn't have the background for anything. She started a pet sitting business in her neighborhood and barely had enough for food much less anything else. She had no health insurance and couldn't visit the dentist for years. Due to an unexpected inheritance, she is now getting on her feet. Should she have declared bankruptcy when she couldn't pay her credit cards off?
Tomorrow I will tell you what she did and the results.

Oh, by the way, I am that lady.

You may read Part 2 of this series Here.