What are some cautions about partnership? - Partnership - TouchPoints

Proverbs 22:26Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for someone else.

Irresponsible partners can put leaders in jeopardy, so don’t enter into partnerships without due diligence and serious consideration of the character of those involved and the long-term purpose of the partnership.

2 Chronicles 16:7-9At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

2 Chronicles 18:1; 21:6Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. . . . But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

2 Chronicles 20:35-37King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked. Together they built a fleet of trading ships at the port of Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work.” So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.

Partners should never replace our reliance on the Lord, nor compromise our obedience to God. In each of these situations, the kings of Israel or Judah (God’s people), chose to rely on human alliances for military or business purposes instead of trusting and honoring God’s words and call for them. They compromised their ability to respond to God’s direction.

1 Kings 9:10-14It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. “What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. Nevertheless, Hiram paid Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold.

Ezra 4:1-2The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel. So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do.”

2 Corinthians 6:14-15Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?

Partnership, in business or marriage, is teaming up with another to act as one. God warns against partnerships in which one partner loves God and the other doesn’t, because these will naturally lead to conflict or to spiritual compromise. Sooner or later the difference in ultimate allegiance will sour the relationship.