S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

The Bible does not address multi-level marketing specifically, but it does give some principles regarding providing goods or services in general and our involvement in them. MLM companies have been...

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July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Vin Smith Concert Pianist. Piano Tuner. Talk Show Host. Novelist.

Multi-level marketing is basically a method of making a great income if you are in on the ground floor. In fact, that phrase, usually stated in words like, "...hurry, and get in on the ground floor!" encapsulates the entire strategy and reality of MLM schemes.

And, "get in on the ground floor," is the operative motivation for such schemes--because very far down line in the organization is a formula for getting skinned alive financially. MLM is basically very sophisticated theft...

The basic idea about multi-level marketing is to make money "...while sleeping," one marketer told me with great confidence. "The only way to get ahead!"

Yeah... Get ahead at the expense of others...

"Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." (Ephesians 4:28) ESV 

Multi-level marketing also involves setting up false hopes in the "marks" that you recruit... In private, multi-level marketers often refer to their recruits as marks--the same term applied by grifters.

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. (Leviticus 19:11) ESV

If you are a Christian, and love the Lord with all of your heart, steer clear of MLM schemes!

February 24 2014 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

D C

Here's a different take on it...Being a committed follower of Jesus Christ for over 20 years and being involved in MLM for 10 years (not currently) and owning a traditional business for 14 years, my opinion is that most aspects involving an MLM business and a traditional business are the same: There are start up costs, it needs to be promoted, failure rate is in the high 90 percentage rate, there is the challenge in keeping your business professional and business-like, etc. However, one exception is that your MLM business that you are a part of is supported by thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people who are very enthusiastic about what they are doing. MLM is a form of networking...a general definition: the act of making contact and exchanging information with other people and keeping the relationships active through regular communication to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Networking started out over 2000 years ago with the Greatest Networker in all history...Jesus Christ. He developed relationships with His disciples and taught them about who God is and in turn His disciples shared the gospel of Jesus with others and the networking is still going on till this very day which can be looked at as the Great Commission that Jesus gave His disciples all those years ago in Matthew 28 "To make disciples in all nations..." 

So just like anything in life, things that started out as good, can be twisted to look or be bad. 

Like a traditional business, MLM needs to be worked like any other business...but because most of the time MLM is not treated or worked liked a traditional business, it gets bad publicity. This goes for any traditional business like a restaurant, manufacturer, retail store, car dealership, accountant, lawyer, etc. If you don't apply biblical principals to your business then would it "seem to be a less than ideal enterprise"? You can still work and build an MLM business and apply biblical principals just as you would any other business venture...I have personally experienced it myself. I think it is a matter of what the Lord wants you to do...Ask Him first.

February 25 2014 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report