Bribery and Corruption

Discover how God’s Word exposes corruption, reveals its dangers, and calls us to live with justice and integrity. Find timeless biblical wisdom that still speaks powerfully today.

Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power or resources for personal gain. It has plagued human history from ancient times to the present day. Often associated with developing countries, this illness is instead a universal challenge, and thrives even in modern Western countries.

World headlines frequently highlight corruption cases involving governments, politicians, business leaders, and entrusted powers such as police and church leaders. In 2001, the Pandora Papers leaked twelve million documents, which exposed secret offshore bank accounts and corrupt financial and political dealings of hundreds of leaders, celebrities, and wealthy individuals.¹

God’s Word, our spiritual and moral guide, offers deep insights into the nature of corruption, its harmful effects, and God’s call for justice, integrity, and righteousness. In this article, we will explore how the Bible addresses several forms of corruption and provides wisdom that transcends time, geography, and culture.

Biblical Corruption

Genesis identifies corruption as a primary reason for the Flood: “God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” (Genesis 6:12).² What was the earth doing that was so corrupt? The Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible for “corrupt” describe a process of decay or ruin. In the Old Testament, words like shachath denote something spoiled, ruined, or perverted. Similarly, in the New Testament, phtheiro implies decay or destruction, frequently applied to moral degradation.

The context of these words shows that corruption figuratively refers to the decay of morals, spirituality, integrity, justice, truth, and righteousness. This condition is evident when Moses contrasts Israel, who “have corrupted themselves,” with “the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4-5).

Therefore, the earth was full of distortions of God’s good and just purposes at the expense of fairness, justice, and righteousness. The root of this corruption is our fallen human hearts: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9). However, corruption is not limited to an individual’s actions. Genesis implies that dishonesty, greed, and misuse of power crisscrossed into earthly institutional systems, such as governments, economies, and legal structures.

Out of Egypt

Exodus records a period when the nation of Israel lived under the oppressive rule of Egypt. The people were subjected to corrupt practices such as forced enslavement, harsh treatment, vast commercialism, building projects, and wealth (at the expense of the ordinary people). The ruthless, authoritarian rule of Pharaoh and a perverted, polytheistic religious system governed them (Exodus 1:11-22; 12:12). Amid this corruption, Israel was bitter, and they cried out in anguish for help (Exodus 2:23). Corruption was killing them.

Sadly, most nations still operate within this identical corrupt model of ancient Egypt and Genesis. We see political or religious extortion, slavery, bribery, embezzlement, nepotism (jobs for close associates), kickbacks, money laundering, fraud, lobbying, and misappropriation of aid during natural disasters, to name a few. But God wanted His people to be different. Upon rescuing Israel, He took Israel into the Wilderness and taught Israel how to leave the practices of Egypt and to live “non-corruptly,” both individually and as a nation.

The Books of Moses contain God’s amazing “counterculture” to Egypt. He trained Israel to mirror the righteous character of God (Exodus 34:6-7). He taught them the value of His principles, laws and lifestyles which contrasted those of Egypt’s: respect for human life (Exodus 20:13), love of your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), fairness (Leviticus 19:15), honesty (Exodus 20:16, 23:1), justice (Deuteronomy 16:20), righteousness (Deuteronomy 6:25), humility (Numbers 12:3), proper treatment of servants and strangers (Exodus 21, Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 25) and integrity (Exodus 23:7).

The behavior of Egypt and the bitter experiences of Israel should cause us to actively reflect on our own practices. Corruption is often culturally so intertwined with our lives that we normalize it–we do not even see it! Take a step back. Are we living in a corrupt system? Do we participate in, or actively contribute to, this culture at work, or in our daily activities? Do these behaviors subtly spill over into our families, ecclesias, or our worldwide community of believers? Do we seek out and apply God’s counterculture principles to call out and radically turn corrupt practices upside-down? Proverbs reminds us of a general principle to fortify all our activities: “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.” (Proverbs 11:1).

Bribery

One form of corruption that God explicitly condemned after leaving Egypt was bribery. A bribe is money, a gift, or favor offered or required to influence someone’s decision or behavior, usually for personal gain. In Biblical times,it was often used to corrupt the judgment of rulers, judges, or leaders.

Transparency International is a global coalition that works to illuminate and end the injustice of corruption.³ Their website offers shocking insights and statistics on world corruption, and provides sad evidence that most nations run on bribes. A recent survey showed that, over twelve months, one in four people worldwide had to pay a bribe to a public servant to obtain a service (e.g., education, health care, identity cards, police services). Thirty-six percent think that the police and elected officials are highly corrupt.⁴ Developing countries alone are estimated to lose at least $1.26 trillion annually due to corruption–enough to lift billions of people out of poverty!⁵

Many of our brothers and sisters around the world live in countries ravaged by corruption and experience daily encounters with bribery. Bro. Nathan Badger can recall several incidents while visiting ecclesias in Kenya when police randomly stopped their vehicle and demanded a bribe to be released. In a Pakistan airport, while attempting to board a flight to Dubai, the airline attendant would not issue him a boarding pass due to a missing, unnecessary visa, until a brother “who knew the game” discreetly placed money on the counter. Then the agent hastily pocketed the funds and replaced them with a boarding pass, no visa required!

In Exodus, God commands the Israelites: “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.” (Exodus 23:8 NIV). Later, Moses instructs Israel, “Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.” (Deuteronomy 27:25). Moses even contrasts bribery with the character of God who he exalts as the “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.” (Deuteronomy 10:17).

God’s instruction emphasizes explicitly the importance of not accepting or requiring a bribe. If no bribe is demanded or taken, a bribe ceases to exist. Corruption is stymied!

Bribery, such as taking tangible money, gifts, or rewards to manipulate decisions or receive personal gain, seldom exists in our ecclesial world. However, intangible bribes and more subtle corruption can also exist in powerful ways. These aren’t bribes in the traditional sense, but they still have the potential to affect behavior and decision-making in an ecclesia. For example, being part of the “inner circle,” or close to leaders and influential ecclesial members, can provide benefits such as opportunities for leadership roles, invitations to special events, or even social status. Members or leaders might use guilt, shame, or subtle pressure as an emotional bribe, such as suggesting that members who are not contributing or following their prescribed rules, specific beliefs or practices are letting the ecclesia down, or are not spiritually mature. This stance may lead to exclusion or social shunning.

Other forms of corruption can include a lack of transparency in decision-making, dishonesty, false witnessing, misuse of ecclesial funds, making pacts between ecclesias to influence the community, showing partiality to members who may be friends or “favored” individuals, and manipulation of decisions in meetings, ecclesial teams, arranging committees, or worse, behind people’s backs. Some of these behaviors are hard to detect and therefore are hard to “call out” or deal with. Where they are identified, ecclesial elders should bring them to the attention of the individual at fault, or even the ecclesia. Covering up bribery and corruption, or silencing “whistleblowers” is itself a form of corruption. The key to combatting such issues lies in transparency and accountability within our ecclesial structure. It also helps if we ensure that leadership roles are simply “serving roles,” not “lording” roles (1 Peter 5:3). At the very least, we should take personal inventory and ensure that our personal example follows God’s principles of integrity, and does not include any form of bribery or corruption whether tangible or intangible.

If we follow God’s commands, we should not require, accept, or voluntarily offer a bribe, in any form, especially for our own personal gain. It perverts justice and disadvantages the poor and powerless. Many in our world face harsh penalties, loss of freedoms and daily necessities, or even death if they do not pay the bribes demanded of them. Sometimes, there is no choice but to pay a required bribe involuntarily to sustain one’s daily life. In these circumstances, God wants us, if possible, to avoid handing over bribes involuntarily and participating in these schemes. However, accepting, or demanding bribes in any form, especially within our ecclesias, is explicitly against his laws. Job’s rhetorical question to his accusers is a good example for our personal behavior and integrity: “Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’? Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?” (Job 6:22).

Bribes and Oppression

Another critical theme in the Bible is that corruption and bribery lead to the exploitation of the poor and needy. When judges or rulers accept bribes, they often make decisions that favor the wealthy or powerful, while the poor are denied justice and made poorer.

Amos condemns the wealthy and powerful for their exploitation of the poor when he observes:

They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.” (Amos 2:6-7 NIV).

The reference to selling the “innocent [NKJV–righteous] for silver” is a metaphor for bribery and corruption, where justice is sacrificed for financial gain.

Similarly, Proverbs warns against those who “accept bribes to pervert justice,” emphasizing the social harm such practices cause: “A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back to pervert the ways of justice.” (Proverbs 17:23). This system perpetuates inequality, deepens the divide between the rich and the poor, and creates a society marked by injustice. Research shows that people and families who pay bribes to access public services have a lower standard of living and have difficulty living healthy lives and accessing education. Studies also show that poorer people are frequently penalized by bribery and are twice as likely to have to pay bribes.⁶

The Bible consistently warns that when bribery becomes ingrained in a society, it leads to the oppression of the poor and vulnerable and undermines the healthy foundations of justice and righteousness. What are we doing to avoid bribes and other forms of corruption? Are we demonstrating God’s counterculture laws, which bring health to individuals and institutions and build a just and righteous ecclesia or society? What are we doing to stand up for the poor and marginalized as God has instructed?

“The Bible consistently warns that when bribery becomes ingrained in a society, it leads to the oppression of the poor and vulnerable and undermines the healthy foundations of justice and righteousness.”

 

Bribes and Leadership

God also teaches Israel to have non-corrupt leaders, not influenced by bribes. God wanted them to lead and judge differently than the nations around them, such as Egypt. Moses shares God’s explicit instructions to Israel’s judges and officials:

You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates…they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:18-20).

God holds leaders and judges to a high standard of integrity. Unbiased and fair judgment is fundamental to the health of any institution or nation. The entire Bible reinforces this foundational teaching. God’s message condemns the prevalent corruption and bribery among political and religious leaders. It reminds God’s followers of a fundamental principle: “By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.” (Proverbs 29:4 NIV).

Isaiah condemns bribery among Israel’s leaders as a fundamental source of national corruption and calls for a return to righteousness: “Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them.” (Isaiah 1:23). Bribes cloud the judgment of those who are supposed to uphold the law and provide healthy communities. Later, Isaiah contrasts the corrupt leaders with core ingredients of godly leaders:

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He will dwell on high.” (Isaiah 33:15-16).

In a similar vein, Micah warns leaders who are more concerned with personal gain than with the welfare of their people: “Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right.” (Micah 3:9 NIV). He goes on to illuminate the nature of their corruption when he accuses Jerusalem, “Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.” (Micah 3:11 NIV).

Both prophets issue a clear message: leaders who engage in corruption of any form or accept bribes fail to uphold God’s justice and righteousness. What type of leadership do we offer if we are in leadership positions, whether in the world around us or especially within God’s community of believers? Just and righteous rulership, or one tainted with corruption and mired in partiality, dishonesty, manipulation, bribes, pride, or power? If bribes lie at the heart of a community, it will rot from the head down.

John and Jesus Suffered From Bribery

John the Baptist and Jesus were well acquainted with corruption. Roman society mirrored ancient Egypt. Both men died at the hands of a thick culture of corruption, bribery, and harsh subjugation wrapped in hypocrisy. John lost his life due to a corrupt “reward” to Herodias’ daughter. Religious leaders offered Judas a bribe of silver to betray God’s son (Matthew 26:14-16). Jesus then endured a crooked trial by religious leaders, and afterwards, the chief priests bribed the Roman guards to spread the false story that Jesus’ disciples stole his body while they slept (Matthew 28:12-15).

John and Jesus confronted this system by challenging people to behave differently from the culture around them. John’s solutions drew on counterculture principles that God taught Israel in the Wilderness: “Collect no more [taxes] than what is appointed for you,” and “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:13-14). Jesus countered corruption in a single statement: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Mark 11:17). Rome, and especially the Jewish religious leaders were robbing the people financially, but because of this corrupt behavior they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing the opportunity for them to come to know God genuinely.

The example of Jesus and John is to radically counter a culture of corruption by changing our behavior. We cannot likely remove the systems or individuals around us. Still, we can witness to God’s character and principles by exposing corruption and purposefully living in a radically different way. Are we following Jesus’ example and clearing God’s house of exploitation to make way for prayer, healing, and nourishment in a broken world?

Summary

Corruption, though pervasive, is not insurmountable. God’s Word provides clear teachings and inspiring examples to guide us to live with integrity and combat injustice.

As we navigate our corrupt surroundings, Micah inspires us to be agents of change in a world yearning for justice and equity: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV). Peter, a disciple of our Lord, encourages us by saying “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” By this knowledge and imitation of Jesus and the Father, Peter assures us we can “participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:2–4 NIV).

The Bible also offers hope. If we struggle in an environment of corruption, God knows our situation; He will help us and hold these individuals and systems accountable. The gospel message is one of redemption. God has a sure plan to restore the corrupt human heart and bring about lasting transformation. If we separate ourselves from these practices, Isaiah reassures us that we can look forward to a future Kingdom, led by a ruler who will heal the world of this plague: “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.” (Isaiah 32:1).

Emil Mukambilwa,
Bukavu Ecclesia, DRC

and

Nathan Badger,
Cambridge Ecclesia, ON