What's Worse: A Self-Admitted Snake in the Grass, or Hypocrites Cloaked in Christianity?

I once worked at a place where shortly after I started, people began warning me about the Executive Director. "He lies," one co-worker whispered. "Don't believe a word he says," confided another. While the ED, whom I'll call John had the reputation of being a bit of a snake charmer, he was the first one to admit all his flaws, including the snake charming bit. So for me, his candor was refreshing and we always got along great--because I knew what I was dealing with and he wasn't pretending to be something he wasn't.

Fast forward to my current situation. As many of you know, I have been working for over two months at a company. What started as four-week temp job as a way to make a little money quickly turned into a very enjoyable experience. My direct superior is a former minister who acts more like Jolly Old St. Nick than an imperious clergy member. We immediately bonded over inane trivia and he appreciated (his words) my sharp mind and quick wit.

About a month into the temp job, he and I began having informal talks about my joining the company as an employee. I named my salary requirements, and he didn't balk. My temp contract was extended and St. Nick told me that the company would pay me a differential in salary because he said "if we tell the temp firm to raise the rate by $3, you'd probably get 25 cents of that." The way we left it, we were going to get through May 15th (end of their busy season) and then ink a deal.

In my glee of finally nearing the finish line with this job search, I got to work looking for a new house, which I found. I began showing my house to prospective tenants. I began the paperwork to get pre-approved for a mortgage.

Last Friday, St. Nick takes me to lunch and tells me that the company wants to hire me and wants to offer me a salary -- a range $10-15,000 less than what we had last talked about. It seems they don't have the money, and apparently never had the money. Next, they offered me a consulting contract, knowing full well I wanted full-time employment. "We thought since you file a Schedule C anyway," the President said (WHAT? Since when do I file a Schedule C?), "that you could work for us for 3 months as a contractor."

This whole time, the organization had been smugly patting itself on the back because they never signed a contract with the temp agency. Ergo, in their mind, they don't owe them any money. As you might imagine, the temp agency had a different idea and is now demanding money. The last time we met, the President said, "You know, if we have to pay them a fee, it will come out of the budget for this position (i.e., out of the pathetic amount they've offered me, or will completely scrap the differential they promised to pay me)."

Now, this is a for-profit company, and I expect there to be a little lyin' and schemin' along the way. But this company happens to loudly advertise itself as a "Christian-based" organization. Christian based? Christian based! What Would Jesus Do, indeed. I suspect he's spinning in his grave, with people donning the cloak of Christianity to act in what I can only characterize as un-Christian-like.

The negotiations are still going on, and of course I'm looking for another job. But whenever they're done dithering and actually offer me an employment contract, I may just take their miserable job, work the 90 day trial, close on my house, and then get the Hell out of Dodge. And I think Jesus would understand--and may even forgive me. The "Christians" are on their own, though.