Multiple ways of bringing Jesus to your workplace

Do you think that bringing faith to work mainly means that you must use your lunch breaks and other opportunities to speak about Jesus? Here are some additional perspectives that it may be good to grasp.

I attended a faith-at-work seminar recently. The speaker was engaging, and the audience responded well. The message was however just fueling the common idea that work is secular. Through Jesus we were told that it can be given a divine touch, though.

More than 30 years after Dough Sherman and William D Hendricks authored “Your Work Matters to God”, most Christians do not sense that their regular work really is of any value to him. Just ask an average group of Christians how many of them are in full-time ministry for Jesus. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, it is only those who work for churches or Christian organizations that raise their hands. 

A dream

Many years ago, I had a dream on how people’s work identity could change. The dream had a prehistory. My wife and I had been working in a Central-Asian nation. We visited our sending church every time we came to Norway. The church prayed like they do many places:

“Father, we pray for all those who are sent out by this church…” Then followed a list of names. We were on the list and thus got a confirmation that we were among the sent ones. The situation of course changed when we moved back from Central-Asia. The church prayed in the same way, but we were no longer on the list. Our conclusion was now negative. We were no longer among those who were sent.

In my dream I saw the whole church being sent out profession by profession:

“Father, today we pray for all the teachers in our church, and we send them out to their workplaces. Help them to be good ambassadors for you as they teach the children and relate to their parents. We also pray and send out all the lawyers. Help them to fight for justice as you intended.” 

From there it moved on until everyone in the church were covered. Students were in addition sent to their places of study, and retirees and those unemployed were sent out to their communities. The prayers gave identity, and over time everyone realized that they were in full-time ministry for Jesus wherever they were.

Six ways for serving

Eight years ago the British author and then leader of London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC), published the book Fruitfulness on the Frontline: Making a Difference Where You Are. The book focuses on six Ms for how we can serve Jesus through our work. Here they are:

•      Model godly character

•      Make good work

•      Minister grace and love

•      Mold the culture

•      Mouthpiece for truth and justice

•      Messenger of the gospel

Another Resource

Another book that can bring new perspectives on faith at work, is Doug Spada’s Monday Morning Atheist. The author points out the following seven ways of bringing Jesus to our workplaces. 

•      Pray for three people you work with

•      Begin your day with God

•      Commit to a higher standard of work

•      Cut out complaints

•      Go the extra mile

•      Cultivate gratitude

•      Be slow to anger

Do you want more inspiration? Visit The Theology of Work Project and read “10 Key Points About Work in the Bible Every Christian Should Know” or one of the other inspiring articles you can find at http://www.theologyofwork.org.

May God bless you as you serve him full-time through your work where you are today. Contact Tentmaking Today if you want to serve him through your profession in another culture or nation. 

By Steinar Opheim