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I’m sure many of you can identify with the man who wrote to me. He’s a Christian, but he’s so frustrated because he feels like he changes into a different person on his job. How can you be a witness in the midst of an environment that is hostile, that is unkind, that is unpleasant? When your coworkers have no regard for God or spiritual matters, when being around them makes you feel dirty and contaminated, when they make fun of anything or anyone who is religious, how can you be a witness?
In part 1 I talked about the many reasons that Christians often go underground on their jobs and hide the fact that they are Christians, or at least downplay it so as not to appear like a fanatic. For one, we are fearful of what others will think of us; we don’t want to be different. We fear rejection or alienation. Another reason is that we are intimidated by cultural attitudes which seem to tell us that you can’t talk about God or spiritual things in a secular environment.
Also, we don’t want to cause any problems for our careers by establishing a strong Christian testimony. That might put us into some difficult situations on ethical issues.
And then, some go undercover simply because they’re ashamed to say they’re Christians, knowing that their lives and lifestyles are not what God would have them to be. They think of the times they’ve failed to do the right thing, to be kind, to be loving, and their failures cause them to go underground.
Well, obviously it is extremely important that we live godly lives, but we’ll never be able to do that on our own. That comes from the empowerment of the Holy Spirit within us. Galatians 2:20 is the secret: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We have to let Christ live through us.
But that doesn’t mean that any failure on our part wipes us out.
- You lost your temper with a coworker recently and you feel as though your witness for Christ has been ruined.
- You told a lie to your manager and your conscience hasn’t stopped bothering you. How could you ever be a witness for Jesus if you told a lie?
That’s the way we tend to think, isn’t it?
Sometimes the greatest witness you can have is to own up to your failures, confess and make restitution where necessary, but share that God is a forgiving and restoring God, and you know that even this failure is not too great for his love and mercy. Don’t you know that everybody else struggles with failure too, and if they’re not a Christian, they don’t have any good way to deal with the guilt.
A good friend of mine told me recently that the biggest difference between her and her coworkers who are not Christians is that she apologizes a lot more than they do! She struggles with things in her life, just like you and I do. But God makes her sensitive to them, she is willing to say, “I’m sorry,” and God is changing her day by day.
I honestly believe that our enemy, Satan, very effectively uses this excuse to cause many of us to stay undercover. He dumps all kinds of guilt on us about our failures and our shortcomings, and we allow him to intimidate us into being weak witnesses on our jobs. Remember, God uses broken vessels. I’m certainly not trying to make light of our sins and it is important that our lives have the highest integrity and standards. But failing at some point does not mean we can never be used by God as a witness on our jobs.
Another very common reason many of us go undercover is that the idea of witnessing scares us half to death. Witnessing means verbally accosting someone, doesn’t it? Witnessing means I’ve got to have in-depth Bible knowledge and be able to answer any question anyone puts to me, right? Witnessing – oh, wow, I could never do that; it’s not my gift, we think. So, we become undercover Christians because we have the wrong idea of what it means to witness.
Let me offer three suggestions that all of us can do on our jobs as a witness. It doesn’t matter what kind of situation you’re in, you can do these three things. The man who wrote me that letter can witness in these ways, even in the midst of his terrible circumstances, and so can you.
First, be joyful. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that most people don’t know much joy in their lives. Life is a struggle for them. You hear lots of complaining, and negative attitudes are everywhere. If you enter that scene with real joy in your life, it is the most powerful witness you can have.
Now, it can’t be phony; it has to be genuine. But as you interact daily, sometimes in difficult and stressful situations, if you demonstrate that inner joy and peace while others are unhappy and miserable, you are preaching a sermon that cannot be missed.
That kind of joy comes from a close daily walk with the Lord. You can’t fake it. The joy of the Lord must be your strength, and then you can be joyful.
A second way you can witness, no matter what kind of situation you’re in, is to do quality work. The Bible tells us to do what our hands have found to do with all our hearts. We are reminded that we will be accountable to the Lord for the work we do for our employer. You have a much higher manager to report to than your coworkers who are not believers. Therefore, quality work, extra-mile effort, should be a trademark of a Christian in the working world.
Sadly, this is not always true. Believe me, any verbal witness you may try to give will lose credibility if your work and your attitude toward your work is not the highest quality. Do you work hard? Do you give it your best all the time? Or do you take advantage of your employer and get by with less than your best effort? Surely we can become his witnesses by demonstrating an attitude of excellence in the work we do.
And the third thing you can do as a witness is to pray regularly for your company, your managers, your coworkers, even your customers. Pray for business wisdom and insight to help you do your job better. You know, God knows more about business and finance and marketing than anyone else, so go to the Source for help.
Do you pray earnestly for the people you deal with on your job? Now, I don’t mean you pray that lightning will strike them, but rather pray for their welfare. Be specific and pray for them as individuals, calling them by name. Ask God to intervene in the problem relationships of your workplace. Pray for those in authority, that they’ll do their jobs with integrity and efficiency.
My dear friends, Fran and Dick, were always good examples of what can happen when you regularly pray for your company. Before Dick retired he worked for many years for a well-known Fortune 100 company. And all through those years he and Fran prayed regularly for that company. They prayed for the president and all those in authority, that they would make good ethical decisions and run the business in the right way. They prayed people in and out of positions through those years. They prayed for the salvation of individuals that Dick worked with. Fran got to know many of them, as his wife, and built relationships as well. I am convinced that they impacted the life of that large company through their prayers throughout all those years.
The better you know someone, the more effectively you can pray for them. So, we need to develop relationships with the people on our jobs as much as possible. Have you ever invited any of your coworkers to your home, or to lunch, or to church, or some other function, for the purpose of establishing a better relationship?
Someone asked me how far we should go in socializing with our coworkers. My answer was “As far as you can without compromising your beliefs and principles.” Jesus socialized with the most sinful people of his day. Stay in their lives as much as you can, even if you’re not able to verbally witness to them very often. By establishing relationships and showing that you care about them as a person, you will earn your right to be heard. And someday you may have the opportunity to share in a more direct way.
First Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to give an answer to everyone that asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us, with gentleness and reverence. Let me assure you of this: If your life consistently witnesses in these three ways, it won’t be long before you will have an opportunity to give an account for the hope that is in you.
Keep in mind, when the door opens and you have an opportunity to give a verbal witness, you’ve got to be bold and courageous and walk through that door. While it’s true there are many ways to witness besides verbally, many of us miss great opportunities for verbal witness because we chicken out. Peter says to be ready to give an answer for the hope in you. There’s no excuse for failing to take advantage of those verbal opportunities when they come along.
Have you ever thought of this: God has designed work as the common denominator for the Christian and non-Christian, and the job is the place where the Christian must meet the non-Christian world. This is no accident. God has planned it that way!
I just wonder if, like me, you have treated your job as a necessary part of your life—something to be endured, hopefully financially rewarding, maybe even interesting. But you never really have looked at it as your mission in life.
Jesus said he has sent us into the world. None of us is exempted from this. Regardless of your personality or your talents or your abilities, if you are a Christian, you are sent! It’s not a matter of waiting for a “call”. It’s not a matter of deciding whether we want to be sent or not! Christ has sent us into the world; there are no options.
And where is your world into which you are sent? A large part of it is your working world, whether that world is an office or a retail store or a hospital or a factory. That is the world into which you are sent. That job you have is your corner of the world or your home. If you don’t cover it, nobody else will.
Don’t forget that the world needs Jesus. People need the Lord. When you know Jesus, you hold the answer to the problems and struggles of everyone you know. With joy and gladness, come out from undercover as an ambassador for Jesus Christ and say to your world, “I belong to Jesus; I’m not ashamed of the gospel.”