God @ Work #5 – Taking God to Work

INTRODUCTION

This week I want to try to answer the question: how do I bring God with me into work, or as the title suggests, how do I take God to work?

This is a very practical question for those of us who do not want to separate who we are from what we do, who do not want to compartmentalize our lives, keeping our faith in one compartment and our job in another.

For many years there has been a growing movement in workplaces to keep religion out of the workplace. Thankfully this never was everywhere and recently it has been changing.

In a recent article on a web site that HR directors might turn to I would the following:

“When thinking about the plurality of identities that people are bringing to work, it’s important to remember that religion or lack of religion is one of those things,” said Elaine Howard Ecklund, professor of sociology at Rice University, director of Rice’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, and co-author of Religion in a Changing Workplace (Oxford University Press, 2024). “This is not some side thing. Embracing it affects the bottom line and makes people better workers and more committed to the organization.”

“[P]art of bringing their whole selves to work includes bringing their religious selves to work,” she said. “It’s important to allow a certain amount of authenticity at work. Our religious selves overlap with other parts of our identities, such as our gender and our ethnicity. When workplace leaders tamp down religious selves, they’re tamping down other parts of selves too.”

Other research shows that greater restrictions on religion from either government or society tends to harm economic growth, said Brian Grim, a former Pew researcher and founding president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation. “When you’re in business and there’s a restriction on religion, that dampens morale and productivity,” he said. “When companies allow people to bring their whole selves to work, people have more buy-in.”

Because most belief systems include a moral code of ethics, embracing workers’ religious selves at work encourages people to also bring their ethics and morals with them to work. That makes them better employees who are more likely to consider how their actions affect others, Grim said.

https://www.shrm.org/enterprise-solutions/insights/future-of-religion-workplace

In addition, a recent Supreme Court ruling enhanced the protections religious workers have for avoiding discrimination in the workplace.

“Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers had to provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs or practices, such as scheduling changes, dress code exceptions, or prayer time, unless it causes “undue hardship”. In the Supreme Court 2023 Groff v. DeJoy ruling, undue hardship is defined as a “substantial increased cost” in relation to business operations, a higher standard than mere, minor inconvenience.”

So, it seems there is recognition at least in some places that allowing open religious diversity in the workplace is beneficial, and that employers are required to make greater efforts at accommodating religious practices, customs, and beliefs than they previously were.

But where does this leave us? The work environment is still a challenging environment to bring our Christian faith into. Sure, a private, personal, silent prayer at our lunch break may not offend anyone, but for some people any sort of religious talk is offensive and off-putting, as are displays of religious objects. What do we do if we sincerely hope to have God use our witness at work?

Start with a truth that we cannot forget:

I. God arrived at my workplace before I did.

A.  The boss, the board, the HR department, and your co-workers couldn’t and didn’t .

Jeremiah 23:24

Even if someone wanted to work in a totally spiritually neutral job he/she could not do so. The fact is God is at work whether we want him to be there, invite him to be there, or think we have to bring him there through our life and actions. God is at work.

B.  God was there you were.

John 5:17

Jesus made this statement to explain his actions on a Sabbath day. He healed a man and that according to the Jewish leaders was forbidden on the Sabbath when no work was to be done. Jesus stated that regardless of their laws and traditions about the Sabbath, God had all along been at work in the lame man’s life. In fact he was working that very day, and the evidence was the healing that took place. Jesus worked because he saw what his father was already doing.

If your workplace or company existed before you joined it, God was at your place of work before you came along. He hasn’t been waiting for you to show up before he could get to work. He’s also been working in the lives of the people you come in contact with. He’s been doing that for some time: since they were born. You are not the first spiritual contact the people at work have had. God was there working in their lives before you came along.

God may have also placed other Christians in your workplace before you got there, or will do so after you’ve arrived. You may not know who they are and they might not know you are a Christian.

God may also have already used Christians who are currently at your workplace or who were there in the past to sow the seed of the gospel in some people’s hearts. That leads us to the next truth:

C.  God is at your workplace.

This is just restating what was implied by the second point. God isn’t at work simply as an uninterested bystander. God is working to bring your company, your employers, your fellow employees, your clients, customers, students, or patients to him. He is working to bring conviction about wrong practices and treatment of people. He is working to focus people’s lives away from just work, money, and career. He is at work and he is working at work.

Now a second truth none of us would deny:

II. When I go to work, I go

A.  It’s a self-evident truth. ( can I go?)

(MULTILINE)

This fact, that we go to work as a Christian can create extra stress for us on the job.

Our workplace or co-workers may not be friendly to Christian values, morals, lifestyles, speech, or behavior. Many of the folks at work may not have any connection to Christ and have lifestyles, beliefs, and values that range anywhere from being somewhat Christian to out-and-out non-Christian or even hostile to Christianity. In some cases, some or even a majority of our co-workers may actively participate in a non-Christian faith.

This may lead some of us to defend compartmentalizing our life and leaving their faith at home when we go to work. “Work is hard enough. It just makes work so much easier not to have to try to bring my faith to work.”

It might be easier if you could leave your Christianity behind when you left for work, but you can’t. You are a Christian, period. Christianity isn’t something you believe, practice, or do. It is who you are. That goes with you everywhere.

B.  The question is: “ of a Christian am I at work?”

Let’s remember what Jesus told us:

Matthew 5:13-16

Notice that Jesus didn’t say we must to to be light or salt. salt and light. The question is: are we tangy salt and visible light, or are we salt without taste or light hidden under a bushel? Those are our options when we go to work. Leaving Christianity behind is not one of them.

III. As a Christian at work, I have

Since we can’t be two different people: a Sunday person and a Monday-Friday person. We need to see ourselves as one person with two jobs.

Job 1: of the company I work for

This is the job I’m being paid for. I may be the owner, so I’d put the word ‘employer’ in the place of Job 1 if I were.

Job 1 is the one all of us think about when we head out to work. It is the job we were hired to do. The Bible has had some important things to say about that job and how we do it. We’ve discovered many of those things already.

As a Christian I want to ask: How can I do the job I was hired to do so that it on Christ?

(MULTILINE)

Job 2: with God

This is the job I’m privileged to do. It is actually God put you in the job you have, so that you could represent him there and with him as he is working in your workplace and the lives of your co-workers.

Job 1 is your earthly reason for going to work, Job 2 is your heavenly reason for going there.

As a Christian I want to ask: How can I work along with God in what he is already doing at my workplace? How can I make a difference for Christ in the lives of others?

Job 1: My as a Christian employee

Question: How can I do my job so that it reflects well on Christ?

There are at least three things I must do to be a witness for Christ on the job:

1. as a Christian should

Colossians 3:23

Your goal: to have everyone want to work for them.

(MULTILINE)

2. as a Christian should

James 3:11

Your goal: to give no one a reason to you are a Christianity.

(MULTILINE)

3. Treat others as a Christian should

Matthew 7:12

Your goal: to make being a Christian to others.

(MULTILINE)

Job 2: My work as a with God

Question: What is the difference I want to make for Christ in the lives of others?

Matthew 28:19

Literally: “Going, therefore, make disciples…” Therefore: “Going to work, therefore, make disciples…”

We are working to lead people to become born-again followers of Jesus.

This is our heavenly job. It is working for God’s cause and purpose while we are at work. Remember, God is already there working. Job 2 means we join him in his work and make his work at work our work, too.

My goal: to help everyone I encounter take closer to Christ

First, get to know the people at work more than just superficially. Be interested in them. Converse with them. Ask them about themselves. Along the way, see if you can discover where they might be on their way to Christ.

Second, pray for your co-workers. Ask God to give them spiritual desire, to have an interest in knowing more about Christ, or about why you are a Christian. Ask God to open their minds to the gospel. Ask God to give you opportunities to share your faith in even a small way with them.

Third, look for opportunities to have significant conversations with co-workers whom God is working in, or to further expose them to the gospel.

Review: Taking God to Work

God arrived at my workplace before I did.

He is currently there.

When I go to work, I go as a Christian.

I go as and .

As a Christian at work, I have two jobs.

I have the job I was hired to do and the job God sent me there to do.

Application

When I get to work tomorrow I’ll look for ways God may be at work.

I’ll go to work tomorrow as a Christian.

I’ll go to work tomorrow to work at my jobs: the job I was hired to do, and the job God has me there to do.