Many Christians work in a non-faith environment. How can we as Christians share God's light and the message of his hope in our workplace when our co-workers are atheist?
We are called to be the salt and light of the earth. This means portraying God's love to those around us and sharing the message of Jesus' hope. But how can we do this when we work in a secular workplace? Our culture today is strongly against Christianity and legalistic religion, so sharing the Gospel can have an immediate prejudice from those around us. Here are six things you can do to help be a positive influence in your workplace.
1. Showcasing grace and humility.
Jesus inspires through his humility and grace towards others. He helps those around Him feel valued, remains humble in the light of teaching others, and has grace towards those who make mistakes and sin. We can replicate these characteristics by having grace towards those who are sinning around us, helping them feel valued within the workplace, and remaining a humble team member and leader. Be someone who inspires followers, not demands it.
2. Demonstrate respect for leaders.
Showing respect for your leaders is a strong way to be the salt and light within your workplace. Having respect towards leaders is a characteristic that is greatly lacking in the workers of today. Being the person who also shows respect, even when they make mistakes, are demanding and aren't leading the way you wished they did, demonstrates the higher level of value you have for them as a person outside their role as your leader. Whilst some personalities and people are more challenging than others, Jesus always looked deeper into the heart to see insecurities, doubt, pride and other traits that were contributing to the behaviors He could see.
3. Coach and mentor those under you.
4. Talk openly about Jesus and your faith.
All these other behaviours until now are great, but don't point someone to Jesus by themselves. As all humans are made in the image of God, it is not exclusively Christians who can showcase honoring, loving and gracious behaviours towards others, even if we can find it easier due to access to the Holy Spirit. The way to really share about the love of God, the gospel, and being the light of the earth is by being open about your faith and Jesus. I often talk openly about the fact I go to church, and share my beliefs when the context and topic comes up. The key to sharing is to do in truth and love, so as to allow peoples ears and hearts to be open to listen.
5. Share in truth and love.
In this day when subjective truth is valued more than objective truth, we have to balance the Truth we are sharing in love. St Paul informed us of this method thousands of years ago, and it is just as relevant today as then. We have to use discernment and the Holy Spirit to know how much to share, what to share, and how to phrase it. We must always underline what we say as being of benefit to them and the love they have from God, not as a rule they have to follow for mundane reasons. Even as Christians we should follow the law out of love. How much harder for someone who does not yet know God or love him to do what He asks. This is why it’s important to share with them how it helps, why it helps, and the underlying message that it’s because He loves us that he wants the best for us.
6. Pray.
The final way we can influence our workplace is to pray. Pray for opportunities each day to share the gospel. Pray for chances to have one on one conversations. Pray to be a positive light within the workplace. God loves when we want to partner with Him, and often praying opens our eyes to see opportunities we wouldn't otherwise see.
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