How do I share the gospel in the workplace?
.jpg)
Every believer is called to share the gospel with others and since, for most of us, most of our time is spent at work, we also have the responsibility to shine our light there. While this is true, most employers do not allow their employees to share their faith freely. It may therefore seem impossible for you to find an opportunity to preach Christ here, but it is not.
We have the responsibility as believers to obey our ‘earthly masters' (Eph. 6:5; Col 3:22).
Therefore, if our employers do not allow us to share the gospel directly with
others, we must obey them in this. We must never forget that we have the
responsibility to take care of our family. As 1 Timothy 5:8 reminds us ‘…if anyone does not provide for his
relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith
and is worse than an unbeliever.'
1. Live your testimony
While you may not have of the
opportunity to speak freely about your faith, you are not prevented from living
it out. Our faith must change our life and that change must be visible in how
you act. That means your way of life can be a golden opportunity and way in
which you make your faith known (Col. 3:17).
While you may be prevented from taking the direct approach of evangelism, no one can prevent you from showing that you are different with your words.
-
Speak differently
The believer's words must be
different from that of people of this world. So we should never be guilty of
lying (Prov. 6:17; Eph: 4:25). Furthermore, no foul language (Eph. 4:29) or filthy,
foolish or crude words (Eph. 5:4) should be found among believers. Your words
are a testimony of what is going on in your heart (Luke 6:45) and should
therefore reflect your Christianity. Indeed as the apostle Paul teaches us, to let
our minds be taken captive by obedience to Christ (2 Cor.10:5) so that our mind
will be renewed to be different from this world (Rom. 12:2). This will, among other ways, find its
expression in the way we speak.
-
Create an opportunity
While you may not be allowed to
speak directly to someone about the gospel, you can create an opportunity in
which it comes in response to someone questions. The apostle Peter certainly
understood a lot about a hostile context and teaches us in 1 Peter 3:15 '… but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord
as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a
reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect'.
It says that you must be ready to give an answer. This includes creating
opportunities to talk about the Lord. Someone might ask you if you want to go
for a drink with them after work and you might reply 'Sorry, as a Christian I believe
you shouldn't get drunk' or if towards the end of the week someone says, ‘enjoying
the weekend’, you can reply by saying 'thank you, I'm especially looking
forward to going to church on Sunday'
-
Pray for your co-workers
While it is important that you
will be a witness to others through your words, it is also important that you
will plead for them in your words to the Lord. Plead with the Lord for co-workers
who live in sin and evil (1 Tim. 2:1). Pray for your employer, pray for your
co-workers, pray for your clients and suppliers.
Co-workers may on occasion take the liberty to talk to you about a problem or sadness and then you can take the liberty to either pray for them then and there, or assure them that you will pray for them. However, it is important that if you have promised to pray, that you will do it (Matt. 5:37).
b.Your stewardship
-
The Creation
In one way or another, most of
our work has a connection with God's creation somewhere. Whether it is that you
work for the department of environmental affairs, or care for the needy, print
documentation, do scientific research or you are a teacher, somewhere there is
a way in which you can not only preserve the environment yourself, but can help
or encourage others to do it as well. Let us not forget that the Lord
instructed us to rule over His creation 'in His image' (Gen. 1:26). Reflect on
the ways in which His creative work affects your work and stand in awe of His
grace to you in this, but at the same time try to limit the negative impact of
your work on it and find ways to promote it instead.
-
Your Money Spending
I am not speaking here about how
you spend your own money, but how you spend the work's money. The believer must
not make himself guilty of any form of fraud (Ex. 23:8). Furthermore, we must
learn to work as sparingly as possible with the resources of our employer and
not waste them unnecessarily (Luke 12:47-48). We mustn’t forget that those
resources are also provided to us as a gift from God (James 1:17).
-
Your diligence
Let's not forget that the Lord expects us to earn our bread through hard work (Eph. 4:28). The believer should always be on time (1 Tim. 6:1) and work during his working hours as if he is working for the Lord (Col. 3:17). The expectation is that believers will therefore always work hard and give their best. While others may hide the lazy or steal time, this is where believers must show they have a Master who is higher than their employers.
c. Your Self-Sacrifice
While the believer must be careful
not to make an idol of his work by overworking himself, he must always be
prepared to go the 'extra mile' to be helpful, especially in times of need or
pressure.
-
A sick co-worker
The believer must be prepared, as
far as possible, to stand in for co-workers who are sick or absent for some
reason. I remind you of our
responsibility to follow Christ's example in this according to Philippians
2:3-4 which says ‘Do nothing from
selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also
to the interests of others.'
-
Times of pressure
There will be times of extra
pressure in most people’s work circumstances. Like end of month or end of year
for someone in finance, or in an emergency for someone in nursing, or exam
times for teachers. The believer must be cheerfully willing to accept extra
work pressure during these times (James 1:2-4). While working conditions that
cause constant pressure are not good for you physically or mentally, you should
be prepared to deal with such pressure at times if it becomes necessary. Your
attitude of not complaining can be a good witness of your faith.
2. Share the gospel
While most employers forbid their employees to share their faith directly in the workplace, there are employers who allow it or who do not prohibit it. In such a case, the believer should take courage to openly share his faith with others. What should be our approach in such a case? (This is also appropriate where the above evidence is through actions where you respond to an interest on their part)
a.Pray
E M Bounds makes a very important statement about prayer when he says 'Talking to people about God is important, but talking to God about people is even more important'. The apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of believers praying for an open door and open hearts to be able to share the mystery of Christ (Col. 4:2-3). Unless the heart of the unbeliever is opened to receive the gospel they will never receive it. Therefore we must plead with Him to make person receptive to the Word through His Spirit. Furthermore, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us and show us how to share the gospel with the specific person.
b.Find an opportunity
If the apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15 ‘always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect', it does not mean that we always have to wait for an opportunity, but it also means that we can create or seize an opportunity ourselves. His point is that every opportunity can be an opportunity to testify to our hope and we must be prepared to seize those opportunities when they arise. In fact, it is possible to turn any conversation into an opportunity to talk about the Lord. While I am not saying that we should make every moment at work an evangelistic moment, we should, where it is permissible, at least regularly create and use such opportunities for His glory.
c. Share the gospel
If the opportunity presents itself, the believer must always seize it to share the gospel with others. The believer needs to redeem the time by walking in wisdom (Col. 4:5). Sharing the gospel does not mean we have to be harsh and harsh, on the contrary, especially in the workplace I would encourage you to do it with gentleness (Gal. 6:1). It is also important to show patience and not expect radical immediate conversion in every case (1 Cor. 3:6-7)
While it becomes more difficult day by day to find opportunities to share the gospel and especially in the workplace, the believer must be wise and knowledgeable to live out his testimony and create opportunities to testify to the hope that is in us. The fact that employers forbid us to share the gospel directly doesn’t take away our responsibility to the Lord to use every opportunity to honour Him and proclaim His Name. The command to witness is not given only to certain believers or for certain times, but to all believers on every occasion.
While your work is essential and you must therefore honour
your 'earthly masters', you must always remember that you must not thereby
disregard the 'heavenly Master'. Be a light through your actions, and where the
opportunity presents itself, seize it to be a light by proclaiming the Word
clearly in love. But let us remember that evangelism begins in the heart, a
heart that is concerned about a lost world and a heart that is more concerned
about the glory of our Lord. That's why I want to encourage you to first talk
to God about people, before you talk to people about God.
ds. Leon Harmse
Pastor of Sunward Park Baptist Church