To be honest, where I currently work and serve, it is easy and expected for us to live out our faith and Christian values in the workplace. I currently serve as the Site Pastor for the Cliffdale Site at Manna Church in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg region. As a member of the staff, it is vital for us to be surrounded by like-minded people who will expect excellence and hold people accountable for that level of execution. On very regular occasions, I get to walk out my faith as I follow God’s calling on my life.
I think that regardless of the career you are pursuing, you can be confident in the calling on your life and have faith that God has you right where you should be. When I think about this portion of my career, the faith that God has built in me seems easy to comprehend in hindsight. What I mean by this is that I have been able to look back at the last 5-10 years of my life and realize the intentional path that God put me on to get where I currently am. It is faith building to look back at all the opportunities I stepped into because of His leading and guiding and see His hand at work. It is faith building because there are so many times when it can be hard to see, understand, or comprehend the purposes behind the situations/circumstances I am dealing with. It can be easy to get upset, discouraged, or even frustrated when it is hard to see God’s hand in the daily grind of things.
Walking out your faith in the marketplace can seem like a daunting task. What I think a lot of people assume when we use language like this is that they need to be an evangelist at all hours of the day, sharing the gospel is every conversation, and making a convert before they clock out of work for the day. If you put that weight on yourself, of course it’s going to feel like an impossible task.
Faith walked out in the marketplace can be as simple as showing up faithfully every day and putting everything you have into what you are doing. The verse that comes to mind for this mentality is Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” It also means being professional, devoted, caring, etc. I think one of the best compliments a person can get is when someone notices that there is something different about you and they ask what it is. That opens the door for a great ministry opportunity.
The main purpose of following Jesus as His disciple is not only to become more ethical beings. It is to grow in more and more likeness to Him. As we do this, we get to point people to the reason for our life change and transformation.
Daniel and Joseph are two great examples of maintaining their walk with God regardless of the setting they are put in. There is also a realization that our obedience to God requires a standard of behavior and conduct that would set us apart from other coworkers. This has always been a fascinating tension to experience with my time in the military. Certain behaviors are tolerated and even expected within the military context that go against what the Bible tells us we are expected to do. So, what do we do about that? When situations and circumstances present themselves, how do we react? How do we behave? How do we present ourselves in a manner that is filled with humility, grace, respect, and professionalism?
In most cases, when we stand up for what is right or ethical within the workplace, it is not necessarily outside the standards established by the organization. Therefore, Christians don’t have to make it overtly about their faith and obedience to God. It is simply upholding the standards of the organization. In the instances of Daniel and Joseph, they weren’t necessarily vocal about their obedience to God until they were presented with opportunities to exercise their obedience and faith in God. Likewise, when the opportunities arise for us to share where our standard of conduct originates from, we get to share our faith.
Todd Capen, Cliffdale Site pastor at Manna Church in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg