Shining Your Light in a Secular Workplace

Being part of a secular workplace can be an excellent opportunity for pointing nonbelievers to the love of Christ and explaining what a difference Christ has made in your own life. But sharing our faith - especially in settings where we don’t expect listeners to be receptive - is an intimidating activity for most people, and rightly so. Few individuals wake up for work in the morning with a fire in their bellies to share the Gospel with people whom they know think that’s a load of hooey. It doesn’t seem conducive to one’s career advancement to risk coming off as “holier than thou,” “preachy” or downright annoying to your colleagues who don’t want to hear about it. I think these are all valid concerns, but also know that we all have the responsibility to fulfill the Lord’s command to be the salt and the light on the earth. For the typical working professional who spends 40-plus hours each week with their coworkers, there seem to be few better places to put these commands into practice than at work.

What does it mean to be “salt and light” anyway? And what’s the appropriate way to use work as a mission field? Should we be handing out Gospel tracts and playing worship music from our offices?

In 2018, Barna research found some interesting answers to questions like these when surveying Christians about what their work responsibilities are. The top five responsibilities identified were to act ethically, always speak the truth, demonstrate morality, make friends with non-Christians, and practice humility.  

These all sound like great things to me, but is that what Christ asks of us?

In John 13:35, Jesus said that all men will know you are My disciples if you have love for one another. So my question to you is this: “Do the people you work with know that you are a Christian because of the way you show how much you truly care about them?” If I went to your business and took a survey, what would that say about you? Would they say that they know you are a Christian by the empathy and caring you show them? Or would they say that you are a typical hypocritical Christian who says one thing and acts in a different manner-perhaps overreacting to something? I know that I have overreacted at times and that I have not always been the best representative of Christ in the workplace. We probably all have work to do in that area.

The number one way to prepare ourselves to be an instrument that God can work through to reach others is to continue to develop our personal relationship with God. If we don’t read our Bibles, if we don’t pray, if we don’t seek God with our hearts, we aren’t equipping ourselves with the tools it takes to represent Christ to others. It’s nearly impossible to know how to act ethically and speak the truth in love when we’re at work (or anywhere else) if we aren’t filling ourselves with God’s Word and praying to discern His will for our lives each day.

While we should never make anyone uncomfortable at work, God provides us many opportunities each week (even at work) to share our own story about how God has made a difference in our life, to pray with a coworker who is going through a tough time, or to invite a friend or colleague to go to church with us. 

Representing Jesus at work can look different for different people, but the key is not to hide it or “put it under a bushel,” as Jesus said. Especially in the workplace, that requires self-control. It could mean refusing to complain, sitting out on office gossip, and using clean language when you speak, even if that’s not company culture. In every situation, we need to be willing and able to look a little different or even strange to others. I am not talking about trying to make ourselves appear better than everyone else-then we just come across as hypocrites. I am talking about letting the peace and joy we have from our faith shine for others to see, especially in the face of adversity and difficult times. If we appear the same as everyone else-complaining all the time, overreacting, or gossiping-and there is nothing to mark our behavior as distinct from the rest of the world, why would anyone be interested in knowing more about our faith? 

The point of all this is not to try and score points with the world or be seen as the most upright person in the office. Jesus asks us to live this way so that others might see how our own lives have been changed and want to learn more about our faith. It is not about making us look better, it is about bringing honor and glory to our Father in Heaven. Why do you think God has left you here?

As you contemplate how to go about representing Christ in your workplace, give some serious thought and prayer as to why God has you in your current position and how He may want to use you. Keeping your work culture and your coworkers in consideration, try to identify areas or opportunities when you can shine a bit more of the light of Christ living within you. We aren’t always going to live our lives perfectly, and we are not held responsible for everyone we know giving their lives to Christ. Our responsibility is to love and serve Jesus, love others, allow others the opportunity to witness what that looks like, and be ready to explain to them why we do it. 

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