Faith and Commerce
There’s a brother at Profunksticated’s gig who is the office manager’s assistant. He likes to discuss his faith in Jesus Christ with whoever will listen. One morning, he was talking to a sister in accounting about his faith in the office’s kitchen, but she seemed like she was half-hearing him as she went about getting her tea and toast for breakfast.
I came along and she returned to her office as he then directed his evangelism toward me. Of course, I listened for a few minutes before I went back to my cubbyhole.
I later told the woman she looked as if she wasn’t feeling dude’s faith-sharing. She replied that she didn’t feel comfortable having extended conversations about religion in the workplace.
A few days later, I asked dude if he tried to share his faith with the Indians – both Sikh and Hindu – who work there. He said only if someone were to ask, then he would use that opening as an opportunity to share Christ.
I bring this up because sharing religious faith in the workplace, as you know, can be a touchy issue. This is tough for today’s American Christians, who are charged by the resurrected Jesus to spread his teachings to the world. That command, as you may know, is called the Great Commission.
Have any of you who profess to be Christian ever felt the need to share faith in the workplace but were hesitant because you believed it might offend a co-worker or supervisor? If you’re hesitant, do you feel as if you let Christ down? Or do you believe that work is not the place to practice overt evangelism?
I tend to believe one’s actions are stronger than words. I’ve been told that showing love, kindness and compassion – even when dealing with workplace bullies – might be the only Bible some people will ever read.
On his topic, I would highly recommend you watch a flick called The Big Kahuna, starring Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say the movie shows how three businessmen negotiate the intersection of faith and commerce.
Peace.
