The Most Difficult Conversation You'll Have at Work
Is this the most difficult conversation you'll have at work?
I was putting the finishing touches on a presentation when a colleague scrambled in my door and closed it with a slam.
"Will you pray with me?"
For a Christian, this opportunity to encourage and share the hope of Jesus with a colleague in need seems like the perfect opportunity. But Barna Group research1 suggests otherwise. If we apply Barna's findings to this scenario, 73% of Christians would feel a personal responsibility to share their faith in the aforementioned situation, but
- only 52% would actually share and,
- 31% would not share, despite believing they should.
Could it be that for a Christ follower, the most difficult conversation at work will not be coaching an underperforming employee or negotiating a major contract, but rather sharing his or her faith with a colleague?
Since I came to know Jesus in 2007, I find God has continually and divinely placed me in "secular" settings in order to share Christ with others—always by actions, sometimes with words. These settings have included: collegiate and professional athletics, a public school system, a Fortune 500 company, and two businesses of my own. I hope that some ideas here will equip you to share your faith well in whatever work setting God has placed you in. I'd like to share a big idea, a key principle, and 3 practices for effectively sharing your faith with others in whatever work setting God has placed you in.
Big Idea: If you follow Jesus, he is the vortex of your life.
If we picture a hurricane on Doppler radar, at the center of the storm is the vortex. It is the point all weather in the storm revolves around. To the Christian, this vortex of life is Jesus. Everything in life—our marriage, relationships, family, finances, career, and more—revolves around him.
What does this mean for our work? It means faith and work are inseparable. If we claim Christ, we must remember he comes to work with us each and every day. Our vocation is meant to honor him. The work beyond the work, so to speak, should be God's glory. This means, if a door opens to share our faith with others, regardless of setting, we should courageously walk through that door.
Key Principle: A magnetic life yields more opportunities to share your faith.
Magnets attract. They draw objects to them with a seemingly gravitational pull. A magnetic life is one that is attractive to others—not because of wealth or profile, but because of conduct and character. If we study Jesus himself, many of his most famous faith-sharing moments came because others sought him out on their own accord.
Read more about faith at work on The Christian Post.