Our Forgotten Call - Gospel Proclamation in the Workplace

As Christians, we’re called to proclaim the gospel – the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to secure eternal life to all who respond in faith to Him.   Yet, doing so in the workplace requires a rare blend of wisdom and courage.  In his article, Ditch the Safety Talk, Work Dangerously, David Rupert draws attention to the challenge that many Christians in the workplace face on a daily basis – the reluctance to proclaim the gospel in an increasingly secular workplace.

In my experience, Christians in the workplace will often mute or attenuate their Christian witness for fear of drawing a negative reaction from their co-workers or employer.   Yet, God has called all Christians to the holy task of gospel proclamation.   Ordinary Christians sharing the good news in both word and deed in every sphere of life is God’s appointed means to spread the good news.

So why are many Christians unable to do so effectively and what can we do to change this?    I have a few thoughts to offer (none original to me) –  

First, we must remind ourselves of the good news.   If some of us are honest, we’ll admit that we’ve functionally forgotten the essence of the gospel.  Many of us have been Christians for so long that we’ve forgotten why the gospel is good news in the first place.   Could it be that we’re reluctant to share the gospel because at some level, we’re not convinced of its essential value?   Friends, this is where we must start – to remember that sins forgiven and eternal life in the presence of God is not simply good news – it’s the best news of all.   We will have little inclination to share the gospel unless we live in the joy of it.

Second, we must pray.   In a recent Sunday sermon,  Mark Mullery, the senior pastor of my church,  made the following point  – “talking to our friends about God starts with talking to God about our friends”.   I find that I become more attentive to the needs of those around me when I make a habit of praying for them.   I also become more aware of how God is at work in the lives of my co-workers to bring them to saving faith.

Finally, we need to exercise courageous wisdom.   Many of us succumb to what Proverbs calls the “fear of man” – a fear that we’ll be rejected or even reprimanded in a severe way for our faith.  Yet, we need to grapple with this reality – the call of the Christian is costly.   God will not excuse a cost/benefit analysis that finds obedience to Him wanting.   We have to take risks for the sake of the gospel and that means being willing to proclaim the good news whenever opportunity arises.  A great starting point for many of us is to simply stop censoring ourselves.   Instead of attenuating our Christian experience for the masses at work, we should simply speak honestly about our ordinary lives – how we spent Sunday, how we make parenting choices, how we cope with our fears and dreams.   If we’re living anything resembling a Christian lifestyle, it will undoubtedly provoke questions and conversations.    We need to be bold but we also need to be wise - "walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your words always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer each person" (Col 4:5-6).  

Simple as all this sounds, it isn’t easy. As I mentioned earlier, it takes a rare blend of courage and wisdom - the kind that you can’t muster up but thankfully, God by His grace, can supply.   

Quote of the Week

"Love of neighbor - grounded in our love for God - requires us to work for good in the City of Man, even as we set as our first priority the preaching of the gospel - the only means of bringing the citizens of the City of Man into citizenship in the City of God."

Al Mohler, Culture Shift

Quote of the Week

"...Christians make a difference in this world by being different from this world; they don't make a difference by being the same."

Tullian Tchividjian,   Unfashionable, p. 9

The Gospel and Risk Taking

Risk taking - it's exposing ourselves to the possibility of loss or injury for the sake of gaining something of great worth.

The truth is that most of us are averse to risk - we hate it, we avoid it, we mitigate against it. We do everything we can to eliminate it. "Risk avoidance" is the secret idol in the hearts of most middle class Christians, myself included. We play it safe. We're not inclined to put our 401(K) plans at risk, much less our physical well being. We're so concerned about fitting in at the workplace that we're blending into the background. No risk of us being perceived as an irrational, fanatical Christian.

Yet, God calls us to pursue him whatever the cost. In fact He demands it. He calls us to do hard things like start God-glorifying ventures, take on risky projects, write books, share the gospel with our unreceptive co-workers and impact the world around us even at the cost of our reputations, money or in extreme cases, our lives.

Because of the gospel, Christians are better positioned to take risk than anyone else - we have the least to lose and the most to gain. Here's how the apostle Paul viewed his life in terms of risk and loss -

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him...

Philippians 3:7-8

His capacity for risk taking was enhanced by two factors - counting what he had as loss and counting what he stood to gain as immeasurable treasure. May God help us do the same.

The Lost Art (or Science) of Persuasion

Years ago, I read a fascinating article on the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini.  Dr. Cialdini has spent his life conducting extensive research and study on the science of persuasion.  Are there actually scientifically proven principles that optimize our ability to persuade another person?   Cialdini believes so and he has codified six basic principles of persuasion -

1. Reciprocity - If you do something for me, I'm more likely to do something for you.

2. Scarcity -   What's more appealing - a slice of apple pie or the last slice of apple pie?

3. Consistency - Make a public commitment and you'll be compelled to live up to it.

4. Authority - If Dr. Robert Cialdini says so, it's got to be true, right?

5. Consensus - we're like lemmings...or sheep...we like to follow the crowd.

6. Likeability - if you like someone, you inclined to want to agree with them. 

I've found it incredibly insightful and I've carried the article around for years.  

 

I wonder if there's a connection to our cultural engagement as Christians.  When it comes to engaging the culture,  we're not into reasoning and persuasion anymore - at least not in the public square.   It's far easier to polarize around moral issues and feel like we're "standing up for Christ".    Perhaps it's more satisfying to draw battle lines than to engage our neighbor thoughtfully about his eternal destiny.   

As I've been reading through Acts, it struck me that Paul engaged the culture in a different way altogether. In Acts 17, while in Athens, he "reasoned in the synagogue...as well as in the marketplace day by day..."  In Acts 18, arriving in Ephesus, he "went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews".   In Acts 19, returning back to Ephesus, he "entered the synagogue and spoke boldly with them for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God".

I'm absolutely not suggesting that incorporating these principles will lead to conversions (that's a work of God alone), nor am I saying that it will lead to broad Christian influence in our communities.   But perhaps, there is some wisdom in Cialdini's work that could apply to how we might engage our world more effectively.  

What do you think?

 

Why Don't We Share the Good News at Work?

I've been reading Mark Dever's book - The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, in part because it's an area of much needed growth in my life. I don't often share the gospel with others and in particular, I seldom do so at work. Yet, I'm convinced that a normal, thriving Christian life is marked by regular practice of personal evangelism.

Apparently, this isn't just my problem. In speaking with other Christians, I've discovered that many of us fail to regularly share the good news of Christ redemptive work. So why don't we evangelize more often? In his book, Dever offers a number of excuses/reasons for our failure but a couple caught my attention:

"Evangelism could cause problems at work" - Now, we certainly don't want to be irresponsible with the use of our time at work. If our practice of evangelism during work hours impedes our ability to work responsibly, it could bring disrepute to the very message we wish to share. However, for every person who might fall into that trap, I believe there are many more who neglect to share the gospel precisely because it could legitimately cause problems for us at work. Active evangelism could invite ridicule from our co-workers or possibly hinder our prospects for promotion. In other words, sharing the good news of our Savior could actually cost us something and we are ensnared by what the Bible calls "the fear of man".

"Other things seem more urgent" - This is simply the tyranny of the urgent. It's the weak excuse of a hurried life that has little time for what is truly important. To be honest, it's one of my greatest hurdles to regular evangelism. I get so caught up with the pace and responsibilities of work that I forget about those who are around me. I forget that many of them live without the joyful hope of an eternity with God, but rather face a real prospect of judgment. In view of eternity, what could be more important than sharing the good news of Christ and His work? Yet, I am often too hurry to even consider those around me.

After reading and pondering the early chapters of the book, I've had to face another reality of my lack of personal evangelism. It is simply that I do not love "my neighbor" as I ought. I like them well enough to have lunch with them, to discuss our families or share how I spent my weekend. But I'm not moved to actually share this eternal message with them, especially if I suspect that it's not going to be well received. It's embarrassingly true - I love tranquility more than sharing the gospel with my "neighbor" at work.

Is there hope for someone like me? I'd like to think so - starting first with repentance for my heart so lacking in love for my neighbor. In doing so, I need to affirm the good of the gospel for me personally, considering the favor that is shown to me in light of the cross. I also need to invest my confidence in God's transforming work through the gospel, not in my performance. It's not a question of whether I'm "doing evangelism right" but rather my faithful proclamation of the gospel. If the gospel is truly "the power of God for salvation" as Paul asserts in Romans 1:16, then I need to trust in its life giving power to those who are dead in sin.

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Any other advice for someone like me? How about you? Are you sharing the gospel regularly with those whom God has placed around you at work? What hinders you?

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Sermon Jammin' with John Piper, Ravi Z and crew

Here's a little frivolity for this rainy Friday.




A few months ago, I discovered Sermon Jams from a ministry called Relevant Revolution. Sermon jams are the creation of John Mahshie, a 23 year old from Asheville, North Carolina. He's taken portions of sermons from John Piper, Ravi Zacharias, Alistair Begg and others and mixed it with hip-hop rhythms to create an interesting blend. Here are a couple of our (my kids love them too!) favorite jams.

http://www.relevantrevolution.com/mp3/john-suffer.mp3

http://www.relevantrevolution.com/mp3/ravi-truth.mp3


John Mahshie offers these sermon jams free of charge as another way to introduce young people to the gospel and perhaps reach a demographic typically unfamiliar with the likes of John Piper. Here's a writeup about John Mahshie in his local paper.

Regardless of what you think about the quality of his work, John's passion and initiative is commendable. The way he's using his creative gifts for the purpose of advancing the gospel is something we can all learn from and apply in our own lives.