Christianity in the Workplace

After years of study I have finally completed my Masters degree and am back in the real world working.

Though I loved my study, I really do enjoy the challenge of working each day (though getting up early every morning sucks). I am someone who thrives on a challenge, on deadlines, and on getting paid! I am made for work it seems. I get a kick out of being depended on to get stuff done in time and I am very good at leaving work at work so I can spend time happily at home.

Being back in the work place has raised some interesting issues that I have not had to face in years. Studying theology meant that the majority of the people I saw everyday shared the same beliefs as me, if not the same doctrines, and I was reasonably certain that I could talk about my faith openly and honestly with any of them.

Being in the workplace doesn't offer such opportunities. I am NOT an evangelist. Going up to people and talking to them about Jesus is not one of my giftings. I am able to talk to them about their lives, their issues, their families, but when it comes to faith I get very uncomfortable. I am never sure what to say without offending people. I feel like I am being bigoted if I voice my feelings. I am not sure how to say that I don't agree with someone without coming across as a b***h. 

I think my main issue is that I am a straight talker. I tend to tell it like it is. If I don't agree with you then I will say so. This doesn't lend itself well to situations where people of other faiths may take offense. Though it has its place, straight talk is not always welcome. 

And so I find myself feeling embarrassed and awkward. Not because of my faith but because of my inability to vocalize it well to non-believers. Gimme a room full of Christians wanting to learn more about the Bible and I am away! But fill that same room with non-Christians and I break out in a cold sweat.

This leaves me in an interesting predicament. How do I as a Christian speak well about my faith in the workplace? 

I have already meet a man from the Christadelphian sect/cult. He told me that Jesus is merely a man whom God has honoured above all others, but he is not God. Immediately I was thinking of all the correct theological answers to this statement. But the reality is that this man was raised in this faith and may not appreciate being told he is wrong. Not doubt he is already aware of what other Christians think about Jesus and is use to being told he is wrong. In this situation being silent was much more helpful than being....well....me.

So how does one be a Christian in a workplace filled with different faiths? Does my theological training simply go on the back burner to be used at home and at church only?

To put it simply, no. I did not study theology as a job but as something that impacts my whole life. It is part of my faith and as such impacts my entire life.

Instead of theology being put aside, what I need to do is put my outspokenness aside. 

All Christians, not just me, need to learn when to speak and when to stay silent. We need wisdom to read a situation and know what would best serve the person we are talking to. Love is about catering to them, not about our own need to be proven right.

We also need to remember that it is our lives that speak for us. St. Francis of Assisi once said that Christians need to "preach the kingdom of God constantly, when necessary use words." What he meant was that in our actions, our love for others, our attitude towards our bosses, our ethic toward our work, the way we treat our team mates, it is in those things that our faith is made apparent to others. This isn't always easy. There are days when we don't feel very loving (6:30am everyday for me!) and it may not come through that we are any different from others. But with God's grace, and with the Spirit to strengthen us, we can endure all things.

So what does it mean to speak about my faith at work?

It means to sometimes just stop speaking.

Manipulating the Spirit

I posted the other day this article on a social networking site about Benny Hinn, the infamous televangelist. Apart from his extremely suspect theology (seriously, research him one day) he is also widely known for his healing conferences and for people being 'slain in the spirit' (which basically means falling over under the overwhelming presence of the spirit) when they are around him.

When I posted this article I got a very interesting response. Someone said to me that we shouldn't, as Christians, be putting down other Christians if their ministry is working and healing people.

Well, I tell you, this set off some MAJOR warning bells in my head for several reasons.

1) Do Not Judge.

It is a common thing in this postmodern (pomo) Western world that we live in that we are told that all people's views are of equal value and we should never judge anyone. As there are phrases like 'Do not judge, lest you be judged' in the Bible, the church has adopted this policy hook, line and sinker. But the church as a people that claim the truth are, by their very nature, laying down a line that claims that on one side is the truth and on the other is not. Throughout the history of the church that line has had to be argued, researched, and reclaimed as new beliefs and practices came to the fore and challenged the way the church worked. Sometimes these challenges changed the church (for example when the Protestant church formed out of the Catholic church in the Reformation). At other times the challenges have been rejected by the church as anti-gospel and labelled a heresy.

IT IS OUR JOB TO JUDGE TRUTH CLAIMS.

It is our job as people of the Truth that we judge other claims to truth. It is essential that we are analysing and holding to account the people who claim Jesus name as their motivating factor for their ministry. It is vital for the faith that we discuss what we see happening in other churches, that we research it, and that we weigh it up against Scripture.

If we don't do this, if we fail to hold each other to account, to judge ministries by Scriptural truth, then the Truth of the Gospel gets distorted, cults form, and we have no backing to say that Mormonism, to take one example, is not Christian.

I am not going to go into the theology of Benny Hinn here, but if you hear people you know saying that such and such a preacher is dodgy, then do your homework, engage in debate, and don't shy away from saying "But what they say here is totally against the Bible..." when you know that the Truth is being distorted.

2) When 'the spirit' is not The Spirit.

Benny Hinn, as I said before, is widely known as a faith healer and a man who works in the ecstasy of the Spirit. What this means is that at his meetings there will always be prayer times where people fall over, convulse, and in other ways appear to be under the control of some other power. I knew a young woman who was healed at a Benny Hinn conference. She was my flatmate for a year and was healed 2 years before I meet her from a brain tumour. Unfortunately in the year I knew her the cancer came back and she died at the age of 22. I know her story was genuine. I also know that she was a Bible believing Christian. I don't doubt her faith or that God healed her.

But here is the crucial difference. God healed her. Benny didn't. As someone who has also experienced a dramatic healing, I can testify that God can, and will, work even in experiences where people weren't praying for healing (as in mine). If God is gonna heal, it is gonna happen.

But back to the point.

The Bible says in Matt 7:21-23:

 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Jesus doesn't say that they won't be able to do miracles, these people who didn't know him. Moses in Egypt faced sorcerers who could do many of the things that God told him to do. When Jesus talks about the end days (also in Matthew) he says that many false teahers will come in his name performing signs and wonders and yet will not be from him. 

What we can see here is that there are people who will be able to do stuff like healings and deliverance ministry in the name of Jesus and yet still not be ok in their ministry.

So how do we know the difference between them? How can we spot the preachers who do miracles for God and those that do them for themselves?

That brings me to my next point.

3) Misunderstanding the Spirit.

Something I notice about Christians in NZ is that a lot of us have no understanding of who the Spirit is. We don't think of the Spirit as a person on equal footing with Jesus and the Father. We don't really talk about the Spirit well, making it sound like it is something we 'plug' into when we pray for the 'Jesus hit'. And it is this misunderstanding of the role of the Spirit that I believe has lead us to be afraid of speaking out when someone is manipulating it because we don't know when that is happening. (Let me just qualify that I don't think someone can actually manipulate the Holy Spirit, but rather they manipulate our understanding of it.)

The Holy Spirit is as much God as Jesus and the Father are. It is not some strange force that floats around us and we have to say the right words or go to the right church to 'feel' it as it moves among us. It isn't manifested through the right words or the right musical chord or anything else. 

Rather, it is the Spirit of the living Christ that dwells within us! It is what gives us faith, and peace, in our walk with Christ. It is what connects us with the risen Christ and makes us holy in the eyes of the Father. We don't 'recharge' on the Spirit, we live in it. Being in Christ and Christ in us is all about the Spirit and it's work within us. Sometimes this can be shown through moments of ecstasy and prophecy and healings and the like. But it isn't hovering waiting for us to plug in before those things happen, it is with us all the time and sometimes decides to move through us in strange and mysterious ways.

I am tired at the misunderstanding of the Spirit being used by churches and preachers to convince people that what is being done is from God and not humans. 

We can know whether or not it is the Spirit moving by the fruit that is produced by the people 'working' in it. Is that person, like Mother Theresa, self-sacrificial, loving of all people, have a heart for the broken, giving all they have, recognised for their love? Are they humble and always pointing to God rather than to themselves? Or is that person, like Benny Hinn, preaching that God will give you all you want, money, possessions, etc? Are they living in a humble manner or are they taking the glory?

We can know the difference between people who are working for God and those who are working for themselves. We can tell in the way the preach, and whether it stacks up with what it Bible actually says. Miracles may still happen, but Jesus told us to watch out, to be smart, and to know our Bibles well enough (with the help of those who have gone before and our communities) so we can recognise and speak out against this stuff.

Don't be suckers, be on guard.

Bread and Circuses

Anyone who has ever been in a class with me knows that I like to ask questions. Lots of questions.

I have tried, honestly I have, to just shut up and not put my hand up and not ask questions that I know will make half the class groan because I am taking up time. I try not to put my hand up with the answer every time the teacher asks a questions. I try really hard!! But something happens to me when I try and restrain myself. My insides get all fluttery, my hands can shake, I start to get nervous for the teacher standing up the front in silence because no one is answering, I feel physically ill. So, without fail, I will put my hand up.

It's an illness.

What surprises me every time are the number of people for whom this is not the case! For so many people they put their heads down, try and appear invisible, pray that their name won't be called, and sigh with relief when it is all over.

My brain doesn't compute this.

Because I see it as inherently important to be brave enough to ask questions. I see it as a fundamental part of life to challenge those that have the power/knowledge, to learn from them as much as possible, and to share when I think I have knowledge that someone may need. It may be annoying as all heck when you are in the class with me, but later on in life I think the fear of putting one's hand up can becoming crippling to society.

The Romans use to have a saying that goes like this:

Panem et Circenses

In English that translates to "Bread and Circuses".

It was a saying used to indicate that a society of people with full bellies and enough entertainment will give up any responsibility they have in politics and therefore their power. It is a saying full of cynicism and, scarily, not just a little truth. My take on it today would be "Meals and Movies".

This giving up of the power to speak into society and change things didn't end when the Roman Empire fell. Today, in the United States, the voting for the person who will be the most powerful man (or woman) in the world is taking place. And a lot of people won't vote. They won't vote for a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones among the 20 year old's will be that they can't be bothered because how does it relate to them?

During the election on Parliament in New Zealand in the last couple of years there was a decrease, yet again, of people in certain age groups who didn't vote. Talking to my friends who didn't choose to vote, one of the common lines was that neither of the main political parties will change much about "my" life so why bother?

We don't vote because we don't care. We are happy, with full tummies and enough money to entertain ourselves, why does it matter who is in charge. We have given up our power by ignoring our political responsibilities.

It goes further though.

This giving up of the power to speak out is rampant throughout our communities.

You go into schools and children are too afraid of bullying to act too smart or speak up in class with something intelligent. 

In churches people are more concerned about the quality of the coffee and chat afterwards than really paying attention to the sermon, challenging or questioning the pastor on their points, or even calling out answers if a speaker asks a question.

You go into work places and people are asked to lie to their bosses or make up figures, or they see work place bullying or sexual harassment and they are too embarrassed to put their neck out and draw attention to something that may result in them being fired.

We have become complacent, happy with what we have to the point that rocking the boat would be disastrous and costly and uncomfortable.

I believe this is true especially for Christians who don't want to appear 'Bible bashy' so they avoid talking to their mates or colleagues about their faith, about their doubts, or about their religion.  

We are afraid to speak out, believing that our actions will suffice. That if we act as a good Christian then words are unnecessary as surely our example will compel others to not only recognise Jesus in us but also to then accept him as Lord and Saviour.

All I ask is how?

How is someone suppose to know what they have not heard?

Our God is a talkative God. 

The universe was spoken into existence.

Moses was compelled to march up to Pharaoh by nothing more than a spoken promise. 

Abraham left his homeland on the back of a spoken promise too. 

Prophets left, right and centre were called with words and then went with words.

Jesus was tortured and killed for doing nothing more than preaching words.

The first thing that happened at Pentecost was the preaching of words.

The gospel spread through the passing on of words.

And now we are called into that conversation.

And it requires a lot of balls-iness to speak within the conversation.

It will mean people won't like what you have to say.

It will mean some people may not read my blog again.

It may mean you lose friends.

It may mean you shrink your church.

It may mean that people think you're a tad nuts.

But how will they hear if there is no one to speak?

Everyone of us is being called by God into a conversation that brings death and life. Death of the old and life in the new. And the words that are spoken to us should be so challenging, so changing, that we are compelled to share them in our broken and halting speech.

Don't be afraid of being responsible for speaking in God's power and changing the political, sociological, and societal landscapes of our world.

Throw away the bread, pack up the circuses, and be moved by the power that is the Word.