U MATTERS
We have been in a sermon series on Faith in the Marketplace and last night the team hosted a well-attended panel discussion with some influential leaders. It was an encouraging and inspirational event. A comment from one of the speakers struck me. She said, “I decided to go to God about my colleagues before going to my colleagues about God.” How true. So often we don’t take the time to pray. In our enthusiasm we rush ahead with the good news or we sit back and wish our colleagues had faith in Jesus.
Imagine the transformation in our workplace, our industry, our city if we prayed for each of our colleagues by name. We can pray for their physical, social, emotional and spiritual well-being. We can pray that “the favour of the Lord our God be upon us and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!” Psalm 90:17 We can pray for peaceful homes, healthy relationships, rest and encouragement.
As believers in the workplace there is a unique opportunity to be salt and light. In a conversation with Joshua Ng, I was encouraged to hear how he has been living out his faith. Listen in to his responses.
How has your faith been challenged in the marketplace? How have you dealt with the challenges? It is not easy to be a Christian in the corporate world, where it is a world that defines you by your position and status. I work as a lawyer inside a bank, so I am often put into situations where my values are tested against those that are of the world. It is so easy to compromise your Christian values when you are stressed out with hectic deals and transactions, or surrounded by colleagues that like to gossip, and yet I am often reminded of Matthew 5:13-16 that we are called to be "salt of the earth" and "light of the world". Verse 16 challenges us to "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven". I often believe that we are called to be the "Pastors" in the office and are the "light" to colleagues around us. They do not generally have the incentive to go to church and therefore we are often their first point of contact to "church"! I have been faithful to this Biblical teaching and will often make sure that I treat all my colleagues that are around me as my "neighbours" - the same way Jesus teaches that we should love our neighbours. With this, I think then we are really going out of the "four walls" of the church and bringing the Good News directly into our offices!
Tell us about your workplace ministry? Aside from setting up Christian fellowships and running Alpha courses in the law firm, banks or asset management firms where I have worked, a group of us was inspired back in 2014 by Psalm 119:105 where "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light on my path". We wanted to reach out to our colleagues in the offices, and yet in a way that would not come across as pushy or overwhelming. We decided to set up a "Daily Bread" ministry where a few of us would each morning write a small devotional passage alongside with a Bible verse and email that to our colleagues who are interested in receiving the same in our respective offices. Many of them were often encouraged by a subtle verse or a little sharing. We would give praise to God when we saw positive feedback such as "The mail helps me take a little pause in such a challenging work environment to think about God and read his words, it has also brightened my day and kept me positive for a hectic day ahead" or "Just to let you know that although I'm not a Christian I find reading the Daily Bread every morning makes my day". It shows just how powerful the Word is. God reveals Himself through the Word and we believe it is an effective tool to deliver the Gospel to our immediate colleagues. Amazingly, some non-believers actually approached us in the process and we subsequently introduced them to our Christian fellowships and finally brought them to church! Praise the Lord!
As we enter into a new year (Happy Chinese New Year) - may we consider entering into a new practice. Let’s consider praying daily for our colleagues at least until Easter and see what happens.
Blessings on your New Year - Pastor Michele