Here are some additional ways I personally tried to integrate my faith with my work. Hopefully they will be helpful to you as well:
Serve as a mentor. I’m a big proponent of the value of mentoring relationships, and never turned anyone down who wanted to enter into a mentoring relationship with me at work or a discipling relationship at church. A mentor is someone with more or different experiences that they can share with a mentee. Still, I always learned from those who sought me out as a mentor. I see mentoring as a way of giving back and pouring myself into others just as my career mentor poured himself into me.
Read books and blogs about integrating faith and work. I’m amazed with how many excellent books and blogs there are these days on the subject of integrating our faith and work. Read some of the books I have listed on your handout, subscribe to the blogs, and then share what you learn with others.
Participate in a Faith and Work Book Club at work, school or home. A few colleagues and I did this for few years at State Farm, and continued after we retired. Our discussions, early on a Friday morning, were one of the highlights of my week. I enjoyed learning from my friends about how they integrated their faith and work and seeing the light come on when they realized that their work in an IT department has value in God’s eyes. Stay at home Moms could be encouraged by reading and discussing Courtney Reissig’s excellent book Glory in the Ordinary: Why Your Work in the Home Matters to God.
Why Start a Faith and Work Book Club
Here are 4 reasons why you should consider starting a Faith and Work Book Club in your workplace:
- To help others with the concepts of calling and vocation. While some people think of their work as a career, many think of it as just a “job”, and a way to pay the bills. They look forward to each weekend and can’t wait for retirement. In your Faith and Work Book Club, you can help participants see their work as a clear calling from the Lord. They can see that the work they do Monday through Friday in the workplace is a way to serve the Lord.
- To show the value of “secular” work in comparison to “full-time Christian ministry”. As I mentioned earlier, many believers (and I used to feel this way) don’t think that their secular work has value in God’s eyes. Yes, their jobs provide for their families and allow them to support their churches and missionaries, but does God really care about what a computer programmer does in an insurance company, for example? In other words, can they code for the glory of God? I’ve seen the light come on when people realize that the answer to this question is a resounding “Yes”!
One of the books we read and discussed in our book club was Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. In the chapter entitled “Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5”, Piper writes: “Seek to do your work in such a way that Christ looks more important than your work. Seek to make and use money in such a way that Christ looks more important than money. Seek to have relationships with people in the workplace such that Christ is more important than those relationships”.
- I know far too many people who are unhappy in their jobs. When you are unhappy in your job, it can easily carry over into your home life, negatively impacting relationships with your spouse and children. I’m also aware of some who actually retired earlier than originally planned because they were unhappy in their work. You don’t want your group to become a “gripe session”, but you do want it to be a place of encouragement.
- Prayer and Fellowship. A Faith and Work Book Club can be a place in which rich relationships can be made and strengthened. We shared what was going on in our lives and prayed for each other (and others) in our group.
See Jesus as Your Supervisor. As I mentioned earlier, John Piper’s article “Lord Focused Living at Work” from his book A Godward Life, was key for me on this. Piper tells us that “What you are asked to do by a supervisor should generally be viewed as an appeal from the Lord.” I would agree, adding “unless they ask you to do something God prohibits, or prohibit you from doing something God commands”.
Keep work in its proper perspective. Sebastian Traeger and Greg Gilbert write in their book The Gospel at Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs, that we should never be idle in our work, nor should we make work an idol. In other words, we should not be idle at work, but instead do excellent work. On the other hand, we should not make work an idol by being a workaholic, placing work and career above our family and church responsibilities. A good balance is needed.
Point people to Christ. Our lives at work should point others to Christ. In some instances, you might be able to develop relationships that will lead to you sharing the gospel with those you work with. We should always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us. (1 Peter 3:15).
Have a Teachable Spirit. Author David Murray has written that the one characteristic that separates the successful from the unsuccessful in every walk of life is teachability. He states that those who are teachable and remain so usually succeed, while the unteachable usually fail. He goes on to say that it doesn’t matter how much talent and gifting we have. If we are unteachable, we will never reach our full potential in the various facets of our lives – Christian growth, callings, relationships, etc. There are many areas of life in which we need a humble and teachable spirit and certainly the workplace is one of them.
Next time we’ll continue with part 5 of our series on living out our faith at work.