Presented by Lauren Stibgen Are you anxious about sharing your faith in Jesus at work? Or are you generally anxious about sharing your faith in Jesus? In general, this anxiety often comes from a place of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of offending someone, fear of being seen as overly religious. Other than fear, perhaps you just don’t quite know what to say when the opportunity comes, or you may have been taught that the only way for someone to hear more about Jesus is to invite them to church. After all, pastors are the only ones qualified to tell them the gospel, right? As Christians at work, we have a perception problem, and I don’t mean people’s perception of us! We have a perception about sharing our faith that is adversely impacting the Kingdom. One study showed that 42% of Christians were afraid about sharing their faith, stating that they had not shared it with someone in the past 6 months.1 But interestingly 56% of Americans report that they are interested in hearing more about the Bible and Jesus!2 So, with almost half of believing Christians not open to sharing faith with the 56% of Americans open to hearing, the Word of the Lord proves true: The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37). What is even more concerning is that a recent Barna study cites that 56% of Christian adults keep their spiritual life entirely private.3 They don’t share at all! We are not meant to do faith in isolation. The overall terrain we are in for sharing our faith is difficult. Consider Jesus’ words: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also (John 15:18-20). Jesus promised us many good things, but he also cautioned of the sacrifice we would face as his followers and more importantly in our work as his ambassadors. The word ambassador comes from the Latin root of ambactus, meaning servant. The servant or ambassador in these verses from John is not greater than his master. As we consider how we represent Jesus as ambassadors in the workplace we really need to consider what Jesus says about the reality of this role but not let this overwhelm us with anxiety! Knowing about this persecution and understanding our adversary can help us prepare for the reality of the role we have in sharing our faith. Let’s think about why we are persecuted in this world—at work or even in general. We are in a foreign country, ruled by the prince of the power of the air, not in the heavenly realms. More specifically, we can count on the devil to try to thwart our good efforts to serve our kingdom! 1 Peter 5:8 states, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. We must be watchful and aware that this can happen at any time, and when we are discouraged in our serving, we need to consider this verse. Considering this worldly terrain, I can understand fear from a biblical perspective, but the fear and anxiety we have about sharing our faith at work is rarely about our real adversary. Our fear is based in worrying about being rejected when we try to share about Jesus. The statistics I shared with you should be your first level of encouragement to share your faith! You have a 50/50 chance of the person being willing to hear what you have to say! Fear and doubt. We have all faced this, especially when we are sharing our faith with someone at work. The enemy wants to sow seeds of self-doubt to thwart our efforts! You have been there. People notice you are different. Maybe you are positive when it seems like you shouldn’t be. Perhaps it is how you lead and provide feedback to your team. Are you more uplifting than anyone in your office? Always looking to be a mighty encourager and coach? Are you offering help? Maybe you have even bought a coffee for someone who seemed like they were having a bad day. As ambassadors, we show our faith by saying no to certain things that others engage in at work. Whether it is gossip or not attending a happy hour that seems to happen often, you may feel like you don’t fit in with your colleagues. Rest assured that your absence from both gossip and even a wild happy hour honors the Lord, and you are being his servant at work by not engaging. Are you showing up and reporting something that needs to be brought to light? Maybe it is a simple compliance issue, or it could be something more egregious like theft. This is being Christ’s ambassador. All these actions are sharing your faith at work. They are ways to be an ambassador without even telling people about your faith. But what if someone calls you out for sitting out? How will you answer? It is easy to walk away from gossip and to reply no to an outing, but what if someone asks why? What happens if someone gets upset when you report the wrongdoing? Or what about when someone inserts a small comment, “You are so different than everyone else here! Why are you so positive all the time?” They simply want to know about your joy! 1 Peter 3:13-17 outlines the expectation of our reply: Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. First, there is no harm in doing the good and being passionate about it! But, again the reminder is we may suffer for it. And then more encouragement—have no fear and always be ready to share your faith! Better good with God than bad with the world that we truly don’t belong to. But what if your greatest fear comes true, and your sharing is met with offense? Jesus was not alone in his ministry. We know he called the twelve disciples. We also learn that he sent them out two by two and gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits. But he also had some very practical advice about their service—accept nothing in exchange for their services and this: And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them (Mark 6:11). Shaking dust from one’s feet had much more cultural significance back in Jesus time. It was a reference to cleansing oneself from being among Gentiles. So, Jesus was suggesting that the people who did not listen had no place with God. This is different from the gentleness and respect we learned from 1 Peter. Jesus basically instructs, if they don’t like your serving, move on! I think sometimes this is what Jesus would advise us today—not to give up, but that sometimes we need to walk away to discover the next best opportunity to share our faith. Remember, the disciples were boldly proclaiming the kingdom of Jesus and healing people. It was very radical! Perhaps some of the serving you do for work is radical. Maybe your primary vocation is as a missionary. Taking Jesus’ advice in this instance may be the safest and best way to continue your mission. However, I would gather that most of us are serving our roles as ambassadors in traditional work environments, and you cannot easily just move on and shake the proverbial dust from your feet. If sharing your faith with a colleague doesn’t go over well, take care to respect their boundaries. You never know when an opportunity will come up again in the future. What about being anxious about what to say about your faith? Jesus has equipped us for every good work of service we will do as his ambassadors! In John 14:26 Jesus tells his disciples: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. We have the Holy Spirit as our guide to help us through these very scenarios of anxiety when we don’t know what to say. Maybe people know you go to church and pray for things. Maybe you have even prayed for someone at work. Awesome! Remember, some people will never know about Jesus if they don’t hear about him at work! Let’s think about this in action. You prayed before work to talk to a colleague about coming to church with you. They know about your faith, and you have prayed with them. You arrive at the office and suddenly you worry: what do I say? What if they won’t talk with you anymore? In that moment of anxiety and doubt, turn to the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:19-20: …do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Stop and pray: Holy Spirit, guide my words! One of the pieces of advice I continually tell my children is that the answer will always be no unless you ask the question! Be bold for Jesus knowing that he sent you a helper, the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you are anxious because you don’t feel qualified and this makes you hesitate to share your faith! 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. 1 Corinthians 3:8 states that we are God’s fellow workers. And Mat
