Faith in the Workplace

Last time, we discussed the church’s tendency to conflate outreach with inviting people to church. While inviting people to church is a worthwhile and important mission, we shouldn’t believe that inviting people to church is what saves them. Jesus saves; a church building does not.

I wonder if we have unintentionally obscured Jesus’s famous commission at the end of Matthew when he tells his disciples to share the gospel message.

Work is good. Faith is good. Can they be good together? I won’t belabor the false dichotomy of faith vs. career since we have discussed this topic in previous articles. But if Christians believe that God made humans to work and that by working, humans can experience their God-given identity as caretakers of creation, then Christians should enjoy their work. God made work good.

I do the dishes because I must. I feel no sense of joy or fulfillment. It’s a task that must be done. I do the laundry because I must—knowing full well that the hamper will quickly return to an overflowing state, necessitating a return to the laundering process. I clean the bathroom because…well, you get the picture. We do some things because they must be done, not because we receive joy or fulfillment from them.

A false dichotomy presents two seemingly opposite choices as the only potential choices. False dichotomies are fallacies that ignore a wide range of potentially nuanced outcomes.

“Who am I?” “What should I be doing with my life?” “Where can I find fulfillment?” These are massive questions that require wisdom, discernment, and introspection. They feel ominous. The weight of these questions too often burdens a person to the point of inaction. “I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing since answering those questions requires too much of me.”

Together, let’s recover our sense of vocation. You might have heard someone say, “I don’t know how to live out my faith at work.” Maybe a friend or coworker has said this. Maybe you feel this. Faith matters to us, but we struggle to take it beyond the walls of the church building and into the office building.

As we reflect on the recent holiday season, where decorations brightened our workspaces and Christmas was in the air, it’s a fitting moment to think ahead for the next Christmas. For those who embrace its Christian roots, this past season might have been a time of missed opportunities to share our faith. 

Conflict seems to be everywhere. The newsreels and our lives are full of acute and ongoing conflicts, from international disputes to close relationships with our family and colleagues. Although it would be great to live in complete peace, we know that conflict is a part of life, and we must deal with it. This is especially true at work. Most of the conflict we deal with is manageable and even expected in some situations but should not be ignored.

In Edmond, there is ample opportunity to explore faith and business concurrently, but does it happen enough? Our community boasts numerous places of worship. Depending on your search criteria, Edmond is home to over 120 churches, a number that swells when considering nearby areas like NW OKC, Logan County, and Luther.