Introduction
This is part 1 of a series of 3 posts about witnessing at work. Most of what is said could be applied to a number of situations – not necessarily work – however the reflection behind these posts has all come from thinking about my own workplace and how I am – and can be – a witness there.
I’ve split the topic into two main subcategories: passive witnessing (covered in Part 1 & Part 2) and active witnessing (covered in Part 3). I’ll explain more about what I mean by these as we come to them.
Two Questions
Before you carry on reading, it’s worth asking yourself a couple of questions and trying to answer them honestly. Do the people you work with know that you are a Christian? And do they know what that means to you? If someone asked one of your colleagues what you are like, what kind of person you are, do you think that ‘Christian’ would be part of the answer? If you are honestly not sure, then perhaps it is time to reflect on how your life is a witness to those around you and pray that you might have opportunity to become more of a witness.
‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:16).
Passive Witnessing
What is it?
By ‘passive’ witnessing, I’m thinking more of the way our lives witness to those around us without us directly saying anything to people about God, or Jesus, or Christianity. This, in my experience, is what most of witnessing at work is made up of: after all, you are at work to do your job, so you are not going to be able to spend most of your time there talking to people about your beliefs! In many workplaces, people are often resistant or even hostile to hearing about your faith. However, the way you live your life and act when you are around them is a powerful way of making them think. Whether we like it or not, we are all passive witnesses in whatever we do from day to day. One of our key responsibilities as Christians is to bring honour and glory to God, so if we are taking our responsibilities seriously, this should be a sobering thought and make us careful about how we act.
Self-Examination
As I started to think about our lives as a witness to Christ and how that should affect every single aspect of our employment, I found myself reflecting more and more on different duties and encounters involved in my day to day work life. The more I thought about it, with God’s help, the more I realised that there were many aspects of my behaviour which were not a positive witness, or things that I hadn’t thought about before. I would encourage you to humbly ask God for his help to examine your life as a daily witness and identify areas you can glorify him more through your actions and relationships. As the Apostle Paul puts it in his second letter to the Corinthians:
‘Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men’ (2 Corinthians 2:3).
In Part 2 we will look at some specific aspects of passive witnessing.
See also:
Part 2 – Witnessing in Your Workplace #2: Passive Witnessing
Part 3 – Witnessing in Your Workplace #3: Active Witnessing
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