I used to be a bottom-of-the-totem-pole worker in an irreligious environment. I was a caddie at a prestigious golf course in the city of Atlanta, and this particular caddy shack and golf course did not draw the most God-honoring bunch, so I felt quite isolated as a Christian.
When you find yourself in these kinds of environments, you cannot leave your faith at church. Instead, you must carry the body-of-Christ context into your place of work. People’s eternities and God’s design to alter them are reliant upon you behaving and working with the same mentality outside the walls of your local church as within the walls of your church.
I recently heard one of our pastors share how ambassadors are sent on behalf of a nation, but also to a nation. For example, American ambassadors are ambassadors “on behalf of the United States of America,” but they are also ambassadors “to” a specific nation. In the same way, we each have a unique assignment for our lives. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are an ambassador on behalf of the Kingdom of God, sent to a specific location, be it a school, place of work, gym, group of friends, or apartment complex. Think about the statement below and what you would put in the blank space.
“I am an ambassador on behalf of the Kingdom of God to __________.”
For me, it was a golf course. For you, it’s likely to be something entirely different because God wants His representatives among every people, tribe, tongue, nation, and place of work.
But how do you do it? How do you live as the only Christian in your place of work? How do you function as the sole ambassador to your specific space in the world? Here are a few strong suggestions gleaned from my time as a student in theology and as a Christian in an isolated place of work.
1. Go Corporate.
I attended a small, secularized college and, at times, it really felt as though I was the only Christian on campus. But every January, I attended Passion Conference, where tens of thousands of college-aged students gathered to make much of Jesus at the beginning of the year. This gathering is not “church,” and it’s not designed to provide you with community, but somehow, every year, I would leave the conference feeling surrounded. Passion Conference is corporate worship in one of its most stunning forms, and whether you know it or not, your soul needs to know you are not alone.
The same is true when it comes to your place of work. Your soul needs the visible reminder that you are not crazy for your beliefs or alone in your servitude to Jesus. You must have a weekly well to draw from, and that well is the local church (Hebrews 10:25). When I was a caddie, I needed the Sunday reminder, the Sunday encouragement, the Sunday community to propel me to live on mission and in a Christlike manner at my place of work.
Find out where God is moving in your community and root yourself there. God will use the community of His gathered people to sustain you in places of isolation. Whatever you do, this is essential. For this reason, I say, go corporate.
2. Stand Out Among the Outstanding
One of the most frustrating pieces of advice I have received time and time again is, “Be a hard worker with a joyful spirit, and people will eventually come to you to ask about Jesus.” Listen, if that is your story, fantastic, but I worked for almost a decade with the best attitude and hardest work ethic imaginable, and no one ever asked me about my faith. The best I’d get was something along the lines of, “You hustle hard, kid!” What do I say to that? “Well, the Bible says everything you do, whether in word or de–” They would immediately find a way out of the conversation.
Here’s the issue with working hard, being thankful, and having a smile on your face: atheists work hard, Muslims are grateful, and Buddhists work with a smile on their faces! We need something unique that makes us stand out among the outstanding. We need to live out what my church calls the “astonishing” life (Acts 4:13).
Be imaginative about how you can stand out in your place of work, but if you are looking for a little assistance, here are a few door-opening, simple, helpful ideas:
Remember details
Remember people’s names and roles.
If someone you work alongside has something worth celebrating or mourning, follow up with them about it.
If someone loses a loved one, mark the anniversary of the loss in your calendar and check in on them.
Crush negativity
Never join in on complaining.
Offer the benefit of the doubt when others criticize leaders.
Cheer people on in their challenging seasons of work.
Celebrate extravagantly
Recognize team members publicly.
Pull people aside and encourage them specifically.
Celebrate people’s “outside” accomplishments (competitions, family achievements, etc.)
Go the extra mile (Matthew 5:41)
Be generous to your co-workers even when it’s entirely appropriate to do nothing for them.
Look for ways to be astonishingly helpful, both inside and outside of your work environment.
Make your faith known
Tell people you are part of a church.
Tell people you pray, and ask them how you can be praying for them.
Start a Bible Study and invite your co-workers to join.
Let your prayer-life, scripture-reading, and good works be visible (Matthew 5:16).
3. Plant the Seed. And Pray.
In 2023, Barna found that 44% of adults claim to be more interested in God than they were before the Pandemic. Three out of four people surveyed stated they want to grow spiritually, and even more claimed belief in some sort of higher power.
"The harvest is plentiful," said Jesus, "but the laborers are few" (Matthew 9:37).
Jesus taught us this lesson, but allow me to remind you: the soil you sow into may be more receptive and fertile than you think. So be prayerfully expectant!
A few months back, I put the practice of prayer to the test. I asked someone to join me in praying for opportunities to share my faith. The next day, I set out to get my hair cut. My sister-in-law always cuts my hair, but she was out of town. So, instead, I started for the neighborhood barber. But right before getting in my car, I remembered the last time I went there and the atrocious cut I received. So, I went to the other neighborhood barber for the first time.
I walked in the door fully intending to talk to my barber about Jesus, but when I saw the person, I judged him, deemed the guy unreceptive, and shied away from sharing. He asked me what I do for work, and instead of telling him the truth, that I work for a church, I simply responded, “uh… I’m a teacher!” He said, “Wow, that’s great. What do you teach?” I thought to myself, “Oh boy, here we go. I’m going to tell him I teach the Bible and he’s going to tell me how he hates the Church…” I went along with it, “Well, I teach theology and biblical studies at Passion City Church.” I braced for awkwardness.
With a look of shock on his face, the barber replied, “You’re kidding me.”
“No…? Why?” I replied.
He said, “I NEVER pray, but this morning I prayed and I asked God–I said, 'If you are listening to me, bring someone to me today who knows You.'”
I couldn’t believe it. I froze, paused, then responded with the clearest, most robust gospel presentation I could express. I planted the seed.
I left that conversation convinced of a few things: 1) Never count someone out. You never know what God is doing in their heart, and 2) prayer works (1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Matthew 9:35-38).
–
I don’t know where you work, what kind of job you have, or what the environment is like, but these are just a few of the tips I have to help you steward your role as an ambassador for the Kingdom of God in a seemingly isolated place of work. I pray these tips stick with you and that you will find yourself rooted in a local church, living an astonishingly faith-saturated life, and planting seeds of the Good News in confidence.
