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Witness in the Workplace - Being Salt and Light
WITNESS IN THE WORKPLACE - BEING SALT AND LIGHT
Many of us work, whether it be in an office, in church, or at home. Work presents a challenge, not only in terms of the technical and professional difficulties, but in our relationships with our bosses, peers, subordinates and work contacts. To Low Lay Chin, Matthew 5:13-16 applies to every situation in our lives. In this article, she focuses on how she applies the God-honouring commands and principles of being salt and light in her work life. She shares four main principles which have guided her in the workplace, together with personal anecdotes. Lay Chin is married to Tan Lai Yong. They have two children.
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1. Avoiding office politics - as a teen
While waiting for my "flt level results, I worked as a bank clerk. It was my first experience of office politics. The two managers in the same department did not get along. The rest of the staff aligned themselves with the male manager who was in charge of my work. As I was a new employee, many would share gossip with me regarding colleagues in the department and especially, how the two managers did not get along. At first, the male manager was discreet in his dislike of the female manager. Later, he became more open in showing his dislike of her in front of me.
I tried not to participate in the gossip or the politics. As the newest and most junior clerk, I had no choice but to listen politely to the complaints of others. I thought about how to be different. I tried not to encourage gossip by asking for details and I made it a point to be on talking terms with everyone. Soon, people knew that I talked to everyone in the department and that I was not into office politics.
I often arrived early at work and so did the lady manager. At first I was somewhat afraid to be too friendly, after seeing all the negative vibes that the others had of her. As time went by, she started approaching me to chit chat. I realized how lonely and hard it must have been for her. To cut the story short, I was able to share with her a copy of "The Daily Bread". By the end of four months, when I was leaving the bank, she came up to me and said that she had started to attend church and had joined the church choir too. The atmosphere in the department had also changed for the better, for example, the managers were talking more politely to each other.
2. Taking a stand for Christ- in my early twenties
Upon graduation from university, I began working in an audit firm. I found myself in the midst of people who were as diverse as they could possibly be. The most junior staff would be people like me - fresh graduates. I was working with highly intelligent, experienced and overworked professionals. There was this senior in my group who was very friendly and jolly. However, he had an irreverent attitude and often made fun of Christianity and God.
One day, he was his usual self, taking swipes at Christians. I took the courage to tell him that it was not nice of him to make fun of Christians. He was surprised and wanted to argue with me. A fellow Christian decided to support me and we both told him what we thought of his behaviour. After that incident, he did not make fun of us anymore. I was not being courageous in speaking up. Instead, if I had not walked the talk, he would not have taken my views seriously.
After a few years, I went to work in an international company. I was soon transferred to a department where working overtime was the norm. I negotiated with the new manager before I was transferred over. He had specifically requested for my transfer. Among the things we negotiated on was the issue of working on Sundays. I was adamant that I would not work on Sundays. I said I had to go to church. He said, half-jokingly, that he would come to church and drag me to the office to work. Finally, I said that I would work on Sunday afternoons if he would sit in at the church services on Sunday mornings with me. During my stint with this department, I never had to work on Sundays!
3. Working hard at the workplace- in my late twenties
After getting my professional accreditation, I decided to go into the education sector. I enjoyed teaching and I enjoyed the learning environment. However, I was aware that it would not necessarily mean that there would be less office politics or that there would be fewer obstacles in being a Christian witness.
Once, when I was still a junior staff, I was misunderstood and misjudged and was used as a pawn in a "power struggle" of sorts. I remembered that I kept quiet (maybe I was too shocked to say anything) and how I struggled internally on how to react in the most Christ-like way. I went home and cried so hard. I was glad that Lai Yong, my husband, was there for me. We prayed and left it in God's hands to help me out of the situation. Months went by and I continued to give my best at work, really working as unto God. One day, I was told that I did a great job at organizing a big important event for the school. The storm seemed to die down and things settled down at work. That reminded me of my first exit interview with my manager when I left the audit firm. He was surprised that I wanted to leave when I had good performance reviews. When I said that I was not really interested in auditing, he said it could not be true. He said that I could not be unhappy and yet do a good job. I told him, as a Christian, I would give my best even though it was not the job that I was interested in. He simply could not understand that. I hope that this continues to serve as a witness to him today.
4. Witnessing with my life - from then to now
As a more mature person now, I am more secure in knowing who I am in Christ. It does not mean that I am immune to office politics or trials in the workplace. I still hold on to the same belief as when I first started my journey as a young working adult - to be salt and light for Him.
There will be times when my colleagues and I talk about people, about situations, about our students, about our workplace. The most important thing is not to be vindictive and be maliciously gossiping. By helping each other see a situation more clearly and not be mean, spiteful and hurtful, we have already begun to make the workplace a better place.
I try to make the places I am in better and happier places. Having the church as a family has taught me about community, and so I often try to promote the sense of community within the workplace. There is no need to be upset or dismayed if some do not wish to embrace the same beliefs and participate in the same endeavour.
When the journey hits a rough patch, praying and trusting that God is in control helps me a lot. Work is a gift from God but my husband often reminds and encourages me that I am loved by God, not because of my work or my role as a mother and a wife, but because of who I am in Christ.
