1. Good foundations

Jesus tells us the most important commandment is to love the Lord “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). The call is to use our whole lives to love and serve the Lord, including our work lives. We live for Jesus at work out of love for the Lord, and so that others might come to know Him.

This first section provides foundational principles to build upon and help you as you seek to live for Jesus at work.

See God’s purpose

It can be tempting to compartmentalise our ‘Christian life’ and our ‘work life’. However, if we approach our work confident that God has a strategic purpose in placing us there, we are likely to find it more natural to live out our faith at work. God intends to use you to transform the lives of people and the culture of organisations – your work is a truly special, God-given opportunity for you!

God created us in His image as workers (Genesis 2:2) and is concerned about you, your colleagues, and the organisation you work in. Jesus came for all people, from all walks of life, no matter how unlikely that might feel in your work environment. Jesus started His adult life as a carpenter, and throughout His ministry, told parables relating to work and ministered in the marketplace. Whatever your role may be, God can use you to bring the good news of Jesus to those you work with. Jesus calls us not only to speak of Him but to protect and defend others (Isaiah 1:17) and enrich our workplaces. Through this we love our neighbour (Mark 12:31) and bring salt and light to our workplaces (Matthew 5:13–16), which will ultimately promote Jesus too. You may be the only Christian that some of your colleagues know, and while that might feel like a lot of pressure, it is a wonderful opportunity. We get to partner with God in His mission – He is in control, but it is exciting to think about the way He may intend to use you in His plans.

“I’ve asked customers if I can pray for them before (when appropriate). When people ask why I’m so happy/cheery, it’s an opportunity to point to Jesus as the source. Customers see my cross necklace or Bible verse tattoos and ask about it. Because of those outward ‘symbols’, it helps keep me accountable to always bear a positive witness for Christ.”

Be authentic

Being open about your Christian faith to your employer and colleagues is one of the best things you can do to live for Christ in the workplace. Throughout the Bible, God calls His people to speak about their relationship with Him and live in a way that reflects that they are His. However, there are several reasons why Christians might find it difficult to be public about their faith in Jesus at work.

It may feel as though there has not been an appropriate time to bring it up, particularly if you predominately interact with colleagues online.

Perhaps you are concerned that if your peers know you are a Christian, they might leap to negative conclusions about you. You might also be worried that people would take offence at what you believe, or that you might be excluded socially and perhaps even professionally.

Maybe you are simply embarrassed – you believe in Jesus, but don’t want to be associated with all the controversy He can bring. You would much rather just keep your faith to yourself.

Being open about our faith is certainly challenging, but it is a challenge we are to take seriously. Jesus said in Luke 9:26, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory.” The Christian faith is personal, but not private. If most, or all of your colleagues do not know that you are a Christian, reflect on how you might be able to change that.

Being open about your Christian faith could be the key to correcting misinformation about Christianity as your colleagues see the authentic life of a Christian lived out. This doesn’t mean it has to be all you talk about. Rather, it means not hiding who you are as a Christian and feeling free to speak about it when it’s relevant or appropriate.

By living for Jesus at work, we can help our employers know that Christianity is not a cultural label, a Sunday activity, or simply a set of rules we follow, but intrinsic to who we are. Religious literacy and understanding are low in the UK, and we cannot expect people to understand what the Christian faith means unless we are willing to show them in words and deeds.

“In one of my first jobs, my colleague became a Christian and is still my best friend! Since then, I have had meaningful relationships with several colleagues that have involved me sharing my faith with them, occasionally to the degree where I was able to bring them to church or an event.”

– Head of a publishing firm

Religion or belief are protected characteristics in law along with age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, sex and sexual orientation. It is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis of any of these characteristics. So just as a worker should be safe to express any of these other characteristics of themselves to their employer or colleagues, Christians should feel able to express their faith.

The longer we wait to tell those around us that we are a Christian, the harder it will be to do so. Start a job by being known as a Christian, and live, work and speak in a way that demonstrates what that means.

Look for opportunities in conversations with your managers and team to bring up the fact that you’re a Christian and, if appropriate, explain something about what this means, or the impact that your faith has on your life (for example, that you have commitments to your church). If your employer understands how important your faith is to you, this will hopefully create a helpful basis if a concern around this area, such as a moral or ethical dilemma, ever comes up.

Isn’t it too late?

If you have been in a job for a significant amount of time already, and those you work with don’t know that you are a Christian, it may feel daunting, but hopefully not an insurmountable obstacle.

You could ask a friend at church to pray with you about it and keep you accountable. This doesn’t need to be a big announcement; why not simply start to incrementally mention your Christian faith when people talk about their weekends, for example? Follow-up questions may well come, and you’ll need to be prepared to answer these honestly.

If someone asks why you’ve never mentioned the fact that you are a Christian, you can be honest. Explain what you were concerned about, and if you feel the need to, you can always apologise for not being more open. It is likely that people will understand and appreciate your honesty.

Be committed to your job

First and foremost, we are at our workplaces to do a job, remembering that as Christians we are ultimately “working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23). Christians are called to be people of integrity, and that means we honour the commitment we have made to our employer. When we see our work as an act of worship and service to God and others, we can become some of the best employees. Our motivation is to do our work in a way that glorifies God, rather than simply a desire to please our bosses, earn money or improve our status.

This may also help when it comes to explaining our faith to our employers and addressing any concerns employers might have about employing a Christian. We can explain that being a Christian means, in part, that we seek to do the very best work that we can, recognising our responsibility to God as well as to our employer.

The way we work can be a great way for Christians to stand out among colleagues who do not yet know Jesus. Reflect on the social norms at your workplace and consider how you could clearly live for Christ in those areas.

• Do people gossip about your boss or other colleagues? Be distinctive

by speaking up, changing the subject, or removing yourself from those conversations.

• Do people bill more hours than they work, or get away with doing less work than they are meant to? Be distinctive in honouring your

employer and working hard, with integrity.

• Do people tend to over-work? How can you demonstrate that your

identity is found in Jesus, not in your work, while honouring your employer and colleagues, patients, customers, clients, or others?

• Do people put others down to lift themselves up? Be distinctive by

looking to serve others, and by valuing other people’s interests.