Faith at Work

Workplace Testimonies of Young Christian Professionals

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• Publisher: Relational Mission
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9780995477858
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

This is a book, first and foremost, about God. This is a book about the passionate love He has for His children and the interest He shows in their work, described through the lives of those that are living for Him. If there is anything impressive about the stories in this book, it is God Himself.Through the testimonies of twenty-four young professionals, you will find honest accounts of how they have wrestled with whatit means to be a Christian in the industries God has placed them in:

• Finding meaning and purpose at work
• Being content with the present yet being ambitious for the future
• Discerning God’s will for what work to do
• Balancing work, family and church commitments
• Being on mission at work

If you are just about to start your career; if you are at a bit of a crossroads in your career; if you want to explore more of what it means to be a Christian;in your workplace or if you just want to be encouraged by the fact that God is at work in our workplacesand through our careers, then this book is for you.

Work and finding meaning

To do, to change and to be changed

Occupation: Management Consultant

Having graduated from university, I took up a position as a management consultant in London. The City – the “big smoke” – I thought it was the place to be! I was to work for one of the biggest global consulting firms. I had made it. I had become a “city boy” and I could not wait to pound the pavements of London in my crisp white shirts, sharp new ties and polished shoes!

However, I soon found that the world was not my oyster after all. Instead I was the oyster, and a little one at that, out of my depth and about to be caught (or found out). I was so unprepared for what was required of me. I soon found that city life was not all it was cut out to be.

I began to experience the result of the fall and God’s curse on work (see Genesis 3). I was caught between the monotony of staring at my screen all day and the stress of finding my feet in work that I knew little or nothing about. So much for the crisp shirts and new ties; they counted for nothing!

I began to think, ‘Do I even care?’

I began to think, ‘I just do not want to be here.’

I began to think, ‘I do not belong here.’

However, the biggest question I had, as a passionate young Christian, was whether my contribution to society and to work had any bearing on eternity.

Does God really have any interest in management consulting? Does God care about my work, my spreadsheets and my day-to-day?

What ensued was a period of serious reflection and soul searching. If I was to continue with the work I was doing I had to be clear on my work mission. I had to be clear on why I was working and how (if at all) it honoured God. Through much prayer and reflection I summarised my work mission statement as follows: to do, to change and to be changed.

To do

I developed the first part of this statement, “to do,” by saying that I am following God’s call to man (before the fall) to be fruitful, fill and subdue the earth (see Genesis 1:28). Adam’s first job was to go into the garden to ‘work it and keep it’ it (see Genesis 2:15). I want to use the talents that God has given me (see Matthew 25:14-30), achieve the good works God has created for me to do (see Ephesians 2:10), and bless others (see Romans 12:8) as I work as if working for the Lord (see Colossians 3:23).

I realised that God’s expectations on me for work are simple. I am simply required to do something. Just something! Anything! And yes, I know that does not sound very spiritual but it is incredibly honouring.

I was in danger, as many are, of spending years trying to work out the specifics of what work God was calling me to – expecting to find the perfect fit and my dream job. I agree that God does call people to specific things but this is not the experience of the overwhelming majority. Management consulting is not my dream job but it is a good job, a good fit for my skills and abilities and I enjoy it. Most of all though, I am contributing to God’s world, worshipping Him through it and putting my God-given talents to good use.

To change

I have developed the second part of this statement, “to change,” by saying that work provides further opportunity to pursue social justice (see Micah 6:8), to provide for my family (see 1 Timothy 5:8) and for future generations (see Proverbs 13:22). Work provides opportunity to meet those who do not know Christ, and to love them by serving them and telling them about Jesus (see Matthew 28:16-20). The workplace provides so many opportunities to have an impact on the world that God has created and to co-labour with Him in building His kingdom.

The workplace provides me with the opportunity to meet a lot of people. I remember hearing a London church pastor telling us to “do the maths” on evangelism. He argued that the odds of someone responding to a Christian sharing the gospel are probably fairly predictable. As such the only way to increase the overall odds of people showing interest and/or even responding to the gospel is just simply to meet and speak to more people.

However, I know that I do not need to heap pressure on myself because it is God’s work anyway – the Bible says that Jesus will build His church (see Matthew 16:18). We have the privilege of joining with God in that through our work.

To be changed

I have developed the third part of this statement, “to be changed,” by saying that the challenges and temptations experienced at work are opportunities to be sanctified and to grow in holiness as I watch the Father (see John 5:18-20 and 1 John 2:15). In addition, my current opportunities provide preparation and training, in anticipation of all that God might do with me in the future.

At work there are many situations where I could compromise my Christian integrity and I regularly have to ask myself questions such as:

• How am I representing myself to others?
• How am I responding when others undermine me?
• How am I talking about others when they are not around?
• How am I making decisions, especially when the right course of action is not clear?

As Christians we live by a very different and high set of standards (see Matthew 5-7). I have realised that it is not always clear what the right direction is and I make many mistakes along the way. However, the process of working this through is hugely important. The Bible describes it as the process of sanctification whereby, through the challenges we face, we work through what it means to honour God and we become more like Christ.

My experience, starting out in management consulting was that “work is not easy” (see Genesis 3:17). However, persevering through that period changed me and I am a much more fruitful worker as a result. I initially really struggled to find meaning and purpose for my work but over time I have realised that the Bible is packed with encouragement and exhortation for those who are wrestling with what being a Christian worker looks like.

Working as a Christian in mental healthcare

Occupation: Doctor training in psychiatry

My work is to help those who are mentally ill. I see people from all walks and ages of life, some who are seeking help and others that are not. One day I may see a twelve year old who is being bullied at school and feeling suicidal and on another day it may be a convicted murderer who is hearing voices commenting on his daily life.

At the core of my work is time spent listening to my patients. The dominant psychiatric approach is the empathic one. This means that I must try to understand a patient’s condition from their perspective. I am required to enter their world and describe their suffering. I draw on my medical experience to do this but I also look to Jesus Christ. He became a human and lived in our broken world. He experienced the full extent of human suffering and difficulty (see Hebrews 4:15). This gives me inspiration and strength to draw alongside my patients and to enter their world.

Of course, describing a problem does not solve it, but it is vital so that the correct help can be given to those who need it. I remember a patient from my first month working in a psychiatric hospital. She was not physically disabled but her daily functioning had deteriorated to the extent that she was living in a care home and things were getting worse. She was an anxious and worried person who spoke very little in consultations.

After spending a number of occasions sitting with her, she managed to describe that every day she saw the devil tormenting her. This frequent experience had shattered her ability to live independently. By listening to her experiences it became apparent that her medical diagnosis needed to be revised. This led to a change in her treatment plan and her medication. Although her experiences did not vanish she experienced a reduction in her suffering and her daily life became a little easier.

This situation challenged me. How should I approach the spiritual care of this lady? Spiritual care in various aspects of medicine is an important part of holistic care. From my own experience of prayer for people in church I believe she would have benefited from prayer and for the devil to be directly challenged (see Mark 16:17). Although I did not pray explicitly with her, I have prayed for her on a number of occasions since, in the confidence that God will hear my prayers (see Matthew 7:7-11). We are fortunate to have a health system that employs chaplains and she accepted my invitation to meet with them.

As a Christian psychiatrist I have had many Christians explore their understanding of mental illness with me. I have often found that they view mental illness differently from how they view physical illness. Somehow mental illness seems closer to what people would class as a “spiritual issue” compared with physical illness. The Bible teaches us that all suffering, whether it is physical or mental, is part of living in a fallen world.

Separating out the biological, psychological, spiritual and social aspects of humanity has led to many great advances in how we care for each other. However, these parts of us are not independent of each other. Where medical care has often fallen short is by over-emphasising one of these aspects to the detriment of others. A great challenge in modern medicine is to ensure that an individual’s care does not neglect any of these aspects of being human.

When thinking about someone in church with a health problem I remember this instruction that James gives to the church:

‘Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.’ (James 5:14)

I learned a lot about this when I took the opportunity to visit a large missionary organisation in Mozambique. We spent our time there with the medical team who would run clinics for the local communities. There were many tales of both miraculous healing and successful medical treatments.

Those leading the clinics taught us about having discernment when treating those that are unwell. Often God moved in unexpected ways. Sometimes a simple physical ailment would reveal a larger spiritual difficulty, while sometimes an overt spiritual problem would reveal the need for physical care. I learned that when people are unwell we are called as their church to help in a holistic way. If you have an illness, mental or physical, do not neglect either the spiritual, medical or social care that others can offer. God is greater than we can ever imagine and wants to provide for us even more than a father wants to provide for his children (see Matthew 7:9-11).

A problem that many of my patients experience is that their perception of reality causes them extreme distress. Sometimes this may be more or less obvious. I recently treated someone who became dangerously dehydrated because they believed there was a rat inside their stomach and were refusing to eat or drink. Some untruths are subtler. Psychology describes these as “cognitive distortions”. These happen commonly when someone is depressed and the thoughts that they have are overly negative. For example, they may be convinced that a future event is going to go badly despite everyone doing everything they can to plan for a good event.

In a similar way, I often have to think about my own worries in life and question which thoughts are more or less true. How can I test my thoughts and how can I know what is true? I praise Jesus that He reached into our broken world proclaiming, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (see John 14:6).

Exploring the adventure of relationship with God through work

Occupation: Teacher

I have been teaching for seven years and, although I have heaps to learn, I have known God leading me at work especially through hard times and some big decisions.

Part way through my second year of reading law at university (which I hated) I found myself at the careers fair. I was brandishing a bag of glossy brochures but feeling pretty hopeless. I was about to leave when the person I was with bounded up to me saying that he had found what I was going to do with my life and that, ‘it is going to be amazing.’ It was one of those moments when I knew I had to listen, so I agreed to stay for ten more minutes.

I reached a stand promoting an organisation called Teach First. Within minutes I was sold! Teach First is an organisation that provides an expedited route into teaching at some of the most challenging inner-city schools in the country. The values of this organisation lined up with what I was passionate about – justice, education and cities. It was the perfect match.

If I am honest I had a bit of an idyllic image of being an adored, successful, inspiring teacher, humbly leading children to greatness.

In reality, though, my career certainly does not resemble that ideal. The experiences I have gained, however, have shown me so much more about God’s priorities, including His care and sovereignty.

When you apply for Teach First you do not choose a school or an area. I simply had a choice between Manchester (home at the time) and London (a vast unknown). At interview I was put on the spot to make a decision. I prayed quickly, asking God what I should do. I heard Him clearly say, ‘it is your choice, but London is the adventure.’ Uncharacteristically I chose the adventure and I have been learning to choose adventure rather than comfort and safety ever since.

At points when London is at its most difficult (for example, packing to move for the hundredth time because the rental market in London is unpredictable, or saying goodbye to dear friends because London is so transient) God gently and lovingly reminds me that I chose the adventure, and that there is nowhere safer to be than adventuring with Him.

When I moved to London God provided a flat that allowed me an easy journey to work and also the proximity to be able to join and be involved with Revelation Church; things seemed great. Then I turned up for my first day of teaching and ended the day sobbing in the head’s office, asking to resign. She convinced me to stay, but things did not really improve for a while.

Two years of high stress levels, lots of change, violent students, personal humiliation and complete exhaustion taught me more than I will ever teach those in my classroom. It was certainly not the idyllic view of teaching I had previously imagined.

God humbled me, softened me, toughened me up, opened my eyes and grew me dramatically in my time at that school. It was a painful process but a crucial one. I had to work through a lot of questions:

• Why had God placed me at the worst school possible, especially when I could easily have been placed somewhere else?
• If God was a good Father who wanted to protect me, why was I experiencing regular physical intimidation and assault?
• If God promised to give me all I needed, why was I running on empty?

What God showed me was that He was in the midst of it with me. He truly was Immanuel, God with us. The lunchtimes when I was crying and praying at my desk and things were being thrown at my windows, He was with me. The fun nights out with friends that I missed out on in order to make sure that I had my work done, He was with me. He never left me or abandoned me (see Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5 and Isaiah 41:10-13).

One February evening, during my second year of teaching (my two compulsory Teach First years were nearing an end), I was rushing to a church meeting. It was dark and damp, but as I hustled down the street I looked up and saw a school building. I heard God say, ‘go inside and ask if they have a job for you.’ There are very few times I have heard God as clearly as I did that night and I would love to say I obeyed Him but I did not. I decided I was delusional and rushed on, forgetting all about it.

A couple of months later, work was still tough so while visiting family my mum staged an intervention. My job was consuming me, it was too much and I needed to get out so I agreed to do a few job searches to placate her. I found a school specialising in my subject that wanted a new head of department. It was double my salary, a Church of England school and closer to where I was living: I hurriedly wrote the application, dashing back to London to hand-deliver it.

I went in to drop off the letter...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Contents
• Contents
• Work and finding meaning
• Work and ambition
• Work and worship
• Work and following God’s leading
• Work and church/mission
• Work and family
• Work and trusting God