It's true if you're selling automobiles.
It's true if you're packing tomatoes.
It's true if you're meeting a payroll.
It's also true if you're trying to bring coworkers to Jesus Christ.
The trouble is, for too long, on-the-job evangelism has bogged down in a debate over talking vs. not talking, explaining the gospel vs. setting a good but silent example.
That is not the question.
Two Typical Witnessing Approaches
To some, witnessing has been a one-time event: telling a person the essence of the gospel, then backing off and feeling as if we've done our Christian duty. Others find that awkward and even offensive; "I just let my testimony shine through the way I live."
Both approaches are laced with short-comings. The "quick hit" approach may concisely present information about sin, the Cross, and salvation -- but often it comes across as a sales pitch. Our witnessing becomes a spiel rather than an evidence of the reality of Jesus Christ. Although many churches have encouraged this prepackaged, "Go get 'em, Tiger" approach, a lot of people have been turned off and have swung to the opposite extreme. "Boy, I don't want to offend anyone any more," they say, "so I'll just live the gospel and let my life speak it. Actions speak louder than words anyway."
They mean well -- but again, the results don't back them up. Even Jesus' example was not enough; He had to proclaim redemptive truth. If the Son of God needed to speak the Good News in order for people to understand, how much more do we? Especially when some non-Christians in today's workplace lead more ethical lives than some church-goers.
Actually it takes incredible ego to think our lives can do the job alone. The reality of our lives has to connect with our words.
Surrogate Witness
Feeling guilty about all the coworkers who haven't come to Christ, many Christians have come up with a salve for their guilt: pay somebody else to evangelize. They participate vicariously in soul gathering by writing checks to media preachers and other superstars, as if only God's famous ones can deliver the gospel.
This thinking fits neither the Old nor New Testament. Israel wasn't that successful economically, militarily, or agriculturally. Still God called them the chosen people.
Even Jesus Christ wasn't a superstar. His humble beginnings, blue-collar job, and lifetime of travel in an area no bigger than New Jersey offered no reason to boast. In addition, he chose tax collectors, fishermen, political radicals, and a traitor to help him turn the world upside down. Such activities would hardly get him on the cover of a modern magazine.
Full-Time Christians
Yes, I believe God uses big-time evangelists, pastors, and parachurch workers. But God's greatest work is happening through unidentified Christians who run small businesses or work for large companies and are willing to say, "I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to keep trying to please God in this place."
Jerry Fosdal is a small-town bakery owner who was raised to be a go-getter. People both admired and feared him. But gradually he realized the way he treated people was at least as important as what he told them about Jesus. He sees himself as a baker who just happens to be a Christian. His reputation as a loving individual has spread quickly, and several have come into the kingdom through Jerry and his wife. He's been so effective that a parachurch ministry approached him and said, "You ought to sell your business and join our full-time staff." Jerry replied, "Forget it - I'm already full-time!"
Another man started out pastoring a small church in Idaho during the 1950s. After five years, he felt called into the airline industry, where he stayed for 30 years and rose to become the chief executive officer of a major flier. Today he's still remembered as a powerful Christian.
Such stories might not make religious best sellers these days, but they just might mobilize the kingdom of God if multiplied.
Stand and Deliver
We don't need Christians pulling out of their jobs to witness. We need Christians who will stay in the marketplace and make their faith real.
The first personal portrait of God is as a laborer (Genesis 1). He worked six days, then rested on the seventh. Work itself is a sacrament; it is holy. We work in order to illuminate the image of God in us.
Thus it is immoral to take a job simply to have access to people we can hit with the gospel. Relationships suffer and people become inoculated to the religious words, often turning against the speaker as well. Those who bombard others with the gospel often fear rejection, but repeatedly behave in ways that instigate it. They violate trust and ignore people's individuality.
In the Gospels, Jesus had 43 conversations without saying the same thing twice. He started half his conversations with questions about the other person's interests and values rather than his own agenda.
We often meet those who carry resentment or bad memories of Christians they've met in the past. Before we can witness, we have to undo some of this distress. This is best accomplished by building a relationship and having honest discussions.
In a society where ethical standards seem to decline by the hour, we can make a lot of headway simply by caring about quality and fairness. God calls us to take a stand in a world thirsty for truth. Ethics are part of kingdom living, and they can open doors for meaningful witness.
God is in Charge
Through all of this talk about what methods work best in the marketplace, we need to remember that the real evangelist is the Holy Spirit. More than diagnosing the spiritual condition of our associates, we need to ask ourselves what contribution we can make. "What has this person encountered from previous Christians?" "What can I add for the Holy Spirit's use here?"
If our role is merciful friendship toward hurting people rather than gospel verbosity -- we can relax! We're not in charge; God is. His church is scattered throughout society Monday to Friday, and we're merely individual parts. In each encounter, as we get to know the person first by taking an inventory as Jesus did, we'll know what's needed -- a testimony of grace, biblical information about the Cross, sin and repentance, or a quiet deed of mercy.
Whatever we do, our obedience can open salvation's door for a lost and hurting world.
Reprinted with permission from Ministry in Daily Life. Ministry in Daily Life, a ministry of InterVarsity USA, exists to help the church of Jesus Christ recover the biblical truth that ministry is the calling and priviledge for every Christian believer.
Pete Hammond is a PCUSA elder, senior staff member of InterVarsity, and the director of Ministry in Daily Life. He and his wife Shirley live in Madison, Wis., and commute to see their four grandchildren in Chicago regularly.
