In his wonderful book Beyond Doubt (available for order at Hearts & Minds Books), Cornelius Plantinga Jr. offers sound advice to those seeking to be salt and light in their workplace:
“Consider a businesspersons’ prayer breakfast. A group of lively Christians gets together in the morning to pray, eat breakfast, and urge each other on to witness on the job through that day. They discuss contacts, strategy, witnessing failures, and successes. They ask each other: ‘How can I use my business contacts today to tell someone what Jesus has done for me?’
These are devout brothers and sisters in Christ. Unfortunately the prevailing idea at their breakfast is that each of them is a businessperson who also wants to witness about Christ. The Christian faith is seen as something extra; it adds something to the job, but it doesn’t get worked deep into the bones and innards of the job itself.
Consider a harder, but more excellent, way. A group of lively Christians gets together to pray, eat breakfast, and discuss strategy for demonstrating the lordship of Christ in their business practices that day. They ask: ‘How, today, can we write a policy, sell a house, lobby for a law, advertise a product, in a way that honors Christ and makes God’s name more respected? How can we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God as members of our profession? How can we keep our jobs and still do what is right? How can we avoid being conformed to this world and yet work effectively in it as transformers of culture for Christ’s sake?’
Of course, these Christians may also be required to give verbal witness to Christ. But, if so, the witness will not be tacked on to their job; it will not be something extra. No, the witness will tell why these Christians do their jobs the way they do and who inspires them to do it.
God has called us to discern his will, to make it our own, and then to exhibit it by doing good in the world. Worldly people snicker about ‘do-gooders.’ Christians do not. Christians know that every day presents good opportunity to ‘strive first for the kingdom.'”
