Can you really be a full-out follower of Jesus at work and still succeed at your job?
Absolutely.
In fact, I believe following Jesus can make you better at your job and become a great blessing. Sometimes when Christians think about sharing their faith at work, we immediately think we need to put a Bible verse in our email signature, supersize the cross around our neck and figure out how to turn the break room into a Bible study.
Relax.
If you work somewhere eight hours a day, five days a week, you aren’t going to have to manufacture opportunities for your faith to show. Every day, every week, every month and every year, life is going to give you plenty of opportunities for people to discover that you follow Jesus.
Following Jesus at work isn’t primarily about adding more Christian things to your workday. It’s about allowing Jesus to change the way you work.
Here are five places to start.
1. Do your work well.
This might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about following Jesus at work, but maybe it should be.
Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
Show up on time. Be dependable. Meet your deadlines. Keep learning your craft. Treat customers well. When you make a mistake, own it. When somebody else deserves credit, give it to them.
Being a Christian doesn’t excuse you from being good at your job. It should give you another reason to be good at it.
Colossians gives ordinary work an entirely different meaning. Your boss may sign the paycheck, but your boss isn’t ultimately the only person you’re serving. Paul says that somehow, even in our everyday work, we can serve Christ.
That means your work matters. Whether you’re teaching a classroom, working construction, seeing patients, answering emails, managing employees, running a business or stocking shelves, you have an opportunity to honor God through the quality and integrity of your work.
2. Let your character speak before you make a speech.
You probably won’t have to announce to everybody that you’re a Christian. If you consistently follow Jesus, eventually people should begin to see it. Paul tells Titus that God’s people should demonstrate honesty and trustworthiness so that their lives “make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (Titus 2:10).
I love that picture.
What happens when everybody starts tearing apart another coworker and you don’t join in? When you don’t take credit for somebody else’s work? Or, when something goes wrong and you don’t lose your mind?
People notice.
Think about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
There aren’t many workplaces complaining that they have too many patient, kind, faithful, self-controlled employees.
3. Care about the people you work with.
Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).
Sometimes your neighbor has the cubicle beside yours so learn their names and ask about their kids. Notice when they doesn’t seem like themselves and celebrate when something good happens in their life.
When it’s appropriate, ask a very simple question:
“Can I pray for you?”
You don’t need a microphone. You don’t need to turn every conversation into a sermon. Just care about people.
Relationships also create natural opportunities to talk about your faith. Peter tells Christians to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that we have, but then he adds something Christians should never overlook: do it “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
You can be bold about Jesus and respectful toward another person at the same time.
In fact, you should be.
4. Know the difference between faithfulness and forcing it.
A few years ago, I talked with a man who was experiencing some really good things in his relationship with God. He was growing spiritually and wanted that faith to affect the rest of his life. That’s a good thing.
The problem came when he tried to bring a type of church ministry into a mentoring relationship with another employee at work. He struggled to recognize the boundaries between the responsibility his employer had given him and the ministry he wanted to do. Eventually, it became a serious enough issue that he lost his job.
I’ve never forgotten that.
Following Jesus at work doesn’t mean ignoring the fact that you’re at work.
Faithfulness requires wisdom.
There are also real workplace boundaries surrounding religious expression. In the United States, federal law protects sincerely held religious practices and requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate religious observance and expression unless doing so creates an undue hardship. Religious discussion at work isn’t inherently prohibited. At the same time, employers can address religious expression that disrupts work or becomes unwelcome, and the EEOC specifically advises employees to stop directing proselytizing toward someone who indicates that it is unwelcome.
Your coworker isn’t your captive audience. If you’re someone’s supervisor, remember that there is a power difference between you. Respect people and the appropriate workplace policies. Respect someone’s “no” and do the job you’re being paid to do.
Sometimes honoring Jesus means talking about Jesus and sometimes honoring Jesus means getting back to work.
Wisdom knows the difference.
5. Be ready when the door opens.
None of that means we hide our faith. Paul tells Christians, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace” (Colossians 4:5–6).
I think that’s a pretty good theology of following Jesus at work.
Be wise, ready and gracious.
You won’t have to manufacture every opportunity because life will create plenty of them. Over time, you’ll work alongside people whose marriages are struggling, who lose someone they love or who simply need somebody to talk to. There will be moments when people notice how you handled a difficult situation and ask why. They may find out you go to church and become curious, or tell you they’ve been praying even though they’re not quite sure what they believe. Sometimes the opening will be even simpler. Somebody asks what you did over the weekend and you say, “I went to church.”
You don’t have to act like you spent Sunday morning at Costco.
Don’t force an opening that isn’t there, but don’t run away from the openings God gives you either. When someone genuinely wants to talk about Jesus, talk about Jesus.
Following Jesus at work isn’t primarily about adding more Christian things to your workday. Instead, it’s about allowing Jesus to transform you as a worker. Through the process your attitude is going to be better, the way you treat people will improve and you will improve at your job. Guess what? Your boss is going to like all of that.
You don’t need to make your cross five times bigger to follow Jesus at work. All you need to do is faithfully follow Jesus Monday through Friday, and people are eventually going to see it.
Rev. Dr. Mike Wooton 
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