Back in the early 2000s, the evangelist Billy Graham said, “I believe that one of the next great moves of God is going to be through the believers in the workplace.” George Barna also made a similar prediction when he said he believes the workplace will be a core future innovation in ministry.
Isn’t it true that we often look only at church, youth groups, and schools as places for evangelizing and for making positive changes to our communities? And we done well in those areas. We saw the need for our own school curriculum, we have church-organized youth activities, and we encourage each other to pray for our ministers and deacons.
But I fear there is one area that we overlook, and that is the workplace. It has been said an individual will spend almost a third of his life in the workplace – far more than any other place outside of his bed! And it also has been said that you become like the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Many of us probably spend fifty hours at our workplace each week, and only several hours at church each weekend. If we become like those with whom we spend the most time with, this indicates that we are being molded more at work than we are at church. Should we take a deeper look at the importance of a godly workplace?
At first, this may seem like a foreign thought. Isn’t work simply to put bread on the table while ministry belongs to the church? However, when you study the life of Jesus, workplace ministry doesn’t seem that unusual at all. In fact, that may have been the plan all along. After all, Jesus bypassed the seminaries and the synagogues when He sought His disciples. He went out in the workplace and found men who were fishing and collecting taxes. Jesus spent His time on earth working along side these disciples. Rarely do we read of Him preaching a sermon inside a building.
What we don’t want to do, however, is to minimize the role of the church. Sunday sermons and church brotherhoods certainly are a vital part of keeping the torch of faith alive. Hebrews 10:25 tells us, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…” And Romans 10:17, reads “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Verses such as these express the importance of participating in an active church life. But one weakness I fear we have, is to believe that evangelizing is only for the church and that church is primarily for converting the lost. Ephesians 4:11-12(NKJV) states, “And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry…”
This verse seems to suggest that church is also designed as a place for the saints to be equipped so they can be an effective witness during the week. Each one of us is called to ministry – not just a handful of us.
While speaking at an AF seminar, Doug Ramer said, “We, as Anabaptist people, tend to measure our success in witnessing by how many people we bring to our Sunday service, However, Sunday is a day of getting inspiration and instruction for the battle that begins Monday morning.”
The words spoken in church sermons prepare us to witness to the broader community and to the coming generation. Church sermons are not often the deciding factor that impacts whether the next generation decides to join. Neither is it the most effective means to draw unbelievers to Christ.
So, what is it? What draws the unbeliever to the church?
It’s our life during the week. It’s the men who are out working in society. It’s the women who are out shopping. It’s the children with innocent smiles and joyful laughter. Yes, it’s the working people who are the face of Christianity to unbelievers. Never minimize the role you have to God’s kingdom even if you are not in some leadership position in the church.
What about our teenagers? What draws them to follow Christ? Of course, there are multiple factors that will influence them to commit to a life of Kingdom service. Church culture, school life, and home environment will all stamp deep impressions in their minds. But I do want to highlight the role that our businessmen may have for the keeping of these young and vulnerable souls.
We have long recognized the value of godly school curriculum. We recognize the importance of youth programs with church oversight. But why do we so easily neglect the portion of their life where our teens spend most of their waking hours? As many of our families move off the farm, and a larger percentage of teenagers no longer work beside their fathers, we may have to place more emphasis on the importance of godly business owners, managers, and supervisors. It’s the businessmen and the co-workers who influence our teenagers and young men, because this is where they spend almost a third of their time.
If you’re a business leader, please take your vocation seriously. If you have teenagers under your care within your place of business, please be aware that your business environment is molding tomorrow’s leaders. Can they grow spiritually spending time on your job sites?
When we send prayers heavenward on behalf of the ministers and teachers in our communities, let us also remember the workplace leaders. They have tremendous influence and opportunity with our youth.
And it’s the workplace where the Kingdom is demonstrated to the broader society.
Let’s demonstrate it well.
Ivan Lee Lapp – Editor, PCBE
PCBExchange, a condensed version of the momthly PCBE (Plain Communities Business Exchange) a business publication providing plain communities across the U.S. with Kingdom focused business teachings and helpful connections. Each month, our objective is to supply you with relevant advertisements and publish helpful business-related articles for the diversified Plain communities which span much of North America. Within our magazine, we aim to provide a wide scope of business resources which we hope will prove to be an asset to you, whether you’re new in business or have been business for years. In a typical month, we print an average of twenty-six articles with a combined word count of 48,000 to 55,000 words. This editorial is almost 1,000 words. Each edition of our glossy, easy -to-read magazine consists of more than 400 pages of stories and advertisements.
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