Spirituality In The Workplace:Navigating the workplace being a Christian

I hope that this article will help you first as a Christian and second as anyone experiencing challenges on their jobs. Reading this article can hopefully be informative and helpful in remembering who you are working for, learning and living the rules, and managing your expectations.

Remember who you work for

Do you know who you work for? The Bible helps us with that question. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites received ground rules from God so that He could bless them with riches and spiritual blessings (Exodus 20:7-17). Also, God re-introduces Himself to the Israelites as their deliverer (Exodus 20:1-6) and their God. However, when you read more of the Old Testament, you’ll begin to notice that the Israelites (who were the chosen people of God) would decide to follow their own paths and forgot about their God. It sucked for them because God was clear that they would be cursed if they didn’t follow the rules. When they got into trouble, then they remembered God. God showed His love towards them by still helping them out when the Israelites followed the rules again. But that didn’t last long. It was a cycle of remembering and forgetting.

Why am I talking about the Israelites? Because they show us the results of what happens when you remember who you serve and when you forget who you serve. [Ultimately, we serve God]. There are rules for how we are to serve at work. It is very easy to forget who you work for due to internal or external circumstances. Some examples are lack of prayer life, lack of Bible study, not adhering to our own moral and or ethical codes of conduct, contentment, discontentment, or laziness. Any of these circumstances can mess with your work. [When you remember who you work for, it is easier for you to do your job and not be stressed, frustrated or angry].

Learning and living out the rules

Great! Good information … so what if the people I work with don’t believe what I believe or don’t adhere to the job’s rules and regulations? It doesn’t matter whether people believe what you believe or not. It doesn’t matter whether employees will adhere to the rules and regulations at work or not. There are rules for your job that keep things in order and when those rules are broken by an employee there are repercussions in place for that. Just as you study and read your Bible on how to conduct yourself as a Christian, the same reading and studying apply to the rules and regulations at work. There are codes of conduct and policies. You must take the time to read up, study, and apply those rules at work. I worked many years in law enforcement, and the rules, policies, and laws we had to familiarize ourselves with were just as extensive and detailed as my Bible. It can be overwhelming. The best advice I was given as a young rookie was to start reading up on the things you will encounter the most. For me these were car accidents, domestic disputes, and more car accidents! I also had to be aware and well-versed in my law enforcement policies to make sure I adhered to those rules; so that if I was questioned about my work, I could demonstrate why I made the decisions I made. You may observe an incident or situation at your workplace that did not happen to you directly. Take that as a learning/teachable moment and ask yourself questions how you would have handled that situation. Please read up on it in your workplace policies. Doing so will keep you from being frustrated at situations that occur with you at work. And, who knows? What you learned may help a fellow employee at some point. But if you don’t know, you can’t help yourself or others. That is how you learn and live out the rules.  

Managing your expectations 

There is a good story in the Bible about David. David was promised to be King over Israel when he was a teenager. But he didn’t become King over Israel until he was in his 30’s. Those in between years from the promise to him becoming King was laden with challenges, trials, and tribulation. But the process prepared David to be one of the most memorable and influential Kings in the Bible. I like to call that segment of David’s life his probationary period. Ask yourself, [“Can I hold out that long on a promise?”]

When you read a job description, it can have catchy phrases or unique promises. But the reality may not match your expectations. It doesn’t mean that you can’t get those things, but there are some requirements. For example, as a patrol officer, I had many people come to me when I was working to ask why they had to go patrol as a police officer when they had a college degree in criminal investigations. They wanted to do investigations but didn’t want to go through the process of being a police officer. I would tell them that while many cases can be solved from behind your desk, there is a small percentage that cannot. For that percentage, you must go out and look for information and even question total strangers. In that situation, ANYTHANG can happen. It would help if you experienced being a patrol officer first to hone your skills and keep yourself safe. Some accept that challenge, while others walk away disappointed because it was not what they expected.

You must go into your workplace understanding there are requirements; and if it takes more time than you expected for that pay and or promotion, cool. Suppose it takes less time than you expected for that pay and or promotion, cool. Here’s a helpful tip: If it’s not what you expected and it’s not where you want to be, cool.  Save every nickel and dime possible (either way) until you find something else (this is good advice for any job).

I had a lot of disappointments, times with no joy, being unhappy, and even at some point, fell out of love with my job. {But the deal is that I was expecting those things from my job and the pay; when I should have kept those things in me through our Lord Jesus Christ. } [Here’s a hard truth, your job does not guarantee your joy, love, or happiness. ] It guarantees you a paycheck at the end of the day, week, weeks, or month. [As a Christian, the guarantee you do have is Jesus’ joy, love, and happiness with you.] I challenge you: Write down your understanding of love, joy, and happiness. Then look in a dictionary for those same words. Next, research the Biblical definition of those words. (Hint; throughout the Bible, God, Jesus, and some people SHOW you what it is and talk about it. So, pay attention to that). This exercise will give you a better understanding of what those are. At the end of the day, manage your expectations, bring Jesus with you, and enjoy the journey.

All you need is love

Some of you may be saying, Deacon Mike, this is all good, but what if I fail in this? I want to say that I succeeded in all that I just talked about, but that wouldn’t be true. I didn’t get it all right. But Jesus forgives our failures with love and understanding. He gets you back up and helps you learn from it; [so keep growing!] Don’t settle or stop learning. People who keep learning are growing: some fast, some slow, but they’re growing. People who stop learning stop growing; and seem to die even faster. Be encouraged, keep trying, and keep the faith.

Deacon H. Michael Gaston was a police officer for almost 30 years. And some of the people over him sucked, and some of the people under him sucked, and sometimes he sucked. But he loves people with the same love Jesus showed him.