Be a Witness by the Life You Live
Witnessing at work can be a little tricky. You can’t use your position as a platform for evangelism, but you are usually allowed to answer questions.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15, NIV
Peter assumes that your life and conduct will be unusual enough to inspire curiosity. He assumes that rather than trying to fit in with culture, Christians will be maintaining a strategic gap. Therefore he commends the following strategy:
Be weird.
Answer questions.
These five simple things are just strange enough to get noticed.
1. Get Married and Stay Married.
A beautiful marriage makes a compelling argument for the goodness and wisdom of God. Investing in your wife is a form of “pre-evangelism”. Show your co-workers what it looks like to love your wife as Christ loves the church. Let them know that you wash her car and get it vacuumed every Saturday and never let them hear you grumble about her.
And when your buddies ask you why you can’t get a new snowmobile explain to them that it is because you don’t want your wife to have to work or you want to make sure she’s got a safe vehicle.
Simple little things can attract a lot of attention. A healthy, happy, stable marriage is weird and it will get noticed.
2. Have and Enjoy Babies.
A number of studies have pointed out recently that many millennials are not planning on having children. One article I read recently had the title “10 Brutally Real Reasons Why Millennials Refuse To Have Kids”.
Among the “brutally real” reasons were the following:
- The world is a scary place.
- We’re all dirt poor.
- There are already too many people on the planet.
You want to get noticed? Have and love your kids.
And be sure to raise them well. Bad kids are not a good argument for the goodness and wisdom of God. But good kids are; kids that you love and lead.
3. Live Below Your Means—Tithe/Save/Give.
As several studies have recently indicated, Canadians are no longer a nation of savers. We owe $165 for every $100 that we make. We live in more house than we can afford. We drive more car than we can afford.
Do you want to get noticed?
Learn to live on 75% of your income.
Tithe to your church, save 10% a year for retirement and keep 5% in reserve for spontaneous generosity.
Your friends will ask you questions and when they do, you are on your way to talking about Jesus.
Being weird at work is about living Biblically and accessibly in an increasingly dysfunctional world.
4. Serve Selflessly—in Your Church and in Your Community.
Most of your work colleagues will be spending their weekends on four-wheelers or at the cottage. When they hear that you can’t join them because you are doing your shift at the clothing exchange, that will get noticed.
There are few things more disruptive than regular service. It pretty much ruins your life — if your life is about four-wheeling and cottages. The fact that you do it — faithfully, joyfully, gladly, seems almost incomprehensible to regular people.
They will notice. They might even be concerned. They will certainly ask questions. And when they do you may quickly find yourself talking about Jesus.
5. Worship Faithfully.
Worship is weird all on its own. Some churches try really hard to take the edges off the weirdness but they eventually realize that the crazy is baked in.
It’s weird.
Especially if it looks like you believe it.
If you worship every Sunday, and if you legitimately love it, your friends and co-workers will eventually notice. They’ll be interested, maybe even compelled. They’ll ask you questions and you will very soon find yourself talking about Jesus.
Being weird at work is about living Biblically and accessibly in an increasingly dysfunctional world. If you do that, people will see. They will be curious. They’ll ask questions and when they do, you tell them about Jesus.
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