Christian Business Review 2019: Workplace Practices That Glorify God (Issue 8)

WITNESSING AT WORK
CBR PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
the ins and outs of acquiring a particular target company in
order to diversify and thereby achieve economies of scope.
Senior management presents two proposals regarding a
strategic partner with which to form a long-term alliance.
The strategic planning team discusses recent developments
among external opportunities for co-branding. Top of
everyone’s mind is the question of how to respond to the
threat of archrival competitors.
Conversations are the currency of business activities.
What we talk about the most reveals what is important to us.
However, what we most likely will not hear in many secular
business organizations is a conversation between a Christian
and a coworker regarding personal religious experience. You
likely won’t hear a Christian quoting Scripture to a supplier
on the telephone. Rarely will you hear a faithful believer
giving a Bible study on the topic of how to know God’s will or
defend the authority of Scripture.
Here’s the hitch: Christians feel motivated to verbally
share our religious faith. We understand the mandate. 1 We
get it that we are all called to be salt and light to the world. 2
We are all verbal ambassadors for Christ. We all are called
to represent God in our actions. 3 Then we enter the socalled
“secular” workplace. Suddenly, the context causes us
to pause before we speak openly to others about anything
religious or theological. We wonder whether the silent
witness of our nonverbal actions is doing enough to glorify
God.
This article explores an alternative to the traditional
approaches to personal evangelism that have received
attention over the decades; approaches that, for good
reason, Christians hesitate to deploy at work. The alternative
explored here is one that employs the language of business
to glorify God rather than the language of religion, which
is often recommended in traditional witnessing training
materials. This is in addition to being a silent witness through
nonverbal behaviors.
To accomplish this, the article first will present examples
of current thinking regarding the taboo nature of religious
conversations at work. It will recommend that the context
of work must be considered when feeling the urge to share
religious faith. It will advocate a different approach, namely,
to use the language of business to draw attention to the
character of God. It will then give an example from strategic
management conversations on how this approach may work.
Finally, it will consider some of the benefits and concerns of
this approach.
RELIGION: TABOO
IN WORKPLACE
CONVERSATIONS
In a recent Forbes magazine article online titled “Ten Things
Never, Ever to Say at Work,” Liz Ryan counsels readers
to never talk about their negative opinions of other
employees and managers, their sex life, their unhappiness
with their current job, their relationship dramas, or their
illegal activities. 4 Included in the list is “religious beliefs.”
Religion is the first topic on the list that Dawn McKay gives
regarding what should be avoided at work. She counsels
that “bringing up these topics could make your coworkers
uncomfortable or influence their opinions of you and your
ability to do your job.” 5 Conversations about religion pour
a barrel of unnecessary awkwardness and discomfort into
the room. The reasons she gives for each of the items on
her list: These are personal things. People are sensitive
about religion. She concludes her advice by saying that the
employee should never try to convert a fellow worker.
Jon Hyman categorically agrees when he says, “If you’re
thinking of holding a prayer meeting, conducting spiritual
discussions or rituals, or doing anything else remotely
related to religion at your company, don’t. Religion has no
place at work.” 6 In her book, We Can’t Talk About That at
Work! Mary-Frances Winters lumps religion in with race and
politics as three of the most polarizing topics of workplace
conversations, topics that result in strong emotions – topics
that can be dangerous. 7 If not handled wisely, conversations
on these topics easily become divisive and have an unsavory
impact on productivity, loyalty, employees’ sense of safety
at work, and teamwork. In spite of the academic research
and advocacy works that focus on the issue, religion at work
is still one of the worst things to talk about and is on many
advice lists for the workplace. 8
Ironically, although religion is not generally accepted as
a business conversation topic, more people are thinking
about how to bring their religion to work. Religion is part
of a person’s identity. Expressing that identity might
contribute to job satisfaction. 9 Spirituality at work has
become a popular topic both in academic circles as well as
at the job site. Unfortunately, typical Christian share-yourfaith
approaches depend heavily upon religious language to
help move a conversation toward faith in Christ. And it is the
religious language that is a problem in many organizations.
CHRISTIAN BUSINESS REVIEW Fall 2019
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