Faith in the workplace
Tomorrow is Monday, the start of another week for us either in a paid or unpaid work that involve the world. Most of us are Christian and something else – office worker, homemaker, mechanic, teacher, sales personnel and so on. The average Christian spends less than five percent of their waking time at church. Yet we emphasize so much in this five percent and very little in the world of daily work. Christianity is not merely something that one practices within the walls of the church. Rather, living out one¹s faith is a 24/7 matter and that surely includes our life at our workplace since work occupies such a large proportion of our lives. Dwight Moody once said that out of 100 people, 1 will read the bible, but the other 99 will read Christians. Even in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, people around him look at him from the angle of his profession. “Isn't this the carpenter?” They asked in Mark 6:3. Likewise, people around us will question: “Isn’t this the teacher?”, “Isn’t this the Accountant?”; “Isn’t this the lawyer?”.
The question is this: Is our faith transforming our work or is our work changing our faith.
Following Jesus by taking our faith into the workplace is not going to be easy in today pluralistic society. It is however, a ground full of opportunities for us to exercise our faith. I believe there are three simple principles that can help us in our workplace. These three principles are taken from the story of David and Goliath. David’s attitude at work (ie. fighting Goliath) is what we should emulate. Confront with a big task at work, where is our faith? The Israelites’ attitude was “Wow!, so big, cannot fight, sure lose”; whereas David’s attitude was “wow!, SO BIG, CANNOT MISS, SURE WIN”.
The three principles are CONFIDENCE in our faith, COMPETENT at our work and have CHARACTER at our workplace.
1. CONFIDENCE in our faith
How easy it is for us to forget we are Christian whenever we are in a minority position. So many times we choose to bury our light under the bed because at our workplace, we feel so small, we could be the only one who is a believer in our work place. Suddenly our God is not so great anymore. Here in the Church, we sing with the loudest voice, we sing holy holy God, powerful and everlasting and tomorrow these verses mean nothing at all.
How can we display our faith if our confidence in our God waiver?
Let me share with you the story of Coca cola. How a giant cola company made the biggest blunder just because suddenly they lost their confidence in their product.
As you know, the Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest cola maker. There are literally hundred of cola in the world: RC cola, Pepsi Cola, Star Cola, Inca Cola, mecca Cola and even our own Malaysian Sabah Gardinia Cola. Since the 1800 when coca cola first introduced to the world, it has always sit on the number one position. According to one survey, it is a product recogizable by more than 94% of the world population.
Coca Cola nearest rival is of course Pepsi Cola. These two companies have been keen competitor for hundred of years. In the 1980s Pepsi began a series of campaign that portrait it as a choice of the new generation. They used a lot of young and famous people such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears to take a sip at Pepsi and declare to the world it is the cola of their choice. Pepsi- the choice of a new generation became a famous slogan.
This of course has a great impact and put a lot of heat on Coca Cola. Sales of Pepsi shoot up dramatically.
Then Pepsi came out with a very successful and brilliant marketing work - blind sip taste. The randomly selected tester is first blind folded and he is given 2 cups of cola. Taking a sip and savoring the taste, Pepsi is able to show that almost 6 out of every 10 tests, the blind folded tester preferred Pepsi. This was shown repeatedly on the TV. There is no data manipulation, there is no hidden camera, consumers began to doubt on their taste. If in a blind test, I like the taste of Pepsi, why am I buying coke all the time? Coca Cola was even more worry, isn’t us the real thing, isn’t our cola give us that refreshing unbeatable taste that place us as number 1?
Coca cola’s confidence in their product dropped like a bombshell. They have to do something. They began a new formula and do their own secret test. This new formula was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother. After spending about US4 million dollars and thousand of blind tests, they are ready to introduce to the world a new and improved coke. So on April 23rd, 1985, in front of more than two hundred TV and newspaper reporters, the new coke was introduced. The Chairman of the company has a renewed confidence and he declared that “This is the surest thing we have ever done”.
The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were flooding the company's eight hundred number. Most of the callers were shocked and/or outraged, many said that they were considering switching to Pepsi. Within six weeks, the eight hundred number was being jammed by six thousand calls a day. The company also fielded over forty thousand letters, which were all answered and each person got a coupon for the new Coke. Many American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if they would have the final say. Many coke drinkers became outrage that the very coke that they have enjoyed is now not available and this new coke taste awful. People brought trucks load of old coke and stock up their basement. Association of old coke drinkers was formed. When Pepsi heard that the Coca-Cola company was changing its secret formula they said that it was a decision that Pepsi tastes better. Roger Enrico, the president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola wrote a letter to every major newspaper in the U.S. to declare the victory. Later he even wrote a book called “The other guy blinked-How Pepsi won the Cola war”.
On July 10, 1985, eighty seven days after the new coke was introduced, Coke bowed down to the demand and brought back the old coke. They have to because market share continued to drop and consumer protest was everywhere. To save face, they called the old coke classic coke but continue to market the new coke as Coke. However, the new coke never took off and production eventually stopped.
The comeback of old Coke drove stock prices to the highest level. Coke eventually claims back the lost market share, and to today remains as the number 1 cola in the world.
Pepsi is smart to use a blind sip test. In taste tests, drinkers were more likely to respond positively to sweeter drinks, and Pepsi had the advantage over Coke because it is much sweeter. When you sip a little you may prefer that sweet taste but when you drink it as a whole, sometime the sweetness will overcome you. There is nothing new in this, but Coke’s confidence was shaken and they taught us a valuable lesson. So often, we may be put in a position such that we begin to doubt our belief and our confidence in God faded. If our God is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6); and agree with Peter that, “Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God ” (John 6:68 ) – we must go out there and bring this confidence and not to blink when the outside force seem so strong.
I will come back to this principle a little while later. For now let’s turn to Principle No.2.
2. COMPETENT in our work
We can display as much confidence in our faith at our workplace, but it means nothing if our competency at work is lacking. If you ask me to choose between Dentist A who is a Christian but lousy dentist and Dentist B who is a non-Christian but excellent in his dental work, I will advise you to visit Dentist B.
Col 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”. Such should be out attitude when we report to work each day. We are our God’s representative. Ambassador of Christ.
Every job has critical skill requirement. Christians or not, if we are hire to do a job, we better be good at it. Ecclesiastes 9:10 reads “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”. This is also very relevant in today’s competitive environment. That’s why we must always improve and sharpen our skill.
Let’s turn to 1 Samuel Chapter 17 and read the story of David and Goliath. David is a confident boy when he saw Goliath. Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified (1 Sam 17:11). David asked, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26) but his brothers started to turn the issue around and scolded David (V27,28).
Look also at how David displayed his competency when he defeated Goliath. Verses 34-37 tell us that David has been trained and do well in fighting the wild beasts. Fighting this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them (v36). David also added that the Lord protect him likewise (V37). In fact David is so good at what he has been doing that he did not even require the extra gears given to him by Saul (v39). David told Goliath in verse 45, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me.”
Again, I repeat, when the Israelites army saw Goliath, they said “WOW, so big, cannot fight, sure lose!” but David didn’t think so, when he saw Goliath, he said, “WOW, so big, cannot miss, sure win!”
To display our faith in the workplace, we must carry the attitude of David fighting Goliath. Have confidence in our God but also competent at doing our job.
3. CHARACTER at our workplace
Our character at our workplace speaks volume. Again, we can be the best programmer or best accountant at work, but if we cannot be trusted or is known for deception, our faith means nothing to others at our workplace. Integrity at workplace cannot be compromised.
Back to the choice of the Dentist I mentioned earlier, if Dentist B excels in his dental work but one of poor integrity, I will advise you to look for another dentist.
The Bible has plenty of instructions on building Christian characters. We are told not to conform to the standard of this world. David refused to wear Saul’s gear (1 Sam 17:39). No, we do not have to wear the world’s uniform. The Apostle Paul’s Epistle talks about rules for holy living, this is in Colossians. In Ephesians, he talked about be imitator of God. How our characters should be pure, no foolish talk, coarse joking. We are to be honest, love righteousness and justice. Likewise, James and Peter also have something to say about Christian living. Even the old testament has laws and regulation that guide the Israelites. For example, the ten commandments.
This is probably the most difficult part in our workplace as most of us work in a non-Christian organization. When our colleagues start a gossip, do I join in or do I stop them or walk away? Foul language can easily be learned. Greed, inconsiderate may become norm. Are we feeding our new nature?
Conclusion
Having these three simple characteristics in mind can prepare us to exercise our faith at our workplace. If our co-workers witness our confidence in our God, that we are a competent worker who have integrity and full of Christian characters, it is more likely that he will listen to us. Let us remember these three principles as shown to us by David, it will challenge us as well as encourage us to stand up for our faith.
Tomorrow is Monday, the start of another week for us either in a paid or unpaid work that involve the world. Most of us are Christian and something else – office worker, homemaker, mechanic, teacher, sales personnel and so on. The average Christian spends less than five percent of their waking time at church. Yet we emphasize so much in this five percent and very little in the world of daily work. Christianity is not merely something that one practices within the walls of the church. Rather, living out one¹s faith is a 24/7 matter and that surely includes our life at our workplace since work occupies such a large proportion of our lives. Dwight Moody once said that out of 100 people, 1 will read the bible, but the other 99 will read Christians. Even in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, people around him look at him from the angle of his profession. “Isn't this the carpenter?” They asked in Mark 6:3. Likewise, people around us will question: “Isn’t this the teacher?”, “Isn’t this the Accountant?”; “Isn’t this the lawyer?”.
The question is this: Is our faith transforming our work or is our work changing our faith.
Following Jesus by taking our faith into the workplace is not going to be easy in today pluralistic society. It is however, a ground full of opportunities for us to exercise our faith. I believe there are three simple principles that can help us in our workplace. These three principles are taken from the story of David and Goliath. David’s attitude at work (ie. fighting Goliath) is what we should emulate. Confront with a big task at work, where is our faith? The Israelites’ attitude was “Wow!, so big, cannot fight, sure lose”; whereas David’s attitude was “wow!, SO BIG, CANNOT MISS, SURE WIN”.
The three principles are CONFIDENCE in our faith, COMPETENT at our work and have CHARACTER at our workplace.
1. CONFIDENCE in our faith
How easy it is for us to forget we are Christian whenever we are in a minority position. So many times we choose to bury our light under the bed because at our workplace, we feel so small, we could be the only one who is a believer in our work place. Suddenly our God is not so great anymore. Here in the Church, we sing with the loudest voice, we sing holy holy God, powerful and everlasting and tomorrow these verses mean nothing at all.
How can we display our faith if our confidence in our God waiver?
Let me share with you the story of Coca cola. How a giant cola company made the biggest blunder just because suddenly they lost their confidence in their product.
As you know, the Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest cola maker. There are literally hundred of cola in the world: RC cola, Pepsi Cola, Star Cola, Inca Cola, mecca Cola and even our own Malaysian Sabah Gardinia Cola. Since the 1800 when coca cola first introduced to the world, it has always sit on the number one position. According to one survey, it is a product recogizable by more than 94% of the world population.
Coca Cola nearest rival is of course Pepsi Cola. These two companies have been keen competitor for hundred of years. In the 1980s Pepsi began a series of campaign that portrait it as a choice of the new generation. They used a lot of young and famous people such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears to take a sip at Pepsi and declare to the world it is the cola of their choice. Pepsi- the choice of a new generation became a famous slogan.
This of course has a great impact and put a lot of heat on Coca Cola. Sales of Pepsi shoot up dramatically.
Then Pepsi came out with a very successful and brilliant marketing work - blind sip taste. The randomly selected tester is first blind folded and he is given 2 cups of cola. Taking a sip and savoring the taste, Pepsi is able to show that almost 6 out of every 10 tests, the blind folded tester preferred Pepsi. This was shown repeatedly on the TV. There is no data manipulation, there is no hidden camera, consumers began to doubt on their taste. If in a blind test, I like the taste of Pepsi, why am I buying coke all the time? Coca Cola was even more worry, isn’t us the real thing, isn’t our cola give us that refreshing unbeatable taste that place us as number 1?
Coca cola’s confidence in their product dropped like a bombshell. They have to do something. They began a new formula and do their own secret test. This new formula was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother. After spending about US4 million dollars and thousand of blind tests, they are ready to introduce to the world a new and improved coke. So on April 23rd, 1985, in front of more than two hundred TV and newspaper reporters, the new coke was introduced. The Chairman of the company has a renewed confidence and he declared that “This is the surest thing we have ever done”.
The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were flooding the company's eight hundred number. Most of the callers were shocked and/or outraged, many said that they were considering switching to Pepsi. Within six weeks, the eight hundred number was being jammed by six thousand calls a day. The company also fielded over forty thousand letters, which were all answered and each person got a coupon for the new Coke. Many American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if they would have the final say. Many coke drinkers became outrage that the very coke that they have enjoyed is now not available and this new coke taste awful. People brought trucks load of old coke and stock up their basement. Association of old coke drinkers was formed. When Pepsi heard that the Coca-Cola company was changing its secret formula they said that it was a decision that Pepsi tastes better. Roger Enrico, the president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola wrote a letter to every major newspaper in the U.S. to declare the victory. Later he even wrote a book called “The other guy blinked-How Pepsi won the Cola war”.
On July 10, 1985, eighty seven days after the new coke was introduced, Coke bowed down to the demand and brought back the old coke. They have to because market share continued to drop and consumer protest was everywhere. To save face, they called the old coke classic coke but continue to market the new coke as Coke. However, the new coke never took off and production eventually stopped.
The comeback of old Coke drove stock prices to the highest level. Coke eventually claims back the lost market share, and to today remains as the number 1 cola in the world.
Pepsi is smart to use a blind sip test. In taste tests, drinkers were more likely to respond positively to sweeter drinks, and Pepsi had the advantage over Coke because it is much sweeter. When you sip a little you may prefer that sweet taste but when you drink it as a whole, sometime the sweetness will overcome you. There is nothing new in this, but Coke’s confidence was shaken and they taught us a valuable lesson. So often, we may be put in a position such that we begin to doubt our belief and our confidence in God faded. If our God is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6); and agree with Peter that, “Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God ” (John 6:68 ) – we must go out there and bring this confidence and not to blink when the outside force seem so strong.
I will come back to this principle a little while later. For now let’s turn to Principle No.2.
2. COMPETENT in our work
We can display as much confidence in our faith at our workplace, but it means nothing if our competency at work is lacking. If you ask me to choose between Dentist A who is a Christian but lousy dentist and Dentist B who is a non-Christian but excellent in his dental work, I will advise you to visit Dentist B.
Col 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”. Such should be out attitude when we report to work each day. We are our God’s representative. Ambassador of Christ.
Every job has critical skill requirement. Christians or not, if we are hire to do a job, we better be good at it. Ecclesiastes 9:10 reads “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”. This is also very relevant in today’s competitive environment. That’s why we must always improve and sharpen our skill.
Let’s turn to 1 Samuel Chapter 17 and read the story of David and Goliath. David is a confident boy when he saw Goliath. Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified (1 Sam 17:11). David asked, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26) but his brothers started to turn the issue around and scolded David (V27,28).
Look also at how David displayed his competency when he defeated Goliath. Verses 34-37 tell us that David has been trained and do well in fighting the wild beasts. Fighting this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them (v36). David also added that the Lord protect him likewise (V37). In fact David is so good at what he has been doing that he did not even require the extra gears given to him by Saul (v39). David told Goliath in verse 45, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me.”
Again, I repeat, when the Israelites army saw Goliath, they said “WOW, so big, cannot fight, sure lose!” but David didn’t think so, when he saw Goliath, he said, “WOW, so big, cannot miss, sure win!”
To display our faith in the workplace, we must carry the attitude of David fighting Goliath. Have confidence in our God but also competent at doing our job.
3. CHARACTER at our workplace
Our character at our workplace speaks volume. Again, we can be the best programmer or best accountant at work, but if we cannot be trusted or is known for deception, our faith means nothing to others at our workplace. Integrity at workplace cannot be compromised.
Back to the choice of the Dentist I mentioned earlier, if Dentist B excels in his dental work but one of poor integrity, I will advise you to look for another dentist.
The Bible has plenty of instructions on building Christian characters. We are told not to conform to the standard of this world. David refused to wear Saul’s gear (1 Sam 17:39). No, we do not have to wear the world’s uniform. The Apostle Paul’s Epistle talks about rules for holy living, this is in Colossians. In Ephesians, he talked about be imitator of God. How our characters should be pure, no foolish talk, coarse joking. We are to be honest, love righteousness and justice. Likewise, James and Peter also have something to say about Christian living. Even the old testament has laws and regulation that guide the Israelites. For example, the ten commandments.
This is probably the most difficult part in our workplace as most of us work in a non-Christian organization. When our colleagues start a gossip, do I join in or do I stop them or walk away? Foul language can easily be learned. Greed, inconsiderate may become norm. Are we feeding our new nature?
Conclusion
Having these three simple characteristics in mind can prepare us to exercise our faith at our workplace. If our co-workers witness our confidence in our God, that we are a competent worker who have integrity and full of Christian characters, it is more likely that he will listen to us. Let us remember these three principles as shown to us by David, it will challenge us as well as encourage us to stand up for our faith.
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