Christians at Work

Posted on 19 January 2010.

"The Chinese church always encourages Christians to serve God by alienating oneself from the secular world and working full-time in the church," reports Christian Communications Ltd (CCL), before asking, "How can Christians influence the world in this way?"

The church in China today shows much respect for those in leadership positions in the church and commitment to full-time service in the church is commonly held up as an ideal for all believers to strive for. However, as a result, ‘church work' can often be considered as the best use of time, while other activities are viewed as time wasting. Thus those who hear God's call to be a witness for Him in a secular workplace rarely receive much support from their church.

Yet, as CCL continues, "The church needs to encourage believers to serve God in their respective positions. God calls upon us to serve both in church and in different fields. There is no clash between the two. The church shouldn't encourage people to quit their jobs or retire early and only regard full-time ministry as proper service. If all fields in society are reached, or if the hierarchies are made up of Christians, then Christian influence would be great."

Another result of the elevation of full-time ministry is that Christian believers can neglect their ‘secular' work and have a bad reputation with their employers. "Some Christians have two faces - while evangelising, they are enthused and eloquent; at work, they are negligent and lazy. Therefore some bosses dislike Christians and some even refuse to employ them" (CCL). What a sad reflection on our faith!

Our prayer for the church in China is that each believer will gain understanding of the truth of Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men... It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Pray that the leaders in China's churches will have a vision for Christians to serve the Lord in their secular work places and will actively encourage their congregations to be positive witnesses at work.

Pray that those with a specific call to serve God through business, education or other ‘secular' employment would receive good support from their churches and that they too might be recognised as serving the Lord.

Pray for all Christian believers to gain an understanding of God's call for us to serve wholeheartedly and aim for excellence wherever He has placed us.