Greetings,
There
it is. It's the same sarcastic smile you are greeted with every morning. Yuck! The
receptionist, who puts on an air of friendliness for everyone else, makes no
effort to hide her distaste about you. It's no mystery as to why she does this.
She gave you the same air of friendliness until she found about you and the
C-word. That's right, the day she found out you were a Christian everything
changed. Unfortunately it wasn't just her.
Others
began to act funny around you. Then you started getting accused of being
ignorant and judgmental. You weren't consciously judging anyone, but you were
labeled because you are Christian. Suddenly, you became a magnet for
negativity. Why would people intentionally ostracize you? Why would people go
out of their way to tell dirty jokes right in front of you as often as
possible? Could it be because you are Christian? Of course.
It
can be challenging to balance our spiritual persuasions while working in a
secular field. There is no doubt that the easiest thing to do with our
religious convictions is to keep them to ourselves. The reason is because when
we begin to become vocal with our coworkers about what we believe, people can
begin to respond negatively. So what can we do about this?
I
have found myself in several awkward situations at the various jobs I have held
in the past. I don't expect this to change for jobs that I will hold in the
future. Since I tend to be rather straight forward about my relationship with
Jesus, this is something I have simply come to accept. However, I have learned that
there is an edge that I will always have over those that seek to create
problems for me. I have an awesome prayer life!
"For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)
While
I do not discount practical tips and tricks for making peace and keeping
friends, there is a very real spiritual element to every situation. On this
note we must always remember that our battle is not against people, but against
evil spirits in the kingdom of darkness. As a matter of fact, what I have
learned is that there are key evil spirits that oversee the activity occurring
in just about every business. These spirits are usually things like alcoholism,
drug abuse, gossip, revenge, hatred, slander, antichrist, jezebel and so forth.
It's usually very easy to tell what kind of spirits are in operation by simply
having a keen eye and picking up on the obvious. If you know what everyone did
last weekend (without any specific individual telling you their own story) it is pretty easy to conclude that a spirit of
gossip is at work. If there is a strong rebuttal every time the name of Jesus
is brought up, there is probably a spirit of antichrist.
"And
every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come; and even now already is it in the world."
(1 John 4:3)
In
order to circumvent the strategies of the enemy, we must remind ourselves about
who we are in Christ. We must then exert the authority that Jesus has given us.
In Him we have been given power over the power of the enemy. This is relevant
for every setting and situation. It doesn't matter if we are not in the church
building. God intends for us to partner with Him to the end that the works of
the devil are destroyed. As it is written:
"
Behold, I give unto you power to
tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any
means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)
Whenever
I am working a secular job I make sure to bind all of
the evil spirits and activities I have identified (or that the Lord has pointed
out to me). This is not something I do only once on my first day of work. This
is something that I do daily during my morning prayers. I have found that when
I bind the works of darkness and loose the
things of God, my work environment is radically changed in my favor. It
actually positions me for favor with my superiors. Moreover, it breaks the
spiritual resistance to the testimony of Jesus Christ. This means that it is
much easier to engage coworkers, pray with coworkers, and even lead coworkers
to Christ. Now that is what I call the ideal work environment!
"Verily
I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew
18:18)