Not all Christians will have a full-time ministry job or will be serving God in the church premises full time. And due to the fact that we won’t always be in church or with other believers most of the time, then in our offices, we are bound to meet people who aren’t Christians, or people who are just neutral about God as the person next door.

While some people are of the opinion that they can only be the best they can possibly be only when they are in the church or amidst other believers, but that isn’t entirely true as we get to spend more time at work than we spend even with our biological families.

In doubt? Then let’s consider the time-frame we spend at work versus the time we spend with members of our immediate family.

Let’s start from the first workday of the week which is Monday, using my home as an example.

We wake up by 5:30am and have family devotion till 6am, after which some go back to rest for additional time and others start preparing for the day ahead. I leave home at about 7:20am in the morning because my official resumption is 9:00am. From 9:00am till 5:30pm in the evening, I have a new set of family at work and after work hours, I start a journey of about one and a half hours' journey back home. 

I get home around 6:30 or 7:00 in the night, and the next thing after greeting my Lord and my parent is food. I finish eating and then just probably read, attend one online meeting or the other or go out for a prayer walk. By time I am through with any of those things I decide to do, it is time for corporate night prayers after which everyone retires for the night, and this same schedule continues the next day, and the day after it, until the week ends.

On Saturdays, I try to indulge in a little more rest which is subject to if I am going for a program or going for a function which is so rare, I wash my clothes, have a personal in-depth bible study and just try to stay off the media until much later in the day. Sunday comes, we go to church and there are days my parents might not come back home until much later in the evening. 

We have a nice time teasing each other or just me disturbing my dad, sort out clothes for the week, and in few hours time, the 7:20 am cycle continues the following day which is Monday. While I might only spend a few hours every week just chit-chatting with my family (although Covid-19 made sure we had enough time to chit-chat), I spend most of my active waking hours with some set of people.

While your weekly schedule might be similar to mine or totally different, it still holds true that we all spend more time at work than we do in church, at home or any other place for that matter.

So, how do we shine our light in this market place?

1.     

     Know What Your Values Are

While some offices are different from others, but knowing who you are as a person and what your value system is  before getting into the office environment will help you stay away from  going in the way that you know isn’t pleasing God. 

Knowing what you hold dear would serve as a bedrock for you to make sure you do not do anything which is contrary to your faith.

The office environment is a very funny environment, and if you don't determine what your values are before time, you might find yourself doing things you never thought you could ever do, one of which is engaging in an extra-marital affair with one of the married men around.

 

2.     Be Careful Of Office Gossip

You can’t shine the light of Christ within you in your office and keep gossiping about other members of staff. You can’t always be found in the company of those who are always back-biting someone else.

One golden rule to be able to know if you’re gossiping or not is to ask yourself this question

‘If I am called to repeat every word I am saying at the moment, will I be able to repeat every single word, or will I feel like the ground should burst open so I can enter into it?

While some colleagues would be seemingly no-so-good, but determine not to be a talebearer.

You can’t be found gossiping and want to proclaim God at the same time.

Being careful of office gossip is not the same as being a snub, just be careful of all the words you listen to and that which comes out of your mouth.

 

3.     Be The Best You Can Be

Oh!

This point cannot be over emphasized.

Our life as Christians is not only in the fluency of our tongues or in the number of hours we can spend studying the word or praying. Our superiors/colleagues at work won’t get to see all of that, but they see how we do our job, they see how we strive to make sure we are giving our best to the task being assigned to us.

There are people who will be drawn to our God and His kingdom just on the wings of how we do our job and how well we do them.

If you’re one of those who feel a job is just what I have to do in order to earn a monthly income, then it is high time you started changing that mindset, our job serve as a tool in God’s hands to bring glory to His name. There are certain people who won’t go to church, but they can come to the Light based on our conduct and the way we approach things in the office.

There are times when our actions speak louder than any word  that could ever come out of our mouth.

It isn’t enough to be known just as the lady who is on natural hair in your department or the man who doesn’t involve himself in lewd jokes with other members of staff, be that SU who is also talked about on how efficient she is with the way she uses relevant software and tools, be that SU brother who they know can pray because of the times he had to lead prayers during meetings, but take it a step further by being known for how you use your capacities to the best of your knowledge to also promote the company you’re working with.

 

 Have A Mind Of An Ambassador

An ambassador is someone sent on a mission from a particular place to another location. While this person might be living in that land, he is not entirely a citizen of that place and this is shown by the way he conducts himself throughout his stay as he is aware that anything he does goes a long way to prove to the citizens of the land how things are done where he comes from.

Whether we sleep, eat or work, we are to do all to the glory of the Father and of his son; Christ.

This is one heart I am consistently praying to God to have while on this side of eternity, the heart that although I am here on planet heart, but I do not fully belong to this realm.

You might be working for XYZ Group of companies, but you are only there as an ambassador of the kingdom you represent and everything you do there must reflect that fact.

From the way your office space is orderly, to how you treat other members of staff who are lower on the corporate ladder to you, to how you meet with deadlines, to how you close great sales for your company (if yours is a target-based company), to the excellence with which you do your job.

I am pretty sure some of the above listed can be a very daunting task and can be very overwhelming, as your corporate life isn’t the only dimension of you that exist, some people have to juggle the ball of being a father/mother, head of the ushering department in church, being a mentor to teens amidst other things. But in all, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

On days when your heart is overwhelmed with different responsibilities, ask the Lord to lead you to a rock that is higher than you.

Superiors and colleagues should not be able to find fault in the things we do, while some would never give us thumbs up even if we walk with our heads, but we should make sure we are blameless before God. Then and only then can they be drawn to us and we then can get to witness to them the power which works on the inside of us and who makes all the seemingly good things we do possible.

We might find ourselves in the corporate world for a life-time or only for a season of life until our master calls us on to other assignments, either way, we are called to conduct ourselves in ways that befit a child of the Kingdom.`

Related: 7 Lessons I Have Learnt In The Corporate World