If you’re a person of faith, you’ve likely struggled between “blending” your spiritual and work life. On one hand, you want to reflect your values and maintain your witness. But you also want to do it without spouting off religious talk or figurately hitting people over the head with Scripture.
The struggle is real!
Here are a few practices I’ve implemented to blend my spiritual life with both my corporate job and personal consulting business:
1. Be kinder than the prevailing culture you’re in.
Start with small things, like actually saying “hello” or complimenting a person’s outfit. Since this has nothing to do with their quality of work, these are actually believable compliments.
When I took my corporate job, I noticed that our company culture was generally unfriendly. Being kind went a long way in helping me connect with those I worked with or supervised. Camaraderie was huge because I was in a very creative sector: marketing.
Most people do NOT equate “religious folks” with being nice. Just going above and beyond — even in little things — will help you demonstrate and inject some life into the environment and connect more deeply with people.
(NOTE: As soon as you decide to be nice, you will face all sorts of weird things that make you not want to be nice. Hello, devil.)
2. Be shockingly generous.
Extending generosity means you act in a manner completely contrary to the selfish, “me-first” nature of your workplace. I can think of no other trait more reflective of God than generosity. He is generous in love, mercy, patience, kindness … the list goes on. Generosity is a gamechanger.
Thing is in the business world, there’s a saying that “Money talks, bull— walks.” Alas, one of the ways I’ve tried to blend my spiritual and business life is to be generous … with money.
About a year ago, a co-worker had to fly overseas to visit a sick family member. It was an emergency, but he didn’t have the money to go. That afternoon, I drove to an ATM and pulled $500.00, stuffed it in an envelope and gave it to him.
Please understand I’m not bragging. What I am saying is that this one act of generosity befriended this person to me in a way that would have taken years. It was a spiritual act. He’s not a Christian (yet) but we now hang out quite a bit … you know, like normal people. Through this, he has become more aware of my faith.
The amount you give isn’t important as much as the heart behind it. Do it, and you’ll see some amazing doors open for your witness.
3. Socialize, for goodness’ sake.
My co-workers and clients invite me out for drinks or food all the time. Yes, I go. Know what I’ve discovered? That this is where the “real talk” happens. I’ve had people confide in me about their deepest pains while sitting at a bar. Some have shed tears over calamari.
And yes, this happens after they’ve had way more liquid gold than the amounts of grape juice offered at communion, but I’m ok with that. It is what it is. At worst, I get a glimpse of things going on their lives that I can more accurately pray for.
The thing that gets me about this is that there are Christians that would never go to dinner with non-Christians if their lives depended on it.
Well, their eternal lives do depend on it!
4. Mention your faith in passing, but strategically.
Several months ago, I attended a business conference. I struck up a conversation with one of the keynote speakers. He mentioned he was nervous; this was his first time keynoting as a public speaker.
After I gave him a few tips he asked, “Have you done this before?”
I mentioned my public speaking experience from being a pastor — just a normal (but strategic) tidbit of info within the context of a friendly conversation. I found out he had just become a Christian several months earlier. Pretty cool.
Use natural yet thoughtfully placed references to your faith during normal conversation. Build relationship and rapport. Rule of thumb: shine the light instead of bringing the heat.
5. Pray for prophetic business insight that gets results.
The love language of business can be summed up in one word: results.
You and I have an advantage when it comes to getting results: God. When I was in vocational ministry, I learned to “sense” the leading of God in the context of leading worship, preaching, or praying for people.
This works in business, too. My corporate job is an influential position … I am one of the “strategists” for our company (not run by Christians). When I took the job, the company was coming off a period of very low profits.
God gave me insight and wisdom in the form of campaign ideas, hiring decisions, sales copy, projections, and even pricing strategies. Within three years, the company tripled profits. This year was a record high in revenue. My bosses have publicly acknowledged my results in the turnaround. As such, there’s more influence, visibility, and yes — witness.
When a client hires me for consulting work, I ask God to anoint me with strategies unique to that particular person or business, too.
The results have — quite honestly — been divine. 3x profits, 7x profits, 10x profits, people quitting day jobs to do work that really matters, pastors raising money to plant churches, and even one missionary raising $22,000+ for work in a closed nation as a result of working with me.
You might be the answer they’ve been praying for.
You are — by divine decree — a carrier and vehicle of God’s presence and anointing. Thus you are a change agent, even if you don’t want to be.
When you fully embrace this “blend” between the two seemingly disparate worlds of your faith and business, you’ll see some pretty amazing results. And I dare to say your co-workers, clients, and customers will consider you a godsend … because you are.
How have you handled “blending” your spiritual life with your profession? Share your thoughts below.
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