Partnering with God at Work in a Culture that Disdains Him
If you are a Christ-follower, you know He wants your whole life to be in communion with Him, not just a few hours of your Sunday. But if you've tried to make that work on any random Tuesday - in other words, for most of us, that means at your workplace - then you've certainly run into opposition. Whether coming from individuals or institutionalized into corporate structures - you've almost certainly been told that God and business don't mix, and that God doesn't have any place whatsoever in your worklife.
It's no secret, culture is becoming increasingly more hostile to God. My friend Jasmine and I just chatted about this very topic in a recent video. Then I just heard it again a few days ago from a friend, who went to a local business networking/service organization to discover they recently removed their opening invocation (i.e. prayer) from their meetings.
I have no problem with that, actually. It's a business meeting, not a church service. So if the opening prayer was just an empty tradition or some sort of show, but not a sincere heartfelt prayer and conversation with God to welcome Him into the meeting, then they're definitely better off not even pretending. No issue. My problem is with their rationale. As they proudly explained to my friend, eliminating prayer "made it so much more inclusive now."
Now that's just nonsense. It's the twisted ideology of a culture that disdains God. The truth is that Jesus is the most welcoming being in the whole universe. Jesus doesn't force Himself on anyone. Likewise , He welcomes absolutely anyone who will come to Him. So if someone's “inclusivity” actually excludes Jesus … it’s a total counterfeit. Typically, the real problem isn’t Jesus' willingness to welcome them. It’s their unwillingness to submit to His leading. (If you want to be part of His Kingdom, you have to rightly acknowledge and obey the King.) Essentially, they want to be their own god. Make their own plan, not follow His. That's fine, He gives each of us the free will to live our lives however we want. But He's not ceding His throne. He's still Lord over all. Plenty of people don't like that - but one day, everyone - absolutely everyone - will be forced to acknowledge that. (Personally, I'd much rather do so now, with eager anticipation, than later, with fear and trembling!!)
Anyways, I just had an even more personal reminder of this cultural disdain for the Lord as someone pushed back on my AWAIH content - telling me that my faith-based postings did not belong on LinkedIn. Which is a bit funny, really, Because that's my entire call. Ultimately, probably my life's work. When I first started on this entrepreneurial journey of Yakabod, I thought it was primarily about building a company. Of course I wanted to honor God through that, be a blessing to employees, customers, and the community, and generally do good stuff. While we've done much of that ... I've come to understand that wasn't really God's primary purpose for the company. Or at least my role in it. No, it's become increasingly apparent that He's given me this role in this company in this season to teach me how to partner with Him to fully integrate my faith with my work. Not just at a personal level, but at a corporate level. And then to call and equip other Christ-following business leaders in their own journey to do the same. In other words, it's far more about His Kingdom, conveniently expressed through a business, than about the business.
You might think that means I’m opening every meeting in prayer or something. Well, maybe I'm silently praying, just me and the Lord, before I walk into a meeting. Sometimes. If I'm thinking straight. But I’m not forcing ANYTHING on our team. It’s very rare that I speak directly to them about spiritual matters, even rarer that I bring Jesus specifically into the conversation. We’re building a business - not a church. I talk to them about the business. I'm not hiding my own faith or ashamed of my own relationship with the Lord or disguising the way that influences the way I lead or the way employees experience the company. Clearly, I'm perfectly comfortable to speak boldly and openly when the Lord calls me to speak or the situation calls for it. For example, sometimes an employee will pull me aside to speak about matters of faith in private, which of course I will, since they initiated it. Most often, though - the vast majority of the time, really - the Lord has not called me to speak as much as to create an experience in the workplace that is increasingly more like His Kingdom and increasingly less like the wrong one. In that way, our employees experience His presence and His gracious ways, living under that covering, experiencing the full contrast with the ways of the world - and that’s far more powerful than me simply talking about Him.
Accordingly, I’m not writing my AWAIH content for our employees. My audience is Christ-following business leaders. If that's not you, feel free to ignore me. The stuff I post on LinkedIn, or write in my book, or share at keynote presentations - that's all designed to help other Christ-following business leaders live out their faith at work. Not just at a personal level, but at a corporate/system/structure level. That's my call. In a culture that's becoming more and more hostile to the things of God, offering counterfeits rather than the real experience of His Kingdom, it’s all that more important that His children are unashamed to live their WHOLE lives in relationship with Him. Including their time at work.
It's clear the overarching intentions behind this, of course. Culture is trying to cancel God. But that's just foolishness. God can't be cancelled. It simply can't be done. A lying media can't do it. Godless big tech can't do it. Corrupt governments can't do it. Ultra-rich global elites or your favorite conspirator can't do it. Some little organization in our little town shutting down prayer in the name of "inclusiveness" can't do it. And telling me to keep God out of my LinkedIn content certainly won't do it. You can't cancel God. Like anyone who truly loves Jesus, you simply can't shame me into silence either.
Now if things continue in the current direction, you won't need to hear about Him indirectly from me much longer anyways. I believe God Himself will soon intervene again in the affairs of men with a definitive display of His awesome mighty power. A "Red Sea" moment. A "Sodom and Gomorrah" moment. An "Elijah and the prophets of baal" moment. Proving once again that He rules over the affairs of men, and there is simply no legitimate, rational way to deny His existence or His authority. (I'll bet you'll see a whole lot more LinkedIn content about God when that happens ... :)
Until then, I'll continue to play my little role in God's grand plan to see His Kingdom to come and will to be done right here on earth, in our workplaces, in my community, as in Heaven. Still not sure what that means? Or how to get started in your own workplace? Grab a copy of AWAIH and let it inspire your conversations with the Lord on how to undertake your own journey. Even easier - simply follow along as we kick of a new video series "Partnering With God At Work ... in a Culture That Disdains Him"