Impacting your Workplace - Anointed for Mission

Lately, I have been reflecting quite a bit on the Nova Project and what we collectively aim to achieve, particularly through the Workplace Communities. The project seeks, among other things, to help believers “reintegrate work and faith”, and “live with mission and meaning on the job”. What a great mission, and what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to contribute to God’s work!

Like me, you may have bought into the mission but wondering how exactly we are to achieve this. How can each one of us contribute meaningfully to the cause?

For inspiration, I looked to Ed Silvoso, the evangelist and writer popularly known for his teachings on the integration of ministry and the marketplace, encouraging believers to look at their businesses and careers as God-given platforms for ministry and, therefore, a space in which we can be anointed or empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out our faith, modelling excellence and establishing a kingdom culture.

I would suggest, as a starting point for each one of us, that we acknowledge our work and related stewardship responsibility as a blessing (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15) with our businesses and careers providing us a divine opportunity to practically live out our faith in service to others and ultimately to God (Colossians 3:17, 23-24). Acknowledging who we are first (“sons and daughters of God” – 2 Corinthians 6:18), the responsibility we carry in the workplace (“to be the salt and light” – Matthew 5:13-16) and our ultimate purpose (“for the glory of God” – 1 Corinthians 10:31; Matthew 5:16) is the foundation for everything else. The Oxford English dictionary defines an ambassador as “an accredited diplomat sent by a state as its permanent representative in a foreign country”. We are effectively representatives of God’s Kingdom in our workplaces. Without this firmly rooted in our hearts, we are unlikely to be effective in our ambassadorial role.

Once this is established, we must then recognise that this is God’s work and will not be accomplished in our own wisdom and strength (Proverbs 16:3). We must, therefore, seek to be anointed by the Holy Spirit for our work, patiently and consistently seeking God's guidance and empowerment in every situation. Harnessing the power of the Holy Spirit gives us an advantage, divinely facilitating our success and influence for the kingdom. Our own efforts, knowledge, experience and networks can only take us so far. It is God, through our helper the Holy Spirit, that brings all these ingredients together to ensure successand bring promotion (Proverbs 22:29). To quote my pastor, “trying to do God’s work without the anointing/ guidance of the Holy Spirit is like running a restaurant without a kitchen!” It is very unlikely to succeed.

Submitting our will to the Holy Spirit requires humility and acknowledgement of our limitations (Proverbs 27:1). One way our submission is practically demonstrated is through prayer, both individually and collectively. Prayer is a powerful tool in our arsenal that can transform the atmosphere of our workplacesand lead to supernatural breakthroughs (Philippians 4:6-7; Mark 11:24). Prayer on its own, however, is not enough and we must put our faith into action (James 2:26). Therefore, we must be willing to practically live out our faith including obeyingwhatever instructions God gives us, even when they don’t make sense to our natural minds. For instance, He may give a word of knowledge that suggests a course of action contrary to the“usual” or “acceptable” way of doing things. It will take a step of faith to go through with it and it is only in obeying that wewill receive our `breakthrough (2 Samuel 5:17-25).

Finally, as believers we must not shy away from evangelism in the workplace. While there may be many barriers and sensitivities when it comes to sharing our faith in our environment, we cannot abdicate our primary responsibility to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). We need to prayerfully seek for opportunities to share our faith and values with our colleagues in a respectful and non-confrontational manner. Our personal testimonies are a powerful tool to showcase the positive impact our faith has had on our lives, for instance, we can share how our faith helped us to navigate specific challenges. A practical way to increase the likelihood of such opportunities is to be deliberate about building genuine relationships, showing empathy for others,actively participating in workplace initiatives, and proactively offering support to our coworkers where needed. When the opportunity arises to testify, trust God to provide guidance on what to say and how. All we need to do is lift Him up and let Him draw the people to Himself (John 12:32). Stay blessed.