DA/DT faith in the workplace
A consulting company named Summus recently shared some poll findings:
I keep my spiritual beliefs separate from the office. 41.45%
I pray or meditate before I make any important decision. 29.81%
I do not consider myself a religious or spiritual person 16.72%
I look frequently to spiritual texts for inspiration and guidance on work issues.9.64%
Reliance on spirituality is a core value of our company and we often have a group prayer. 2.38%
While almost 17% stated explicitly that they were not religious or spiritual, the inference is that the remaining 83% quantified in the surve do consider themselves this way. Even if that is not completely correlative, you can infer that a majority believe that their is a spiritual/religious aspect to their personhood.
However, despite that majority of “belief,” it only makes a minority of “impact” in real-world business actions. The greatest percentage seems to take a DA/DT approach to faith in the workplace. Less than 10 percent acknowledges going to their religious texts for guidance, and barely 2% report that that spirituality is pervasive in the corporate culture. The most encouraging statistic (from my pastoral perspective) is that almost 30 percent state that they regularly pray for wisdom.
My analysis isn’t a screed that laments that the workplace isn’t more Jesus-y. My disappointment has more to with interpreting that of that implicit 83%, group is evenly split between those who are totally closeted and those who are “quiet witnesses.” For Christians, faith isn’t faith if it isn’t transformationally lived out (read the book of James for evidence). More than 41 percent say cut-and-dry that faith and work are separate. I’m curious to know how many of that group prayed that God would give them their job. How many thanked God for protecting them from being fired or laid off? It seems like a logical disconnect to make the conscientious decision of people of faith to exclude God from the workplace.
If God directs your paths, then he gave you your job for a reason. and while your job may pay your bills, feed your family, or even afford you luxuries, that is not why God provided you your job. He gave you your work as a way to make him known to others. He gave you your job as a means to bring attention and fame to Jesus. I’m not saying you need to become an the water cooler preacher, or the cheesy guy with the Thompson Chain Reference Bible on the corner of your desk and a WWJD poster on your cubicle wall. I’m just saying you and I Christ-followers have a responsibility to be “real world” believers, living out our faith in explicit ways. Shoving your faith into the closet when you walk through the front doors of work is idolatry.
