It's important to be open about being a Christian. Hear Jesus' warning to his followers not to be ashamed of him in Mark 8:38.
"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
This is serious! Jesus is implying that people who claim to belong to Jesus will miss out on the kingdom when he comes again if they fail to identify with him in an open and honest way.
But see also, Jesus assumes that being open and honest about belonging to him doesn't come naturally. Being open and honest means effort and sacrifice in the face of possible rejection and even persecution. It's not easy, or Jesus would not have warned his disciples like this.
Further, when Jesus' followers are open and honest about being Christian it makes the Christian message (gospel) more accessible to those who don't yet believe it.
Mark works for a large insurance company. He is open and honest about being a Christian. He's also a very likeable guy and helpful when he can be. A work colleague of his, Laurence worked with Mark for many years. He noticed that Mark was different in a positive way. So when Laurence was at a point in his life where he wanted to explore spiritual things he approached Mark for help. This wouldn't have happened if Mark kept his beliefs to himself.
Finally, when we are open and honest about being a Christian, we have greater incentive to live our lives before our work colleagues in a way that gives glory to God. There's nothing like being labelled a hypocrite to keep us on our toes.
Some tips for Christians to be more open about who they are.
- Put it on your resume.
- Be up front about it when you start a new job. When you meet your new work colleagues and they make an effort to get to know you - this is the time to mention that you're a Christian and like to learn from the Bible.
- If you go to an interesting Christian event like a missionary commissioning or a conference / convention - be enthusiastic and mention what was good about it. This helps to break stereotypes of what Christians do with their time (ie. don't just go to church on Sundays).
- In conversations when people are discussing some issue on which the Bible has an opinion say: "Well as a Christian, I believe that ....."
- Leave a Christian book on your desk.
If you're a Christian, are you open and honest about it before your work colleagues? Pray for boldness and courage to fear Jesus' opinion of you more than the opinion of your work colleagues. Pray for wisdom to do it in a way which is natural and appropriate.
This material is largely the work of Craig Josling, used with permission and our thanks.
*Image – flikr.com/creativecommons David Lofink flickr.com/photos/lofink/
