4 Missionary Insights For Workplace Evangelism

When I’m in the United States, people can’t understand my Australian accent. For example, when I go to Starbucks and the staff member asks for my name, he or she cannot understand my pronunciation of “Sam.” (As a result, I resort to using the name “Carlos” whenever I go to Starbucks.) This is one of many explicit signs that, when I’m in the United States, I’m no longer in my home country. I’m a foreigner. I have to speak and act differently from when I’m in Australia.

For you, that might be how it feels to be a Christian in the secular workspace.

At work, we’re no longer at home, where we freely speak and act as a Christian in a Christian household. We’re also not inside a Christian church, where we’re free to speak and act as a Christian in a “sacred” space.

So how can we tell our colleagues about Jesus while we’re at work?

On the one hand, telling our colleagues about Jesus makes so much sense. We spend most of our waking hours at work. Most of our non-Christian contacts come from work. Many days, we spend more time with our colleagues than with our friends and family. The workplace is our best opportunity to tell coworkers, people whom we know and love, about Jesus.

But on the other hand, the workplace isn’t a straightforward place to tell people about Jesus. It’s secular space, unlike the “sacred” spaces of our homes and churches. It’s not a convenient place to tell people about Jesus. Usually we’re rushed and task-focused. It feels wrong to talk about Jesus, as if we’re violating a sacred-secular divide. There are tricky dynamics of power imbalances where talking about Jesus can come across as coercion. That’s why, at work, we talk about the weather but not religion. These are valid concerns.

Workplace evangelism is also tricky because we’re not equipped to do it. When “experts” teach us about evangelism, they tell us to be bold. Simply do it, they say. But usually, their examples of evangelism relate to talking to strangers we never see again: strangers we sit next to on planes or walk up to on college campuses. Or the examples involve acquaintances such as baristas or hairdressers. In all these examples, we have permission to be blunt and direct. That’s the nature of conversations with people where there’s no long-term relationship at stake.

But how do we talk to colleagues? We’ll see them every day for months and years. And we have to work with them! We don’t want to risk a friendship. We don’t want to ruin good work dynamics. Colleagues belong in a different category from strangers on planes, baristas, or hairdressers.

What if we reimagine evangelism as a conversation, where we evangelize like a counselor (with questions) or a chaplain (by building trust and social capital)? I want to reimagine workplace evangelism as trying to evangelize like a missionary. How would closed-country missionaries evangelize if they were placed in my job, in my secular workplace?

How would closed-country missionaries evangelize if they were placed in my job, in my secular workplace?

We evangelize like a missionary because the workplace is, in effect, a de facto “closed country,” where we’re not supposed to talk out loud about Jesus. That’s why we can learn from the missionaries who work in officially closed countries, where they’re also not supposed to talk out loud about Jesus.

Here are some tips I’ve learned from my missionary friends.

Be a Blessing

At work, our primary aim is to be a blessing to our colleagues. Before we even ask, “How can I tell my colleagues about Jesus?” we should ask, “How can I be a blessing?”

I learned this from my missionary friend David, who serves in a closed country. David tells me that he tries to “be Jesus” to those around him by  lovingly looking for ways to serve others. This will involve costly sacrifices of time, effort, and money, but people who are skeptical about Jesus become more curious when they love them like Jesus.

David says that, by blessing others, two things happen. First, natural opportunities for evangelism soon arise. These are accidental by-products of being a servant to those around him. Second, if, after some time, the person doesn’t want to become a Christian, you won’t ruin your relationship with him. That’s because the aim of your relationship was to be a servant and not to convert him. You can still lovingly serve this person, even if he doesn’t want to know about Jesus.

At an Amplify Conference at Wheaton College, I heard Chicago pastor Dave Ferguson, coauthor of BLESS: 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World, tell a story of two teams of missionaries who went to Thailand. The first team’s aim was to bless people in Thailand. The second team’s aim was to convert. After two years, the first team had built up much social capital and promoted much social good. They also saw 48 conversions to the Christian faith. The second team had no social capital or social good. They only saw two conversions.

In the same way, at work, we should turn up excitedly and expectantly seeking to be a blessing to others. We do this, of course, by being good workers, working as if for Jesus himself (Col. 3:23). But we also do this by proactively looking for ways to serve our colleagues.

‘Out’ Christians to Each Other

At work, I like to “out” Christians to each other. Immediately, you’ll think I’m breaking the model of evangelizing as if we’re in a closed country. But hear me out.

It’s lonely being the only Christian in our workplace. We’re like the Old Testament prophet Elijah, who made a brave stand for God at Mount Carmel only to see it all fizzle out with no one converting to following God. Elijah complains to God, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (1 Kings 19:14, NIV).

But God replies that he has preserved 7,000 other devoted followers in Israel (v. 18). It’s just that Elijah hasn’t met them yet!

Maybe it’s the same for us at work. Other Christians could be in our workplace. But we don’t know them. And they don’t know us.

That’s why, when I work as a hospital doctor, I “out” other Christian workers to each other. If the surgeon is a Christian, I say, “Kara, did you know that Charles, the nurse here, is also a Christian?” And I introduce them to each other. I blurt out Christian get-to-know-you facts, such as what church they go to and which denomination they belong to. Every time I do this, the Christian workers are excited and relieved to meet another Christian in the workplace.

Bit by bit, I build up a network of Christians. It’s pleasant to bump into each other in the corridors. Soon, the workplace is no longer a lonely space. It also begins to feel more “sacred” because it’s “enchanted” by other Christians.

If we’re comfortable, we can also have low-key faith-based conversations with each other, aloud, in the presence of nonbelieving colleagues. We can ask simple questions about church on the weekend. Or about the book of the Bible we’re reading. This way, the other colleagues can eavesdrop on what a Christian life looks and sounds like.

Simple conversations shift the plausibility structures of our nonbelieving colleagues. If our colleagues only have non-Christian contacts, then the Christian story is implausible. It’s impossible to believe, because no one else they know believes this story. But if our colleagues have more and more Christian contacts at work, the Christian story becomes more plausible. It’s possible to believe that Jesus really is who he claims to be because other people at work, who are known and trusted, also believe in the Jesus story.

If our colleagues have more and more Christian contacts at work, the Christian story becomes more plausible.

I remember Craig Springer, former executive director at Alpha USA, telling me that Barna’s research found that even if the average non-Christians had a problem with the idea of “Christianity,” at the same time, they had no problem with the Christian person they knew. In fact, and surprisingly, they had a high view of this Christian person.

But many non-Christians don’t know any Christians. At work, if I can “out” enough Christians, not only to each other but also to non-Christians, then the non-Christians will know a Christian person and also have a high view of their Christian story.

Creative Access to the Sacred

Missionaries in closed countries cannot “proclaim” the gospel in the same way we do in churches. Instead, they look for inventive ways to have creative access to the sacred.

One example is to create third spaces where Christians can invite non-Christian colleagues to hear stories and talks that can lead to spiritual conversations.

At City Bible Forum, we have a group called Headstart, designed for people in their first five years of work. Such workers are typically aged 25 to 30. They meet at a central location in the business district after work for 60 to 90 minutes. It functions like a “staff common room” where this cohort can have informal peer-to-peer debriefings about work. It’s also a space where believers and nonbelievers can socialize. There’s a formal talk and discussion on wisdom topics such as how to handle ambition, failure, and office romances, but with an assumed Christian worldview.

Another example is having Christian representation within the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in our workplaces. In the same way that people of other marginalized groups can have their voices heard within DEI, Christians can speak about what it’s like to be a “person of faith.” I’ve now spoken on several public panels, in front of large audiences, run by DEI groups on the experience of being a Christian in the workplace.

Additionally, workplaces typically allow Christian groups to hold public celebrations for Easter and Christmas. This can be done as a private Christian in-house group or as a public function under DEI. In either case, Christians can invite their colleagues to enjoy food and, sometimes, a winsome public talk about the difference that Jesus makes.

At City Bible Forum, we have a group specifically for men in finance. They meet before work for breakfast. It’s an opportunity to network, but they’ll also hear wise advice from a respected leader in the finance sector. This person will share about the difference that Jesus has made in his up-and-down journey through life, family, work, finances, and health.

Truth, Love, and Power

I like to joke that I’m a great basketball player—except that I can’t dribble, pass, or shoot. Of course, the joke is that you do need all three skills to be a basketball player.

When it comes to evangelism, there are also three parts—truth, love, and power.

My missionary friend Phil alerted me to a Chinese-language article by Agnes Liu, who observes that, in Asia, it can take eight years on average, from the time someone first hears the gospel, for him or her to become a Christian. But the time frames are different depending on how people hear and experience the good news about Jesus.

If someone mainly hears the truth about Jesus, it takes years before she follows Jesus. If someone mainly experiences the love of Jesus, from Christian friends, it might take months before she follows Jesus. But if someone experiences the power of Jesus through a dream, miracle, or answered prayer, it might take only days before she follows Jesus.

Different contexts will have different time frames. But what we can learn is that we have more than one way of proclaiming Jesus to our friends in the workplace.

For example, if we offer to read the Bible or tell stories from the Bible, our colleague will hear the truth about Jesus. But we can also introduce our colleague to our Christian friends, and he’ll experience the love of Jesus. We can also offer to pray for our colleague, and he might experience the power of Jesus.

We see something similar in Acts 16. Lydia hears the truth and believes (v. 14). The jailer experiences the love of Paul and Silas, and asks what he must do to be saved (vv. 27–34). And the servant girl experiences the power of Jesus (vv. 16–18). In each case, God supernaturally intervenes. But, in each case, Paul and Silas also faithfully play their parts in being the natural means of Jesus’s truth, love, and power.

We can do the same at work. We need to pray that God supernaturally intervenes to open our colleagues’ hearts, minds, and imaginations to Jesus. But at the same time, we need to play our finite and limited parts—we’re jars of clay (2 Cor. 4:7)—to show the truth, love, and power of Jesus.

Work for a Better Shot

The hockey player Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” There’s also an opposite saying in sports: “Don’t force it.” Maybe we feel a similar tension in our workplaces. Should I or shouldn’t I talk about Jesus with my colleagues?

We need to pray that God supernaturally intervenes to open our colleagues’ hearts, minds, and imaginations to Jesus.

But there’s also a third saying: “Work for a better shot.”

If we see ourselves not only as missionaries in the workplace but also as missionaries in a closed country, we can look for creative access to the sacred. We can use the skills that missionaries use to provide opportunities for natural conversations about Jesus.

We’ll no longer be frustrated that we never made the most of our unique, God-given opportunities to talk about Jesus. Instead, we’ll be excited, equipped, and empowered to talk about Jesus in contextually sensitive and culturally appropriate ways . . . like a missionary!

May you go forward with the truth, love, and power of Jesus.