Workplace Evangelism: "Wise" or "Wimpy"?

Workplace evangelism gets a bad rap sometimes. People assume that when you do it, it’s going to be tactless, awkward, and disruptive in some way. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can do good work, make your faith known, talk to your coworkers about their lives, and invite them to meet other Christians – and it can be as natural as becoming friends.

An ambassador of the kingdom of Jesus should be wise and winsome.

She should look for opportunities to make it known that she’s a follower of Jesus, but she doesn’t need to be arrogant or obnoxious about it. She should take advantage of openings in conversations and be willing to defend her faith when necessary, but do so in a way that attracts people rather than repelling them. Wise and winsome is worth pursuing.

Unfortunately, Christians often seem to equate “wisdom” in any given situation with “being quiet.” “Oh, it wouldn’t have been wise for me to speak up there,” we say. Or “Oh, I don’t think letting myself be known as a Christian would have been the wisest course there — too much potential for offense to be taken.” And in time, we find ourselves being “wise” like that in our jobs for a decade — to the point that our coworkers would be shocked to find out we regularly attend church. An innocent bystander might mistake “wise and winsome” for little more than “worried and wimpy”!

They say the better part of courage is wisdom and discretion. That’s true, but so is the reverse. The better part of wisdom and discretion is courage.

If you’re an ambassador of the King, you simply have to let that fact be known. You have to talk about it sometimes.

Yes, it can lead to some awkward moments and weird conversations. Every ambassador deals with awkward moments and weird conversations. When you declare yourself to be a follower of King Jesus, you’re making a declaration about King Jesus’ claims over everybody in the room. Everybody knows that’s what you’re doing, so there’s no getting around it. You’re saying that King Jesus rose from the dead and that He saves sinners – and that nobody else in the universe does that. That’s not exactly cocktail party banter. If your definition of wise and winsome is “only speaks about Jesus when there’s no chance of offending anyone,” you may as well hang it up. You won’t find one of those.

Think about it. God may have deployed you in your particular job with all the potential for awkward conversations precisely because He wants you to handle it. So be wise and winsome, but don’t morph into worried and wimpy.

Speak about the King, even at work. After all, He’s already promised to be with us to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

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Your Turn

Are you ready to face offending others to be an ambassador for Jesus? Are you ready to brave awkward moments? Come join the conversation on our blog! We would love to hear from you about workplace evangelism! ~ Devotionals Daily