{"id":2300,"date":"2015-04-20T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/?p=2300"},"modified":"2015-04-20T22:09:45","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T02:09:45","slug":"my-journey-to-workplace-faithfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2015\/04\/my-journey-to-workplace-faithfulness.html","title":{"rendered":"My Journey to Workplace Faithfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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As a layperson in the church, learning how to be faithful in my work\u00a0is something that is close to my heart. I have worked in a lot of contexts and have often struggled to balance how my faith related to my work. Back when I was a first entering the workforce\u00a0the main model of faith at work I used was evangelization and the main method I used was exhibition.<\/p>\n

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I showed my faith by displaying my faith.<\/p>\n

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I wore Christian t-shirts, had a cross around my neck, I read my bible at lunchtime, and I spoke about my faith on just about every occasion I could. This approach was very effective at making sure my faith was seen, but I\u2019m not sure how well is made it known. At this point in my life I felt that it was my responsibility to tell everybody about Jesus. I was told by many teachers and pastors that I was the only Jesus some people might ever see. I feared that if I didn\u2019t speak up, they might go to hell, and it would be my fault.<\/p>\n

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This kind of pressure was intense and ultimately proved to be unsustainable. I felt burnt out and like a failure. I preached the gospel, but nobody responded. I felt that it was my job to save people but nobody was getting saved. I slowly began to see that saving people was Jesus\u2019 work. I could participate in it but I wasn\u2019t in charge of the project.<\/p>\n

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Faith in the workplace is deeper than becoming a human billboard for Jesus.<\/b><\/p>\n

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I realized that I needed to turn to God\u2019s work, instead of my own. I wasn\u2019t responsible for saving people, I had to trust God for that. Unfortunately I began to fall into another pitfall. I started to become fixated on discovering God\u2019s will. I\u00a0believed\u00a0God was already at work in every person\u2019s life, and so my encounters at work were about figuring out how to do exactly what God wanted me to do. I approached every situation as if God\u2019s divine plan was in the\u00a0balance\u00a0and I could either accept his his will or reject it. Every person I worked with was potentially placed in my life for some kind of divine encounter. Every meeting\u00a0involved\u00a0a hidden\u00a0agenda\u00a0of what\u00a0God<\/i>\u00a0wanted to get done. I just had to listen for the Spirit\u2019s prompting. None of this was\u00a0bad,\u00a0<\/i>it just placed an unrealistic expectation on what my work was (and my centrality in God\u2019s plans). In a way I suffered from a sin of egotism. I had assumed that God needed me to do particular things in order for his plans to work smoothly. Eventually, however I came to another realization\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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God\u2019s will is not a to-do list filled with items to check off, but a lifestyle of faithfulness.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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God\u00a0probably\u00a0didn\u2019t care as much about\u00a0who, what, when, and where<\/i>\u00a0I did things. God\u2019s call was more interested in\u00a0how.<\/i>\u00a0Was I faithful to my commitments? Was I honest? Did I respect the dignity of those around me? Did I care for those who were hurting? Was I\u00a0generous\u00a0with my time? Was I\u00a0courageous? Was I forgiving?<\/div>\n
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Our work is a part of our vocation, and as such is an essential part of our sanctification. Being\u00a0faithful\u00a0at work begins with loving God and serving your neighbor. The workplace can become a kind of\u00a0monastery where I\u00a0engage\u00a0in the hard work of becoming who Jesus would be, if Jesus were me.<\/div>\n
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One of the books that really influenced how I developed this perspective was\u00a0Redeeming Administration, by Ann M. Garrido.<\/a>\u00a0In this book Ann shares her own struggles with making administration a holy work. There are 12 core values talked about and for each one Ann talks about her own journey, offers some wisdom from her catholic faith, and shares the life of a saint that demonstrates this value in their own administrative work. \u00a0I printed off the values and posted them on my wall by my computer to help me stay focused on this work as an act of love and ministry.\u00a0You can see the image here.<\/a><\/div>\n
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So what are some\u00a0practical\u00a0ways to be faithful at work?<\/div>\n
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I have found it useful to start each day by\u00a0writing\u00a0down my values along with my tasks as I plan my day. My to-do includes tasks for work as well as attributes I hope to embody. In doing this I often will think of concrete ways that I can embody these attributes. This might result in a phone call to encourage a\u00a0colleague, a reminder to go to Mass between meetings, a mindfulness about how I am working, or any number of other items.<\/div>\n
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At the end of every to-do list I write these words: \u201cBe the person Jesus would be, if Jesus were me.\u201d This is an item I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve been able to check off yet\u2026 maybe today will be the day.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a layperson in the church, learning how to be faithful in my work\u00a0is something that is close to my heart. I have worked in a lot of contexts and have often struggled to balance how my faith related to my work. Back when I was a first entering the workforce\u00a0the main model of faith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1678,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Journey to Workplace Faithfulness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a layperson in the church, learning how to be faithful in my work\u00a0is something that is close to my heart. 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