P.R.O.F.I.T – A mantra for workplace evangelism

(This is a message that I shared on 15th Oct 2011, to a group of young professionals in Bangalore who are core members of PROFIT Bangalore. PROFIT or PROfessionals Fellowship of International Talents is a mission initiative of GEMS - Gospel Echoing Missionary Society, for professionals. PROFIT is a network of Christians who intentionally and actively use their professional identity to do-the-ACT of passing THE TRUTH in the workplace. To know more about PROFIT visit www.profitconnect.net)

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Hi Friends,

We are here because we love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to pass Him on to our colleagues and friends at our workplaces. It is so good to see that you have gathered here with this purpose and to intercede in prayer for this cause, obeying the words of the Scripture in Ezekiel 22:30, “I looked for a man…… who would….. stand in the  gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it..”

Standing @ the GAP is a column in The CALL, the English magazine of GEMS, which is based on the essence of this verse. When we constructed the magazine and the column, ‘Standing @ the GAP’ was meant to be a column that would create a strong Christian agenda regarding each issue dealt in the column and would motivate people towards prayer and meaningful action. Even as you have gathered corporately to pray for the corporates it would be appropriate to be motivated towards meaningful action at the workplace, realizing that the prayer for wisdom to win souls should be coupled with the act of doing so.

Having said this I would like to remind you the ACT that Jesus commissioned us to do in Mark 16:15,

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

And ALL the world definitely includes the corporates. Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM and Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade proposed the idea of Seven Mind Molders that influence the thoughts & values of any cultures and these are the WORLDs that we need to influence with the Gospel:

A – Arts & Entertainment

B – Business

C – Church / Religion

E – Education

F – Family

G – Government

M – Media

Whichever of the world we are part of, we are called to preach the gospel.

Many know that they are commissioned to proclaim Christ, but do not know how to do it at the corporate. This message is yet another prescription of PROFIT to do-the-ACT of evangelism at the workplace following Peter’s apologia in 1 Peter 3:15,

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (NKJV)

Let us look at the important components of workplace evangelism based on this verse and to make it easy for us to remember the constituents I will propose them all with the use of the word PROFIT as an acronym, but not necessarily in the order of the alphabets of the word.

R – Revere

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (NIV)

The foremost thing in workplace evangelism is not preaching to others but about aligning one’s own life according to God’s will. A PROFITeer needs to revere God in his or her life, as part of the process of sanctification, that is to commit every area of one’s life under the Lordship of Christ, EVERYDAY. A PROFITeer’s proclamation should not be just philosophising but must be the product of practicing God’s presence in his or her own life. It is a prerequisite that a PROFITeer lives in continual commitment of his or her life to Christ every day and every moment.

“I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

“…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

What areas of my life are not under the Lordship of Christ?

P – Preparedness

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (NIV)

This part of the verse talks about the preparedness in the lives of the PROFITeer before engaging in any sorts of meaningful conversation. It is the factor that includes time and training. We are called to be prepared ‘always’ and are always called to be ‘prepared’. Paul exhorts Timothy to, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season…” (2 Timothy 4:2). We are called to witness at all times.

Prior to this Paul teaches Timothy about the importance of training:

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” 1 Timothy 4:13-15 (ESV)

In other words Paul emphasises continual training. As PROFITeers we need to train ourselves by learning the Scriptures, the cultures at the workplace, their worldviews, etc. so that we may be able to present the gospel meaningfully. Make it a point to read books and listen to tapes that could equip you in sharing the gospel, to know about different worldviews, resources that could help in overcoming challenges faced while sharing the gospel, etc.

Another very important portion in preparation is prayer. It is through prayer that we can overcome the challenges that within and without. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”; we need to be in a constant mood & state of prayer, so that we may be able identity the schemes of the devil and overcome them and  to use every opportunity to influence others with the gospel and Biblical values.

T – Testify

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (NIV)

The NIV, KJV, ASV, ERV & many other versions use the word ‘answer’ while some other version of the Bible like NKJV, NLT, ESV, NASB use the word ‘defense’. Though ‘testify’ is not used in any of the versions, I am using it here to explain what these words imply. Peter uses the analogy of a courtroom in these verses. It is like being called to give a defense or answer that is to testify in a court of law. In the sharing of the gospel we are called to do the same. We are sometimes called to play the role of the Witness and sometimes as the Lawyer. But many a times we take the place of the Judge! That is we pass judgments on others and based on those judgments and prejudices we work out the gospel message in our minds and “preach” it to our friends at the workplace.

It only means that we have misunderstood the Gospel message itself.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16, 17)

The basis of our evangelism is love and the gospel message is not to condemn others! We need to come out of the “preaching down” attitude and need to build relationship with people and should care for them. It is easy to preach than to help someone who is in need, which might mean sacrificing our time, money, etc.

But there is also another danger. We might do all the help and never testify or we might testify all the time but never even bother to help the colleague who sits besides us. C.S. Lewis says that “the devil always sends confusion in pairs.” These two are like two ends of the spectrum, that is extremes that are to be avoided. As a Christian  at the workplace we should be balanced.

O – One

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

This is the core of workplace evangelism prescribed by PROFIT. The verse doesn’t say “to some who ask you” or “to those whom you like” or “to those who favour you” or “to those who seem good to you”, but the verse says “to everyone”. It is about not neglecting anyone and also most importantly to value the INDIVIDUAL. Workplace evangelism is not about conducting mass events daily, but about engaging with ONE person with the gospel diligently.

Ravi Zacharias in one of his messages presents the illustration of a leader who is fighting for the cause of a community – writing slogans and giving speeches. One day a man belonging to the same community comes to meet this leader and asks for an appointment to meet him. The leaders says to his secretary that “I am so busy fighting for the cause of his community that no longer have I time for the individual.” Ravi goes on to say that even God has not come to that point yet!

While involving in workplace evangelism never ignore the individual. This also requires that we need to identify areas of struggles in us that do not allow us to build Christ-centred relationship with others. We need to remove all prejudices and biases against others and need to exhibit Christian love towards all.

R – Reason

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

(Here I am meaning ‘Reason’ as the ‘Cause’ for the purpose of this message. Because Reason could also be seen in the perspective of the Power of Reasoning / Rationality which is too vast a subject to deal here.)

What do others ask? The reason for the hope. Many would say, no one asks me the reason for the hope that I have. Why is it so? Is it because people don’t ask questions at the workplace? No. They do ask questions. They ask questions like – Where did you buy this shirt or shoe? How do you get a car or a home loan? Which is the best mall or online store to buy the latest electronic gadgets? What is the reason for your hike or pay cut?

Why isn’t that they don’t ask us the reason for the hope that we have? Is it that the hope that we have is so hopeless or less attractive than the cloth that we wear, that no one is attracted to it?

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:14, 15)

This is a self-introspective question that each one of us need to ask ourselves – What aroma/fragrance that I am spreading and to what in me that am I attracting others to?

I – In

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

I cannot talk about the hope if it is not internalized in my life. The hope in Christ and the truth of the gospel must be internalized. It is not about having all the answers, but about personalizing the answers and the truths of the Scripture. There needs to be a coherence between what I say and what I do. It has to reflect in every decision that I take, the choices that I make and my priorities. That is my life style. We are not called to proclaim or testify something that which is in someone or something, but that which is in us.

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

Not only the logical consistency of the reasons and arguments for the gospel matters, but above all the experiential relevancy.

F – Fear

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

The other versions of the Bible translate this portion of the verse as “with gentleness and respect”. Our sharing and witnessing should not be out of pride or contempt, but out of love. Some take pride at the realization that they are God’s children destined for heaven, while others are doomed. Some others feel that they have ALL the truth considering others as unwise or pagans. Never ever we can see this attitude in Christ’s ministry or in that of the early apostles.

“and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us.” Titus 2:8  (NET)

“and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.” 1 Peter 2:12  (NET)

 

To summarise,

P – Prepare

R – Revere / Reason

O – One

F – Fear

I – In

T – Testify

Let this PROFIT prescription of PROFIT help us to be powerful witnesses for Christ at our workplaces.

"It is not in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our death if we do not." — Peter Taylor Forsyth

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You may would also like to read/see:

1. A mantra for workplace evangelism

2. You are the dynamite_Reasons for workplace evangelism

3. Workshop on Worldviews

4. There is no one else_the irrefutable workplace missionary call

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