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5: Courageous Political Conversations · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at FindingGodatWork.org.
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Our current series is Take a Stand, Faithful
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Political Witness at Work.
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And we've been working through these first few
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episodes looking at the idea of faithfulness.
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What does it mean to be faithful in
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regards to political issues as they come up
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in the workplace?
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And breaking that down into four aspects of
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faithfulness, to be prayerful, thoughtful, gentle, and courageous.
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And today we get to that final one,
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courageous.
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Now when it comes to political issues, it's
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obvious why courage is sometimes required.
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People disagree about political issues.
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And so if you voice a conviction or
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an opinion that is contrary to someone else's,
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you might face consequences for that.
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You might face social consequences where people dislike
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you or don't feel like you're one of
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the good guys because you believe the wrong
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thing.
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You could face more serious consequences depending on
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the nature of your workplace and what HR
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or your higher executives might do if you
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decide to speak up about something.
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So the question is, when is it right
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to speak up about something?
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When is it right to give voice to
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a specific political conviction?
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Is that something that we shouldn't do?
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There are certain workplaces that discourage that.
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I was just this past week in an
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HR training, one of those sort of third
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-party video trainings where it's like, okay, you
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know, watch these videos and answer these quiz
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questions and then you'll be trained for appropriate
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things.
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And one of the examples they gave was,
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hey, contentious social issues, just don't talk about
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them.
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Don't talk about them at the workplace.
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And it's obvious why certain workplaces just want
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to avoid certain kinds of conversations, right?
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If it's not directly related to the work
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at hand, then companies don't want it to
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be a distraction from the things that you
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can share in common in terms of executing
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the mission of the organization.
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So this makes sense.
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But I would posit there are situations where
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it is good for us to speak up
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and where it may require courage for us
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to do so.
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So I want to go to a text
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that's about a very extreme situation and then
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kind of step back from that extreme situation
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and look at maybe less extreme situations that
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we might face in the workplace.
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So the text I'm going to is from
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the teaching of Jesus and the Gospel of
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Matthew.
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This is chapter 10.
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He's giving instructions to his disciples about their
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ministry among their fellow Israelites.
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And this is understood to be controversial, right?
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The announcement of the kingdom of God in
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the name of Jesus that the apostles are
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proclaiming is controversial.
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It's not something that everybody's going to receive.
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And so Jesus wants to prepare them for
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that and say, hey, as you announce the
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kingdom of God, sometimes you might face some
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blowback from that.
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So this is starting in verse 16.
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He says, I am sending you out like
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sheep among wolves.
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Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as
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innocent as doves.
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Be on your guard.
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You will be handed over to the local
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councils and be flogged in the synagogues.
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On my account, you will be brought before
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governors and kings as witnesses to them and
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to the Gentiles.
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But when they arrest you, do not worry
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about what you are to say or how
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to say it.
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At that time, you will be given what
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to say, for it will not be you
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speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking
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through you.
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Okay, so Jesus is speaking about a very
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extreme situation.
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Somebody is commissioned by Jesus to proclaim his
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kingdom.
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They do so, and then they face literal
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political persecution for doing that.
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They are arrested.
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They are on trial.
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They perhaps will be put in prison or
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put to death because of their gospel witness.
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And this is not a theoretical scenario.
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This is a scenario that happens around the
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world today in various places.
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So Jesus is saying in that extreme situation
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that you don't need to be worried about
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what you're going to say because the spirit
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of your father will be speaking through you.
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So this is an incredible word of encouragement
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that he's saying when you're in that really
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extreme situation and you're not sure what to
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say, God himself, the spirit of my father,
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will give you the words to say.
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He will speak through you.
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It won't even be you speaking.
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It will be the spirit speaking.
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I think this is another pattern, as we've
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talked about before, of God's grace being made
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perfect in weakness.
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When we're at a place where we're weak,
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where we may not be able to prepare
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a message because we're exhausted and in pain
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and under persecution, then God gives us what
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we need in that moment.
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That's the promise of this passage.
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Really encouraging promise.
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Now, that's for a really extreme situation.
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The question is, what is the level of
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extremity that we are facing in our workplaces?
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And again, it's different for different ones of
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us as different issues come up, we might
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face different things.
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But I've talked with Christian friends sometimes and
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sometimes they'll deploy that word persecution to describe
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what they're experiencing at work.
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They're like, I don't understand what they mean
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by that.
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And sometimes what they mean is, well, I
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said something and somebody disagreed with me like
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that.
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Okay, okay.
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Disagreement is not persecution.
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Sometimes teasing it out further, it's like, oh,
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I said something and kind of, they wouldn't
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say this, but as I'm understanding it, a
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confrontational and emotionally unintelligent way.
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And then I, you know, HR slapped me
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on the wrist for it.
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Like, okay, that's not persecution, right?
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Like talking about your faith in a way
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that's obnoxious or unwelcome to other people and
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then facing consequences for it from HR or
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from your coworkers.
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That's not persecution.
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That's not what the word persecution means.
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That's not what Jesus was addressing in this
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passage.
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There is a wonderfully insightful political science commentator
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named Knox Thames.
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It's spelled like the River Thames, but I
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think it's pronounced Thames.
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And he has this, this quote about this
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specifically in the United States.
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So this is from back in 2023.
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The context he was speaking into is sometimes
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Christians using that word persecution when there were
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coronavirus restrictions, when churches were not allowed to
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meet for a period of time.
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And so this is what he says.
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This was in a Christianity Today piece.
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I hope Americans will set the term persecution
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aside to describe their own situation so it
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doesn't lose its intensity or veracity.
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The United States is one of the most
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open and liberal countries for freedom of religion
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and belief.
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Persecution is the imprisoning of Christians because they
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are Christians, as Pastor Andrew Brunson was in
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Turkey or converts now are in Iran.
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Persecution is the sudden closing or commando-like
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police raids upon your church, as in the
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former Soviet Union.
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Persecution is bulldozing churches to the ground, as
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today in China and not too long ago
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in Sudan.
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Persecution is the murder of Christians for their
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faith.
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So we don't want this word persecution to
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lose its potency.
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Persecution is when people use political power directly
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against Christians because they are Christians.
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That's not the same thing as facing a
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little bit of blowback in the workplace because
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of a conviction that you express.
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Okay, at the same time, I think what
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Jesus speaks to in the extreme situation, if
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we step it back, can still help us
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in a less extreme situation.
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So again, we want to make sure that
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whatever we're doing, we're doing it prayerfully, thoughtfully,
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and gently.
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So that should take care of the, like,
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persecution is not the same as facing consequences
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for being obnoxious.
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Being obnoxious is not the same as being
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courageous, right?
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We don't have permission to just spout off
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opinions willy-nilly whenever we want toward anyone.
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That's not gentleness.
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That's not being sensitive to the people around
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us.
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At the same time, there may be instances
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where it does make sense for us to
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speak up.
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I mentioned this a little bit in our
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last time, but we have to discern in
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the moment, okay, is this a time to
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speak or to remain silent?
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Is this a time to change the topic
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of conversation and get to a safe zone
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or to press into something that might be
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dicey?
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And that has to be discerned in the
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moment.
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There's no one right answer for that, but
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we do have guidelines in Scripture that can
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help us.
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So for example, in Ephesians 4.29, it
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says, do not let any unwholesome talk come
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out of your mouths, but only what is
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helpful for building others up according to their
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needs that it may benefit those who listen.
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So if you're thinking about speaking up, you
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have to think, well, why am I speaking
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up?
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You don't want to speak up just to
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win, right?
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Like a competitive attitude.
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That's not the point.
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It's not about winning.
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It's not about being in competition with people
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or somehow triumphing in an argument.
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No, that's not the point.
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The point is would speaking up somehow build
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other people up?
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Would speaking up somehow benefit those who listen?
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Even if it requires courage to speak up,
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even if it might not be what people
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would immediately celebrate or immediately agree with.
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And this is not an exhaustive list, but
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I can think of at least two ways
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where it builds other people up to reveal
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a political conviction.
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One is when your political conviction gives people
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a window into a different way of thinking
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about reality.
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And the second is when your political conviction
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gives a voice to a vulnerable group of
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people.
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Okay, so first, when voicing a political conviction
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gives people a window into a different kind
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of reality.
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I'll give a really low stakes example.
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This did not require much courage, right?
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Lowercase C amount of courage in this situation.
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But if you live in certain states, you
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may know the reasons.
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I had a coworker who was going to
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go to Joanne and get some of the
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sales, but she was also thinking through like,
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man, where am I going to go in
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the future?
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And I said, well, could you go to
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Hobby Lobby?
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And she said, like, oh, well, I could,
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but, you know, it's, it's Hobby Lobby.
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And the way she said it, and the
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bigger context, if you don't know, the Green
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family who founded Hobby Lobby and who still
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own it, they're evangelical Christians, and they support
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causes that it would make sense for evangelical
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Christians to support, and they don't support certain
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other progressive causes that certain people might be
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in favor of, including my coworker.
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And so I kind of read between the
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lines like, oh, she doesn't want to go
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to Hobby Lobby because she doesn't have the
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same social and political convictions as the Green
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family.
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This is also the family behind the Museum
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of the Bible.
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There's also a bit of a complexity there
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where it turned out they accidentally bought some
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things that they shouldn't have and then had
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to return them to their original owners.
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So all that to say, there's complexity here,
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right?
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The Green family is not a perfect family.
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But in the moment, right, like my, again,
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this is not every Christian's personal political and
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social conviction, but my personal political and social
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conviction is like, I'm okay with the Green
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family.
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I'm okay with, with shopping at Hobby Lobby.
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I'm grateful they created the Museum of the
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Bible.
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I'm grateful that they support the causes that
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they do.
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Okay.
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That's, now that's my private opinion.
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There are Christians who might disagree with that.
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And that's totally fine.
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But in that moment, I realized, oh, this
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is a, I can kind of like, quote
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unquote, out myself.
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I can reveal this private political conviction, or
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I might not.
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And I decided to go for it because
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I had a lot of trust with this
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friend.
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I had a lot of respect for her.
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I knew she had a lot of respect
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for me.
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And in the moment, it was like prayerful,
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thoughtful, gentle.
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I just said this, this is all I
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said.
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I was like, oh, okay, you know, I'm
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okay with the Green family.
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And then the conversation moved on.
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Now, what is the value of that?
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What is the value of that?
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Ephesians 429, how did that possibly build my
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coworker up or benefit those who listened?
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My hope is that by revealing a different
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political conviction than was their initial assumption, that
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maybe that gives them a little bit of
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a window into a different world.
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Like, oh, Chris is, Chris is a genuine
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guy, right?
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Who we know and who, who cares about
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our work here and, and who cares about
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other people.
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And he's okay with the Green family.
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Huh?
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I wonder why that is.
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It just, it just puts a little bit
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of a disruptive factor on maybe people's stable
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assumptions about reality.
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Like, oh, here's a human being that thinks
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something differently than I do.
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And yet, I also trust them.
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What do I do with that?
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Maybe there's a different world out there to
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be explored.
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So that super low stakes situation did not
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require super much courage.
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A more freighted conversation I had with a
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different coworker.
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We were out to lunch away from the
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office.
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So we were at a restaurant, it was
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just the two of us.
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So outside of work, off the clock, highly
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relational moment, lots of privacy was great.
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And he basically was like, Chris, you're, you're
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Christian.
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And some other Christians I know have like
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some weird political views.
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So like, do you have weird political views?
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Like that was, he didn't phrase it exactly.
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That was basically what he was asking.
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And, and so then now, now this requires
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a higher level of courage, right?
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I need to be more open and more
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vulnerable because I'm being put on the spot.
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And yet also, it's an environment that clearly
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has a lot of room for conversation.
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Again, it's, we're off the clock.
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It's just the two of us.
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It's clearly a personal conversation.
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Like if there was ever an appropriate moment
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to speak a little more explicitly about things
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like this is it.
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And so just as a brief summary, I
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went to two groups of vulnerable people that
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I care about.
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And so I said, Hey, you know, like
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I believe in the life of the unborn,
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and I believe that immigrants really add a
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lot of value to our communities.
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And I care about both of those groups
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of people.
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And that means that I don't really have
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a place to call a political home in
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the United States.
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That was just like one brief thing of
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like trying to explain, you know, like, yes,
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I have views that might not clearly fit
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on the left, but I also have views
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that might not clearly fit on the right.
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So that's where I'm at.
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And it just sort of gave that to
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him.
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Again, with the hope that that's building other
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people up one because it's speaking up for
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the vulnerable, right?
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It's giving a voice to a vulnerable group
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of people or in this case to two
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vulnerable groups of people.
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But my hope is it also was also
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that first thing was also giving my friend
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a window into a different world, a window
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where it's, oh, the right and the left
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can be challenged, because there's there's a deeper
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conviction here about the image of God in
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human beings.
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Okay, so just just a couple examples of
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courage, you may have examples of much higher
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stakes situation where you've had to exercise a
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different kind of courage where you might face
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greater consequences in your workplace.
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But again, I think if we're if we're
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doing this with prayer, with thoughtfulness, with gentleness,
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then when the moment comes that requires courage,
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we're able to exercise courage in a way
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that builds other people up.
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Not in a way that's obnoxious, not in
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a way that's competitive, not in a way
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that's about winning, but in a way that's
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about giving people a window to a different
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kind of world and giving a voice to
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the vulnerable.
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And I think we can receive from Jesus's
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teaching in Matthew chapter 10, even though that
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was for an extreme situation, I think we
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can also receive that moment that the Spirit
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will speak through us, that when you're in
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that moment on the spot, where you maybe
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haven't had time to prepare the most masterful,
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eloquent thing to say, that the Spirit will
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speak through you if you're present in that
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moment in good faith, desiring to love God
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and love others with gentle words of courage,
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the Spirit will empower you to do that
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in your workplace.
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Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the
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most courageous one, that you faced even the
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cross for us.
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Give us a share of your courage by
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the power of your Holy Spirit.
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Help us to be willing to shoulder pain
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and consequences and ill opinions if that's what
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it takes to love other people.
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Prevent us from being obnoxious, prevent us from
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being harsh or lacking thoughtfulness or lacking prayer,
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but give us courage to stand up for
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perhaps unpopular opinions when doing so can really
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help and serve others.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work.
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Thanks for listening.
17:01
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