Latest / Finding God at Work / Episode 13: Emissary

Transcript

Episode 13: Emissary · Finding God at Work

• 0:06
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
• 0:07
  This is Finding God at Work.
• 0:13
  In our current series, Imagining Work, we've been
• 0:16
  asking a question, what story about work am
• 0:19
  I living in?
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  And we want to live in the story
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  about work that God is telling on the
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  pages of the Bible, so we've been looking
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  at key images.
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  We've got our final image in this episode,
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  Emissary.
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  What does it mean for us to be
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  emissaries of Christ in our workplaces?
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  Now emissary is an old-fashioned word.
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  It's basically a synonym for ambassador or messenger,
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  just somebody who's sent by someone else to
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  do something.
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  So I thought I might use a historical
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  example.
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  This is from about a hundred years before
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  the life of Jesus, and it's within China.
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  There was a general who had been expanding
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  his territory that he oversaw, and his name
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  was Ban Chao, and he sent an emissary
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  named Gan Ying to travel all the way
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  to Rome.
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  So Gan Ying set out and moved west,
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  and nobody from that Chinese empire had ever
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  made direct contact with the Roman empire before.
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  So Gan Ying was a trailblazer.
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  He was sent to make a connection that
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  had never been there before between these two
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  empires, these two kingdoms.
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  He made it as far as what was
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  called the Western Sea, which we think means
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  the Mediterranean Sea, but we're not sure.
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  And then he didn't know how to get
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  to Rome from there, so he ended up
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  going back to China.
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  But even though he didn't make it to
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  Rome, that trail that he blazed, he and
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  his companions, helped begin what became known as
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  the Silk Road, the trade between the Chinese
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  empire and the Roman empire.
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  And so silk, which had been invented in
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  China, was traded.
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  Spices were traded.
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  There was all this economic exchange.
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  These two kingdoms that had been totally separate
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  came together because there was this emissary who
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  blazed the trail.
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  I think that's a great image for us
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  to bear in mind when we think about
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  what it means for us to be emissaries
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  of Christ.
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  There's two kingdoms, two empires, that scripture speaks
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  of.
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  When we look at Paul's letter to the
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  Colossians in chapter one, verse 13, he puts
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  it like this, for God has rescued us
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  from the dominion of darkness and brought us
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  into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
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  So, Paul's mapping out two empires, two kingdoms
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  that are opposed to each other.
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  There's the dominion of darkness, and there's the
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  kingdom of the Son God loves.
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  And all of us started out in the
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  dominion of darkness.
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  All of us were citizens of a dominion
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  of darkness.
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  But God sent Christ as an emissary from
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  this other kingdom into our world, into our
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  midst, in order to show us a different
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  way, in order to make contact with this
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  other empire, this other kingdom.
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  And so when we come into contact with
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  Christ, when we put our faith in him,
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  when we begin to follow him, when we're
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  baptized into his name and join his community
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  in the church, we are transferred, we are
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  rescued, we enter into the kingdom of the
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  Son God loves.
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  It's a new identity for us, a new
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  community for us, a new citizenship for us.
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  But in that exchange, being rescued from the
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  dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom
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  of the Son God loves, there's a tension,
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  because the dominion of darkness is the world
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  outside the kingdom of God, people who have
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  not yet come alive to God in Christ,
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  people who are going about their business just
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  as normal, as usual.
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  And so we will interact with those people
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  pretty much every day, depending on our life
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  circumstances and who we have friendships with and
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  who we see at work, we're interacting constantly
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  with other human beings who are still in
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  the dominion of darkness.
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  And because of that difference, that sense that
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  we believe we really have been rescued from
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  something, and we really believe there are other
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  human beings who haven't yet been rescued from
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  that thing, the temptation is for us to
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  be sectarian, for us to be holier than
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  thou, to think, oh, I'm in the kingdom
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  of the Son God loves, but they're still
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  in the dominion of darkness, to make ourselves
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  superior to them.
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  But of course, this is against the logic
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  of the gospel.
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  We ourselves were rescued from the dominion of
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  darkness, not because of anything good we had
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  done, but because of God's grace for us
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  in Jesus Christ.
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  And so when we look at somebody else
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  who's still in the dominion of darkness, we
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  can't feel pride, we can't feel superiority, we
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  recognize ourselves, we're just seeing ourselves in that
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  person.
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  And so a combative or a holier than
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  thou, or even an us-them attitude is
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  really inappropriate when we're interacting with other people
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  who have not yet made that transition into
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  the kingdom of the Son God loves.
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  Rather than making other people feel inferior, it's
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  actually the opposite.
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  It's as we show special honor and special
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  love towards other people because we see them
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  with God's eyes, because we see them as
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  the precious human beings that they are, that
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  we begin to give them a hint of
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  a kingdom that transcends normal pettiness, normal social
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  interactions where people don't treat each other very
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  well.
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  It's as we bring something with us from
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  the kingdom that we're a part of that
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  we give people a hint and invitation that
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  that kingdom could be real and that they
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  could experience it.
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  So when we think about this in the
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  workplace context, I really love how Timothy Keller
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  puts it in his book, Every Good Endeavor.
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  We've had some quotes from this book and
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  other episodes already, but he specifically addresses this
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  temptation to be sectarian in the way we
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  interact with with other coworkers.
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  He says, Christians should not be seen as
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  sectarian.
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  Many Christians fail to identify themselves as Christians
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  to their colleagues.
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  They simply blend in.
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  Others let their faith be known, but speak
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  and act in a way that makes nonbelievers
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  feel subtly or overtly marginalized or disdained.
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  But if we have an integrated and non
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  -dualistic understanding of work, we know that many
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  people who are not believers are, through God's
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  providence and common grace, given the gifts to
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  do excellent work.
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  So we will respect and treat those who
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  believe differently as valued equals in the workplace.
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  And at the same time, we will be
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  unashamed to be identified with Jesus.
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  If a Christian avoids both of these errors,
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  he or she will be striking an unusual
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  and healthy balance.
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  So you kind of see these these two
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  extremes that Timothy Keller is painting.
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  He's saying, on the one hand, we can
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  just blend in, right?
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  It can we can make ourselves look as
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  though we're part of the dominion of darkness.
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  Nobody even knows that we're identified with Jesus.
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  On the other hand, we can be sectarian
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  in the way that we attempt to be
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  identified with Jesus.
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  We can be superior.
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  We can reject other people.
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  But the healthy balance between those two extremes
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  is to really engage the people with us,
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  to love them, to honor them as equals
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  and to be unashamed to be identified with
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  Jesus, to make it known that we're identified
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  with Jesus.
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  And this fits exactly what Jesus taught his
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  disciples.
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  Very famous passage that will be familiar to
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  you comes in the beginning of the Sermon
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  on the Mount, when Jesus speaks of his
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  disciples being light.
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  This is Matthew, chapter five, starting in verse
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  14.
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  Jesus said, you are the light of the
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  world.
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  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
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  Neither do people light a lamp and put
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  it under a bowl.
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  Instead, they put it on its stand and
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  it gives light to everyone in the house.
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  In the same way, let your light shine
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  before others that they may see your good
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  deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
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  So it's really striking what Jesus says here.
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  There's a couple of things that are actually
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  different than what we might think.
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  Jesus doesn't say, try really hard to let
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  your light shine, right?
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  He says, just let your light shine.
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  He doesn't say a city on a hill
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  shouldn't be hidden.
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  He says a city on a hill cannot
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  be hidden.
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  Jesus is saying that when the light of
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  God is inside of you, it is inevitable
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  that that will be visible to other people.
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  It's not something that you have to stir
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  up from within yourself.
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  It's just real.
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  If you are really living with the light
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  of God inside of you, that will be
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  visible to the people around you.
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  They will see your good deeds.
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  And then what's the response?
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  They will see your good deeds and praise
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  your Father in heaven.
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  People will draw a connection.
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  They'll connect the dots between, wow, this human
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  being lives this way.
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  This human being has this kind of light
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  in the way that they interact with other
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  people and the way that they do their
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  work.
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  That must come from somewhere.
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  That must come from some sort of source.
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  It's interesting that Jesus doesn't say, talk to
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  everybody about the light, right?
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  He just says, let your light shine.
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  And people will begin to connect the dots
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  for themselves.
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  Now, that doesn't mean we never talk, right?
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  But it starts from simply, what's our character?
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  What is our way of doing life?
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  What kind of light are we carrying with
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  us into our workplace?
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  And so again, using this metaphor of the
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  kingdoms, of the empires where we've made this
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  transition, we are emissaries of light in the
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  dominion of darkness.
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  We're still in the world.
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  We're still in relationship with all these human
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  beings who have not yet made that transition
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  to the kingdom of the sun God loves.
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  And so we are the emissaries, the representatives,
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  the ambassadors of Christ in those relationships.
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  Now, that may sound really inspiring, but if
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  you're honest with yourself, you may say, I
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  don't know, I kind of feel like a
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  two watt bulb.
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  If I'm supposed to give people a sense
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  of what the kingdom of light is all
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  about, they're going to get a pretty garbled
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  message looking at me.
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  And if you feel that way, that's a
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  sign that you're having genuine humility about your
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  own flaws, your own weaknesses, the way that
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  all of us fail to reflect the glory
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  of God and the way we live our
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  lives.
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  But I want to give a word of
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  encouragement here, and that's that if you think
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  you're a two watt bulb, you are a
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  solar powered two watt bulb.
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  You know, occasionally there are street lights like
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  this where there's actually a little mini solar
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  panel attached to the street light because it's
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  not hooked up to the electrical grid.
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  It actually soaks up light during the day
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  when the sun is out, and then it
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  can be a street light at night when
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  the sun is gone.
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  And that's what it's like for us.
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  We only pass along the light that we
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  have received from God himself.
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  It's not something, again, that depends ultimately on
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  us or our strengths.
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  It depends on God's goodness.
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  When we open up ourselves to God's light
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  and receive it, we are able to be
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  transformed from the inside out.
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  And then that's what we're carrying with us
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  into our interactions with other people.
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  The way that Paul puts it in Ephesians
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  5, 14 is, Awake, O sleeper, rise from
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  the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
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  The only way that we can be emissaries
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  of light is if we let Christ shine
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  on us in the first place.
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  And as we soak up Jesus' light, we
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  will be able to share it naturally with
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  the people around us.
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  We'll be unashamed to be identified with Jesus,
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  as Timothy Keller says.
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  So what does that look like in practical
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  terms?
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  Well, one thing is to speak of Jesus
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  very naturally in your conversations with others.
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  Just an example, I work at a food
• 11:18
  bank.
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  It was started by a Catholic sister, and
• 11:21
  many Christians have been involved over the years,
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  but it's not a specifically Christian or faith
• 11:25
  -based organization currently.
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  And we were doing a training on diversity,
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  equity and inclusion.
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  And people said, hey, what's a stereotype that
• 11:33
  people might have about you?
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  But it doesn't really apply to you.
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  So it's kind of following the model of
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  I am blank, but blank.
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  And so I spoke up and I said,
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  well, I'm a I'm a pretty traditional evangelical
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  Christian, but I'm not a Republican.
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  And, you know, it got a round of
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  laughs, right?
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  And I don't say this in order to
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  make political commentary.
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  I'm not a Democrat either.
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  But just to point out, I was willing
• 11:59
  to say in this company-wide gathering, I'm
• 12:03
  a pretty traditional evangelical Christian, right?
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  I wanted to identify with Jesus in that
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  way.
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  And I was unashamed to do that in
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  that moment.
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  Now, part of that is I've already been
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  there for over a year.
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  I have friendships with a lot of people
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  in that room.
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  People know who I am.
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  They know my character.
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  And so I know I'm not going to
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  scare them off by saying that.
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  At least I hope I didn't scare anyone
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  off by saying that.
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  But for me, that was a natural way
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  to just be identified with Jesus in that
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  moment.
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  So I encourage you, as you have opportunities,
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  don't hesitate to just be yourself as a
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  Christian in your workplace.
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  Somebody asks how your weekend was.
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  You can mention what you did at church,
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  right?
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  Don't expect them to necessarily connect or be
• 12:43
  super curious about your faith right off the
• 12:45
  bat, although it's wonderful if they are.
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  But just be yourself in the way that
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  you speak about Jesus.
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  And then second, as Jesus himself suggests, it's
• 12:54
  even more important that our deeds reflect the
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  light.
• 12:57
  It's as we interact with our co-workers
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  doing our jobs while being trustworthy people in
• 13:02
  relationship with our co-workers that they come
• 13:05
  to see that there's something about us that
• 13:07
  really matters.
• 13:08
  That's really significant.
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  And so for me, that looks like really
• 13:13
  being attentive to what's going on in my
• 13:15
  heart during the workday.
• 13:17
  Am I tempted towards an attitude of complaint?
• 13:19
  Am I tempted to ignore uncomfortable emotions?
• 13:23
  Like if I'm really disappointed or sad about
• 13:25
  something.
• 13:26
  This comes back to what we talked about
• 13:27
  in our first episode, Reconciling With Our Pain
• 13:30
  at Work.
• 13:30
  That we have to let Jesus continue to
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  shine his light on our hearts of our
• 13:35
  whole experience at work so that we're relating
• 13:37
  to other people in healthy ways.
• 13:40
  And then a final way to think about
• 13:42
  how to be an emissary of light in
• 13:44
  your workplace is to be that person that
• 13:47
  others can go to in a time of
• 13:49
  crisis.
• 13:50
  This connects a little bit with what we
• 13:52
  were talking about in terms of being a
• 13:53
  friend, right?
• 13:54
  You want to be that co-worker where
• 13:55
  somebody's having a hard time and they just
• 13:57
  need somebody to talk to, you are a
• 13:59
  safe person to talk to.
• 14:01
  So you can do that by listening well
• 14:02
  to others, by being relationally open to others,
• 14:05
  by being appropriate, vulnerable about your own difficulties
• 14:07
  with other people so that they don't feel
• 14:09
  afraid or judged if they share about their
• 14:11
  difficulties with you.
• 14:13
  And if you become that confidant, that trusted
• 14:16
  friend who people are willing to come to
• 14:18
  in a moment of crisis, that will open
• 14:20
  up opportunities for you to share your faith
• 14:22
  in very natural ways in those conversations.
• 14:26
  And again, it will always be in sync
• 14:27
  with what they already know of your character
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  because of the friendship that you've built already.
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  So you are an emissary of light in
• 14:35
  your workplace.
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  And the way that you do that most
• 14:37
  faithfully is by letting Christ shine on you.
• 14:41
  And as you do that, the opportunities you
• 14:43
  have to be an emissary of light will
• 14:45
  develop naturally and organically in your work relationships.
• 14:49
  You don't have to be afraid.
• 14:50
  Even if you just feel like a two
• 14:51
  -watt bulb, you're a two-watt bulb powered
• 14:53
  by the powerful son of Jesus life himself.
• 15:01
  Lord Jesus, you are the son.
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  You are the light that came into the
• 15:05
  world.
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  And we want to be emissaries of light
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  in our workplaces.
• 15:10
  Show us how to let our light shine
• 15:12
  and to trust that it's true that a
• 15:14
  city on a hill cannot be hidden.
• 15:17
  We pray that people would see our good
• 15:18
  works and praise your Father in heaven.
• 15:22
  Do your work in us as we do
• 15:24
  our work with you.
• 15:30
  Thanks for listening.
• 15:32
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 15:34
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 15:37
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 15:39
  life.
• 15:40
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• 15:42
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• 15:44
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• 15:46
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• 15:52
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