We often pray that God would use us to help change the world, yet we simultaneously underestimate the opportunities that await us in our everyday lives.
All of us are in this world, and that means that we have the potential to transform our world one life at a time simply by choosing to be Christians in the course of our everyday routines.
When my husband, Nick, was working in the banking industry, his corporate life was very busy, and he spent much of his time extremely frustrated because he wanted to be “doing more for God.” Then one day, an encounter with a colleague made Nick realize that his workplace was his mission field.
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One of Nick’s coworkers, John, had been a professional athlete and was now one of the most successful salesmen in the firm. However, he had recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend, and his personal life was in shambles. One day, he approached Nick and said, “How do you do it?”
At first, Nick wasn’t sure what John meant because although Nick was also doing well, he was still one of the newer reps. “What do you mean?” Nick asked. “Your life. I mean, you’ve been here six months, and I’ve never heard you say one negative thing about anyone. When you talk about your wife, it’s clear that you actually love and respect her, and I’ve never seen you so much as glance at another woman—you won’t even talk about another woman! At our office parties, you’re never the one drunk or out of control. I’ve never heard you stretch the truth when dealing with a client’s finances, and you are the only one on the team who will tell a client not to do a deal if it’s not in the client’s best interests—and your commissions are still high! How is that? Everyone here loves you and considers you trustworthy, you’re always happy, and you’ve become the go-to guy for anyone here who needs advice. What makes you so different?”
That day, Nick realized just how much of an impact he was making by simply being a Christian in his workplace. He was in the same world as his colleagues but very definitely not of that world and so had the opportunity to impact individual lives with his Christlike example.
