Talking about God at Work

At work this week I got into a conversation with quite a few of my coworkers about religion. I'm not sure how the conversation got started, but my coworkers were discussing praise dancers. I'm not quite sure what to think of the phenomenon myself, but I believe dance is an acceptable form of worship and that in the church we are to do everything "decently and in order." Since the majority of my coworkers thought it was odd and didn't like it, I thought I'd share what I don't like about some churches.

One person's version of church was waking up on Sunday morning, watching Joel Osteen speak on the television for a half hour, and falling back to sleep. I said, "What I don't like about Joel Osteen is that he doesn't get to the gospel. He doesn't get to the central message of the Bible. I get that we need to live contently with our life situation, but anybody can do that."

My coworker didn't quite follow what I was saying, so I asked her, "You watch Joel. Answer me this: What must I do to be saved?" She's grown up with enough of a Christian influence to say something about praying a prayer, and a "Catholic" coworker said, "Yeah, and they say it doesn't matter what you do so long as you pray that prayer." In general, the people didn't seem to like that idea, which I would agree is wrong, but probably for different reasons than they would.

I'm currently listening to an audio book from Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears that touches on this. I'm praying for more opportunities to talk about the gospel with my coworkers, and I hope to bring up Romans 10:9 in that conversation.

Being a Christian means that you “confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9). Ask yourself, “Am I trusting the truth of the gospel?”

… Many people emphasize the moment when you prayed to accept Jesus. Some go so far as to declare that if you can’t remember the moment you prayed, then you cannot even be a Christian. But if you look in the Bible, that kind of statement is never made. Conversely, 1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” It is real belief and not a magical prayer that saves a Christian. In fact, many who grew up in Christian homes never remember a time when they prayed a prayer or made a decision for Jesus, but they lovingly confess Jesus all the same.

Vintage Church, pg. 31