“If I believe God is the source of peace and joy, why wouldn’t I bring my faith to a stressful place like work.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

The world often tries to say faith has no place in the public square. One Way Ministries’ Workplace Network aims to change that mindset. They recently streamed a lunch-hour event as part of their “Taking our Faith to Work” series.

“When you take your faith to work, you follow the commandment we got from Jesus,” says Johann van der Merwe, who co-leads the Workplace Network. “The number one commandment is that you love God, but you also love your neighbour, and your colleague is your neighbour.”

Yet, the group’s aim is not that Christians would simply bring a Bible to work and invite their colleagues to church. van der Merwe explains that they want to see Ottawa full of believers who are connected together and inspired to show love to their colleagues.

“Taking your faith to work has so many different meanings,” he says, adding that it can be simply living out Christian virtues at work. “When you are a kind and serving person at work, or you’re full of joy, people are going to ask you, ‘Why are you so happy?’’’

“This is the power of God that we, as Christian’s, bring into our workplace, when we lead with grace by faith.”

van der Merwe says they challenge event participants to be available to support and encourage colleagues, and to offer to pray for them when they have a need. The difference this makes in a workplace is dramatic, says James Bruyn, director of the Faith at Work Network.

Pointing to a recent poll, he says 44 percent of employees say they experience a lot of daily stress at work. “If I believe God is real and is the source of peace and joy, why wouldn’t I bring my faith with me to a stressful place like work. The Christian faith is so much more than just a ticket to heaven. As men and women of faith, we have the privilege of providing a canopy of grace to protect our teams from the stress and fear that is rampant around us.”

Bruyn says at one company a colleague told him, “There has been a different atmosphere on our floor ever since we started meeting for prayer and Bible study.”

Another company he worked for had a strong team dynamic and laid-back culture, until a new CEO took the helm. Bruyn says the CEO made the company very successful, bur ruled by fear.

“One could feel the fear walking into the building. Yet, in the department I was leading, we continued to laugh and people continued to enjoy their work—this is the power of God that we, as Christian’s, bring into our workplace, when we lead with grace by faith.”

“Working takes up eight hours of most of our days. That’s a huge percentage of your day,” van der Merwe says. He adds that if Christians catch the revelation of living out their faith 24/7, it would powerfully change the city. “When we are full of Christ, [co-workers] pick that up. It spreads the light of Christ. It’s that fragrance of Christ that 2 Corinthians 2 says we share with others.”