It’s difficult to know what place faith should have in our work life. Do we talk about it? Do we keep our faith to ourselves, hoping or praying that it might guide the work we do? Do we use spiritual practices to ground our decision making, or look at religious texts to inspire our efforts? Do we pray for, even proselytize to, our co-workers? Each of these is a complicated question that defies easy answers. Perhaps all we can say with certainty is that faith and work are complicated companions.
There are many reasons for this complexity, but the main reasons may be different from those we initially imagine. We tend to think of faith and work as a complicated topic because we live in an increasingly secular culture where it is impolite to speak or think about faith in the workplace.
Fluidity
But the complexity of faith and work is not the product of widespread secularism. It’s hard to know what to make of faith and work because we live in a culture of constant fluidity and acceleration, where there is constant change to the work we do and the people we work with.
Two trends are introducing considerable flux into today’s workplace: mass quitting, and mass layoffs. Even in 2023, the Great Resignation, or the wave of mass workplace quitting that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown remarkable resiliency. Despite the economy flashing some recession warning signs, an estimated 4 million workers continue to quit their jobs each month. This monthly resignation rate is nearly 33 percent higher than it was before COVID-19.
And as millions voluntarily quit their jobs each month, many are involuntarily leaving: 1.4 million Americans are being laid off each month, especially in the volatile technology sector. Layoffs at tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have recently grabbed headlines. And while tech layoffs represent a comparatively small slice of the American workforce, they tend to affect younger workers who are still working on finding their career footing.
Amidst such volatility, it’s difficult for anyone to find the time to reflect on the place of faith in one’s work, let alone to build trusting relationships that can lead to faith-based conversations with one’s peers. The conditions for conversations on faith and work simply do not exist in this climate.
As a result, faith and work becomes a highly personal topic that may only be addressed through internal discernment rather than external conversation or story-sharing—let alone invitation or evangelism. Faith and work in today’s context is about discerning one’s values, or recognizing how one’s values impact one’s vocation. It is about asking two questions:
- Who is God calling me to be?
- What does that calling look like in the particular and increasingly temporary context of my work?
When we discern our values in our vocation, we are providing a place of stability in an environment of disruption. As our employers, our teammates, and our day-to-day tasks inevitably change, our values will stay remarkably steady.
Discerning these values takes many forms. Values can emerge from conversation or spiritual direction. They can be named through formal formation activities or identified through assessments like the Enneagram, a personal favorite of mine. Whatever the method, it will become increasingly important for today’s Christ-follower to identify and continuously reflect on one’s values so that they might anchor us in God’s calling during times of busyness and distraction.
Martin Luther imagined all vocations as being sacred callings that free us for service to the neighbor. In today’s economic climate, occupations are unstable. But by discerning our values and reflecting on how we apply them to our work, we are freed to respond to God’s call to serve the neighbor.
Questions for considering faith and work in your congregation or at home:
- Where do you see fluidity and change in your workplace or congregation?
- How does fluidity and change impact relationships in your workplace or congregation?
- To what extent might values keep you rooted in your Christian identity?
