Work and Religion

For full disclosure, I am a Sabbath keeping Christian. I am very passionate about my religion.

A few days ago, I watched the documentary Jesus Camp. I was worried that it would be critical of religion, and make Christians seem like, well, freaks. But it was a surprisingly interesting take on the situation of politically active Christianity. It showed the church's efforts to train the next generation of members, an attempt to ensure the survival of their brand of Christianity. One of the most difficult things to do for a religion is to ensure that they retain the younger members of their faith. A particularly compelling moment in the movie was when a young girl walked up to a young lady at a bowling alley and told her about Jesus. I was surprised by her courage. And it made me question what I am doing as a Christian to spread what I believe. And what a delicate line there exists on matters of religion at work.

I first thought about the careful lines between work and personal belief during the election. Most of the lawyers hid their political leanings as if they were deep dark secrets. This is true even more for the religious persuasions of the people I work with. I find out about them from people who know them outside of the office. And sometime the revelations are shocking: I could not understand, for example, how a particular coworker was Catholic and their behavior is, well, inconsistent with their religion.

Furthermore, as a Christian I feel the need to share my beliefs. It was easy to do when, as a criminal defense attorney I was asked by inmates to pray with them, or asked how I could be so kind in such a difficult situation. However, things are different in the corporate world. The situation is even trickier if one wants to share their religion. I would not recommend sharing one's religion directly; it can create a hostile work environment for people who do not believe the same things. However, there are subtler ways to share one's beliefs, a way that improves the workplace.

As a Christian, I believe in a few things. One of which is that I am required and mandated to be a kind person. Some people hold the belief that being kind at work is one way to ensure that people will walk over you. But being kind is not being a pushover. Being kind is a different animal entirely. Being kind means you bite your tongue when a cruel word could be spoken (i.e. a critical and unnecessary barb at a difficult coworker). I am also required to turn the other cheek, and to ignore an insult as if it never happened. I had a meeting once where I realized I could have said a lot of true things in defense of an accusation made against me that was, well, unfounded. I did defend my position. But instead of saying what I wanted to say (which was that the person was completely delusional and incompetent), I took the rather rudely given criticism in stride, provided my explanation, and looked for positive ways to integrate the information I was given and make it constructive criticism.

A final mandate that I find particularly important as a Christian in the work place is to be a forgiving person. This isn't an easy thing to be, but it does make you a much better coworker. Not remembering every fault or misdeed done to you is a real asset, especially in an industry that is small, and the power dynamics between people change continually. In the legal industry, a subordinate today might be a desired client tomorrow, or a government attorney in a position to make or break a client's attempts at avoiding a federal investigation. Forgiveness is a very useful trait, that protects relationships and allows someone to be the bigger person in a very meaningful way.

In the Bible, there is a sermon given by Jesus with the mantras that every Christian is encouraged to live by. These are: humility, compassion, mercy, good intentions, and peacefulness. These mantras are very useful in the workplace, make an employee a much more like-able person, and are an easy way to be a good Christian without preaching a sermon. Whatever your personal religious persuasion (or lack thereof), it is important to develop your mantra that shows your faith (or world-view), and use it to make you a better employee, and to make your workplace a better workplace.