One of the goals of Crossroads Church is to be able to take the church to the people, not just wait for the people to come to the church. We do that by being ministers at our jobs, at school, in coffeeshops, etc. Jesus regularly held meetings where the people were. We need to do the same — and get over our hangups regarding what constitutes a “legitimate” meeting of the church.

What if you could have church in your co-worker’s office with just you, your co-worker — and maybe that’s just it? What if you could turn a delay at the checkout stand into an opportunity to apply a principle from the Bible? What if YOU could be the instrument to turn those regular gripe sessions that take place every week into something positive, that points people in some little way to God and to Jesus Christ?

I believe that we as Christians can and should do this wherever we find ourselves. However, we don’t want to get branded as “holy rollers” — at least not in the negative sense. Here’s an illustration: When I started my current job with my current employer, I had to submit a resume’ that listed my relevant past work experience. This included listing three years’ of full-time vocational ministry at Mesilla Park Community Church in Las Cruces. My resume was available for all my future co-workers to see — and as you might expect, there was some attention paid to the fact that I had been (or still was) a “pastor.” I couldn’t avoid the label!

Now, the work environment I’m in is a tough one — although probably fairly typical in America these days. There are politics, there is crude language, there are coarse jokes, there are insults both intentional to bring you down and just simply designed for a laugh in a group setting. And there are people who are “in favor” one day that find themselves at the receiving end of scorn the next. In fact, this environment describes not just work in America, but college, high-school, junior-high, elementary school. . .

Anyway, for the first five months or so of my new job, my co-workers had to get to know me and I had to get to know them. Remember that they already knew my “past,” and I can imagine that there were more than a few opportunities for people to judge me based on what a pastor “should do” or “should be” in certain situations and such. To top it off, I’m also in somewhat of a dual role with regard to my co-workers, meaning that sometimes I’m a supervisor, and sometimes I work for them depending on the task that needs to be done.

Now if you think this story is leading up to a happy ending full of encouragement and sound principles for you to apply to your life — don’t get your hopes up, because this is still very much a work in progress. Some days I do alright at work, and some days I blow it. But I do have a few observations from real experience in my situation that might apply to you:

1. Be who you are, no matter where you are. I had the benefit of having my resume posted for all to see before I met my current co-workers. I couldn’t avoid the “religious” label. But then again, I wouldn’t want to. The trick is to understand that my life fits my resume — it is easy to be labeled a “pastor” or even just a “Christian” because that’s how I live my life. And not by dispensing pithy advice or making a point to highlight how I’m different from my co-workers (I don’t swear, put people down, am always on time, always do my best at work, I don’t drink in bars after work — not like YOU GUYS!**) Being who I am where I am means that I blow it sometimes. But I’m honest about it, and I apologize to my heathen scum co-workers when I offend them. (Crud, I did it again. Sorry guys!) But I hope they also see that I have integrity like they do, that I care for people’s hurts like they do, and that I want things to get better — just like they do. People are generally positive until they become negative. That is, they want all those things, but sometimes go about getting them in negative ways. As a pastor, you’ve always got to seek the positive solution. And encourage those around you to do the same. That’s ministry in a nut-shell, don’t you think?

2. Let people see you with your Bible. If you’ve gained you co-worker’s respect, then by definition they’ll respect what you do as well. However, don’t make a show of your religion before men, and DON’T spend work time getting paid to have a Bible study! It comes back to that integrity thing. . .

3. Finally, be patient. If you’re truly serving as a pastor at your work, people will start coming to you for help, encouragement, and spiritual stuff. Wait a minute — doesn’t that go against what I said at the beginning, that we want to take the church TO people and not wait for them to come to us? To answer that, let me say that I still believe that it is important for the seeker to actually SEEK something. Somebody who takes the initiative to come talk to you is going to be 200% more receptive to what you have to say than if you imposed yourself on their life without an appointment (that’s a made-up statistic, but you get the idea). That being said, I hope that Crossroads Church can be the ultimate “seeker church.” I want to make it as easy as possible to integrate people into my church. I’ll do this by being available as a pastor and minister where the people actually spend most of their time during the week, not necessarily through programs and glitzy campaigns at an established meeting place one day out of seven. I want people to seek ME out so that I can help them seek Jesus. And that takes time to develop in a work environment. Years.

Anyway, right now I only have one or two people at work who I have this kind of relationship with. But that’s okay. They haven’t come to a formal meeting of Crossroads Church yet — and might never. But that’s okay, too, as long as I keep the church close to where they are.

** (When I occasionally do these things — and I try not to pretend that I never do — I must seek repentance, not just with God, but with my brothers and sisters who I offended. Even if they don’t feel offended. Luke 18:10-14 is a good example of this.)