Strategically Placed
Stationed out there in the work world, Christ-followers are ideally positioned to help reach a goal Jesus envisions in John 17.
What goal? Jesus names it while praying in front of the opened tomb of Lazarus. After thanking his Father for always hearing him, Jesus explains that he said this aloud for the welfare of those at the graveside—"that they may believe that you sent me” (Jn. 11:42).
God loved the world so much he sent his Son. Problem: when they do not believe God sent Jesus, people cannot escape the grip of the Satan-led world and enter God’s Kingdom. In his John 17 prayer, Jesus states his goal twice: “that the world may believe that you have sent me” (v. 21), and “then the world will know that you sent me” (v. 23).
Getting the world to believe God sent Jesus isn’t easy. It takes a powerful force to move world-people from unbelief to faith that, yes, God did indeed send Jesus. Jesus identifies that force in John 17. What is it? It is the demonstration of oneness among his followers. Three times Jesus repeats his request for this unity among Christians:
• . . . that all of them may be one
• . . . that they may be one as we are one
• . . . they may be brought to complete unity
What happens when the world sees this kind of unworldly unity among Christ followers? The goal is realized. The world comes to know and believe that God the Father sent Jesus (vv. 21 and 23).
No wonder Jesus sent his disciples “into the world” (Jn. 17:18)—the very location where those in the workplace spend their time. No wonder, then, that those in the work world are superbly located to help reach Jesus’ goal.
No matter how great the unity of Christians inside a church building, that wonderful oneness remains invisible to the world. Unity within those walls is a great blessing to everyone present. But it cannot convince outsiders that God the Father sent Jesus.
However, let’s say some Christ-followers working for XYZ Company identify one another and begin gathering to encourage and pray for each other, for other employees, and for the company itself. They sometimes connect before work, during the lunch hour, or after hours. They have come from a variety of churches. But as the Spirit of God brings them into the oneness that exists between God the Father and Jesus, an explosive spiritual power gets released—right out there where others in the world can see and benefit from it.
How might the unity of this group of Christians become visible to others in the company? The possibilities are endless. For example:
• A single mom—not part of the Christian group—incurs a large medical bill for a sick child. The group of Christ-followers organizes a GoFundMe campaign and invites all company employees to contribute.
• The wife of a company accountant dies from cancer. The Christians band together to provide meals for the family for two weeks after her death.
• One of the company’s employees publishes a novel. The group of Christians plan, publicize, and host a book-signing event in the cafeteria at lunchtime.
Such loving and unified actions will generate buzz and questions. Those can trigger many serious conversations that shed light on what motivates these strangely unified Christians to do what they do.
Jesus carried on a great deal of his ministry in public: in the marketplace, on city streets, on mountainsides, and so on. His disciples in the workplace also serve out there where the world can watch. A strategic location.
