4 Tips to ​sharing Christ in the public sector.

Have you ever struggled to share Christ in the workplace or in a public place? I have. I’ve not shared because I was scared and I’ve not shared because I wasn’t actively looking for opportunities. But I want to be bolder in my witness and proclaiming of Christ. Maybe you do too.

The Apostle Paul is an incredible example for us to look at in sharing Christ in public settings because he did so much of it. And that’s what we get to do as Christ followers as well. We get to share the Good News. It’s a privilege to share Christ with others. But it’s also tricky. Because how exactly do you do that when you work for the State or in an openly anti-Christian environment where there are strict rules about not sharing your faith openly. How do you share Christ when we live in a day and age where everyone is offended about everything. I love that Paul has some tips for us right out of scripture that applies to us today.

Paul’s words in Colossians 4 are rich with takeaways to help increase our effectiveness in sharing Christ to the world around us. This post is just going to look at four of them. Let’s check out the verses first….

“ Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. ” (Col. 4:2-6)

1. Pray strategically. Paul says devote ourselves to prayer and then watch. Pray daily for God to give you opportunities to share Christ with others and then actively look for them.
2. Ask others to pray for you. Paul asked his church to pray for open doors to proclaim the Gospel and to proclaim it clearly. So that’s a great thing to ask your friends/spouse, small group – whoever is willing to pray for you. You may not know who that prayer person is until you ask. But ask them to pray for God to give you open doors and the ability to proclaim the Gospel clearly.
3. In wisdom, make the most of opportunities. I love this. You know those open doors Paul asked his church to pray about? Well, he expected them to come because he immediately asks his church to pray that he would make the most of those open doors/opportunities. Meaning it’s easy to let an opportunity pass by. Sometimes sharing about Jesus can feel awkward and uncomfortable. But keep in mind this is often satan wanting to keep us quiet. If you have people backing you in prayer and that opportunity/open door arises, you will have the courage to walk through that open door and share Christ.
4. Be a good conversationalist. Paul defines this by telling us to have conversations that are full of grace, seasoned with salt. Workplace gossip isn’t words full of grace. Backstabbing co-workers and laughing at inappropriate jokes is not a conversation seasoned with salt. As we grow in conversations that are full of grace and seasoned with salt I believe it opens up more opportunities because that kind of conversation is different from the world’s conversation. And that can be intriguing. When everyone is throwing the boss under the bus but you make a positive comment about him/her you are using words of grace. It might initially make people mad but in the long run, your consistent words seasoned with salt and grace will make people thirsty for Jesus who makes the grace-filled words possible…..especially if you have a jerk face difficult boss and you actually agree with the comments that people are making about the boss. Even if what is being said is true but it’s being said in a gossipy, divisive way, as a Christ follower we can’t participate in that kind of a conversation. There are proper ways to handle workplace grievances or annoyances but talking directly to the person at the right time and place is key. Of course, we’ll fail at this and inevitably words will come out of our mouth that are not seasoned with grace and apologies are necessary. But even apologies can be words seasoned with salt.

In the next post, I’ll be sharing more about what “proclaiming Christ” can actually look like in a practical nuts and bolts kind of way. But maybe these four tips that we can learn from Paul’s life will help us get started. Start with daily prayer for yourself then reach out and get others to pray for you. After that start watching for those open doors and take hold of them and proclaim clearly the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we all do this imagine the impact!