To Be Sheep Among Wolves

A good friend and mentor of mine, the Urban Christian, recently posted on his blog a reasonable challenge for Christians for us to revisit prejudices that often are held around those with devout faith entering fields which have been traditionally difficult for Christians to navigate a good intersection of faith and work, such as entertainment, the arts, politics and investment banking. He correctly cites the importance of Christians having a “leavening effect” upon those who are in those areas, noting that abandoning those fields without sending and supporting those who might bring the gospel. Indeed, the gospel must be brought to the ends of the earth, and to those vocational areas in which salt and light are scarce.

I largely agree, but I think there’s a balance that needs to be made here. When I was an undergraduate at Wharton, I saw with alarming frequency devout Christians from campus fellowships who with more than a little arrogance believed that they were going to be the one person (who despite the failures of those before them) didn’t compromise their faith – that they would evangelize the trading desk at Goldman, would boldly prophesy against the idols of greed, debauchery and gluttony. At least that was the said ambition. But that's what rarely happened.

Time and time again, the entry-level grunt would fold like a wet suit under the intimidating gaze of a managing director or SVP within a year. Maybe it started the first week when he was asked to work on a Sunday (well, I can always download an online sermon, right?), or asked about religious nut-jobs (gosh, I don’t want to lumped into those people, maybe I’d better keep quiet). Then separated from fellowship and accountability, said fellow comforms to their workplace culture of workaholism and pride, eventually stops identifying himself or herself as a Christian altogether while looking disdainfully back at that “devout” time in college as a naïve and idealistic phase.

Of course this isn’t the case with everyone who enters these “difficult” fields. But in my experience there are far more people who tend to want to minimize the dangers of walking as a sheep among wolves in these fields, as opposed to people who are truly being called by God who need to be prodded. Or put another way:

1) By our sin nature, we are naturally inclined to conform to this world.

2) The people who are gifted in these fields, regardless of spiritual state, tend to be driven and achievement-oriented and ambitious.

3) Given this achievement-oriented nature of Christians who are gifted in these fields, they are more likely to err on the side of “rashly going for it, because I want it all" as opposed to “over cautiousness” These are the ambitious-types, after all.

For the past ten years when I’ve counseled college students who are seeking business careers, and when asked about the challenges of being a Christian in particularly “difficult” business fields, I tell them the following:

1) There are people who God has gifted to be evangelists in these areas who are particularly gifted to be bold about their faith without fear of the disapproval of man, proclaiming the gospel though actions and words while not compromising or conforming those the often idolatrous and fallen culture in that field. They can interact freely and comfortably with people who are inclined to ridicule and hate Christians and still speak naturally about the work of Jesus in their lives in a way which resonates with others.

2) You need to be brutally honest with yourself and seek from Christians who know you well because there’s a good chance that you are not one of those people. I can appreciate that you hope you are and you wish you are. But that may not be you.

3) If you think that you are the exceptional person who can stand strong without compromise, read point #2 really carefully again.

Coining the phrase of my friend, I agree that Christians shouldn't "look down upon" these professions at all - we should support those and pray for those in these fields. However, we need to call a spade and spade and recognize that rationalization is often rampant (though not universal) in those Christians who wish to go into these fields and that the lives that are often most changed are those the well-meaning Christian - for the worse. I think have credibility when I say this because it's possible I've been (to a degree) guilty on both counts. But as yet another testament to God's overwhelming grace - yes, I've been blessed see God's redeeming in work with co-workers firsthand, notwithstanding my shortcomings.

But lest this seem like a downer, I certainly wouldn't advocate analysis paralysis around "calling" (this is another topic altogether, go read Charlie Drew's book on calling if you'd like). While I call for brutal honesty when discerning a vocation, I think the bigger imperative is for Christians in the workplace to consciously and deliberately "have a leavening effect" on their office and their field., regardless of whatever field that is. The individual challenge to each of us is this: If you're not praying specifically about this and can't articulate a strategy around this, maybe you should start. You may say that you want integration of your faith and your work, but your actions say otherwise.