When an established vice president of a successful company
confided to Kent Humphreys that he felt a call to enter the ministry, Humphreys
quickly responded, “You are already in the ministry.”
Since then, the successful vice president has led several businessmen
to the Lord as a result of using his workplace as a platform to share the gospel.
When an established vice president of a successful company
confided to Kent Humphreys that he felt a call to enter the ministry, Humphreys
quickly responded, “You are already in the ministry.”
Since then, the successful vice president has led several businessmen
to the Lord as a result of using his workplace as a platform to share the gospel.
A Southern Baptist from Oklahoma, Humphreys has worked in his
family business for 25 years. He says his job has been a platform for sharing
the gospel to thousands of top executives.
Humphreys is part of a growing movement among Christian workplace
leaders across the nation who desire to use their businesses as a means of sharing
the gospel.
“I have never seen the Spirit of God moving like I have
seen in the past few months regarding marketplace ministries,” he says.
“These leaders are rattling their sabers, saying that God is at work and
we need the leaders in the churches to listen to us. We want pastors and lay
leaders to listen to what’s going on so they can equip their congregation
to become marketplace ministers. There are hundreds of ways people can share
Christ in the marketplace.”
Humphreys serves as the president of Fellowship of Companies
for Christ International, seeking to equip Christian business owners on how
to use their companies as platforms for ministry. “I … never dreamed
of leading a ministry – until I realized that my business is my ministry,”
he explains.
Humphreys says he is intent on helping local churches equip
their members to see their place of employment as a mission field. “We
are here to take Jesus – not religion – into the marketplace,”
he notes.
“We will minister to the marketplace by loving the people
and serving the people. But first, we must educate Christians on how to be marketplace
ministers.
“God has sovereignly planted each of us where we are with
certain gifts and abilities to represent him and to proclaim his truth in our
world,” Humphreys explains.
One obstacle believers in the workplace often face is the connotation
that because they are employed in non-church-related occupations, they are “second-class
citizens” in regard to ministry, Humphreys says. He works to combat that
mentality and to assure Christians they are called to be Christ’s ambassadors
wherever God has placed them.
“God has given you your spiritual gifts,” Humphreys
tells people. “God has given you your background and abilities. He has
equipped you with talents and passions…. You need to use those abilities in
a way that best advances the kingdom.”
The first calling of a Christian is to represent Jesus Christ
to people, he notes. “We need to understand our uniqueness, but the key
is our availability,” Humphreys says.
Second, the mission of believers in the workplace is to love
God and people, he adds. “The focus of our heart is to be on God alone.
Then, we will view each person from God’s point of view, not as an interruption
but as an opportunity.”
Third, the vision begins with the people in close proximity,
Humphreys says. “(Our vision) is not limited to a building or an organization,
but an ever-expanding circle of influence.”
Fourth, workplace ministry seeks to serve people with diversity,
Humphreys says. “By dying to self, we express Christ’s love to others
by making eternal investments in their lives. We do this by our attitudes, our
work and our actions in concert with other believers as we serve together.”
Fifth, the mandate of workplace ministries is to redeem people,
Humphreys adds.
“Changed lives – that’s the bottom line,”
he insists.
Doug Spada understands the vision. He spent almost 10 years
in the field of naval nuclear engineering, specializing in submarine operations.
Then, he says God called him to launch His Church at Work as a means of empowering
local congregations for workplace outreach.
“The concept of workplace ministries matters to me because
it matters to God,” Spada says.
“God created me to do this job.”
His Church at Work in La Mesa, Calif., focuses on equipping
Christians to live out their faith at work.
“Can you imagine what could happen if your congregation
actually lived out their faith at work?” Spada asks.
While president of an energy consulting firm, Spada recalls
witnessing to a highly-successful business executive. Spada says he later received
an e-mail from the man that read, “About Jesus, I don’t know who he
is, but I find myself increasingly around people who do.”
Spada soon led the executive to Christ, and the man now runs
a ministry to orphans and prostitutes in the Philippines.
“Can you imagine this happening with all our people who
are sitting in our congregations across America? …” Spada emphasizes.
“Equipping the local church is important because the majority of the people
in the church spend a majority of their time with a majority of people who do
not have a relationship with Christ.”
Indeed, the average Christians 15 percent of their waking hours
in a “church life,” 35 percent having a “home life” and
50 percent having a “work life,” Spada points out.
The role of the local church in encouraging workplace ministry
is to nurture the stewardship of their congregation, Spada says. “It is
about leveraging the time, talents and relational energy your people are already
using at work and turning it toward God’s agenda,” he notes.
The goal is not establishment of another program, Spada insists.
“I want to see transformation in the lives of others in the workplace,
…” he emphasizes.
“Workplace ministry must become more than a program or
a ‘pump-them-up’ strategy. It must be more than operating as a parachurch
ministry. It must be more than a focus on just the ‘business and professional’
niche in the church,” Spada says. “It must be a catalyst that bears
lasting fruit. …”
“We must mobilize our people. … We must equip them to
reach their workplace for Christ. Workplace ministry can cause an outreach revolution
if your people catch it.”
Workplace ministries are important because “work matters
to God,” agrees Mark Greene, executive director of the London Institute
for Contemporary Christianity in
England.
“(Work is) a purposeful activity, whether we answer phones
at the receptionist desk or whether we close in on a million-dollar transaction,
…” Greene notes. “The King of the Universe is interested in the
lives of his creation.”
Work is a great platform for ministry – and believers
in the workplace are called to transform the lives of workers around them through
their actions, Greene maintains.
“We are to be active agents of transformation,” he
emphasizes. “We are called to be a blessing in the workplace. Christians
have something to offer. And lots of people are looking for a better something.
“Not taking the gospel in the workplace is not only tragic
for those who don’t hear the gospel but for those Christians who don’t
realize what God called them to do for his kingdom,” Greene says.
“His presence in the workplace makes a difference.” (BP)