Psalm 131
Psalm 131:
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quietedmy soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soulwithin me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
For those uninitiated, a large construction jobsite looks like a kicked anthill. Hundreds, perhapsthousands, of men and women purposefully walking, hammering, welding, drilling... Heavy machinery crisscrosses left and right withalarms blaring as a warning to all pedestrians to avoid their bulk. The cacophony of steel-on-steel-on-concreterequires every conversation to be held at near yelling volumes. Those conversations are held in multiplelanguages, with hardly a sentence going by without a heartfelt curse foranother tradesman, coworker, supplier, or contractor who has made work harderfor someone else. Complaints areplentiful and colorful resulting from early mornings, long days, work in theheat and cold, dirty and exhausting. Everywhere there is pressure, to hit schedule and come under budget. In short, it is not a peaceful environment.
Yet, in the midst of all of this, I witnessed peace, gratitude, and faithfulness. At one site, each morning at 6:30, all the workers gather for a daily safety briefing. Several thousand men and women, stretching and taking a moment together to start the day correctly before the rush begins. And at the end of the briefing, there is a voluntary call to prayer. And most heads bow, and a prayer booms from the speakers, echoed in Spanish, asking for the Lord’s providence to keep everyone safe while thanking him for the opportunity to work and glorify his name.
There is no pressure to join in the prayer. In its midst, plenty begin to scurry forth totheir task. Yet even more, take themoment to commune with the Lord in anticipation of a day that will distractfrom Him. What a relief to see thismoment on the construction site, the ants momentarily stilled as they go to theLord. Starting the day faithfully canhave such a positive impact on our conduct and attitude, creating in us abetter tool for the Spirit to work through.
In today’s professional atmosphere, the mixing of religion and the office can be awkward while also risking a call from the HR department. I remember early in my career, a new employee sent a department-wide invite to join her for Bible study during our lunch hour. She had reserved a conference room, not overlapped with work hours, and hinted at no pressure to join her. Yet, our HR department shut it down almost immediately, admonishing a bold attempt at discipleship and evangelism. They had their reasons: to avoid legal liability.
In most cases, employers cannot pressure employees toparticipate in religious activities, discriminate against them because ofreligion, or create the appearance that employment benefits depend on religiousaffiliation. Many therefore adopt religion-neutral policies to minimize this risk.Furthermore, if a company pressures worship and prayer amongst its employees,the result is likely to be pharisaic and heartless worship. Remove the pressure, and it can still resultin a performative worship intent on outward results. Christ would see us come to Him not to please our employer but to please God out of the love we have for Him.
How then do we best walk this line? We want to see our colleagues discover the Gospel; yet we do not breach the rules of society or the heart by bringing undue pressure upon them. As Jamesencourages us in his opening chapter, the religious must be doer, or elsedeceives his heart. Let the fruit ofyour own walk be the attractive aroma for others. In a world of distraction and chaos, let the stillness of confidence in eternity reveal the peace of a faithful heart. Let the work of the Spirit in our own hearts bear witness to the hardened hearts of the world.
Yours in Christ,
Thomas Goodrich
