Christianity in the marketplace
FGB Jaya One/Quah Poh Keat/13/7/12
In the years 2008-2012, we have seen
challenging times. Since 2007, we have seen recessions around the world or at
least slow growth in most countries. There has been a loss of faith in the
financial system, the political system and the government. Even the integrity
of religious leaders are doubted. We in the marketplace are deep in the
trenches, and bearing the wounds and scars yet also enjoying the victories.
Even in the marketplace, Jesus challenges us in
Matthew 5:13-16. “You are
salt for the Land. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty
again? It is no longer good for anything except being thrown out for people to
trample on. “You are light
for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Likewise, when people light a lamp, they
don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for
everyone in the house. In the same
way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things
you do and praise your Father in heaven. The role of salt is to preserve.
Things will always go bad in themselves. We are supposed to step out, to give
flavor, to bring something positive. If we lose our saltiness, we become good
for nothing. We have to retain our godly nature. Sometimes we need to leave the
pack, to speak up and take action.
Where there is
light, there is also darkness. As disciples of Jesus, we are to show the way to
the people. Then people will see our good deeds and praise God. We must be of
such positive impact that when we are no longer around, people must feel there
is a real loss.
Do we follow
the world around us in their language? Do we lose our language and speak the
same language as the masses? Can we change the atmosphere around our workplace.
We need to persevere to honor God, even working within the system like Joseph,
Daniel and Esther did. Sometimes, we need to make peace with the system while
retaining our distinctiveness to improve the system. What does God expect of
us?
In Joshua 1:9,
the Lord says “Fear Not!” Fear paralyzes us. It causes us to hide away. There
will be tough times. However, tough times will not last but tough people will.
Charles Spurgeon once said that we should not worry about tomorrow because it
robs today of its strength. Psalm 91:5 says “You
will not fear the
terror of night, nor
the arrow that flies by day.” We should not fear the daytime or the nighttime.
The terror of our day could be a stock market report, a property bubble, a
political impasse or cashflow or loss of staff. The challenge is for us to fear
not.
We
need to expect miracles to happen in the workplace. Then we can endure the
challenges. Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul
and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the
heart.” We need to resist, fear not, and be
aware that God has a plan for each one of us. Am I valuable to God? Do I ask
God “What do you want me to do?” “Shall I be a pastor to the people around me?”
Even in Jaya One, do I look at the whole place as a harvest field? How about
Block A or B or C or D? Be a pastor wherever you are.
In 1857, there was an American businessman called Jeremiah
Lamphere who asked God “What do you want me to do?” God said “start a prayer
meeting”. And on 23rd September 1857 at 1pm, he went for his first
prayer meeting. Nobody was there but after half an hour, there were 4 of them.
6 months later, prayer meetings were being held all over the US , including San Francisco Canada , the UK and South Africa
In 1857, invitations for the prayer meeting could only be
made verbally. God can use anyone of us. The impact of these prayer meetings
was such that when ships entered the harbor in the US
In another story, a taxi driver had just become a Christian
and wanted to share the gospel to bring people to Christ. However, the only
person he knew was a bartender. The bartender wanted to kill him for trying to
witness but eventually became a Christian. It turned out the bartender was also
a pimp, and he brought his girls to hear about Christ and 30 became Christians.
In the end, the bar became a church.
In Phuket, a lady who was dying was healed by prayer and
since she had come from an ignoble profession, the church bought an ice-cream cart
from her to sell ice-cream. As she sold ice-cream, she led many villagers to
Christ? One day she asked her pastor “Don’t you think the prime minister of Thailand Bangkok
God can use a taxi driver. He can use an ice-cream seller. He
can use any one of us.
Still, we have to be dependant on God. How big is your God?
We may think of wood as a piece of wood, but when God thinks of wood, He thinks
of the whole Amazon forest! Our God made the Himalaya mountains and the whole Pacific ocean . Our God is really a big God. Sometimes we
try to “help” God when there really is no need. Abraham and Sarah had been
promised a child by God and tried to “help” God through Hagar. Today, the
descendants of Hagar are still giving problems to the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Joseph tried to rush the cupbearer to tell the king about his
predicament, but had to wait 2 more years for his time to come. Our attitude
should be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who said “God is able to save us,
but even if He does not, it will be ok!”
Moses could not speak well, but God gave Him a staff that
performed miracles. In the feeding of the 5,000, it all started with just 5
loaves and 2 small fish.
God expects us to be people of integrity. Yet, we tend to be
economic with the truth. In 2008. the collapse of AIG and Lehmann Brothers
caught the world by surprise. UK Malaysia
The 10 commandments tells us we must bear false testimony,
not to steal, not to covet. God expects integrity. Are we honest in computing
our tax return? Do we render to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s?
We must say no to corruption. We must be honest with our
creditors. Do we keep promises to our staff at the time of employment?
What is our attitude
towards the environment? Christians should be at the forefront of Corporate Social
Responsibility. We need to inculcate integrity in our lives.
Once, while I was the KPMG tax partner, a client missed an
important deadline and was facing a huge fine to the tune of half a million. To
my horror there was no documentation to safeguard ourselves and the client was
a very horrid man. I was preparing for the worst when asked to attend a meeting
with them, but the staff in charge put up her hand to say it was her fault. Are
we people of integrity?
I had a friend who went into a small time furniture business
with a few partners and was left with a whole load of debt to pay. Renting a
single storey house, he struggled to pay off the debt by selling insurance.
Sadly, he contracted Hepatitis B. He had three children and the third was born
deaf and blind. Later, he died of his disease, but to our surprise, he had left
it in his will to pay off the creditors first from the insurance money before
giving the rest to his family. What would people say at our eulogy? What will
God say when we meet Him? It is only an audience of 1 that we need to please.
In life, many things are gray, neither black nor white, but let us move on from
gray to white.
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