When it comes to conflicts between work and faith, Rev. Cui from Wuhan, who leads a church mainly consisting of young Christians in the workplace, states, "The attitude of a Christian at work and deviations from the correct understanding of faith can affect his performance in the workplace."
The pastor gives an example of whether Christians are permitted to cook the books or not. Normally, we believe that the issue can be black and white, then there are only two choices: to say no and resign from the job or compromise to do it.
"Actually, there is a middle ground." Rev. Cui stressed.
The middle ground is not for us to escape responsibility; but, to improve the current situation. "Sometimes, there are some problems with things no matter how hard we try to solve it, because they, which have been decided, are difficult to change by human striving alone. But, what matters more lies in fact that we need a butter of time to improve the current conditions and change the environment. Even if it cannot be reversed at present, it doesn't indicate that it won't be changed in the future. But before that, we may make some sacrifices or compromises during the process."
It is similar to the time when Rehab lied to protect the two spies in the Old Testament (Joshua 2). Telling a lie is absolutely wrong, even if it was necessary for her to lie under that circumstance. We should not consider whether it was right or wrong for her to lie unintentionally, supposing that there is no golden mean.
Rev. Cui said that it may be more complicated to put it into practice in real life. We need a buffer because there are thorny problems that conflict with our faith in the workplace. "One has to follow the herd without a middle ground when meeting problems. He won't make efforts because he cannot change the situation and he has no other choice for others do it in that way."
Therefore, a lot of things are not black and white. Instead, these things have middle grounds which we need to be witnesses with a positive attitude. "Maybe the period will last long, but our ideas can gradually influence our colleagues and bosses when we choose to establish relationships with them.
Rev. Li from Shandong shares that we should make proper adjustments and arrangement on issues that conflict with faith; because nothing is absolute and there is always room for compromise. Before pastoring in his church, he worked for a period and met a conflict.
Upon the arrival of Christmas, he arranged the schedule for signing a contract with a company after half a month's worth of hard work. But he came to realize that the day when he would take a plane to sign the contract was Christmas, when he was supposed to preach two sermons in a church. He tried to adjust the schedules for both sides, asking to advance or postpone the signing time. However, the company refused to reset the time for there were already schedules in other timeslots. So he suggested the church find a preacher to replace him, but the reply from the church showed that other preachers' schedules were full.
It was such a dilemma. At last, he asked his co-worker to go to the city for the contract signing first, then later, headed to that city immediately after preaching sermons.
He summarized, first of all, we should find a point for adjustment and strive for it. The conflict may not seem so difficult as we imagine and everything is relative. Second, we need to choose the side that does more good than harm, even though there are just two extremes.
"If it's more important to follow your faith on this issue, obey your faith. On the contrary, we should be also responsible for our work when it requires us to make compromises."
In addition, to make promises for your work, on one hand, doesn't mean that Christians abandon all the rules of faith and moral limits, he adds. On the other hand, stick to your faith in the workplace. When your job exceeds far more than the faith boundary, you need to make some sacrifices such as changing a position or job.
