You are being watched.

Big Brother doesn't have a camera on you, and spies aren't tracing your steps. But your co-workers want to know if Christianity is just another religion, so you are the study of some unofficial surveillance. The average American will spend about 90,000 hours at work in a lifetime¹ -- time enough for your fellow workers to peel back your words and reveal the truth of your actions.

You broadcast an advertisement for Christianity, perhaps the only one many people will ever see. But unlike the average 30-second ad, you aren't sending a one-time signal. Everything you do comprises the daily message you send.

Your co-workers watch you -- an ambassador from the Kingdom of God, according to 2 Corinthians 5:20 -- to see if you are different.

Under the watchful eyes of your fellow employees, you can love others unconditionally. "This is My commandment," Jesus said, "that you love one another, just as I have loved you" (John 15:12). That includes co-workers you find difficult to like.

"I was having a problem loving a fellow staff member," writes Bill Bright in the booklet "How You Can Love Others by Faith." "I knew that I was commanded to love him; yet, because of certain areas of inconsistency and personality differences it was difficult for me to love him."

In an act of his will, Bill chose to love that person by faith. "You love by faith," he explains, "just as you received Christ by faith, just as you are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, and just as you walk by faith."

God answers "Yes" to every prayer in accord with His will (1 John 5:14,15) so we can love our co-worker -- lovable or not -- with God's help through prayer.

Loving others by faith is just one way we support our words with our actions. Since our work associates watch us, they will notice when our actions contradict our words. Years ago, when I worked at a Friendly's restaurant, my constant smile elicited curiosity from a waitress named Kathy. One afternoon, between the lunch and dinner rush, she asked me to explain.

"Why are you always happy? Whatever you got, I want some too. That is," she said giggling, "unless it costs too much."

I laughed, but I understood the seriousness of the moment. I told Kathy my happiness came from an assurance of Jesus' love for me.

Kathy needed to hear the truth about Jesus. But she also needed to see the difference Jesus' presence made in my actions. From that point on, every time I arrived late to work, I represented Christ. When I poured myself a soda and did not charge my tab, I represented Christ. When I complained about not getting assigned enough waiter hours, I represented Christ.

Even if you faithfully represent the abundant Christian life, however, don't mistakenly assume that your watching co-workers will connect your caring heart and kind actions to your personal relationship with God. Make sure they know that Jesus is the reason you are different.

"People would talk about their problems at work, and I knew the solution was Jesus," says Gracinda Bibbo, a New Hampshire woman who worked as bookkeeper in a law office. "When I asked some of the people I worked with to come with me to church, they always had a reason not to."

So Gracinda brought church to them. She started a weekly Bible study in the office during lunch and personally invited each co-worker to attend. Five people came. But eventually interest waned and attendance dwindled. Finally Gracinda ended the study, having done her best. She had taken the initiative to start the study in the power of the Holy Spirit and left the results up to God.

Gracinda never saw the results she expected. But that Bible study revitalized the faith of the office receptionist, Debby, who had accepted Christ years before but never understood her decision. Because of those few lunch-time meetings, Debby began to grow in her relationship with God.

By meeting during lunch, Gracinda reached out to her co-workers without interrupting her job responsibilities. God asks you to tell others about Him, but your company hired you to work, not to evangelize. Arrange after-work appointments, or meet during lunch like Gracinda. Otherwise, your co-workers won't understand why you spiritually rationalize wasting company time.

In the workplace, whether you know it or not, people watch you. The "rat race" will wear them out, but the race God sets before you can lead them to hope.

Only you can decide what they see.

1. Stanley C. Baldwin, Take This Job & Love It (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1988), p. 10.

PRACTICAL POINTS

"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (Titus 2:9,10, New International Version). How does this passage relate to you and your co-workers?

Have a Christian friend regularly ask you direct questions about your witness at your job. Pray together about specific struggles you face as God's ambassadors.

Start a weekly Bible study during your lunch break. If you need material our Campus Ministry recently developed "InterActa," a Bible study curriculum with modern themes and formats.¹ Or, contact Search Ministries, which specializes in equipping Christians to present the gospel to non-Christian associates.²

Write out a list of co-workers that you find difficult to like and begin to love them by faith. Pray for each person on the list each day, asking the Holy Spirit both to fill you with Christ's love for them and to provide opportunities to act out that love.

When your co-workers discuss their problems, offer to pray with them. You model God's grace and power as you approach His throne with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). Remember, be sensitive to time.

1. For a sample pack of InterActa studies, call Integrated Resources at 1-800-729-4351. They can also provide Bill Bright's booklet "How You Can Love Others by Faith." 2. To order Search Ministries' investigative Bible study, call (410)740-5300.