It was a hot day in June.

Tad Geiman, a loan officer for a mortgage lending company in Overland Park, Kansas, was in his office, trying to get a loan approved. His work was interrupted when Tim Hein, the manager of one of the firm's branches, came in and plopped down in a chair. The two men didn't work together every day, but they had interacted quite a bit over the past year - over lunch, at company functions, at the main office. So this visit, though unscheduled, was not out of the ordinary.

"How's it going?" Geiman asked.

"Everything's great - business is good," Hein responded.

Sensing that things weren't quite as rosy as his co-worker claimed, Geiman decided to skip the small talk and probe a little deeper. "So, Tim, how's it really going?" he asked.

That was all the prompting Hein needed. He proceeded to tell Geiman exactly how he was doing - and it was far from great. At age 27, he was making lots of money and had all the outward trappings of success and happiness. But his marriage was struggling, he drank too much, he suffered from anxiety attacks, he was enslaved by greed. In short, he was miserable.

"Well, Tim, even though you're successful, the significance and contentment you want - you're not going to find it where you're going," Geiman said.

"What do you mean?" Hein asked.

The door of opportunity swung wide open, and Geiman walked right in. After months of modeling a life of integrity in front of Hein, he knew the time finally had arrived for a deep spiritual conversation.

Geiman told Hein what his own life had been like before he met Christ a few years earlier. He told him how his life had changed since then. And, when asked, he told Hein how he could experience the same thing.

"You have to pray and ask Jesus into your heart - ask Him to be the Lord of your life," Geiman said. "Do you want to do that?"

"Yes," Hein said.

"Do you want to do it right now?" Geiman asked, a bit shocked that the aggressive young businessman in his office was willing to relinquish control of his life that easily.

"Absolutely," Hein said.

At that, Geiman shut his office door - the same door Hein had come through less than a half hour before - and the two men prayed together.

"It was pretty unbelievable - he was so ready," Geiman, now a self-employed real-estate investor, said a few months ago. "I saw him change almost overnight."

Twenty years ago, I (Steve) heard a speaker say that that the evangelist of the 1990s would be the businessman. Case in point: Geiman, whose experience with Hein in 1998 is but one example of the spiritual impact he's had at work in the last few years. But the speaker's words are just as true at the onset of the 21^st century - a time when spiritual hunger permeates the postmodern workforce like never before.

As a result, the evangelist of the New Economy doesn't do mass crusades in front of thousands of people, although that technique still works for some specifically gifted people and in some places. The evangelist of the New Economy doesn't go door-to-door, offering strangers a four-step plan to heaven, although, again, some find that method to be effective. The evangelist of the New Economy doesn't see herself as a salesman, always looking to give her sales pitch (present the Gospel message) and close the deal (pray the prayer), regardless of whether her customer (a friend, co-worker, vendor, etc.) is even interested in buying.

Rather, the evangelists of the New Economy are influencers - at the conference table, in the boardroom, on the factory floor, at the drafting table, on the construction site, on the golf course - wherever they work, wherever they spend their time. They view sharing their faith with others as a process, rather than an event. So instead of preaching, they look for opportunities to meet needs. Instead of forcing God into conversations, they live lives of integrity, grace and compassion, to the point that those around them can't help but wonder what makes them different. Instead of viewing themselves as Gospel salesmen, they think of themselves as consultants, interested only in helping others and adding eternal value to their lives.

These influencers understand what Christ meant when He talked about being salt and light in a tasteless and dark world, and they live it - day in, day out. They live it when they talk respectfully to their spouse on the phone at work. They live it through their reaction when someone else gets the promotion they wanted. They live it when they do their work - from the most menial task to the largest project - cheerfully and to the absolute best of their ability.

Geiman was influenced dramatically by just such an influencer. "As I look back," Geiman recalled, "seeing him in the workforce every day ... had a huge impact on me. The way he handled things - I knew there was something different about him."

In addition to acting different, these influencers also know what to say when co-workers ask why. Why do they have so much peace in their life? Why do they get along with their spouse so well? Why weren't they willing to fudge the numbers - just a little bit - on that report for the CEO? Why did they take so much care to do that assignment well when they could have easily cut a few corners?

In Keeping Your Ethical Edge Sharp (NavPress, 1990), Doug Sherman and William Hendricks explain why it's so crucial for people to live their faith before they talk about it. "Too many Christians have given the Gospel a bad reputation by their crude, insensitive, soapbox approach to evangelism," they write. "What's worse, many do it without a lifestyle and workstyle to back it up. The order is terribly important! If you want to win a hearing for the Gospel, start by being the best worker you can be, and gain the respect of your peers. Match that workstyle with a lifestyle so unique and distinctive that your co-workers will want to know why. If that happens, you'll have plenty of opportunities to discuss your faith."

SALT AND LIGHT AT WORK

Getting the order right is especially relevant in a postmodern culture where the notion of absolute truth has become passé. For this reason, more and more people are embracing Jesus because He holds the answers to their life questions.

When I (Steve) was in seminary, I took a night class with a professor who recognized this trend nearly two decades ago. The professor, who pastored a high-influence, seeker-friendly church in Fort Worth before seeker-friendly churches were in style, developed a diagram that offered three explanations for how people come to Christ. Some believe because they get answers to their intellectual questions about faith. Others come to know Christ because they find answers to pragmatic questions such as "does it work?" And still others believe because it answers emotional questions such as "Do I feel positively toward it?"

With so much information and knowledge available, the professor said, most people are moving away from making a decision to follow Jesus because their intellectual questions are answered. Rather, they're focusing on pragmatic and emotional inquiries about faith, inquiries that often are answered convincingly through the lives of co-workers who are believers.

Rather than handing out tracts in the company cafeteria, these co-workers simply are following a directive Jesus gave His own 12-member leadership team more than 2,000 years ago. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus outlines His approach: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

What Jesus is talking about in these three verses is influence - gentle and gradual, yet persuasive. And for believers, it's not an option, no more than loving God or loving our neighbors as ourselves is an option.

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

"OK," some might say. "I know I'm supposed to be a salt-and-light influence in my world, but how do I start? Where do I start?" The answer can be found by looking to examples in Scripture. It all begins with a simple Greek word, oikos. Oikos literally means house. In Western cultures, when we hear the word house, we think of household or family. But in the Mediterranean world - the original environment for the writing of Scripture - the word actually means "network" or "spheres of influence."

The word is used in Acts 20:20, where Paul says, "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house." (Emphasis added.) This doesn't refer to Paul doing door-to-door evangelism; it has to do with him teaching from sphere of influence to sphere of influence.

For all but those who have the specific spiritual gift of evangelism, the concept of oikos lies at the heart of effective persuasion in the New Economy. Several years ago, Thomas Wolf, a professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco, developed a model for how oikos evangelism (his term) works. He said that people typically have four circles of influence:

¬ Biological, which includes our families;

¬ Geographical, which includes our traffic patterns - the stores and restaurants we frequent, the places we go regularly, etc.;

¬ Vocational, which covers our workplaces; and

¬ Volitional, which includes our hobbies and outside interests.

Unless God specifically gives us another assignment, Wolf maintained that it is within these four spheres of influence that we should be serving as salt and light. It is within these networks that we should build irresistible relationships with people, recognizing that someday we might be able to share the undeniable message of God's love with them.

But this approach isn't just something a 20^th century theologian dreamed up. Oikos is used in Acts 10 in the story of Cornelius. It shows up in John 4 when Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman. And it's used again in Acts 16, which gives the account of Lydia's conversion. When Cornelius met Christ, he invited his family, his close friends and his colleagues from the Italian Regiment to join him. After the Samaritan woman met Jesus, she returned to her city and persuaded many of her friends and associates to believe in Him, too. The same thing happened to Lydia, an influential textile merchant from Philippi. Upon receiving Christ's message of salvation, these people didn't go to the mall and try to convert strangers. Each one returned to his or her network - to his or her oikos - and started having an impact. For eternity.

The most dramatic Biblical case for oikos influence, however, can be found in Mark 5 and Mark 7. The story is a familiar one. Jesus and His disciples were visiting the Gerasenes community, which was part of the Decapolis region. They were met at the lakeshore by a demonized man who was so out of control that he lived alone in the tombs. Jesus cast the demons out of the man and sent them into a large herd of pigs grazing nearby. According to Mark 5:13, the pigs immediately rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsman rushed back to town and reported what they had seen, the townspeople came to see what was going on. When they saw the formerly demonized man, sitting quietly, dressed and in his right mind, they were scared to death.

The townspeople, who also were probably upset at the negative economic impact the loss of 2,000 pigs would create, didn't want to hear Christ's message. They wanted Him out of there. Realizing the futility of staying where He wasn't welcome, Jesus left. As He was getting back into the boat, the healed man begged to go with Him. His request was understandable - if the people in the community didn't want to associate with Jesus, they certainly wouldn't want to hang out with His new convert.

But Jesus had something else in mind. "Go home to your family [or, your oikos] and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He had mercy on you," he told the man. "So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed." (Mark 5:19-20)

The story doesn't end here, however. In Mark 7:31, Jesus made a return trip through the Decapolis region, and this time, He was welcomed warmly. Why the dramatic change? Scripture doesn't give all the details, but it's evident that the formerly demonized man went back to his natural spheres of influence and began telling those in his oikos what had happened to him. There's no evidence he held crusades or became a full-time preacher. Simply put, his life was so visibly changed that the people he trafficked with couldn't help but be attracted to him and his message.

Danny Crow, a pastor in the Washington, D.C., area who has modeled this method for years, maintains that the key to oikos influence is life change. For example, the formerly demon-possessed man in Mark 5 had a changed life, and it had a huge impact on those in his spheres of influence. And remember Tim Hein, the aggressive young businessman who Tad Geiman introduced to Christ two years ago? He, too, returned to his oikos and, through the example of his dramatically changed life, has been able to help at least 17 people - including his wife and children, several other family members and several colleagues - make the same life-changing decision.

Crow's philosophy boils down to this: If a person's life does not change upon receiving Christ, then all he or she can do is spout concepts. But unbelievers don't need more concepts - they need a relationship. With a person who will model a life of faith before them. With the One who makes that life of faith possible.

STRATEGIC PERSUASION

In an interview that was included in The Complete Christian Businessman, (Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers, 1991), author Joe Aldrich told about meeting a believer from India who was having great success in leading Hindus and Moslems to Christ. "Every Sunday," Aldrich said, "he and his wife host 30 to 50 students for dinner. That's a key part of his strategy, since food and camaraderie break down barriers. I asked him if they talk about Christ at those meals. `No, it is impossible to talk openly about Jesus Christ,' he replied. `Then how are you able to see so many come to Christ?'  His answer was simple: `I love them until they ask me why!' "

Talk about an intentional strategy. This couple didn't spend their Sunday afternoons standing on a street corner in New Delhi, proclaiming the Good News through a bullhorn. They wanted to be an influence, and they knew that being an influence involves persuasion. But they also knew that the type of persuasion they used was dictated by the culture and the people they were trying to influence.

If we want to influence our workplaces, we, too, must be strategic about it. It's not enough to know the plan of salvation, although many people find that training courses help them gain confidence in sharing their faith. It's also not enough to have relationships, although for the postmodern generation, relationships are by far the most persuasive kind of tool. We have to determine the best method of persuasion for each given situation and relationship, and then act on it.

One colleague might be attracted to our light because we willingly help him meet a tight deadline on a crucial project. Another might be drawn to us because we take the time to ask how her ailing mother is doing and offer to pray for her. Still another might see how we respond in a heated argument with a superior and want to know why we didn't lose our temper.

Different opportunities exist in different situations. Employees of a publicly held company may not have the same sense of freedom that people who work for a privately held firm might enjoy. The president or CEO of a large corporation has a different sphere of influence than the owner of small business. So our job, wherever we are, is to creatively figure out where the boundaries are and come up with ways to maximize them.

Persuasion is about pushing, and the truth is that many believers are not pushing nearly as far as they could. For example, many are not tuned in to the fact that the work environment is more spiritually open today than it was five years ago. The Hindus know it. The New Age proponents know it. But many followers of Christ simply haven't gotten it yet.

According to a 1999 survey for Lutheran Brotherhood, most people engage in discussions about faith while they're at work. The Los Angeles Times reported that half of the survey respondents said such discussions take place at least once a month, and 19 percent said they talk about religion with co-workers at least once a year. So the opportunities are there. But if a believer is not strategic about his influence at work, his first inclination when the subject of faith comes up might be to pop the big question - to ask his co-worker if he or she knows Christ. As the saying goes, "When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." While that question might fit in some cases, there are many more situations where a gentler approach is warranted.

That's why relationships are critical. We have to take the time to get to know our co-workers and their individual situations before we can adequately assess how we might best influence them spiritually. Generally speaking, if we build a model that includes an undeniable message and irresistible relationships, the words will come. As St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel every day. Use words when necessary."

The most important thing to remember as we're looking to expand our salt-and-light influence at work is that the end result is not up to us. "The Spirit gives us the message, leads us to those He has prepared, and brings conviction of sin and new life," Billy Graham wrote in the Dec. 8, 1997, issue of Christianity Today. "When we understand that truth, it frees us from the temptation to use manipulation or pressure, because we know that God alone must receive the credit for what He has accomplished."

That goes against our very nature, especially those of us who are immersed in Western culture. We want results, and we want them now. But to be effective influencers for Christ in the workplace, we must operate from a vertical basis where we recognize that our job in life - and our motivation for sharing our faith with others - is to bring glory to God.

Bill Hybels summed it up in Christians in the Marketplace (Victor Books, 1982): "By how we work, who we are, and what we say," Hybels wrote, "we can bring a Christian influence to our jobsite that can have far-reaching effects in the lives of men and women who desperately need to hear of God's forgiveness, and we can bring honor and glory to the name of our Lord."

Christ In Culture

Fifty years ago, H. Richard Niebuhr, an ethics professor at Yale University, was grappling with how he influenced his culture. His thoughts formed the basis of his classic book, Christ and Culture (HarperCollins, 1986, paperback edition), in which he outlined five possible scenarios for how followers of Christ interact with culture. Four of these scenarios are as applicable today as they were when he first wrote them five decades ago.

The first is Christ against culture. The people who adopt this method are the radicals who want to pull away from society and create a holy huddle where their salt won't be tainted or their light challenged.

The second scenario is Christ of culture. This is the exact opposite of the first one. Instead of rebelling against culture to the point of eliminating all possible contact, these people soak in culture so completely that there's little chance of distinguishing it from them.

Joseph Aldrich, author of Life-Style Evangelism (Multnomah Press, 1999) and Gentle Persuasion (Questar, 1988), wrote about this in terms of audience and message. Some believers have a great message, but like those who take a Christ-against-culture approach, they have no audience - no relationships with people who aren't believers. Others, the Christ-of-culture crowd, have plenty of audience. People love them. They're great at relationships. But they have no meaningful message. Aldrich compares this dichotomy to a balance beam with "audience" on one end and "message" on the other. Every follower of Christ is on such a balance beam, he says, and unless we keep a perfect balance, we're not going to have the kind of influence that we should.

The third scenario is Christ above culture. Although most followers of Christ would quickly deny this one, many non-believers would readily identify it in the so-called Christians they know. It's a spirit of superiority. Of arrogance. Of condescension. Of alienation. If we examine many of the black eyes the Christian community has given itself over the years, this mindset is a frequent contributor.

The fourth scenario - the one which we are challenged to emulate - is Christ the transformer of culture. This is Christ the influencer - the salt in the soup, the light in the otherwise darkened alley. If we could have gone with Jesus on His travels, we would have seen that He identified with the unethical tax collectors, the prostitutes and the other scoundrels of the day, but He didn't become one of them. The religious leaders never accused Him of cheating taxpayers or committing adultery - their beef was that He associated with people who did those things. And everywhere Christ went, He had a catalytic effect on the environments in which he trafficked.

Using these four scenarios as a basis, here are four action words that describe how today's followers of Christ handle the command to be salt and light at work.

1. Withdraw.

These isolationists work at Christian companies, send their kids to Christian schools, live in Christian neighborhoods, hang around with Christian friends. They don't go to movies, and they refuse to read "secular" books like Built to Last because they might contain a swear word or two.

2. Acquiesce.

These folks give up on having a positive impact in their world and simply hope that nothing negative rubs off on them. This is a common response in the corporate setting - believers don't want to make waves or form relationships with "worldly" people; they just want to get through their eight or nine hours of work so they can go home to their families at the end of the day.

3. Mandate.

These people are all about forcing their beliefs on others and demanding their rights - no matter how annoying or arrogant they come across. They try to impact their environment by mandating change rather than by seeking to influence through individual relationships.

4. Influence.

These followers of Christ believe their job is to influence and persuade the people around them to join Christ in a transforming kind of life. But persuading doesn't mean arguing until our opponent gives in. The kind of persuasion we're talking about is like salt and light. It has a continuous, gradual, distinctive effect. It's a process - it's not something that happens all at once.

The fourth option, of course, is the path Jesus took. Today, as followers of Christ, it only makes sense that we would want to choose the same path.

"Vocational Oikos" excerpt from Life@Work Vol. 3, No. 4 - Influence July/August 2000. Written by Thomas Addington and Stephen Graves, founding editors of The Life@Work^® Journal and founders of Cornerstone Group, a consulting firm that uses Biblical principles to help organizations grow.  lifeatwork.com  cornerstoneco.com  Content distributed by HisChurchatWork.org > used for non-profit teaching purposes only.