What if I feel like God called me to my current job but I disagree with the way my boss is leading? I feel like my Christian values are regularly ignored or even mocked. Shouldn't I find another place to work?
God has called us to be salt and light in a decaying, ungodly, sinful world (Matthew 5:13-16). When God places us in a job, He will most likely assign us to a place that will not only provide us a good career, but also a workplace that is desperate for the sanctifying influence of salt and light. Don’t be surprised or offended if the people you work with don’t agree with you or are even hostile toward your faith. Scripture indicates we do not belong to this world (John 17:16).
Our Christian values are far different than the worlds’. Jesus also warned us that the world would hate us just like it hated Him (John 16:18). While we shouldn’t go to work every day looking for a fight, we also shouldn’t be surprised if people at the office treat us the way people treated Jesus (In fact we should feel honored!). If no one is noticing that your faith and beliefs are different than theirs, then perhaps you are not living a life that is noticeably different from the word. That ought to trouble you far more than that people disagree with your faith. If you are finding it difficult to keep going to work when your spirit feels oppressed each day, there are several things you can do: First, pray that the Lord will give you strength to endure what you are facing. Scripture assures us that He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Second, pray that the Lord might bring another Christian alongside you at work so you can have support from another believer. This would be a great time to enlist a prayer partner or begin a Bible study at work. Finally, pray that God would demonstrate clearly to you whether He intends for you to remain in your present job. Perhaps he’ll help you lead a colleague to faith in Christ and you’ll be reassured that you are right where God wants you to be. Or, God may send a new job offer from another company that demonstrates that you do not have to remain where you are. Stay close to Him and listen carefully to what He tells you next!
A. If you “feel like God called” you, then you cannot leave until you have His permission. He must have an assignment for you as salt and light. Find the one person who needs to hear the message of God’s grace, then find the next one, and the next one. Many are looking to see if Christianity is real and if Christians actually believe what they say they believe. Cutting and running in the midst of hardship or difficulty is not the best solution. Standing firm and being a witness of truth and light will say much more than you know. Others feel the same darkness you do, but may not understand just what they are up against. Pray God’s discernment, patience and strength as you serve Him where he placed you.
Starting with “I feel like God called me” means either you need to question your spiritual discernment if you don’t think you should be at your job, or you need to question God about what He intended when He called you there. I will assume your job is an answer to prayer, so then you may also consider that being their may be an answer to someone else’s prayer – you are an ambassador for God in your workplace, and though it is a tough assignment, God felt you were able to handle it. So ask Him what you need to learn by being there, and what it is He wishes to accomplish through you to impact your work place. I will also assume you are not alone as a believer there, so begin to seek out others who were called there by God and begin connecting spiritually with them in prayer and focus.