Evangelism. At Work?

It is incredibly difficult to communicate something of the gospel at work. The mental-health profession and Christianity (or any religion) do not mix well, it seems.

To the MH professional who has not investigated the claims of Jesus, he would say that Christianity is merely a choice, a life-style, perhaps. At best, a glorified hobby, which aims to keep the person morally in line as he walks along the straight and narrow.

To the true Christian, it is far more than this! Christianity is a transformation in response to a historical event; an event that any respected historian cannot deny. The Christian owes his (or her) life to the work of Jesus; a work whereby he no longer puts emphasis on self-worth, but to Jesus who has finished the work. It is, through and through: a crutch - acknowledging that he is, without excuse, guilty and deserves to suffer. BUT because of Him, the Christian is justified. His standing before God is no longer as an enemy, but as a child, adopted into His family! It is not owing to anything the person has achieved - but of Jesus - the substitute.

To the Christian, the gospel is good news. And the good news means that all of sin has been taken care of; it has been propitiated. A humiliating experience, which causes the person to live a transformed life - a life lived in thankfulness. The Christian life is attractive because their life reflects Him who has given it.

So, why do I find the gospel so difficult to communicate to my colleagues?

First of all, the gospel, in one sense, isn't difficult to communicate. One merely has to open their mouth for this to happen. As Christians, that is all that we can do, I guess. God has given the opportunity for me to share something of the good news to two of my colleagues (only because they have asked what I had done over the weekend or the night before or whatever, which has led to questions being asked about why I would want to help people outside of work etc.) The problem that I encounter daily is that in an environment where self-help is championed, Christianity is perceived as nothing but a crutch (which it is) that gives people false hope. It is an environment when religious icons are encountered only as part of a client's psychotic episode (usually to do with hearing a demon's voice or seeing angels appear to them in their room etc.): Christianity is a dead-end subject. It is a subject approached with derision. And as this documentary has shown, Christianity, to most MH professionals, is the epitome of delusional belief.

I know the message of the gospel is absurd in almost any work-situation. It was a challenge to share with previous colleagues when I worked within the Learning Disabilities sector, but I do think it is especially difficult to share with people within the Mental-Health sector, what with people who eat Freud and Beck for breakfast. It just sounds SO off-the-wall, SO primitive, SO not-the-thing-to-do. As Hotep and Huy (from the characters in 'The Prince of Egypt') might say, "You're playing with the big boys now!"

Maybe I should quit prancing about here and get a job as a hospital chaplain. That way, people will at least expect you to talk about fluffy subjects like Christmas pudding and chocolates for Easter and what not. I'm pretty sure it is possible to communicate the gospel, even if the subject they want to talk to you about is a concern over their broken foot. My apologies to hospital chaplains, but the media doesn't help ignorant people like me with programmes like 'The Vicar of Dibley'.

Having been challenged by Anthony's talk, how does one respond to Paul's method of being all things to all men within the mental-health profession? Bearing in mind that there are things in the gospel message we just cannot compromise?