No, this isn't about stigma relating to mental illnesses, or the stigma that exists between men and women in the workplace (both of those are the top Google search results on the topic). Instead, this is about something that hits very close to home for me...
I was raised in a Christian home, went to church every Sunday, participated in the weekend/weeknight events, and made a lot of great friends through that experience. I heard many sermons on the Salt and Light (Matthew 5), and being an example in our daily lives - including the workplace. As a child, I thought, "Oh, ok, so just like us kids should be examples is school and extra-curricular activities. Peer pressure shouldn't be the end all, be all of the situation. We should stand up for ourselves," and similar thoughts. Now having experience as a Christian in the workplace, I wonder if this is what all the adults felt like on those Sunday mornings.
Am I the only on who sees a stigma when it comes to Christianity in the workplace? Am I the only one who notices that many professing Christians are guilty of treating individuals the worst? Or that the work ethic is almost non-existent? I do not find joy in these realizations. If anything, it pains me.
A stigma which places everyone who claims/professes to be Christian, is being implemented imitated by those who are (primarily) considered loud and obnoxious, lazy, or pompous. And it makes me sick, because I know that there are many Christians, in many work environments, who are not any of those descriptions!
Being a good Christian example in the workplace does not mean being a doormat, or being the whistle blower. To me, it means being compassionate. Don't want around with a sense of indignation, condemnation, or pomposity (yes, it is a word).
After all, Christ did not come to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3), and we are commanded to love one another (John 13).
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