Emma Wright is a member of the 6pm congregation. She is Royal Producer at ITV News. Here she considers 'Godliness at Work', reflecting on our recent sermon series on work.
Godliness is a phrase I so often use without a huge amount of thought to what it actually means. In chewing it over I have been considering my devotion to the Lord and what it looks like to live out the gospel at work each day.
William said that because we are 'walking under the rule of King Jesus' we will work differently - new boss, new goals. This has been hugely helpful on Monday mornings as I start the week with so often thoughts of what I need to achieve that day in worldly terms. I have been thinking through the difference these two areas have on my work at ITV News.
New boss
In my work as a producer in news there is certainly an atmosphere of competition in the office, everyone around me is set on rising to the top - whether that's getting the promotion to Editor, getting on screen, or just getting seen to be the best. But as we saw in Ephesians as followers of Jesus we work for him in our office and not our earthly bosses. This means I won't have an attitude of 'every man for himself,' but will want to be honest at work and not pass blame, the typical tactic of self preservation. I find that so often to 'get ahead,' in what we have seen is the pagan idea of career, involves putting others down in the process. As a christian and witness of the gospel I will want to have integrity in my conversations and love others sacrificially, even if this means not getting the promotion as I am not seen in the 'right' crowd. Jesus is my boss so only his review matters in the end (this feels hugely relevant with my work appraisal next week!)
New goals
Clearly new boss will equal new goals. As we saw in Ephesians 6 it's not about what we do, but who we are as Christians in the workplace. This has been really freeing. News is a fast paced industry and this means that often its easy to be so focused on doing the work well and achieving results quickly, that time spent with colleagues is squeezed. I have been really challenged to make sure that I have a Christlike attitude to my colleagues and give them time to share my life - ultimately having opportunities to share the gospel with them. As Jesus is my new master then I am to follow his priorities at work and get harvesting. This will mean that my priorities should look different to those in my office, and if they don't then they probably aren't! I keep needing to be reminded of who I am working for again and get back to his agenda!
