Two weeks ago, I went to Macau to attend a Workplace Mission Summit organized by the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism. I received many reminders and deeply felt that pastors, in fact, do not fully understand many aspects of the workplace.
        In the workplace, one wrong decision can immediately affect the livelihoods of dozens of families. The market does not wait for you to finish praying before it operates. Your boss will not give you extra time because of your faith. The young man working at the most junior level in the design industry, the sister in banking who must constantly keep up with market data, the brother in engineering who has to sign a high-risk contract—you all face the real weight of the workplace every day. I cannot say that I fully understand. As a pastor, I have already left an environment where I could be laid off at any time. Pastors lead, but we lead people who willingly serve. In the workplace, most colleagues do not work with you because they share your faith. Brothers and sisters may only have a short hour for lunch—to queue up, order food, eat, and walk back to the office. Even catching your breath is a luxury, let alone prayer, devotion, or quiet reflection. I really do not fully understand these things.
        Though I do not fully understand, pastors are not entirely unfamiliar with the workplace either, because the church is an institution too. Churches/organizations have boards of directors, financial statements, human resource management, legal responsibilities, division of labor, and project advancement. Pastors do not only stand at the pulpit. They are also accountable to God and to various stakeholders. In that sense, pastors do understand something of the workplace.
        I once heard a pastor share this story: A brother became aware of the impact of AI technology on today’s work environment. He did not just send the pastor information and say, “You should learn about this.” Instead, he went to the pastor in person and said, “I invite you to learn this together with me.” And the pastor went. That invitation represented the believer saying to their pastor: Please walk this journey with me. One simple invitation shortened the distance between them.
        Pastors understand the workplace, because we live daily in the reality of an institution. Yet pastors do not fully understand the workplace, because no one can fully comprehend the weight another person carries. Together, these two constitute a kind of honesty, which can also become the starting point of walking together. What a pastor can do is not to pretend to understand everyone’s situation, but express clearly that we care, that we are willing to learn, and that we hope to walk alongside you for part of the journey.
        I also want to invite our whole church to take seriously the brothers and sisters who labor in the workplace today, to make an effort to understand the struggles they face. Witnessing for the Lord five days a week in the workplace requires more than a brief reminder during the worship service. It calls for sincere companionship in daily life.
        May the Lord help us, whether pastors or believers, to find a way to walk together in the space between “understanding” and “not fully understanding.” And may we know deeply that everything each person experiences in the workplace is under God’s providential care. May we not only advance “workplace evangelism,” but also genuinely care for every individual in the workplace.