When To Speak UpНамуна

Prepare for the costs of speaking up

Even when you’re right to speak up, there may be repercussions to using your voice. There may be forces that oppose God’s ways in your workplace, such as greed, fear, selfishness, or just plain stubbornness. These other voices may have the power to oppose you. After you speak up, you might find your work more stressful and difficult in the short term.

Jesus suggests the distinct possibility that you may be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Matthew 5:10.) This often happens in the workplace. If you point out your boss’ unfair promotion patterns, you may be denied promotion yourself. If you question the ethics of a marketing campaign, you may simply be thrown off the project. And if you’re the whistle blower on serious misconduct at work, you may be threatened or fired or both. There can be real costs to speaking up.

And yet there are benefits too. When speaking up is the right thing to do, the benefits extend beyond your current work experience and beyond the people you see every day. There is a spiritual component of taking the right action. As Jesus puts it, “your reward is great in heaven” when you are persecuted for doing the right thing (Matthew 5:12). You should even be “glad” to be in the company of others who have suffered for speaking up. After all, Jesus points out that the prophets, who like him announced God’s kingdom, were persecuted. Seen in this light, speaking up can be a holy activity whose results last longer and touch more people than just your own life and career.

When to speak up is a tricky question that only you can answer with God’s help. Still, if you speak up for the benefit of others, if you balance anger with humility, and if you are brave in the face of real costs to yourself, then you can consider yourself “glad” to be in God’s company. Speaking up in this manner is something you can do with and for Jesus.

Prayer: God help me to speak truthfully, humbly, and bravely. Be my company when I go to work today, Lord Jesus.

If you enjoyed this plan, find more plans from the Theology of Work Project at www.theologyofwork.org/devotions