When Is It Right to Speak Out Against Sinful Ideologies In the Workplace?
Charlie’s death impacted me so much that I spoke against my workplace’s ideology, and I think that was impulsive. I have a meeting tomorrow about my misconduct. How can I stand for my faith wisely? Do you think this fire that Charlie’s death has caused in Christians is good or potentially harmful?
You know so much more about your situation than I do. Maybe you spoke the truth, but at an inappropriate time and occasion. That could be possible. If you felt that’s the case, then it’s okay for you to apologize for it and to say that it was wrong. If you want to make a distinction, you can say, “I want you to know that I believe what I said was true, but I understand that that was not the appropriate time or place to say it.” If that’s the case, it’s okay for you to say that, apologize, and appeal to your manager or boss on that basis. Not knowing the details of the situation, I want to allow for that possibility.
Otherwise, if you are confident that it was the time, it was the place, and what you said was true, then as tough as it might be, you might just have to take your lumps and trust that God has something for you in this. From the way that you phrased your question, it leads me to sense that maybe you think you said something true, but maybe not at the right time place. You can look your manager in the eye and say, “I want you to know that’s what I believe, but I agree with you that it wasn’t the time and place to share it.” We agree that there can be inappropriate times and places even to say what’s true.
You’re going to have to be the one who gets down on your knees before God and tries to sort that out. If it is a case where you legitimately were making an appropriate stand for Jesus Christ, and you get fired, I just want you to join with me in trusting God that He’s going to bring good out of it for you. Even if it were to mean losing your job, which I know in some sense is a catastrophe for anybody, God can still work it for good.
Remember something that Christ said, “Be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves.” I think that’s an application here. Of course, there is a right time and a right place, using a measure of tact and wisdom. Charlie was very, very good at this in campus settings, where people with great hostility would come with arguments, and he would be very disarming in the way he treated people.