Lean on Jesus

Lean In is a best-selling book for women in the business world. The author is the chief operating officer of Facebook. Presumably women who learn how to “lean in” will become more successful and powerful in the workplace.

Lean on Jesus is different from secular self-help books for businesswomen. This book is not about achieving career success or work/life balance. It is not a guide for starting a women-owned business. Neither will it offer advice on how to break through the glass ceiling in corporate America.

This book is about how to trust and lean on Jesus and bring His love to the workplace.

If current trends continue, most American women will work outside their homes sometime during their lifetimes. Many will be full-time career women. Others will work part time. Today, women work in nearly all fields that men do and usually for lower pay. This is despite federal laws that make sex discrimination illegal. A tiny number of American women are corporate CEOs, US senators, and university presidents. Someday we will finally elect a female president of the United States.

Millions of Christian women work in secular businesses focused on making profits, not the salvation of souls. Spending our days working on things that appear to be unrelated to the kingdom of God can be frustrating. Many Christian women leave the business world to work for nonprofits and humanitarian organizations. After all, women have always been drawn to altruistic professions like teaching, nursing, and social work.

Instead of leaving the business world, Christian women should transform it.

One of the scribes asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment. He replied,

The definition of “neighbor” includes not just our family and friends.

Think of the word love as charity as used in the King James Bible.

Simply put, loving our neighbor means treating her like we want to be treated. We don’t have to like her, but we must extend charity to her. The loud cell phone talker in the next cubicle is driving us crazy as we try to concentrate on our work. Should we lash out at her in anger? No, of course not.

Instead we should reflect on Mother Teresa’s message delivered at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC.

If we can’t wear headphones to cancel out our coworker’s loud voice in the next cubicle, we should gently ask if she can lower her voice when talking on her cell phone. We can ask her if anything we are doing is disturbing her work since our cubicles are so close together. We should seek to bring peace into our shared work space rather than conflict.

We are called to follow Jesus every day—not just on Sundays. We know this, but we often fail to put our faith into action. We are not perfect. We never will be while living on this earth. This is nothing to beat ourselves up about. Our sins are already forgiven because Jesus died for us on the cross and we have placed our faith in Him.

This does not mean we can continue to willfully sin with impunity. Remember what Jesus told the woman caught in the act of adultery who was about to be stoned to death by the Pharisees.