day 161: The Friendly Office

I have written before about the friendly office. The friendly office is the one that you can always find someone hanging around because it just feels good to be there. Usually the occupant of the office (or the cubicle/workstation) has done something to entice people to stop by. They have a candy dish or something topical like pictures or something that everyone else wants to see so they stop by during the day to check-in. Sometimes this feels gimmicky, but in most cases there is a sincere heart behind the action and someone is trying to make the office feel better and the people in the business happier and more at home. The great thing is that every office has one of these people, but usually only one. What would your office feel like if there wasn't only one person like this, but if there were tens or more who all felt like they had a hand in making the place better and people happier? I wonder if that is not part of our job too? In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says, "We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you." Authors David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen describe being an ambassador this way: "An ambassador is the highest ranking representative of one country to another. In times of hostility between two countries, the ambassador is a representative of the "safe place" in the middle of an unsafe place. The embassy and the land it is on is the sovereign territory of the ambassador's home government. If you are trapped in unfriendly territory and can make it to the embassy, it's like being in a piece of your home country." While our work offices hopefully never turn into war zones, I suspect you can see where I am going with this idea. As believers we are not always in the most friendly of places when we are at work and yes there is a higher order warfare that is being played out around us and we are called upon to be strong in the midst of these challenges. There are others around us who may or not be a believer but who are also caught in the cross fire of untruths, gossip, rumors, backbiting, and sometimes emotional fighting. Where do these people run to for a friend or safety? Can they run to an ambassador and to an "embassy" where they can escape the unfriendly and find the friendly? Think about this today and evaluate how others perceive you and your office? Are you being an ambassador and are you providing the friendly office that they may need?

Reference: 2 Corinthians 5:20 (New Living Testament)