Editor’s note: This is the third of a four-part series on the changes that are made when an adult converts to the LDS Church. Read part 1 here and part 2 here.
As adult converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is incumbent upon us to bring the blessings of baptism and the promises we made in our covenants to all areas of our life – both personal and professional.
In the first two articles in this series, I spoke of the impact prayer and fasting had when I applied it in my position as the officer-in-charge of an LAPD sexual assault unit covering a large portion of the city. The resulting experiences were both uplifting and testimony building.
I didn’t flaunt my search for spiritual guidance in investigations among my fellow detectives. They knew I was Mormon, but I kept my prayers and fasting private. If I didn’t, I believe it would have been counterproductive.
In some ways, however, the situation took on aspects not unlike that of the Nephites with their leaders. Obviously, not all the men under Moroni’s or Alma’s or Mormon’s commands were trying to include the Lord in their lives. Yet, when those leaders went to war they did it with the help of the Lord. They still lost men, still lost some battles. But they obtained help, sometimes in dramatic ways. On a much lesser scale in the detective work done by my unit, we still had unsolved cases and we still lost battles in court, but like the Nephites, we also obtained dramatic help.
Bringing our spiritual gifts to the workplace does not mean we all need to make bold statements and preach of the Lord at every opportunity. Clearly, we are not all called to be prophets or full-time apostles. For the great majority of us, our responsibility lies more in the arena of quiet example and the search for common sense applications of the gospel burning within us. However, we must still be spiritual leaders within the secular arena in which we find ourselves employed.
Other Gifts
We all work in vastly different workplace situations. How I apply prayer and fasting and other spiritual gifts in police work is going to differ from the way a schoolteacher or UPS driver would apply them. Each of us has to seek out and discover how we can best serve the Lord through our chosen professions – including the profession of homemaking and child-rearing, where individuals can have tremendous influence.
While the Lord calls some to the mission field, he calls others to be accountants, business executives, engineers, clerks, and janitors. The Lord must have His people in all walks of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him. We are all on missions – some in exotic far-flung places, others in domestic lands, and yet far many more in the jungles of the common workplace.
Unlike the world, the Lord does not make distinctions between sacred and secular. Indeed, the Hebrew word avodah is a root word having the same meaning of work and worship. The Lord sees our work as worship, and as such we should lean on him for guidance in both arenas. In doing so, we find there are other spiritual paths and keys – beyond prayer and fasting – which we can exercise as we interact with co-workers, supervisors, and those workers over whom we have leadership.
Set Aside Personal Aggrandizement
The quest for promotion in the workplace can bring out the worst in each of us. Machiavellian back-stabbing and double-dealing are the extremes of this desire, but constant and calculated placing of our own self-interest above others is not actions worthy of the Lord. Stepping on others to get ahead can only bring us more secular power and/or more money – both of which are worthless in the eternal perspective.
By placing both our personal and professional lives into the Lord’s hands and seeking to do his will in all our efforts, he will bring promotion and reward to us as he sees expedient. If we do not get the promotions or rewards we desire or expect, we need to seek the Lord’s hand in the situation – what is it he needs us to learn or wants us to do (or even what is he protecting us from) by keeping us in our current position.
This can be very hard to do as we struggle with the disappointment of not getting what we want or expect. However, we must work to overcome these negative feelings, to humble ourselves in order to remain close to the spirit and receive His promptings.
Placing spiritual, family, and personal moral values above the priority given to career goals can appear to those with secular control over our careers as a lack of drive, ambition, or commitment to the job. It can also be perceived as threatening, because they recognize their own values being called into account.
Although not much can be done about these misconceptions, Colossians 3:23 shows those committed to the Lord are called to be diligent workers, stating, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for man.”
Serve Those We Lead
