You are the backbone of our economy. Your hard work and dedication to your industry have made you successful. You employ millions of Americans, thus, allowing them the assets to pursue their goals and dreams. Your production gives the rest of us the necessities and luxuries of life. Thank you!
I hesitate to complain but there is a serious deficiency in your business practices. This shortfall is stifling the moral integrity of your employees. Specifically, you require them to work during their worship services. This may seem trifling but you are harming yourself by depriving your employees of a chance to deepen their commitment to their Lord and by preventing them from becoming the best employee possible. I ask that you reconsider.
Not every worker desires to attend worship. That is a sad, albeit true, fact of modern life. However, some of your employees wish to sit beside their spouses and children as the word of God is proclaimed. They wish to demonstrate to their families that they take seriously Biblical instruction. It is on behalf of these workers that I write today.
You might accurately reply that no employee has ever asked to be free to attend church services. I will not argue that point. But you must agree that in the present workplace environment most people assume that such a request will go unanswered and unfulfilled. It could be that some are afraid of being looked down upon or thought unreliable because of such a request. It is within your power to change that. What I am suggesting is a sort of affirmative action for religious assembly. Seek those employees who would attend the assembly and help to make arrangements so that they might attend.
There are concrete benefits to the firm arising from the religiously trained employee.
- A religiously trained employee is trained in integrity. Honest is enshrined in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:15) and in the New (Colossians 3:9). Dishonesty is unacceptable.
- A religiously trained employee is trained in industriousness. Christians ought to be the hardest working employees in your business. Hard work is taught in Scripture (Proverbs 6:6-11; 18:9; 19:15)
- A religiously trained employee is trained to cooperate peacefully with others. The Bible teaches Christians to be peaceful and cooperative with others (2 Corinthians 13:11; Romans 14:19).
It would be foolish to assume that such a plan would never be abused. It will. There will be challenges as you transition to a worship friendly workplace. But I am convinced that cultivating a few devout Christian employees will have a profound, positive impact on your business. Like salt, the Christian flavors his surroundings.
The world says Christians are bad and should be repressed and their ideas and opinions excluded from the public square. The world is wrong. Observe the constant decline of our society and note that it tracks the decline in Christian values. You, dear employer, can begin to change all of that and improve your business at the same time.
