"Until Jesus pays my salary..."

Got into an interesting discussion on my friend Gerry's Facebook page (yes, amazing, I know... but it does sometimes happen) on the subject of Religious Education at schools here in the UK, and one of his friends said:

My son... says that his RE teacher was told at parents eve that she should be converting the children to christianity (as they attend a C of E School) and her reply was 'until Jesus pays my salary I shall stick to the curriculum'

I didn't respond to this comment there, as I was already raising a whole load of controversy on another issue, but my mind keeps turning back to this - I see so many layers there, I have to try and unpick it.

My initial reaction was to the "until Jesus pays my salary" phrase - it makes me question to what extent exactly this woman regards Jesus as her Lord. It seems to imply: Jesus isn't my boss, the school pays my salary so I'll do what they tell me.

Of course, on the other hand, there are people who I think sometimes take it to the other extreme, and forget that their boss is actually paying their salary and has a say about what they do in their working hours.

I think there's a fine line there somewhere...

If someone pays you to do a certain job, yes, it is up to them (within reason and within the limits of what is legal) to say how they want it done. And if these terms are made explicit at the job application stage, you have the choice to take it or leave it - if something there goes against your conscience then you have the choice to say no, I can't do it.

But at the same time, you can't say 'Jesus is my Lord' but then leave him out of your work life. And if you believe that Jesus has commanded us to go and make disciples - can you really switch that off at work?

It is a tricky minefield in some work situations. I think that's why I didn't like that comment - because it made it sound like it's really clear cut, when I don't think it is. I think any Christian in paid employment has to work out how to balance their loyalties. I think that if your boss says, for example, that they forbid you from mentioning Jesus in your work time, then you have to adhere to that. If you're accepting their pay, you're agreeing to have them as your boss. But if your boss tells you to do something that is clearly immoral - I think at that point you have to say sorry, I can't do that because ultimately I am answerable to God first.

The question of evangelism is more tricky, there's a general command but obviously we don't do it all the time with each and every person we meet, so there may be specific situations where we say: in this situation I don't do this. (of course there's nothing to stop you praying for people in your own time.) There's an issue of how you use your boss's time - if he's paying for you to do a certain job between, say, 9-5 mondays to fridays, using that time to do something else would be stealing, which would not be honouring to God.

so, back to that RE teacher - if her contract says she is hired to teach children about the various religions and encouraging the children to think for themselves, not ramming a particular faith down their throats (which as far as I understand is the general idea of RE lessons in schools here) then I guess it would be inappropriate for her to stand in front of the class and preach the Gospel and issue an invitation to come forward and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour... (btw, another layer in this is that I bristle at the phrase 'converting the children to Christianity' because actually no human being converts another, all we can do is tell people about it and offer them the opportunity to become Christians if they choose to.)

so I guess I'm agreeing with her in disagreeing with the suggestion that she 'should be converting the children to Christianity' but I bristle at the way she phrased that disagreement, because it sounds to me like not a very respectful attitude towards Jesus.

and also because, ultimately, all good things come from him and the fact that she has a job and a salary is, ultimately, down to him. and because there are times when God calls people to risk their livelihood for him, trusting that he will keep providing somehow. and I'm here to testify to his faithfulness in such situations - as one who was told, back in 2001, to quit her job, and has not gone hungry since.

this reminds me of a conversation I had back in 1999 with the guy who was my vicar at the time, when I believed God was calling me to what is commonly referred to as 'full-time ministry' and my vicar said: and in what way are you not working for him full-time now?