How my co-worker Tim invited me to share the gospel with him

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

We’re in a series exploring 5 simple things all of us can do to put ourselves in a better position to share the gospel with those we work with. Last week, we looked at the first: Be so good they can’t ignore you. This week, we turn to the second: Be a friend.

Jesus commanded that we are to love one another as he loved us. And “by this”—by loving others well, by being a good friend—they “will know” we are his disciples.

So simple. Yet so profound. 

We ought to be known as the people in our offices who genuinely love our co-workers, not just the product of their work. We ought to be the ones asking our co-workers about their kids, making time to go to lunch, and delivering meals when a co-worker welcomes a new child into their home.

I’ll be honest: I’m not great at this. Today’s devotional is as much for me as it is for you. I can be a very heads-down, get-things-done kind of guy who is so focused on “the work” that I neglect the work of loving people.

But in a few instances in which I have done this well, I have seen the Lord use my faithfulness to unlock rich opportunities to share the gospel. 

One guy (we’ll call him Tim) comes to mind in particular. Tim was one of my direct reports in a tech startup I used to run. And for whatever reason, Tim and I developed a friendship right off the bat. We talked about our kids, played a few games of foosball in the office, and grabbed a beer after work from time to time. Small stuff.

Years later, after we both left the company we were working at, Tim called me to say that he had begun wrestling with some of the “big questions” of life and was looking for answers—even if those answers came from the Bible. All because I was a decent (not even a good!) friend, Tim invited me to share the gospel with him. 

Being a friend. Who knew? Jesus, apparently. Hear his words one more time: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How can you be a friend to those you work with today? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m praying you’ll answer it, do it, and pray the Lord uses those friendships to bring lost sheep back to their Shepherd.