Bible passage:
Parts of Acts 16: 16-24 - As we [Paul, Silas, and Luke] were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Most workplaces are about the economy! A nice little Christian who is sincere, who obeys and prays for the boss, who cares for his subordinates, who encourages colleagues, who doesn't complain, who is a silent witness for Christ - is all good and appreciated. Yet, a Christian is also called to be like salt, which (at times) burns the rotten environment (dehydrating and killing the bacteria) in order to preserve what is good. What is our response to the evils that we see around us, in particular workplace abuse or exploitation?
Here, Paul's goal was not social activism. However, the irreverent testimony of the demons and the oppression of the slave girl did make Paul jump in and cast out the demon. Of course, very similar to the incident of Jesus casting out the legion, the people around were worried more about the economic damage, than the saving of a soul. Jesus was asked to leave the town in that incident. Paul and Silas were imprisoned in this case.
Even today, money is all that matters in many workplaces. Many are willing to exploit and stamp on the souls of men to get what they want. As Christians, when we see a neighbor thus exploited, what would we do? If like the good Samaritan, we see someone at our workplace stolen of their dignity, physically, emotionally, or sexually hurt - would we reach out to help? And what if the abuse was not just in the past, but ongoing? Will we put ourselves in harm's way to protect someone? May God give us eyes to see what's going on around us, wisdom to deal with the situations, Godly courage and love that reaches out to save, and the spiritual discernment and empowerment to intercede and pray.
Prayer points:
Pray for those who might be sexually abused in your workplace, and in other workplaces. Pray that the perpetrator is exposed and held accountable. Pray for the healing of those sexually abused.
Pray for those emotionally abused in your workplace. Pray against every form of verbal abuse intended to break someone. Pray against caste/ race/ lingual/ religious/ gender/ sexual orientation/ age-based discrimination faced by many.
Pray for those physically abused in workplaces. Pray against every threat to inflict harm on the person or property. Pray against political threats. Pray against inhumane or unsafe work atmospheres and unacceptable overtime schedules.
Pray against economic exploitation in workplaces. Pray against corruption and bribes, against bosses who don't pay the employees honestly.
If you can, try memorizing Deut 24: 14, 15.
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