Faith and public life: Finding a balance

As a Christian, I carry my faith with me wherever I go. It is a part of who I am and it is the motivation behind many of the things I do. But how can I reconcile that with everyday life? Can I find a balance between my faith, my work, and my free time? What role can faith play in my engagement in public activities?

These are common questions raised by Christians and people of other faiths across Canada and around the world. Many people are looking for a balance, for a way to integrate their personal beliefs with their work and interactions with others.

Last week I attended a public lecture with Dr. John Stackhouse, a professor from Regent College in Vancouver. His presentation, entitled Behaving in public: Christian engagement in public life, addressed many of these questions through examples and practical approaches to finding a balance between faith and work.
Before he outlined his own theory about how Christians can and should act in public, Dr. Stackhouse first referred to two common approaches.

The first is for Christians to isolate themselves from “worldly things,” from popular culture to politics. But can such actions influence positive changes within society in general? What about the Christians who worked with and in public to bring change for the better, such as Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, Nellie McClung, and more?

Another approach is to strive for a Christian “take over” of culture and public life. But is this the right course of action in a world where there are multiple faiths and cultures? Considering the instances where Christians were in total control, were the policies and changes always positive for everyone? What about Papal Rome and the crusades; or the southern United States during the height of slavery; or the reign of apartheid in South Africa?

So where does that leave us? Dr. Stackhouse suggests a third way – that all we can do is “make the best of it!” We should be free to participate in public life; in fact he encourages us to do so, while maintaining the faith that defines us.

Faith is not something we can check at the door as we arrive at work. It governs our decisions and defines who we are. At the same time, it is also our responsibility to make our actions and decisions relevant to our friends and colleagues who may not share the same faith.

Personally, I find this idea encouraging, in that I can be myself while living and working within the public sphere. But is just “making the best of it” enough? Is there a place for the alternative views, and if so, how can we best implement them? What are some of your experiences with balancing faith and work within the public sphere? What are some ways to live and work together, despite our differences?

Let me know what you think!

Many thanks to Dr. Stackhouse for his lecture series. His book entitled Making the best of it: Following Christ in the real world, explains these ideas in much greater depth.