You have probably never thought of it but there are certain commonalities between your religion and your work (future work if you don’t have one yet). Whether you are a Christian or Muslim, there exists common denominators between your religious practice and your work that you may not have given consideration to. This short write up will expose some commonalities between your religion and your work that will make you enjoy the practice of both more. Here are five of them:
1. Values: Just like your religion, the organization in which you work has values that guide its operations and dealings. A valueless organization is like a religion without a belief system and its corresponding dogma. Just like Christians and Muslims have the Ten Commandments, your organization has its as well. Know the values with which your organization runs and work in accordance. If you work in an organization that does not have values, there is one word of advice for you- skedaddle. Or else, you will be working in incongruence with your religious tenets.
2. Meeting Place: Muslims have the Mosque, Christians have the Church and your organization has a special meeting place called the “office”- the building where the clerical and professional duties of your organization are performed. Just like you and other religious faithfuls meet regularly in a designated place of worship, you and other members of staff go to the office regularly.
3. Order: You must have heard the saying “orderliness is next to godliness”. An orderless religion is no religion at all. Whether you are a Christian or Muslim, there is high regard for order in your place of worship as well as in practice of the religion. In extension, a company is not called an organization by coincidence or mistake, it was purposely named so. Workers operate by laid down guidelines. There is a resumption time, dress code, code of conduct, assigned roles, chain of command and the rest. Going against organizational structure or principles is regarded a “sin”, one that committers usually pay for.
4. Improvement Through Study: Religious practitioners are always encouraged by their spiritual leaders to develop and grow spiritually through continuous study of their central religious text. Muslims are encouraged to study their Quran and Christians their Bible. In the same manner, workers are encouraged by management (usually through the human resource department) to develop their human capital through study and trainings. Management is aware of the fact that an organization is as good as the human capital it has. Great organizations do not take the development of their staff lightly as they know that that directly translates to organizational development and bottom-line profit. So just like spiritual development and growth is dependent on study of religious text, career development is an offshoot of personal development through study and training.
5. Ubiquity: Just like your religion can be practiced from anywhere because God is omnipresent, work can now be done from pretty much anywhere. You can pray in your church or mosque, your room, on the road or even on the toilet seat. Nowadays, thanks to technology, work can also be done in just about any place you choose to work from. There are devices now that not only improve efficiency and performance but are portable and allow flexibility of usage. So you can work in traffic, in your room at home or on your toilet seat while taking a dump.
So now you know, your work and your religion do not have to be in contrast. You religion can help you perform better at work if you consider these commonalities.
Are there other things you think your religion and your work have in common? Kindly let us know. Leave a comment.
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