There’s some irony about Sunday being next to Monday, isn’t there? Sunday – ‘the Lord’s day’, where thousands of us gather in churches, big and small, loud and quiet, young and old, to worship, hear God’s word, serve, give, laugh and love. Hopefully, your Sunday mornings, or evenings if you’re really dynamic, are a joyful experience – one that fills you up and grows your faith.

Monday, however, can be a very different day. Back to work, back to colleagues, back to bosses and tasks and meetings and emails. For the vast majority of us, work isn’t the most Christian environment – a far cry from our church world. The jokes are different. The atmosphere is different. The conversation is different. There can feel like a huge disconnect between our Sunday morning and our Monday morning.

So how do we close the gap? When you’re the only Christian in a workplace that feels overwhelmingly un-Christian, it can be pretty overwhelming. It’s hard knowing how to navigate not being weird, yet standing out, whilst also being relevant, but also bold and courageous, and still appropriate. How do we share our faith at work in the right way? Is there a right way? Is there a wrong way?

• Start with love. Work can be a cruel place sometimes. There’s countless opportunities for back-biting, gossip, sneakiness. Subtly pointing out to your boss where your colleague hasn’t done her job. Making a joke at someone else’s expense. It’s easy to do and refusing to participate or even better, closing a break-time gossip session down, is a great place to start. After all, Jesus said people will know that we follow him by our love.

• Take advantage of the seasons. Easter and Christmas are excellent opportunities to talk about faith. If your church does special events for them, they are great opportunities to invite. When the topic of the long weekend at Easter comes up, mention you’ll be at church. It invites conversation.

• Include it in the weekend recap. What’s the first thing someone asks you on a Monday? Chances are, it has to do with your weekend. It’s a really good place to start by mentioning that you went to church on Sunday. It’s non confrontational, not ‘preachy’. Just being honest.

• Make an effort when something bad happens. Life will happen to the people around you. Your boss’ spouse might leave them. Your colleagues parents may pass away. Suffering hits us all. When you know someone is going through a tough time, make an intentional effort to lean in. Don’t be pushy, just let them know you’re praying for them. Make them a drink. Bring in cakes for the office but choose the ones that you know they like. Lean in.

• Just be brave. It does take courage to talk about faith at work. I don’t know why it does, and I hate that it does, but that’s the reality. Sometimes we just have to take a deep breath, whisper a quick prayer and talk about it.