+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost.Amen.
May I quote from 1 Peter, chapter 1 verse 6 " Be Holy, because I am Holy."
Facebook groups can be a good thing , but membership of some can lead to terrible arguments and as a Priest or a committed layperson you can be subject to insults and as we say " a good kick in the teeth". Originally from Den Haag in the Netherlands I thought it was interesting for me to join a group " Dutchies in Australia" So far so good, until someone started posted a naked female picture to the list.
One listmember , whose named shall remain confidential remarked that all who had their roots in the Netherlands and were used to the red light district of Amsterdam would have no trouble with that.
I challenged him by saying that he did not speak for all listmembers , so immediately he insulted me by commenting on sexual abuse by clergy - thus in private.
I knew that this listmember had come from Holland to take up a senior position in the IT department of the ANZ Bank in Melbourne ( prior to becoming a clergyman - I spent many years working as a Manager in ANZ IT and Cardservices ) . He then posted another note to the list saying the was specially recruited to bring in the f....culture in the department. I rejected that. I mentioned to him that for many years as a Christian and also non Christians with high standards had to listen to the endless swearing of Senior Managers and sexual inuendo's.
He then said that he had been specially recruited by the ANZ to bring in the f... this and f..that culture in the ANZ IT department. Would this be true , have standards dropped so much in an organization like that and that Top Management are only interested in the financial results , not in how they are obtained? I was waiting for an apology from him, which I never received, so decided to leave the Dutch FB List.
I wonder if Mr.Mike Smith, CEO of the Bank could comment on professional standards of the staff he employs.
In conclusion you will agree with me that it is real challenge for Christians to practise what they preach in the workplace. Offcourse during working time we dont stand on our desks and preach the word. But could we not be respected because of our beliefs? I had the opportunity to work also as a contractor for NAB , Telstra and in the past work in Amex Card Services , but the environment was always professional . Offcourse we had the odd joke , but there was no cursing all day.
After ANZ I chose to run my own webdesign busines and decided to embark on some years of religious studies in order to be ordained Priest in the ACC. I thank God for the opportunities. This business haunted me during the week , I had to pray about it and felt that I needed to write up this in my blog.
Could we pray for all those Christians who have similar problems in the workplace?Things can be very very difficult.
Because of my sin , I remain an unworthy servant of the Lord , but I love Him and strive for Holiness, why dont you join me on that journey, you never regret it.
Amen
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo Australia
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