When Christian Nurses & Midwives was launched I was working for the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) as their Staff Worker for student nurses and midwives (Christian Student Nurses & Midwives, or CSNM). Since then I have worked in a central London church as their women’s worker; got married; seen a little of missionary work in Latin America; been privileged to study theology for a couple of years at Oak Hill Theological College alongside my husband, and have spent the last three years getting to grips with being a mother to a lively little boy.
During this time I think the question that has been looming ever larger in my mind is what does it really mean to say 'Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men', (Colossians 3:23). What difference does the gospel really make to the way we live and think, to our priorities and values on a day to day basis?
When I took up the post of Staff worker for CSNM I inherited the organisation of a conference entitled Counter-Cultural Living. I don’t think I realised then the enormity of this phrase, or the astute diagnostics behind its selection as a conference theme; In particular in my three years as a women’s worker I saw on a daily basis the way in which the gospel had become something we added to our lives instead of the thing that transforms every bit of our lives.
It is all too easy to begin with the situation we find ourselves in and then ask how does the gospel apply? How do I act as a Christian faced with these set of circumstances? But in truth Jesus says to us seek first his [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Instead of saying “I am Christian in a place where I cannot talk to my patients about Jesus, so how then should I conduct myself?” we should be saying “Can I be a Christian in a place where I cannot talk to my patients about Jesus?” This will inevitably mean making the kind of sacrifices that we’re unused to making (for example are there jobs that Christians ought not to be doing?), and trusting God in a way we’re unused to trusting Him (how will people in those places come to faith without us there to witness to them?).
CNM has tried to support and encourage its members in this task of counter-cultural living within the workplace. I pray that it has been of help to its members over the past ten years, but sadly we have always struggled to increase our membership and so our impact on the profession has been minimal. Given the current anti-Christian enviroment, the need for CNM has never been greater because it has never been harder to be a distinctively Christian nurse or midwife.
One thing I think CNM can do is to encourage our churches to help us more specifically in this task of approaching our work Christianly and then to be ready to support us when we face serious trouble at work as a result. This will help CNM members lead the way in restoring the gospel to the heart of healthcare and should encourage other Christian nurses and midwives to join the vision of CNM and count the cost of discipleship.
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