Bible Question:

My boss gives me a hard time at work quite often and I guess mocks me because I'm a Christian. It seems he's harder on me than on some other employees who are not Christians. When he starts to be negative or rude, I just pray that he goes home early and that God will help me through that day. God does, but it's really hard. I struggle with this every day I go into work. Sometimes he'll have a snide remark about my truck cause I have JESUS FREAK on the front and other Christian stickers on the back. It is getting harder and harder to stay strong and not say something about his negativity and mocking. I have started praying and having others pray for me also. How should I respond?

Bible Answer:

Here is a verse from the Sermon on the Mount that should comfort you.

Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NASB) Matthew 5:11-12

You are not alone for the prophets and many disciples have suffered before you.
There has been a great “cloud of witnesses” – faithful men and women (Hebrews 11:35-12:1) who have suffered. We do not suffer because others hate us, but because they hate Jesus (Mark 13:13).

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (NASB) John 15:18-19

Your calm, prayerful reaction to your boss is exactly what God wants. It finds favor with God.

For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. (NASB) 1 Peter 2:19-20

Shall I Leave My Job?

You asked if it is okay to look for another job. This is a good question, “Should I stay and suffer?” The answer is actually provided to us by Jesus when He told His disciples how to respond to persecution.

But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next . . . (NASB) Matthew 10:23

Here are a number of examples.

How should I respond when my boss mocks me at work?
SITUATIONMAIN PASSAGE
Joseph, Mary & Jesus flee to Egypt . . .Matthew 2:13
Jesus hears that John had been taken into custody and withdraws to Galilee . . .Matthew 4:12
Pharisees counsel how they might destroy Jesus and Jesus, aware of this, withdraws from there . . .Matthew 12:14-15
A crowd rose up, cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill in order to throw Him down the cliff. But Jesus slipped through their midst . . .Luke 4:29-30
Jesus was unwilling to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him . . .John 7:1
They planned together to kill Him, so Jesus therefore no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews. . .John 11:53-54
The ethnarch of the Damascenes plotted to kill Paul. So Paul’s disciples helped him escape by lowering him in a large basket over a wall . . .Acts 9:24-25 2 Cor. 11:32
Saul led a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem; and they scattered to the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles . . .Acts 8:1

Proverbs also has a few words for us.

The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it. (NASB) Prov. 22:3

A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naive proceed and pay the penalty. Prov. 27:12

Spiritual Principle – Godly Christians Will Suffer 

The principle we can learn from these passages is that Christians will suffer, but God does not expect us to seek suffering, nor does He expect us to remain in an environment of suffering. There are times when there is no choice but to remain and suffer. There are times when Christian children suffer from non-Christian parents. There are times when Christian wives and husbands are married to non-Christian spouses and God wants them to remain (1 Cor. 7). But when it comes to a job situation where you can leave and you want to leave, you are free to leave unless God blocks your doors of opportunity.

Conclusion:

We will pray with you and ask God to “open the door” to another job if that is what He wants for you.

Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord . . . (NASB) 2 Corinthians 2:12

. . . praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ . . . (NASB) Colossians 4:3

I will also ask God to close every opportunity if He wants you to remain. May I encourage you to read “Seeking God’s Will”

Let me close with this true story. The French reformer, Theodore Beza, made a famous response to King Henry of Navarre, “Sire, it is truly the lot of the Church of God, for which I speak, to endure blows and not to strike them. But may it please you to remember that the church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers.”

Suggested Links:

Persecuted for Jesus
Blessed Are The Persecuted