cover image Christianity 9 to 5: Living Your Faith at Work

Christianity 9 to 5: Living Your Faith at Work

Michael A. Zigarelli. Beacon Hill Press, $14.99 (152pp) ISBN 978-0-8341-1727-3

Zigarelli paints a grim picture of the contemporary workplace: conflict abounds, unfair treatment is commonplace and everyone's out for themselves. Under such conditions, it's not easy to be a good Christian. Zigarelli, professor of human resource management at Fairfield University in Connecticut, explores the various ways that Christians can bring their faith into the workplace. He devotes chapters to such issues as co-worker conflicts, witnessing at work, working for impossible bosses and balancing the demands of family and work. In each of these chapters, he offers responses from the Bible as solutions to the conflicts. For all of his enthusiasm, Zigarelli's book is rarely inspiring or original. He quotes C. William Pollard's The Soul of the Firm at length. In advocating that Christians approach their jobs as a ministry, he never says anything more meaningful than Paul's admonition in Colossians: ""Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord."" (Jan.)