“We can’t get enough quality people with adequate work force skills, complained the 400 major corporations contacted for a recent survey. They indicated they will need to expand their work force by ten per cent but said there is a challenge in getting the right people. This happens while there are still a few people who do not have a job!
It occurred to me that the Lord has the same problem. In the parable in Matthew 20: 1-16 becoming a Christian is described as being like hiring to work in a vineyard. The problem is congregations today is not a lack of people to get the jobs done that need to be done. The problem is “finding quality people with adequate workforce skills” and with the willingness to use their skills in a spiritually rewarding way.
Souls are being lost today because so many Christians are spectators instead of participants in the great work the Lord has commissioned us to do.
“In a large house some dishes are made of gold or silver, while others are made of wood or clay. Some of these are special and others are not. That’s how it is with people. The ones who stop doing evil and make themselves pure will become special. Their lives will be holy and pleasing to their Master, and they will be able to do all kinds of good deeds.” II Timothy2:20-21.(Contemporary English version).
In the secular workforce, acquiring a skill is matter of sacrificing the time and money to get the training required. A little bit of training can make a world of difference in one’s quality of life because the ability to earn is multiplied.
In the church we have workshops and seminars and training meetings and Bible classes—well you get the picture. All of these are poorly attended. And still the majority of the members of any congregation I know about are standing around saying, “no man hath hired us!” And yet a guaranteed formula for success is given. The Holy Spirit says, “If you will add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love…it will make you to be not idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:5-11.
