Christian Unemployment Rates Soar to 98%

Christian Unemployment Rates Soar to 98%

by Grant Gaines

“Christian Unemployment Rates Soar to 98%!” might very well have been the lead story on the front page of The Heaven Times – Heaven’s number one newspaper – this morning.

No, The Heaven Times may not be real, and no, our earthly unemployment rate for Christians isn’t quite that bad, but how are we doing on our God-ordained job? And while on the subject, what is our God-ordained job?

To answer that question we look to Jesus and His final words to His disciples before ascending to Heaven. That takes us to Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) where Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That’s the Great Commission. Or in a sense, the ongoing advertisement God runs in the “Jobs” section of The Heaven Times for every single one of His followers. So that is our God-ordained job, but just how well are we doing at that job?

Sadly, the results don’t look too good. According to research done Campus Crusade for Christ, only 2% of Christians share their faith on a regular basis.  If we agree that Jesus gave The Great Commission not only to His disciples who were standing with Him at the time, but also to all of His followers in the future (including you and me), then by the looks of things, the Christian unemployment rate is hovering around 98% right now.

That’s not just bad, that is staggering! And like it is with any bad news, we tend to ask ourselves “why”?

The answer of that question has wide reaching roots that find themselves in the soil of excuses. The excuses for why we don’t share the gospel with others can seemingly outnumber the stars.

“I’m afraid of being rejected or offending someone.”

“I don’t have the time to go on a mission trip”

“I don’t know enough of the Bible to share about Christ with someone else.”

The list goes on and on and on. Each one of us have our excuses as to why we aren’t fulfilling our duty in The Great Commission, but we like to call them “reasons” and not “excuses”. The problem is that God has taken away every possible reason we could think of not to share the gospel. So all we are left with are a pile of excuses.

You see, God knew it wouldn’t always be easy to share our faith so He went ahead and supplied us with everything the job requires. God answers our prayers for courage in 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT), “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” He solved our problem of not having enough time or air miles to go on a mission trip half way around the world when He says that we are to always be working for Him no matter where we are (Ephesians 5:15,16 and Colossians 3:17). God tells us not to worry about knowing how to answer our critics when we share the gospel with them because, “At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matt 10:19-20, NIV).

Do you have a reason for not sharing the gospel? God has a solution for you in His Scriptures. But just as the saying goes, “You can bring a horse to the water but you can’t force him to drink,” God can offer you all of the resources you need, but He is not going to force you to take them. God allows us to choose if we want to use the gifts He has provided to accomplish the job He has commissioned.

Think about it. Eleven uneducated, poor, thirty-something-year-old fishermen took the same job we are offered to spread the gospel, and with the help of the same God who is helping us, changed the world!Acts 17:6 says the gospel of Jesus Christ was spreading so powerfully that it, “…turned the world upside down.” (ESV)! That’s the message we get to share! It sells itself!

So the bottom line is this: God is looking to hire. In fact, He has already looked over your resume and offered you the job. He’s providing you with all the tools you need for the job but He does have one last question for you…

“When can you start?”

Comments?  Questions?  Suggestions?

Email Me

©Grant Gaines 2013