Kingdom Unemployment

June 25, 2012

    We're 134 days away from the Decision. For the next 133 days, really smart people will be meeting behind closed doors trying to nail down the key issues, and where their guy stands in relationship to them…
    By everyone's assessment – leading up to Election Day, 2012 – unemployment is one of the top three considerations in the selection of our next crop of leaders.
    Why is that? If you use the simplest data point(s) as a compass, the current unemployment rate is just over 8%; that means that almost 92% of us are working… right?
    That's where it gets dicey. Many are arguing that the books have been cooked; the reported unemployment number doesn't include people who have given up their job search, and are now off the hunt, out of luck, and on the sidelines.
    It also turns a blind eye to the myriad who are underemployed: men and women whose education and/or experience should have placed them up the ladder, but have conceded to work at the bottom of the barrel, just to have a job and create some cash flow. Their sense of self-worth and meaningful contribution were left behind somewhere, in the recent plummet of economic indicators.
    Why is the employment/unemployment issue at the top of the campaign stack? The essence: you cannot have a country claiming to be the leading nation in the world if its people aren't working at the top of their game.

    You don't have to be James Carville or Karl Rove to understand those simple concepts. The incumbent – or, candidate – who presents the most convincing case for getting people back to work, positioned in a role that matches their potential, is most likely to prevail on November 6^th.
    So… let me take your keen insight about that cultural topic and transfer the conversation to another people group: not the citizens of the United States… but, rather, the citizens of the Kingdom. The question of the moment: what is the current unemployment rate in the Kingdom?
    How healthy would America be if the only jobs that really counted were government positions? A great debate rages on that issue, today: economic stimulus that seeks only to hire more public servants is blind to the larger question of private sector vitality. In the same way, the Kingdom suffers when the health of the movement is measured by the number of ministers and missionaries on the payroll. They're crucial… but, the engagement of the non-professionals in the work of the Kingdom is the more critical matter!
    God's economy is really a faith enterprise: He promises deferred-compensation – in heaven – for  any efforts on His behalf that are not remunerated here on earth. Christians who believe that are willing to wait for their payday, on That Day.
    The essential question: what are the real numbers today, in God's Kingdom? Relative to the work of the Kingdom – and, measuring the citizens of the Kingdom – how many are actively involved in living their calling? How many are under-employed – just doing something that keeps them busy, but under-leveraged and not-at-all maximized regarding their gifts and talents – and unfulfilled? And, the key indicator: what's the percentage of Kingdom citizenry who are unemployed… and collecting their unemployment benefits every Sunday from the folks who work – as a career – at a ministry?
    We – The Master's Program – work with Christians who are leaders… and are unemployed or underemployed in the Kingdom. Men and women who often find more current fulfillment from their marketplace life than they do their eternal life are our focus; the Kingdom will operate like a third-world Banana Republic until its brightest-and-best are deployed to their God-given roles…
    Vote well on November 6^th; the future depends on the decisions we'll make in America. In the meantime, what are you doing about the Kingdom employment crisis?
     
Bob Shank