In a recession our actions communicate what the gospel really means to us

We communicate with more than words as followers of Jesus. How we respond to stress or the needs of other,  if we hoard or give sacrificially, all of these actions preach a message far more powerful than the flashest website or colorful PR money can buy. During this recession or any time of challenge and struggle, the message of our actions is amplified, as this little poem reminds us. It’s something I memorized years ago and I’m afraid I don’t know the author or title, but here it is:

We are writing a gospel, a chapter each day
By the things that we do and the things that we say.

People read what we write,
Distorted or true.

What is the gospel,
According to you?

Though many situations can be difficult and challenging, let’s look at the one that is the foundation of many other difficulties people are experiencing during this recession: Job Loss.  Then I’ll follow with some suggestions what to do and what not to do as a church and as individual members of Christ’s body in our world if we want to communicate the sacrificial love of Jesus during this time.

Recognize all that a job loss involves

Losing a job means the loss of much more than income, though that alone is an immense hardship. A job loss means loss of identity—you don’t know who you are anymore, your role, or how you fit into society; you don’t know what to say when people ask what you do.

It means a loss of friends—many jobs today demand total loyalty and commitment and for someone who has worked 60-hour weeks for more than a decade has no doubt developed strong relationships with the people with whom you spent so much time. Suddenly those friends, are gone, especially those who retain their jobs. To people who previously said they couldn’t live without you, people you considered your friends, you suddenly are a pariah to be avoided at all costs. It hurts and it’s lonely.

Some people knew a layoff was coming and were able to prepare; others were blindsided and shown the door without warning. Some people have continuing benefits and unemployment; a vast number of freelancers and independant contractors have nothing. 

What the church can do

There is a balance here. On the one hand we need to communicate clearly that God is sovereign. Nothing happens without his knowledge and overwhelming love. At the same time we know that being a recepient of God’s love and care does not mean things will be easy. Job did not suffer his trials because he was sinning; he suffered because he was a blameless man in God’s sight.  

We should never lie to people. Our best life is not now, but in heaven. We will suffer. Jesus did. Paul did. It never gets easier. When you look at the lives of those greatly used by God in the Bible, few lived to a comfortable old age. Life for many saints was always difficult and many ended their lives in disappointment and seemingly unfair, lonely deaths (see Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, all the disciples, many of the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11).

What then should we, as a church do? Some suggestions:

Again, a balance is vital and prayers for wisdom, that we discern what God wants us to do, what we should not do, that we follow his will are so important. We never know what God wants to do in another’s life; we never know why God does what he does.

What we do know is that God will judge us for how we act towards others in difficult situations. I was thinking recently about the Lord’s words where in both the Old and New Testaments and his comments that “you will always have the poor with you.” We know the Lord could remove all poverty from the earth any time he wants and someday he will. Why doesn’t he do it now?

I don’t know, can’t presume to know all the answers to this, but part of the answer does seem to be a test of those who have abundance to see what we do with what we have when we see our brothers in need. In a very clear preview of the final judgements of God in Matt. 25. This passage shows with frightening clarity that  how we act towards those in need is a priority to our Lord, one he literally takes quite personally.

How we act will also communicate a message to a world that carefully watches how Christians act. Nothing grabs people’s attention more than how you use your time and money.

Some suggestions on how to act to those who have lost their jobs:

• Be encouraging. Remind people who have lost a job that God may be directing them to new avenues of service and trust. When people start new jobs,  businesses, and careers, they need lots of love and encouragement.
• Pray for people—that God will meet practical needs in extraordinary ways and that their faith would be strengthened and their hearts encouraged during this time.
• Spend time with people—in every loss from a death, to job loss as mentioned previously, the loss of relationships is primary. People are lonely in times of loss and if you can’t help in tangible ways, help with time. Taking an unemployed person to lunch or a couple out to dinner just for fun can be a tremendous encouragement.
• Actively help. Network; help the unemployed find work. Hire them if you can; refer them if possible. Retrain them if you have the ability. Pay for retraining. Keep them accountable and encouraged. Make a house payment; give a grocery gift card. Take their kids to the dentist. Pay for medical care. Buy clothes.
• Don’t forget homeless shelters, food banks, any group that serves those in need. Their challenges expand at times like this. Think outside the obvious. Homeless folks need clean underware; consider a “Tidy-Whitey Drive.” Don’t forget the ladies also.
• Whenever you spend money on yourself or your family, think about if you could do this if you were unemployed. If not, do it for another family.
• All of the previous suggestions presuppose that you know your brothers and sisters in Jesus well enough to be aware of their needs. If you don’t, start there.
• Keep doing all these things. In many times of challenge such as a job loss or illness, peope sometimes help those in need for a few weeks or maybe a month or so, but if the issue isn’t quickly resolved they lose interest.  The current job situation may not get better for a long time. Remember to “not grow weary in well-doing.”
• The longer a person goes without work the harder life becomes for that person, don’t abandon them.

If you do these positive things, your world will notice. This recession is a challenging time and incredible opportunity for God’s people to communicate to the world around them about the love of Jesus.

As the people of God, what not to do

The basis for the suggestions that follow come from Paul’s extended discussion of giving in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, a passage often greatly misinterpreted in churches. In this passage, Paul is collecting an offering for the poor believers (not church staff or his staff or for him) in Jerusalem. We don’t know all the details of why they were in need (as we often don’t know all the reasons why some folks are in need today) and Paul does not seem to think that it is important for us to know. His approach could be summed up in 2 Cor. 8:13,14:

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality.

Some practical applications of this passage follow. Warning—these suggestions might be offensive to some.

• Don’t hoard. Some people are in severe need right now. If you have the means to help; you should help. One example: if a child has a severe dental problem, it won’t get better in time and if the parents do not have the money to fix it, they need help. “Oh, but to help I would have to dip into my savings,” someone might reply. Yes, if you have savings and you are aware of a need in a fellow believer and are able to meet it, you need to do that. Now.
• Don’t ignore people’s needs and pretend everything is OK.
• As a church staff, be very careful how you handle finances. If your budget cuts consist of laying off staff without significant salary reductions of those making the largest salaries, you are no different than the big banks who continue to pay outrageous bonuses to top executives, while laying off  lowly tellers. It is a matter of scale only. People see what you are doing and selfishness mocks the gospel.
• Don’t flaunt your wealth, freedom, and leisure. Many senior pastors today make very large salaries and are the last to be touched by a recession. This is not the time to go on a cruise or to take extended vacations. Or to brag about your golf game in the morning service.
• Don’t complain about cutting back on luxuries. If for example, you have always taken three weeks a year with your extended family on vacation in Hawaii, don’t consider it a hardship and loudly complain about it, if you have to take them to a stateside resort this year.
• Consider big purchases carefully. If men in your Bible study are without work, don’t brag about buying your new mega truck, which you buy every year. Think about putting off the purchase and helping a brother. 
• If you have excess of anything, share. Many families today have more cars than they do people in the family. If a car breaks beyond repair for a person out of work, it is a tragic loss. Consider giving away a vehicle. To see someone in need and to say, “Oh, we just love this van, it’s been in the family such a long time,” as an excuse to keep one of five vehicles for two people, doesn’t not exactly shout the love of God. 

As may be apparent in the examples above, all of these situations took place recently.  The world sees and takes note, not only of the kind and generous things done by people who name the name of Jesus, but also of the selfish things done.

Our lives are always communicating something. In this recession, we have the opportunity to communicate Jesus in ways far more powerful than colorful printing and extravengent websites. Like the little poem says, “what is the gospel, according to you?”