Where are the "Subs"?

 
In September, I participated as a guest speaker at a Leadership Summit in Kampala, Uganda. The local host of the summit, Bishop Alex Mitala, in his session, used a very familiar scripture found in Matthew 9:37-38, where Jesus puts out a prayer request. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest , therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Bishop Mitala then suggested that when Jesus spoke those words, He was the only worker in the harvest field. However, that is no longer the case. The prayer has been answered. There are now an estimated one billion Christians in the world - a massive labor force by any standard.
The idea that Christ’s prayer for workers had been answered was a new one for me, and I have pondered it often since. With one billion workers, one would think the fulfillment of the Great Commission should be a snap. But that is not what has happened. The reality - certainly in America - is, that too many of those workers are not engaged in the harvest. We faithfully pray the prayer, but don’t often consider that we too are the answer to the prayer.
In one of His parables about the vineyard, Jesus talks about workers lounging in the marketplace. (Matthew 20) The owner of the vineyard asks them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" Their response is telling. "Because no one has hired us." In other words, there was no one who pointed them in a direction and gave them something to do.
I’m convinced that the greatest need in the Western church is not for more teaching. Rather it is for godly leaders who have the capacity to release God’s people into meaningful ministry. I think there are many in the church who would gladly serve, if they could only discover where their gifts intersect with their faith. May the Lord grant us more "sub-contractors" who know what needs to be done and can put millions of God’s willing people to work.
Pastor Bo Melin