A Gospel Perspective on Work Post-PandemicSýnishorn

Since Disney’s Encanto was released, the movie has been played an embarrassing number of times in the Raynor household. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the gist.

Encanto is the story of the Madrigal family who lives in an enchanted house that magically blesses each family member with a unique and extraordinary talent. But as the family’s matriarch frequently points out, those gifts aren’t just to serve the individual or even the family—they are meant to serve the broader community outside the family’s magical home.

You see it, right? It’s essentially a story about spiritual gifts. And every time I watch the beautiful film, I’m reminded of today’s passage from 1 Peter 2:9.

Here’s the connection. Before Christ, there were rooms in the Temple devoted to storing gifts that the Israelites brought in (see Nehemiah 10:37-39). The people would come into the Temple, and the priest would distribute physical and spiritual blessings to them. But today, “you yourselves are God’s temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16), and all of us are members of the “royal priesthood” called to carry the gifts the Spirit has given us out into the world to be a blessing to others. The gifts God has given us are not meant to be stored away. They are meant to be shared with the world.

That truth should radically transform our perspective on “The Great Resignation,” and the unprecedented rate people are quitting their jobs in the wake of the pandemic. To be sure, many people are handing in their resignations to focus on a better opportunity. Others, especially lower-wage workers, are leaving the workforce temporarily for reasonable concerns for their health on the job. But millions of people are not resigning for these reasons. Many are opting not to work at all or to take early retirement. Believer, I pray that’s not you.

Our world is more broken than ever before. Businesses are struggling to survive. The poor are getting poorer. And every day, thousands of people are dying separated from Christ. Now’s not the time to call it quits and sit on the vocational gifts God has given you. Now’s the time to roll up your sleeves and use your gifts to make the world look more like the kingdom of God.