One of the troubling issues of our national economy is the number of people who are not at work.
While the official unemployment statistics are very low, because very few are looking for work, the number on out-of-work benefits has risen to 5.6 million, and growing (The Spectator, 24 February 2024). It seems that since Covid, for whatever reason, many are reluctant to get back to work.
Many Christians seem to be equivocal about the value of daily work. Our churches support pastors and missionaries, and see the importance of church activities and programmes, whether for staff or volunteers. But we are less enthusiastic about ‘secular employment’.We often pray for church workers and evangelists, but rarely for factory workers, engineers, accountants or salespeople. Perhaps we have more sympathy for those in the public sector – at least teachers, medics, and carers are clearly doing good to others, but we are more squeamish about business and enterprise.
