How Jesus dealt with a labour shortage.

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Many churches and Christian groups struggle to find enough people to do things.

Jesus had the same problem. And we can learn a lot from how he solved it.

He said in Luke 10: 2, just before he sent his followers out on mission: 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’

So, his answer was to get people to pray. That makes sense. It's easy to get sidetracked into praying for the harvest first. But that’s pointless if you don’t have enough workers to gather it.

But Jesus also did something else - the opposite of what you’d expect.

Rather than rush around trying to find volunteers, he reduced his workforce.

In Luke 9 57-62, he weeded out the uncommitted and said in v62: 'No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” That was before he sent out the 72.

Like Gideon centuries earlier, Jesus found that you can do more with fewer committed people. In fact it’s the non-committed who often take up most of your time. They're not disciples, they're just followers.

Less is best

After reducing his workforce, Jesus mobilised the ones who were left. Up to then he had just sent out 12 disciples. But now he sent out six other groups of 12 ... that's 72 in all. I suspect most of them were in the upper room at Pentecost and formed the nucleus of the Jerusalem church.

That’s why I never worry when I see figures about the decline in Christianity. God has never needed many people. The challenge for us is to make sure we don’t look back now that we have put our hands to the plow.

Cleland Thom

Cleland leads Freedom House, a prayer mission based in the UK.