Last year Harvard Business Review published an article, “Thriving in the Gig Economy.”
They noted that around 150 million people in North America and Western Europe have left the more traditional workforce to become independent contractors, that is, to join the Gig Economy. In addition to them, many of today’s workers have their regular jobs plus a side gig, with an estimated 35 percent of millennials doing a side hustle. They drive for Uber or Lyft. Others rent their cars through Turo or their homes through Homeaway.com and are involved in many different enterprises: Zazzle, Fiverr, Vayable and Tradesy.
I’m in favor of side gigs. I love them! You can make extra money or simply dig into a passion. Photography is one of my side gigs. And with young people facing a trillion dollars in student loans, extra money is sorely needed by many.
I love side gigs and recommend them. In the work world, a side gig we are passionate about can even turn into our main gig. This is wonderful!
But in the spiritual realm, our God has only one unchanging main gig: he is a loving Father, and he wants to bring his children home. In the New Testament in our Bibles, Paul says the world was created the way it is to inspire our hearts to reach out to God because we are his children. God knew how this world would turn out. If he created us with free will we would be able to love him. He also knew that would allow us to turn our backs on him and each other and there would be pain and loneliness, suffering and goodbyes. But even those parts of our existence he permitted. He did so in hopes they would drive us to seek him and come back home.
This is why Jesus came to earth. He came to open a way for all God’s children to come home. And by all, God means all. The Bible is clear. God loves everyone. God loves every person in every corner of the world who ever lived or ever will live.
This means anything we can do to help someone else get home is a part of the main Gig. This means that every smile, every kindness, every service, every good word, every ounce of faithfulness that in any way, shape, or form helps someone else is a part of the main gig and is not a side gig. Jesus summed it up in two simple commands: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. And one reminder: Don’t forget that Jesus defines your neighbor as anyone who needs help, not just the person next door.
Ed Viesturs, a Mt. Everest guide who witnessed some die on the mountain, said this: “Getting to the top is optional, but getting down is mandatory. A lot of people get focused on the summit and forget that.”
Don’t lose focus and die in the side gigs. Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Sunday Bible classes for all ages are held at 10 a.m. at Kenai Fellowship. Sunday worship at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday meal at 6:15 p.m. Worship and Bible classes at 7 p.m.
• By MINISTER RICK CUPP, Kenai Fellowship
