So many things have changed in my lifetime, I cannot count them all! One of those changes is what is now being called “Outsourcing.” When I was in high school, that word was not in our vocabulary or even in a dictionary. It is a corporate word that describes what has become a 21st Century phenomena.
What corporate America means by outsourcing is that a brand name does not necessarily mean it is made by the branding company. Your phone, watch, computer, or whatever was probably made in China by an unknown entity and then a corporate brand was put on it. Our cars, appliances, indeed much of our “stuff” has been outsourced!
Indeed, the recent Ebola events that have infected several here in my town of Dallas, have an “outsourcing” component to them. When Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who died of Ebola, first came to the Presbyterian hospital emergency room to be treated, he did not know that the emergency room at that hospital was not operated by the hospital. No, it was outsourced to another medical company. Now, two nurses are infected from treating Mr. Duncan, and the question arises as to who is responsible for the ill-conceived precautions in that ER. Someone is responsible- but whom?
This outsourcing habit has carried over into our spiritual lives as well. We are so accustomed to outsourcing, we have even applied it to our Kingdom walk. For example, as a missionary, I find that most of the Christians I know are willing to outsource their personal responsibility to reach the Nations for Christ by letting the “professionals do it.” Most folks outsource by paying others to do it for them. There are multitudes who would not walk across the street to share their faith with a lost neighbor.
We are outsourcing when we passively attend church, give our money and leave with no sense of personal involvement whatsoever. You are not truly giving until you give of yourself in selfless ways. You are living an outsourcing lifestyle when your attitude is “Let the Church Staff do it, that’s what they get paid to do.” This is religious outsourcing and it is as counterfeit as a Rolex watch made in China!
Christ, our Lord, will not allow his followers to outsource responsibility. He says,
“To whom much is given, much is required.” Luke 12:48
He will not permit others to do for me what He desires and commissions me to do. He has provided Holy Spirit presence and power so that I can “in-source” this reserve to do His work in His strength.
Outsourcing may work in the commercial world but not in Kingdom Come economics! He wants you and me be to be real, authentic and accountable at all times.