Where Are the Workers?

Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that’s not afraid to tell you what it really thinks about your homemade meatloaf.

In the last article, Straining at Gnats, I answered questions on the blog. If interested, you can check them out there.

Now for today’s subject.

Many years ago, a godly woman who became part of the ministry of Watchman Nee is reported to have asked the Lord repeatedly, “Where are the workers?”

She regularly interceded for God to raise up young men to be workers to raise up His ekklesia.[i]

(This isn’t a slight against women who are equally a part of the priesthood of all believers. In fact, this woman was a missionary herself as well as a stalwart saint in the kingdom. But her specific burden was for young men in the lineage of the Twelve and the men Paul trained in Ephesus.)

As the years roll by, this same question and prayer beats in my own heart.

I meet a lot of young men who are in ministry or who are going to seminary. But so few have spiritual insight and experience. So few have a deep hunger for the Lord Jesus Christ. So few gravitate to the deeper things of God or even recognize them when they’re presented, despite their schooling, degrees, zeal, and ability to speak publicly.

Back in January, we released a new episode on THE INSURGENCE PODCAST. Many of you said it was the best interview you’ve heard me do to date, some hearing it multiple times.

In it, a dean and professor at Asbury Theological Seminary grilled me with questions that no other interviewer has ever asked.

One of them had to do with this prayer – where are the workers?

Another has to do with my vision for a ministry dream team.

During the interview, I also respond to questions about my old books on radical church restoration.

If you are in ministry, know people who are, or have a heart to serve the Lord, I hope you’ll take the time to listen to it. And share it with any young people you know who are called to God’s work.

Check out the full interview at Needed: A Ministry Team. The interview is preceded by a short introduction.

*** If you or someone you know is going through a difficult trial right now, check out the new book, Hang On, Let Go: What to Do When Your Dreams Are Shattered and Life Is Falling Apart ***

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[i] The term “worker” is used throughout the New Testament to refer to the apostolic work of planting kingdom communities. For details, see Finding Organic Church which discusses the differences between “the work” and “the church.”