[Darris McNeely] Would you take a job for $30 an hour? Thirty dollars an hour. I think I would. I think that would allow me to have a living wage. Would you believe that people are turning down jobs today in the United States that pay up to $30 an hour? Employers cannot find workers to fill jobs in certain locations, even at $30 an hour.

I was looking at a recent article in "The Wall Street Journal," written by Daniel Henninger, and he was talking about this particular problem of America's work ethic is dying. And talking here about the gulf between the jobs that are available and the people that aren't taking those jobs largely because of the $300 a week unemployment insurance checks that people have been receiving during this COVID pandemic crisis, and all the bills that have been passed and the money that is flowing out of the government in Washington. Employers are having to compete with government money, Uncle Sam's money, as this article brings out. And employers just can't find people.

You've probably seen some of this in your own neighborhood, in some of your own situations. I was trying to get a load of dirt delivered to my house a few weeks ago by a landscape company. And they put it on delay for several days because as the man told me, "I can't get anybody to work." And I've heard that story many times and probably you have as well. People are refusing to work.

And this is something that is new, especially in the United States, where we have a very strong work ethic and where we have had many jobs paying good money. But it seems that the impact of the COVID and the shutdown of the last more than a year has had some long-term damage and unintended consequences when it comes to the way people view work. We've had people working remotely. And if you're working in a knowledge job, which frankly, I do, I didn't miss a day of work during all of the shutdown. Even though my office was essentially shut down, I could teach via Zoom. I could conduct meetings, do my work on the internet, upload it to the cloud, and other people could download the BT Dailys and other work, and it just kept moving.

But other jobs required a physical presence in certain locations to keep things being produced, keep them being moved. And there's been a great disruption in all of that, as this article brings out. And now it's appearing, even impacting people's ability and desire to even work. Here's one quote from this article, it says, "The authorities built COVID into a 12-month monster, so people naturally sought respite and distractions." The author says, "I believe the pandemic accelerated a transition, evident four years away from the basic concept of daily work toward an emerging idea that life is less about work, more about play. Life is a nonstop game." Again, that's from "The Wall Street Journal" article by Daniel Henninger in today's issue, May 13. But workplace habits have been displaced.

I was looking at another article that was even talking about what actually we're seeing shortages in. It's unbelievable. Copper, chlorine, can you believe, the chemical that we put into our pools to keep them clean, keep them disinfected. There's a shortage of chlorine. There's a shortage of plastics because of having to use them in the production of the COVID vaccine. So there's a shortage for other uses. There's actually a shortage of truck drivers, and getting them trained, and getting them into trucks to carry things to stores. There's been a shortage even of gasoline for other reasons as well. And probably some of you have even heard as I did a few weeks ago, there's even a shortage of ketchup. Why in the world there's a shortage of ketchup, I have no idea. But that's out there as well. In other words, things that people have to go to a factory, to a production facility and stand and work for several hours on end and actually make, package, get out the door, put on a truck, deliver to a store, it's not getting done. There's even a shortage of chickens looming ahead of us. And so, I guess we better stock up on chickens, but don't rush right out to do that.

So, there's a lot that's been going on but probably the most alarming part of the story is people's inability to work. And that reminds me as I think about it of a Scripture that does talk about the value of work and encourages us as Christian disciples to be working, to have a strong work ethic. It's in chapter 3 of the book of 2 Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul is addressing a problem that took place among the disciples there where people were not working. Now, there were reasons possibly for that. Now, they were having persecution. It may be that some even felt that the eminent appearance of Jesus Christ and the Second Coming was going to be soon. And then why work. And it was creating some disorder within the people there.

In 2 Thessalonians 3, what Paul begins to address here, he says, "There are people who walk disorderly, not according to the tradition that you received from us." And then in verse 10, he says, "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10-11). If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. Paul is addressing the importance of having a work ethic and not walking disorderly because when you're not working, you've got time on your hand. And as this article shows, people have had time on their hands. They even estimate that many of the riots that were going on last year in the United States in some of the major cities, the tens of thousands of people in the streets protesting over various matters, most of them weren't working. They were out of work because of the COVID pandemic. It leads to disorderly conduct.That's what Paul is addressing here. And he says that if you're going to be a disciple, you're going to work because that is a Godly ethic to have.

So, as we look at what is taking place in life today, people are not able to hire for certain jobs that have to be done, keeping the economy moving, we're seeing something to develop. I hope that in your life and in your mind, that isn't something that you'll succumb to. Remember what Paul says here, "If one will not work, neither shall he eat." In other words, we should be developing, maintaining, and having a good Godly work ethic.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.