Lord willing, next Monday, I will be speaking at the Business as Mission Conference hosted by Southeastern Bible College in Birmingham. My assigned topic is “Careers for the Kingdom,” and I am supposed to keep pastors in mind as my primary audience members. If you would like a glimpse into some of what I plan to share, you may listen to my podcast HERE.
Though often overlooked, there is a pastoral stewardship related to shepherding people into the marketplace. The Church has abandoned young adults when it comes to making one of the most important life decisions. The Church speaks into matters such as deciding to follow Jesus and who to marry (other major life decisions), but completely ignores the decision of obtaining marketable skills and degrees. Family traditions, whims of youth, and secular guidance counselors usually take the lead. Tragic.
For those of you new to the blog (please consider subscribing), here are some of my previous posts on this topic:
Call Your People to Marketable Skills and Degrees
Shepherd Your People to the Marketplace
Tentmaking: A More Expected Way
I recently came across an important article in Forbes addressing 4 needed skills in the marketplace today. These fall into the category of “soft skills,” and are in addition to technical skills. As noted in the article, 1) leadership, 2) communication abilities, and 3) collaboration are desired by employees today. However, the four that many people overlook include:
- Attention
- Curiosity and Commitment
- Agility
- Humility
Check out the article and share with your students, parents, and student leaders. It will assist you in equipping parents and students for the local and global marketplace–where many of the 5 billion live and work.