It's All in Who You Know

If you have been reading my blog the past few weeks, you know that I've moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and you also know that I've been having some trouble finding a job. Well...nothing has really changed in that regard. For the past several days, I really haven't done much except sit around hoping the phone rings with a job opportunity. I feel like one of those college athletes that doesn't actually go to the draft, so they sit at home anxiously waiting for the phone to ring and tell them what team they're going to play for. Up to this point, though, it's looking like I might end up as Mr. Irrelevant.

I've been thinking about why it might be that I'm having so much trouble landing a job (after all, with no job, I've had time to think about all sorts of things). I have come to believe that, when it comes to getting a job, having the right connections matters more than being especially qualified. If you know someone who runs a business, or if you just know someone who works there, then you've got a better shot of being offered a position. On the other hand, if you are just blindly sending applications to dozens of hiring managers who have never heard of you, it becomes much more difficult.

That's my experience in the jobs I have had, anyway. When I worked at Wal-Mart for a summer, it was largely because a guy from my church is one of the managers, and he mentioned the opening to me. When I worked at my college's library, it was because my friend Erin worked there and mentioned to her supervisors that I would be good for it. When I preached at a church in Oklahoma, it was because my friend Sy had been preaching there and was looking for a replacement. And for all three of the church internships, I had a connection with the minister I worked with. So more often than not, it's all about who you know. I could be very qualified for a position, but I might lose it to a snotty-nosed high schooler whose uncle runs the store.

It's about who you know. I think this same principle is true when it comes to us and God, but this time, I think this is a very good thing. We don't get to God because we are qualified for it. We like to think that sometimes. We work really hard at following all the rules and knowing all the right things, and we expect this to impress God. It's like we're handing him resumes and saying, "Be sure to get a good look at my education and my experience and skills. I haven't missed a Sunday of church in twelve years, and I took some classes at Bible college too, and I can parse Greek verbs, and the only curse word I ever say is the D-word...none of the really bad ones."

The bad news is that none of our resumes qualify us for salvation. All of us are under-qualified. Scripture tells us that all of us have sinned and that sin prevents us from being able to come to God. If we depend on all of the things we have done to try to win God's favor, we fail.

The wonderfully good news, though, is that our deeds don't get us to God. It's not about what we've done or haven't done. It's not about what we know. Instead, it's all about who you know. It's about whether or not you know Jesus--whether or not you're connected to the only one who does qualify for heaven. In Galatians 2:16, Paul says that we "know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."

Every couple months, I feel an obligation to quote Donald Miller. Here's what he says in To Own a Dragon: "Heaven and hell are about who you know, not what you do. Who you know saves you from what you did and who you are inside" (138). And we desperately need saving. Isaiah says that even our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags before God. That's not something you would want to wear to a job interview.

This is the beauty of grace. Our salvation doesn't rest on what we have accomplished. It's all about what Jesus accomplished, and it's about whether or not we're connected to him. It's all in who you know. Of course, my intention isn't to give anyone a license for lawlessness, as though the way we live has no meaning. Just today I read a really good chapter in Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace? about such grace abuse. But I also read a good chapter about legalism, which he calls "grace avoidance." And considering how amazing grace is, why would we want to avoid it?