I saw a post on one of my social media feeds a while back which claimed to be an account of a shortlisting exercise for a job vacancy. The author of the post described their shock as the recruiting manager picked up the pile of applications they had received and threw the top half of the pile straight into the bin, saying, “I can’t work with unlucky people!”
This is probably not a true story, but where there are far more applicants than vacancies, busy recruiters must find a way of making their shortlisting process manageable. Sadly, some roles attract no applicants, like the vacancy for the Rector for the five parishes of the Beane Valley Benefice, leaving yours truly, as Rural Dean, overseeing them for a little longer yet, but it is not normal outside the church for jobs to receive no applications. Many employers now require online applications and are using AI to screen the candidates in the first instance. Some may be appalled by this, but there are clearly advantages. Technology can be programmed to look for specific things within the applications like continuity of service or the proliferation of spalling mostukes (who wants to employ a journalist who will require the proofreader to work overtime?!). Employers may want to select only candidates with certain academic qualifications (either over or under a particular level of education). Good recruiters will quickly scan applications for things like this, of course, but technology can do it much faster. And that’s good for busy recruiters – it allows them to concentrate on the best and most suitable applications (where “best” and “most suitable” are defined beforehand in relation to the role). This is not the same as throwing away lots of potentially viable applications – it’s just doing more quickly what human recruiters do.
Like employers spend time considering in advance of any recruitment process the qualities for which they are looking in a prospective candidate, God has a predefined set of criteria by which he determines which people he should love. The list of criteria is very short. In fact, it is a single criterion: God has chosen to love people who are human. We see this plainly expressed in what is perhaps one of the most famous verses in the Bible, John chapter 3 verse 16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In the context of John’s Gospel, “the world” does not mean “planet earth” but “people who have turned their back on him and tried to live in the world he created without reference to him.” God has advertised eternal life and is looking for applications from everyone – even those who have previously ignored him or been hostile to him. Nobody is excluded from his offer. Everyone can benefit. And applying is simple, too: we don’t have to prove ourselves with academic qualifications or years of experience – we don’t even need to fill in an online form! All we need to do is trust in his one and only son. What will you do with this lifechanging offer?
May the love of God move you to respond.
Image by Andrea Polini from Pixabay