The text messages and emails began arriving in clusters last month, all with a similar message: “Please pray for me; I’ve been laid off.”
I pastor a church near Washington, D.C., where government jobs typically insulate us from economic downturns. Recent policy changes, though, have triggered widespread layoffs among federal employees and contractors, affecting nearly everyone in our congregation. Our church family, once characterized by professional stability, now reflects the face of economic uncertainty.
I should have been better prepared. During the Great Recession, I experienced the gut-wrenching reality of job loss firsthand. I remember the shock of the initial news, the quiet shame of sending out my résumé, the growing anxiety as savings dwindled, and the identity crisis that emerged in the first weeks of unemployment.
Yet despite this experience, I was surprisingly ill-equipped to minister effectively to my congregation in their time of need. The painful lesson I learned is one many church leaders face: Personal experience with hardship doesn’t automatically translate into knowing how to shepherd others through it.
Most pastors and church leaders know exactly what to do when members face a health crisis or the loss of loved ones, but we’re often less equipped to address unemployment. In a culture where “What do you do?” is typically the first question we ask on meeting someone new, the loss of employment can feel like the loss of self. We need to do a better job of acknowledging that unemployment isn’t merely an economic hardship but a spiritual problem that often triggers a profound identity crisis.
Unemployment as Identity Crisis
The church stands uniquely positioned to address this crisis, yet many congregations lack a theological framework for understanding unemployment that moves beyond superficial encouragement or purely practical solutions. When we offer only networking opportunities or financial assistance without addressing the underlying questions of identity and purpose, we miss the chance to minister to the whole person.
What the unemployed need—beyond job leads and résumé workshops—is a renewed understanding of who they are in God’s economy and how their worth transcends their productivity. Without this foundation, even the most well-intentioned assistance may inadvertently reinforce the cultural messages about work and identity that contribute to people’s spiritual distress.
Unemployment isn’t merely an economic hardship but a spiritual problem that often triggers a profound identity crisis.
Scripture provides powerful counternarratives to our culture’s emphasis on productivity. Several psalms affirm our worth based on God’s creative intent rather than on economic output (e.g., Ps. 139:13–14), and Jesus teaches that our value exceeds that of sparrows, for whom God provides despite their lack of economic contribution (Matt. 6:26). Pastors and ministry leaders can communicate these truths through several intentional approaches.
First, we should consider our language around work and success, examining whether our sermons and teachings inadvertently equate productivity with godliness. Do illustrations consistently celebrate professional achievement? Do prayers frequently focus on career advancement? These subtle patterns can reinforce a misguided theology of success. Instead, we should deliberately diversify our examples and explicitly challenge the cultural assumption that our primary identity comes from our occupation.
Second, pastors can develop sermon series or small-group studies that specifically address a theology of work and identity. Rather than addressing unemployment only when it affects members, pastors can proactively teach to establish a biblical foundation before crisis hits. Walking through biblical narratives of those who experienced profound vocational disruption—Joseph in prison, Moses in exile, Naomi returning empty-handed—provides powerful examples of God’s faithfulness during seasons of professional uncertainty.
Third, pastoral counseling should address the identity questions unemployment raises. When meeting with unemployed members, move beyond quick reassurances to deeper exploration: “How has this experience affected how you see yourself? What has it revealed about where you’ve been finding your worth? What might God be inviting you to discover about yourself apart from your professional role?” These conversations create space for the Holy Spirit’s reshaping work in a believer’s understanding of who he or she is in Christ.
Practical Ways to Meet Other Needs
Along with reshaping people’s view of identity, we should meet other needs. Here are three ways we can do that.
1. Avoid platitudes.
Resist giving well-intentioned but harmful clichés like “God has something better in store.” While meant to comfort, these platitudes invalidate genuine grief and can unintentionally communicate a prosperity-gospel message—that God’s favor is demonstrated through economic success. Acknowledging the real pain of a situation affirms people’s experience without tying their identity to their employment status.
This validation creates space for authentic lament, a deeply biblical practice modeled throughout the Psalms. By allowing believers to express genuine pain and not rushing into solution mode, we acknowledge that their worth isn’t diminished by their circumstances.
2. Provide practical help.
Use your congregation’s skills and giftings to offer résumé workshops and networking events or to provide free professional headshots, interview clothing, childcare during job interviews, or temporary office space for job-seekers. Some congregations have created funds for professional association dues or continued education—investments that maintain employability but are often the first cut from tight budgets.
Remember that job loss also affects entire families. Churches can provide counseling for couples navigating these strains, support groups for teenagers adapting to family transitions, and respite care that gives job-seekers focused time for applications while ensuring their families are supported.
3. Offer gospel hope.
The gospel offers distinct hope. While other organizations can offer job training or financial assistance, the church alone can address the spiritual crisis of unemployment by pointing to the truth that our ultimate worth comes from Christ’s work, not our own.
We should examine whether our sermons and teachings inadvertently equate productivity with godliness.
This gospel hope isn’t a vague assurance that “everything will be OK” but a specific reminder that our primary identity rests in being children of God, justified by Christ’s righteousness rather than our productivity. This means helping believers see their situation through God’s larger redemptive narrative and reframe this season as an opportunity for spiritual formation.
Gospel hope also addresses the shame that often accompanies unemployment in our achievement-oriented culture. By emphasizing that all of us—employed and unemployed alike—need the grace and love of God, churches can combat the isolating effects of job loss.
What’s Valued in God’s Economy
When we stand with those who have lost jobs—validating their pain, meeting practical needs, and consistently pointing to their unshakable identity in Christ—we embody the gospel in desperately needed ways. The church that responds to unemployment with theological depth and practical compassion bears witness to a different kingdom, where worth isn’t earned through production but freely given through grace.
In a world increasingly defined by what people do, the church must be the place where people discover who they are: beloved children of God whose value can never be measured by a paycheck or diminished by its absence.
The Gospel Coalition