How To Survive A Layoff

We will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
–Romans 14:10

In his book “The One Percent Doctrine,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind described how the U.S. government’s response to terrorist threats changed dramatically after the events of 9/11. Before that historic day, government officials would assess the probability of a certain threat occurring and would respond accordingly. If, for example, there were a 90 percent chance that the threat would occur, then they would take evasive action. However, if the probability were 30 percent, the threat was usually ignored.

But that changed after 9/11. Two months later, government officials learned that Osama bin Laden had met with a nuclear scientist, trying to obtain a nuclear weapon to use against the United States. During a meeting in the White House Situation Room, Vice President Dick Cheney said America had to learn how to deal with a new kind of threat: a “low-probability, high-impact event.” Cheney said, “If there’s a one percent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response.” In other words, if there was just a one percent chance that a high-impact event would take place, we would treat it as a certainty and act accordingly.

Let’s take that one percent doctrine and apply it to another area of life. Are you 100 percent sure that one day you are going to be judged by God? The fact is, most of us are not 100 percent sure there is a heaven and a hell. Most of us have doubts from time to time. The mistake most people make is saying, “Since I am not 100 percent sure, I will ignore it and just see what happens.” But the one percent doctrine says if there is even a one percent chance that a high-impact event is going to happen, then you ought to treat it as a certainty and respond accordingly.

So let me rephrase the question: Do you think there is at least a one percent chance that you are going to stand before God in judgment? If you believe there is a one percent chance that is going to occur, Jesus says you ought to treat that event as a certainty and prepare accordingly. That is the theme of the parable we are going to look at this week: the parable of the shrewd manager.

This is one of Jesus’s most confusing parables to a lot of people. But the truth He was teaching in this parable is simply this: a wise person uses present opportunities to prepare for eternity.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “How To Survive A Layoff” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Ron Suskind, “The One Percent Doctrine” (New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007), 61-62.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org