Finding God at Work

Have you ever had to slow down to keep pace with someone else? In this episode of Finding God at Work, Chris considers when love requires us to put on the brakes. Drawing on Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas ("the grandeur of humanity"), Chris celebrates the pope's prophetic clarity for our fast-paced marketplace, confronting our obsession with maximizing efficiency at the cost of human dignity. The encyclical is a timely pastoral word (even for Evangelicals!).

Chris also turns to ancient harvest laws in Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 24, where God commanded Israel not to harvest to the edges of their fields. This required "inefficiency" left margin for the vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. Connecting this to Pope Leo XIV's critique of contemporary economics, Chris challenges the notion that businesses should maximize profits at all costs and figure out how to benefit society later. True justice must shape every decision, including how we build and deploy new technology.

Whether you are an executive weighing AI automation or an employee navigating a tech-saturated office, this episode is a compelling invitation to reconsider the true purpose of work. Through practical reflections on human creativity and supporting colleagues through change, Chris reminds us that business is ultimately a structure of love, and that our highest calling is to align our pace with a God who slows down to walk with us.

Sources:Leviticus 19:9-10 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 24:19-21 (ESV)

Leo XIV. Magnifica Humanitas [Magnificent Humanity]. Encyclical letter, May 15, 2026. Vatican translation.

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5 We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #ArtificialIntelligence #EthicalAI #TheologyOfWork #SpiritualFormation #HumanDignity #RedemptiveBusiness #MarketplaceMinistry #KingdomEconomics #FindingGodAtWork #AI #Formation #Hurry

When we evaluate the vitality of a local church, we typically count heads in pews, measure annual giving, or analyze Sunday volunteer teams. But what happens when a pastor steps back and realizes that his congregation spends forty, fifty, or sixty hours a week in an entirely different domain? For Tom Nelson, former lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Kansas City and founder of Made to Flourish, that realization led to a profound moment of personal repentance; he confessed to his elders and congregation that focusing exclusively on Sunday morning gatherings amounted to a form of "pastoral malpractice."

In this episode of Finding God at Work, host Chris Easley sits down with Justin Mertes, Director of Program Engagement at Made to Flourish: a national network equipping pastors to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom into the heart of their congregations.

What does it take to build a "Church for Monday"? Justin shares insights from Scatter, a survey platform developed by Made to Flourish that gives pastors real-time visibility into the vocational lives of their people. The data reveals the challenges workers are facing: Remote workers feel quiet isolation as they navigate daily labor behind a laptop screen. Many professional believers long to connect with peers in their specific fields. Across the board, everyday Christians are hungering for a church that sets the table, validates their Monday realities, and equips them to serve as faithful witnesses in the marketplace.

Justin articulates a vision rooted in Colossians 1, challenging us to unlearn the sacred/secular divide that limits our spiritual imagination. Whether through simple practices like "This Time Tomorrow" interviews or shifting the way leaders talk about who is "called" and "on mission," Justin offers a rich framework for seeing saints in every vocation—from software engineers and professors to parents and union managers—as active participants in Christ's work of reconciling all things to himself.

Whether you are a pastor longing to shepherd your people well, or a professional seeking to understand how your 9-to-5 fits into God's redeeming story, this episode is an invitation to stop escaping your daily realities and start recognizing the kingdom breaking forth right where you are.

Sources

Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV)

Colossians 1:19-20 (ESV)

Made to Flourish

Scatter

Tom Nelson, Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Morning Work (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011).

Tom Nelson, Why Your Work Matters: How God Uses Our Everyday Vocations to Transform Us, Our Neighbors, and the World (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2025).

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #MadeToFlourish #ChurchForMonday #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #TheologyOfWork #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #RedemptiveBusiness #KingdomEconomics #Ministry #Missions

When preparing to lay the brick and mortar for a new business facility, the engineers and architects make sure the foundation is structurally secure. But when FONA International built its headquarters in Geneva, Illinois, founder Joe Slawek added a beautifully literal foundation: before the concrete was poured, employees placed Bibles beneath the floors of key offices, conference rooms, and factory lines.

In this episode of the Finding God at Work podcast, Chris Easley sits down with Joe Slawek, the founder of FONA, a 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and a Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame inductee. Drawing on decades of executive experience, Joe shares his wisdom across what he calls the "four quarters of life."

Together, Chris and Joe unpack a taxonomy of the marketplace, identifying the five distinct types of entrepreneurs (Hobbyist, Lifestyle, Craftsman, Opportunist, and Specialist) to help you discover where you fit. Joe also shares the interior liberation he found by embracing his role as a "two-talent CEO" from Matthew 25, happily trading the frantic, comparison-driven pressures of Wall Street for local, compound faithfulness.

Under Joe's stewardship, doubling those talents meant investing deeply in human flourishing. By requiring ongoing education for every single employee, FONA created a cyclical engine: growing people grew the customers, and the customers grew the enterprise. Now in his "fourth quarter," Joe reflects on how this metric of multiplication extends beyond a corporate P&L statement into our callings as spouses, parents, and mentors.

Whether you are a young professional enduring the grind of your first 10,000 hours or an executive trying to build an organizational culture that lasts, this episode is a powerful reminder that when your career is built on the foundation of Scripture, daily labor becomes exactly what Joe calls it: love made visible.

Sources

Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)

Joseph James Slawek, Ingredients for Success: 10 Best Practices for Business and Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Handlebar Publishing, 2013).

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #LoveMadeVisible #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #Entrepreneurship #TheologyOfWork #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #RedemptiveBusiness #KingdomEconomics

For many driven professionals, the cultural prescription for career success is simple: push harder, move faster, and accumulate more. We wrap our identities in our productivity, white-knuckling our way through demanding schedules until we find ourselves completely trapped in a toxic cycle of exhaustion.

Alissa Crouse knew this reality intimately. At forty years old, navigating a season of intense personal hardship, she found herself working four simultaneous jobs, desperately running on empty with no clear exit strategy from the burnout. It was only when a close friend challenged her to step out on a limb and launch her own venture that Alissa asked herself a life-altering question: If I'm not going to change my life, who is?

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley sits down with Alissa Crouse, a licensed massage therapist and the founder of Rooted Elevation Wellness in Geneva, Illinois. Alissa shares her journey from a post-grad job hunt during the economic crash of 2008 to the eventual, fragile first year of opening her own practice with zero initial clients.

As a bodyworker, Alissa's daily 9-to-5 provides a vivid picture of what Dallas Willard meant when he called business a "fundamental structure of love in the kingdom of God." In a Western culture that frequently treats the physical body as a spiritual afterthought, Alissa's practice facilitates a deep, holistic healing. By integrating a somatic approach to the nervous system, she helps clients unpack the physical tension, grief, and emotional trauma stored deep within their muscles.

Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur letting go of a secure paycheck to chase a creative outlet, or a professional needing to slow down and listen to the internal nudges of the Holy Spirit, this conversation is an invitation to ground your daily labor in the restorative, unshakeable love of Christ.

Learn more about Rooted Elevation Wellness: https://rootedelevationwellness.com

Sources:

Mark 12:29-31 (NIV)

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (NIV)

Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #RootedInLove #SomaticHealing #TheologyOfWork #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #HolisticHealth #RedemptiveBusiness

Few things crush a professional ego faster than throwing your entire heart into a project, only to watch it completely flop. Chris knows that feeling! In the early days of Mission Central, he spent weeks making phone calls, sending LinkedIn messages, and pulling every relational lever he had to launch a leadership cohort, only for the registration numbers to settle at a devastating zero. In moments like that, our default human conclusion is almost always an indictment of our identity: The project failed, therefore I suck.

As high-achieving professionals, we carry an immense amount of anxiety about our outcomes. We white-knuckle our way through the work week, trying to control every variable.

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris riffs on the difference between lead measures and lag measures to explore the psychological and spiritual experience of failure. A lead measure is something entirely within an employee's control, like the number of calls a loan officer makes to real estate agents in a week. A lag measure, on the other hand, is the ultimate outcome, like the number of loans actually closed. You can track a lag measure, but you cannot directly force it to happen, because other human agents and a shifting environment are always involved.

In the kingdom of God, we not only have the distinction between lead measures and lag measures; we also have divine grace, which works over the course of generations.

Turning to John 4, where Jesus tells his disciples that they are reaping a spiritual harvest for which they did not labor, we see that in the economy of God, the faithful "lead measures" (the sowing) might happen in one generation, while the "lag measures" (the reaping) are held back for a future generation.

This truth helps us detach our existential worth from our immediate professional visibility. If your current project is an overwhelming success, the theology of the harvest reminds you that you cannot take credit for it; you have simply stepped into the generational labor of others. And if your current project looks like a human failure, it frees you from despair. You might just be the faithful sower whose hidden obedience is setting up a harvest you won't see this side of eternity.

Discover how to hold yourself accountable to faithfulness without letting your ego be held hostage by the bottom line. You can release the outcomes to the only one who can make things grow.

Sources: John 4:34-37 (ESV)

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #SpiritualGrowth #ChristianLeadership #Vocation #EgoAndGrace #MindsetMatters #SowingAndReaping #MarketplaceWisdom

How would you explain the meaning of a kiss to an alien who had never seen one?

You could describe it anatomically, of course, or define it abstractly as a symbol of romantic affection. But a kiss isn't experienced as a mere abstraction. It doesn't just represent love; it physically communicates and accomplishes it. It is an embodied, affectionate human act that brings a hidden internal reality into the tangible world. A kiss is sacramental.

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley leans into his own Anglican roots to explore what it means to possess a sacramental worldview in the modern marketplace. While the word 'sacrament' usually brings to mind formal church traditions like baptism and communion, this blending of the physical and spiritual is actually how God habitually operates across the entire universe.

Drawing on the extraordinary account in Acts 19:11-2 when God used everyday handkerchiefs and aprons touched by Paul to heal the sick, Chris discusses the theological implications of the incarnation itself. He connects this story to the wisdom of church father Gregory of Nazianzus, who wrote that, "For that which he has not assumed, he has not healed, but that which is united to his Godhead is also saved." Because Jesus permanently took on a physical human body to save us, the physical material of our world is no longer separate from the divine.

This truth radically transforms how we view the ordinary tasks of our 9-to-5. When a warehouse worker sweeps a messy floor or a custodian cleans an office, they are not just acting out a metaphor of God restoring order to a broken world. Inasmuch as they are working out of love for God and neighbor, that broom becomes an effective sign. God is actually bringing order out of chaos on that specific floor, through that specific person, in real time.

Your job today is not a spiritual afterthought or a secondary calling. It is a lowercase-s sacramental space. It is a jar of clay carrying an invisible, eternal weight of glory, transforming your daily grind from a mere paycheck into an active conduit for the grace and presence of Jesus Christ.

Sources:

John 3:1-8,16-17 (NIV)

Luke 8:43-46 (NIV)

Acts 19:11-12 (NIV)

Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

2 Peter 1:4 (NIV)

Gregory of Nazianzus, "To Cledonius the Priest Against Apollinarius," in Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series, trans. Charles Gordon Browne and James Edward Swallow, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, vol. 7 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894). Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #Sacrament #TheologyOfWork #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #Sacramental #Incarnation #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #OrderFromChaos

Many of us look at the word entrepreneur and picture a distinct archetype: a natural risk-taker, someone driven by economic opportunities and a lifelong dream of building an enterprise from the ground up. But what happens when the calling to build a business comes not from long-standing ambition, but from a quiet, practical necessity to sustain a deeper mission?

You become a reluctant entrepreneur.

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley sits down with Dr. Ben Andrews, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Mosaic Center for Psychological Wholeness. From the time he was a young child, Ben knew he wanted to help people. As he stepped into his work as a therapist, he didn't care about the red tape of insurance, the mechanics of payroll, or the administrative weight of a private practice; he simply wanted to sit with people in their suffering and point them toward restoration. Yet, as life brought the realities of family responsibilities and a desire for flexibility, Ben found himself stepping into a world he had been avoiding: ownership.

Through their conversation, Chris and Ben explore how the clinical landscape changes when you are the one looking at the profit and loss statement. They tackle the delicate tension of monetization in a helping profession; how it feels to attach a dollar amount to a sacred hour of human healing, and the ethical necessity of financially disadvantaging yourself when a therapeutic relationship is no longer bearing fruit.

Ben also shares how running a business has anchored his natural idealism in reality, transforming his understanding of institutions from cold, corporate machines into living organisms that must remain profitable and sustainable if the people gathered around them are to flourish. From his commitment to giving away 10% of his practice's services to the marginalized, to his aspiration that clients leave therapy looking a little bit more like Jesus, Ben provides a beautifully grounded picture of entrepreneurship for anyone stepping hesitantly into business ownership.

Whether you are a fellow reluctant entrepreneur intimidated by the mechanics of starting a venture, or a professional trying to balance the harsh realities of the marketplace with an open, kingdom-minded heart, this episode is a powerful reminder that God can use even the structures we dread to cultivate his hidden work.

Learn more about Mosaic Center for Psychological Wholeness here: https://www.mosaiccenterforpsych.com/

Sources:

Dallas Willard, Called to Business: God's Way of Loving People Through Business and the Professions (Agoura Hills, California: Dallas Willard Ministries, 2018).

Brad D. Strawn, Fuller Seminary

#FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #TheReluctantEntrepreneur #MentalHealthAndFaith #PsychologyAndTheology #Vocation #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #KingdomBusiness #DallasWillard #RedemptiveEntrepreneurship

#TherapyandTheology

Have you ever been sitting in a church service, looked down at the bulletin to see the morning's scripture reading, and internally gasped, "Oh no, not that passage?"

Whether it is a dense theological directive on submission, the daunting call of the Great Commission, or Jesus' uncompromising standard for radical forgiveness, we all have scripture tripping points. We encounter instructions that cut directly against our personalities, our anxieties, or our deepest wounds. In those moments, it is incredibly easy to nod politely on Sunday morning while quietly locking that part of our heart away from God for the rest of the week. We assume that to be a good disciple, we must simply swallow our hesitation and pretend we are entirely on board.

But what if the road to genuine commitment actually requires a healthy dose of conflict?

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley looks at an unlikely tool to diagnose our spiritual sticking points: Patrick Lencioni's business model, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. While Lencioni designed this model to help corporate teams execute their goals, Chris demonstrates how it can also function as a diagnostic for our internal walk with the Lord.

When we find ourselves experiencing a lack of spiritual fruit or a total avoidance of accountability in certain areas of our lives, the root issue is rarely a lack of willpower. More often, it is a fear of conflict. We treat God like a fragile boss we can't disagree with, rather than a loving Father big enough to handle our unfiltered honesty.

Looking at the deeply reverent yet astonishingly blunt prayers of lament in the Psalms and the prophets, Chris invites us to stop hiding our doubts. God doesn't demand a meek, performative agreement; he invites us to wrestle. It is only when we bring our actual arguments, anxieties, and frustrations into the open that we build the deep vulnerability required to move into true, uncoerced commitment.

Whether you are struggling to voice your questions or trying to summon the strength to forgive someone who deeply hurt you, this episode is an invitation to step into the ring. Discover the interior freedom that comes when we trust God enough to engage in healthy conflict.

Sources:

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (NIV)

Psalm 44:9-12,17-19,23-24 (NIV)

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)

Pat Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (New York: Wiley, 2002).

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: PDF from The Table Group

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #SpiritualFormation #PatrickLencioni #HealthyConflict #WrestlingWithGod #Vocation #TheologyOfWork #ChristianLeadership #MarketplaceWisdom #FiveDysfunctions

We have a habit of building beautiful, sacred structures and then assuming they will take care of themselves. In our excitement to build the "new, shiny thing," we frequently forget the quiet, unglamorous work of taking care of what God has already entrusted to us. We build sanctuaries for worship, but we leave the deferred maintenance to pile up until the structure itself begins to dictate, and limit, the ministry we can actually do.

As Winston Churchill observed, "We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us."

In this episode of the A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley sits down with Tim Cool, the founder and CEO of Smart Church Solutions. Tim has spent decades assessing tens of millions of square feet of church buildings, helping local congregations transition from viewing their properties as a line-item expense to treating them as vital tools for ministry.

Tim shares how his business operates as a "structure for love" in real-time. Drawing on his long-standing involvement with C12 and the concept of Business as a Ministry (BAM), Tim explains why true organizational health necessitates caring deeply for your internal team with things like thriving wages and robust support programs, so that love can naturally overflow to the clients you serve.

Tim blends marketplace execution with a deeply pastoral heart. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur counting the cost of a new venture, or a ministry leader rethinking how an old 1950s Sunday school wing can better serve your neighbors today, this episode is a refreshing look at how the nuts and bolts of property management can become an active conduit for the presence of Christ.

CONNECT WITH TIM COOL & SMART CHURCH SOLUTIONS

• Smart Church Solutions on LinkedIn

• Connect with Tim Cool on LinkedIn

• Follow on Instagram

• Follow on Facebook

Sources

Numbers 1:47-53 (NIV)

Dallas Willard, Called to Business: God's Way of Loving People Through Business and the Professions (Agoura Hills, California: Dallas Willard Ministries, 2018).

C12 Business Forums: Christian Business Leadership Coaching

Mission Central Blog Post: "Voluntary 'Poverty' and Freedom from Possessiveness"

Fram Oil Filter Commercial- 1972

Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (New York: Penguin, 2009).

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #BusinessAsMinistry #SmartChurchSolutions #FacilityStewardship #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #RedemptiveBusiness #KingdomEconomics

Not long ago, Chris and his wife Katie—a hospice nurse practitioner—were watching an intense emergency room drama called The Pitt. In one scene, the doctors run a series of lab tests on a critical patient and one of them calls out the results: a potassium level of 12.2. Katie immediately gasped in horror. Chris, completely unfamiliar with medical metrics, assumed 12.2 sounded low, perhaps out of 100. In reality, a healthy level is between 3 and 5. A 12.2 is deadly.

Sometimes, a single number can change everything.

Numbers matter. In fact, they have an entire book of the Bible named after them. From the meticulous census of the twelve tribes in the wilderness to the sophisticated data tracking of the modern marketplace, measuring the details of our reality is an act of stewardship and obedience.

Yet, there is a shadow side to numbers, too.

In this episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley explores the delicate boundary between measuring out of obedience and counting out of anxiety, drawing on the tragic census of King David, the healthcare wisdom of surgeon Atul Gawande, and the creative leadership of Ed Catmull. Chris discusses the danger of what thinker Skye Jethani calls "vampire churches"—institutions so consumed by buildings, attendance, and budgets that they drain the life out of the very people they are meant to empower.

As 2 Corinthians 4:7 reminds us, our structures and traditions are merely "jars of clay." The metrics can describe the shape of the jar, but they can never fully quantify the treasure inside: the mysterious, transformative presence of Jesus Christ.

Whether you are analyzing a corporate spreadsheet, tracking inventory, or filing a ministry report, the invitation remains the same. We need discernment to count what is necessary without letting the data warp our mission.

We learn to measure what we can, so that we can treasure what we can't.

Sources: Numbers 1:1-4,44-46 (NIV)

2 Samuel 24:1-4,8-10 (NIV)

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (NIV)

Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance (New York: Picador, 2007).

Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer, Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010).

Skye Jethani, Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2017).

Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, 20th anniversary ed., (Carol Stream, Illinois: NavPress / Tyndale House Publishers, 2021). First published 2002.

Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (New York: Random House, 2014), as quoted in Jeffrey S. Russell, Wayne P. Pferdehirt, and John S. Nelson, Technical Project Management in Living and Geometric Order, 3rd ed. (Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2018), shared under CC BY 4.0.

Corrections: In the podcast, Chris says Skye's book was published in 2009; it was published in 2017.

Chris also calls Ed Catmull a former CEO of Pixar; he co-founded Pixar and served as President, not CEO.

TRANSFORM YOUR 9-TO-5

We believe your work is one of the primary places God wants to meet you and shape you. If you're ready to move beyond the daily grind and discover how your vocation can become a vessel for God's love and justice, we invite you to take the next step.

👉 Join the Finding God at Work Course: https://missioncentral.church/faith-at-work/

STAY CONNECTED

Spiritual formation is a journey best taken in community. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live with redemptive intentionality in every sphere of life.

🔔 Subscribe for reflections on faith, leadership, and the art of following Jesus at work.

🌐 Explore our resources: https://missioncentral.church/

📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral

#FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #DataAndFaith #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #TheologyOfWork #EdCatmull #AtulGawande #DallasWillard #MarketplaceWisdom #MeasureWhatMatters