Finding God at Work

4: Measure What You Can to Treasure What You Can't

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) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%201%3A1-4%2C44-46&version=NIV] 2 Samuel 24:1-4,8-10 (NIV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2024%3A1-4%2C8-10&version=NIV] 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (NIV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%204%3A5-7&version=NIV] Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance (New York: Picador, 2007). [https://atulgawande.com/book/better/] Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer, Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010). [https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/transformational-church-P005285106] Skye Jethani, Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2017). [https://www.moodypublishers.com/immeasurable] 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. [https://dwillard.org/resources/books/renovation-of-the-heart] Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace, Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (New York: Random House, 2014) [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/216369/creativity-inc-the-expanded-edition-by-ed-catmull-with-amy-wallace/], 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) [https://wisc.pb.unizin.org/technicalpm/chapter/personal-and-organizational-project-management-growth/], shared under CC BY 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/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/ [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/ [https://missioncentral.church/] 📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral [https://www.instagram.com/teammissioncentral/] #FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #DataAndFaith #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #TheologyOfWork #EdCatmull #AtulGawande #DallasWillard #MarketplaceWisdom #MeasureWhatMatters

3: Business as Blessing

If you grew up in church, you've likely heard about the noble woman of Proverbs 31. She is a staple of Mother's Day sermons and home-decor plaques, usually praised for her domestic devotion and tireless care for her family. But if we look closer at the text, we find a description that sounds less like a domestic archetype and more like a savvy CEO. This woman is an entrepreneur. She considers a field and buys it with her own earnings; she plants a vineyard; she perceives that her merchandise is profitable. She isn't just managing a household; she is leading an 'oikos', a vibrant economic venture that provides for her family, creates blessings for her community, and generates a surplus for the poor. In the third episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley explores how business can be a fundamental structure of love in the kingdom of God. Drawing on insights from scholars Hannah Stoltz and R. Paul Stevens, Chris looks at how being motivated to make a profit and the fear of the Lord are not at odds. Instead, they can work together to create blessing for the community, embodying God's covenantal blessed-to-be-a blessing intention for us. We often distinguish between "ministry" and "marketplace," as if only one of them is truly spiritual. But the Bible concludes its book of wisdom by pointing to a woman running a profitable business as the ultimate example of a life filled with the presence of God. Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to scale a startup or a professional seeking to work diligently in a corporate office, this episode is a call to embrace the blessings that business provides. When our work is motivated by an affectionate reverence for God, our businesses become containers for His grace to reach the world. Sources: Proverbs 31:10-31 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2031%3A10-31&version=ESV] Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2012%3A1-3&version=ESV] Dallas Willard, Called to Business: God's Way of Loving People Through Business and the Professions (Agoura Hills, California: Dallas Willard Ministries, 2018). [https://dwillard.org/resources/books/called-to-business] Hannah Stolze, "Surprising Lessons from the Noble Woman of Proverbs 31," Eventide Center for Faith and Investing, April 14, 2022. [https://www.faithandinvesting.com/journal/surprising-lessons-from-the-noble-woman-of-proverbs-31/] R. Paul Stevens, Work Matters: Lessons from Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012). [https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802866967/work-matters/] 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/ [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/ [https://missioncentral.church/] 📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral [https://www.instagram.com/teammissioncentral/] #FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #Proverbs31 #ChristianEntrepreneur #Vocation #MarketplaceMinistry #RedemptiveBusiness #SpiritualFormation #KingdomEconomics #TheologyOfWork

2: The Structure and the Substance

When Chris was in the fourth grade, he traveled to Texas for a cousin's wedding and experienced a minor ecclesiastical crisis. Having grown up in an Anglican tradition, Chris was used to robes, incense, and liturgy, and he was deeply disturbed to find the Baptist pastor at his cousin's church wearing a simple three-piece suit. To a ten-year-old Chris, it wasn't just a stylistic choice; it felt like a violation of how church was. We all have similar internalized structures we believe are universal. In business, it might be the way we track our time, the hierarchy of our office, or the "how we've always done it" policies of HR. But as we move between traditions or companies, we are forced to ask a difficult question: What is merely a cultural structure, and what is the actual substance? In the second episode of our A Mysterious Business series, Chris Easley explores the biblical pattern of structure and substance. From the precise cubits of Noah's Ark to the meticulous curtains of the Tabernacle and the pillars of Solomon's Temple, God has always cared about the details of the structure. Yet, the structure is never the point. Noah built the Ark, but God shut the door. Moses erected the Tabernacle, but the Glory of the Lord filled it. Drawing on Jesus' teaching about new wine and old wineskins, Chris looks at how we must prepare our structures in obedience so that they can be filled with something they cannot produce on their own: the presence of God. Whether you are drafting company bylaws or planning a worship service, the goal is to create a structure supple enough to hold the expanding life of the Kingdom. How much of your work life is tied to the essence of your mission, and how much is a structure that might need to change to hold the new wine God is going to pour out? Listen to the full episode at the link in our bio, or search for "Finding God at Work" on your favorite podcast app. Sources: Genesis 6:13-16, 7:11-16 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206%3A13-16%2C7%3A11-16&version=ESV] Exodus 26:1-4, 40:16-18,34-35 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2026%3A1-4%2C%2040%3A16-18%2C34-35&version=ESV] 1 Kings 6:1, 8:10-11 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%206%3A1%2C%208%3A10-11&version=ESV] Matthew 9:14-17 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%209%3A14-17&version=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/ [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/ [https://missioncentral.church/] 📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral [https://www.instagram.com/teammissioncentral/] #FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #NewWine #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #TheologyOfWork #StructureAndSubstance #KingdomBusiness #MarketplaceMinistry

1: A Mysterious Business: Bringing Ministry and Marketplace Wisdom Together

When Chris was growing up in the nineties, the shopping mall was a vibrant center of life. He remembers the special birthdays when his "adopted" grandmother, Louise, would take him to the mall to pick out a gift. He doesn't remember the toys he chose, but he remembers the gift of her presence. Today, walking through many of those same malls feels different. They have become eerily empty; husks of what they were meant to be. The skeleton remains, but the life is gone. We can tend to view the world of business through a similar lens: a cold, mechanical structure designed only to produce a bottom line. But what if business is actually meant to serve as a fundamental structure of love in the Kingdom of God? In this new series, A Mysterious Business, Chris Easley explores how the marketplace is meant to be more than a profit machine. Drawing on the wisdom of Dallas Willard, Chris looks at how business provides a container for the presence of God. When we treat our work as a way to meet real human needs, we stop building empty husks and start creating spaces where the mystery of Jesus can be revealed. Whether you are working in a corporate office, a local church, or a home, the goal is the same: to ensure the structure holds life by welcoming the mystery of God and the presence of Jesus into it. As you start your work today, how can you welcome the mystery of God into your business? Listen to the full podcast episode, S8E1: A Mysterious Business: Bringing Ministry and Marketplace Wisdom Together, at the link in our bio, or search for Finding God at Work on your favorite podcast app. Sources: Colossians 1:24-26 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%201%3A24-26&version=ESV] Isaiah 42:1-4 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2042%3A1-4&version=ESV] Micah 5:2 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah%205%3A2&version=ESV] Ezekiel 40-48 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2040-48&version=ESV] Dallas Willard, Called to Business: God's Way of Loving People Through Business and the Professions (Agoura Hills, California: Dallas Willard Ministries, 2018). [https://dwillard.org/resources/books/called-to-business] 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/ [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/ [https://missioncentral.church/] 📸 Follow the journey on Instagram: @teammissioncentral [https://www.instagram.com/teammissioncentral/] #FaithAndWork #MissionCentral #DallasWillard #MarketplaceMinistry #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #TheologyOfWork #BusinessAsMission #KingdomBusiness

38: A Vessel for Love: Finding Eternal Meaning in Your Daily Work

A few years ago, Chris attended a retirement party for Mr. Clum, his childhood school principal. In a room filled with people celebrating a long career, they didn't spend much time talking about enrollment numbers, new buildings, or administrative growth. Instead, they talked about how Mr. Clum loved people. They remembered how he, as a six-foot-seven man, would get down on his knee to talk to a child on their level. They remembered how he coached his basketball teams to find the best in every student, and how he always made sure he was the last person in the room to eat. At the end of a career, and at the end of a life, we are all headed toward a retirement party of some kind. And when the stories are told, the most important question won't be what we accomplished, but whether or not our work held love. Was your work a vessel for the love of God to the people around you? We are weak and distractible, often driven by ambitions like pride, greed, or disdain. But we love because he first loved us. In Jesus, we see the perfect Word of God spoken into the world, and he is love. As we turn to him, our work begins to change. Our hands, like his, can become instruments of mercy, encouragement, and justice. Inasmuch as your work holds the love of God, it matters. It is revealing the very meaning of the universe to the people around you. Jesus, make us more like you. Do your work in us as we do our work with you. Let us be a reflection of your love. Sources: 1 John 4:16-19 (ESV) [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204%3A16-19&version=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/ [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/ [https://missioncentral.church/] 📸 Follow us on Instagram: @teammissioncentral [https://www.instagram.com/teammissioncentral/] #FaithAndWork #SpiritualFormation #Vocation #MissionCentral #ChristianLeadership #RedemptiveWork #IntegrativeFaith #MeaningfulWork #KingdomPurpose #TheologyOfWork #ServantLeadership