You may already see your work, business, investments, and generosity as resources God has entrusted to you, but have you considered whether the work itself could be part of your calling? What might it look like to move beyond simply giving from what you earn and begin stewarding your skills, influence, capital, and everyday work as part of God’s mission in the world? MEET YOUR GUIDE: Brett Johnson, founder of the Institute for Innovation, Integration, and Impact, has spent decades helping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations integrate faith, work, capital, and calling. Drawing from his experience in business, church leadership, missions, Silicon Valley, and international development, Brett challenges the assumption that ministry happens primarily through churches and nonprofits while ordinary marketplace work plays a supporting role. Brett explores what changes when Christians begin with the assumption that they are called to work right where God has placed them. He shares how business skills can strengthen missions, how companies can be repurposed around biblical principles, and why generosity can include intellectual, relational, spiritual, and financial capital. He also describes a broader vision for Kingdom business and impact investing that addresses systemic challenges in cities and nations through sustainable businesses, nonprofits, and collaborative investment. By the end, you may see your current work less as something competing with your calling and more as something God can use within it. WHAT YOU'LL GAIN: Integrating faith, work, calling, and mission Rejecting the sacred-secular divide in everyday work Recognizing your current work as God-given calling Designing disciple-making into core business processes Giving everyday skills and careers a Kingdom purpose Stewarding capital beyond traditional charitable giving HIGHLIGHTS: “Don’t try to balance things. I think when Jesus says in John 5:19, ‘I only do what I see the Father doing,’ we have to develop a core competence to try to understand what God is saying, to hear what God’s voice is in our particular situation.” “Just assume that you’re called to work. If you’re a medical doctor, if you’re a school teacher, if you’re an engineer, why don’t you just start with the assumption that you’re called to be an engineer or you’re called to be a school teacher?” “Assume that the place where you are working now is where you’re called to be, and figure out how you can extend the Kingdom of God, make God known, and demonstrate His goodness and His characteristics right where you are.” “You have to get on, actively work where you are with what God has entrusted to you, and assume that that’s a good starting place, not waiting for instructions. We’re not in the reserves. We’re in active duty, all of us.” “The goal wasn’t to get God into the business, but to get their business into God’s business.” “We don’t want to just make businesses more profitable, more godly, more righteous, more generous. We actually want to make sure that they are involved in completing the job that Jesus gave us to do.” “This is the way the Kingdom of God operates. It’s not Boise or Bangladesh. It’s both/and.” “God is an expansionist. And if God’s in your business, He wants to expand it. So you’ve got to figure out how.” “We should be people who are looking, praying for the peace of the city that we’re in, looking out for the good of the city.” “Some of them need financial capital, but some need intellectual capital, access to markets. Some of them need spiritual capital. They just need encouragement to be part of a network of people who are going to help them.” “My default is not, ‘People aren’t getting proper nutrition, so we’ll do a soup kitchen.’ No, let’s figure out a feeding business that actually does that.” “You have to measure in the long term.” “The premise is that God is good. Everybody has capital. Work is good. Everybody should work.” PEOPLE, BOOKS, AND ORGS: Brett Johnson’s Website Brett’s Books and Resources Global Giants Foundation Christian Business Men’s Connection YWAM BIBLE REFERENCES: Luke 2:52 | Jesus Grew in Every Dimension “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” John 5:19 | Doing What the Father Does “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’” Luke 10:8 | Eat What Is Offered “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.” Matthew 28:19–20 | Make Disciples of Nations “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Acts 1:8 | Witness to the Ends “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Mark 16:15 | Gospel to the Whole World “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’” 2 Corinthians 5:18–19 | Ministry of Reconciliation “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” Ezra 7:6–10 | Ezra Returns to Jerusalem Nehemiah 2:11–18 | Rebuilding Jerusalem Together KEEP EXPLORING Discover more conversations, ideas, and resources to help you think intentionally about generosity, stewardship, and living with an eternal perspective. Visit Finish Line Pledge →
