“Work like you’re reporting to Heaven, not just HR.”
Introduction: The Sticky Note That Changed My Career
When I was in my twenties, I had a boss who was verbally abusive. He did a great job of teaching me what not to do as a leader.
One day I ordered something from a vendor that was already sitting in stock. Honest mistake. Instead of pulling me aside and coaching me, he lit me up in front of my peers.
“Dumb a**,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
At that time, I was the top sales guy. I had built an entire division in his organization that he didn’t even fully understand. I had done that for a few companies — go in, build something from scratch, grind. That day, he slammed the door and walked out, and I was sitting there alone.
Right in front of me was a sticky note I’d written:
Colossians 3:23 – “Work as if you are working for the Lord, and not for human masters.”
In that moment, everything in me wanted to get angry, resentful, and start plotting my exit or some kind of revenge. But that verse hit me like a punch in the chest.
I wasn’t working for that man.
I was working for God.
God had given me that job. God had given me the shoes on my feet. A few years earlier I’d been a wreck of a young man, just getting my feet under me, trying to follow God, trying to stay sober, trying to not destroy my life. I didn’t deserve the opportunities I had — God, in His kindness, opened doors anyway.
So instead of feeding my ego, I prayed for that boss. I prayed God would calm him down and help me do a better job. My sales exploded in the months after. I was calm in a storm of negativity and resentment all around me. I truly learned how to “turn the other cheek,” not because I’m a saint, but because I’d finally realized:
I don’t work for people. I work for God.
That’s where faith-based decision-making really starts.
The Core Issue: Why So Many Leaders and Employees Are Miserable
Every time I see an employee — or a manager — who’s bitter, sarcastic, checked out, or angry, it’s almost always the same root problem:
They’re more focused on imperfect humans and toxic behavior than they are on the God who blessed them with the opportunity.
- They fixate on:
- Who’s unfair
- Who got what raise
- Who said what in the meeting
- How under-appreciated they feel
And all of that might be true — but if that’s your primary focus, you’re on a fast track to misery.
Selfishness and “how I feel” is a straight-line path to resentment.
Gratitude and service is the path to joy.
Faith-based decision-making pulls you out of that emotional spin cycle and puts your eyes back on the real Boss.
Deep Dive: Faith as a Leadership Operating System
This isn’t about slapping a Bible verse on your business card.
This is about letting your faith determine how you think, decide, and lead.
1. Colossians 3:23 – Who’s Your Real Boss?
When you truly believe you’re working for the Lord, everything changes:
- You stop letting one bad boss, one rude email, or one unfair decision define your attitude.
- You start seeing your job, your paycheck, your promotion, even your office — as gifts you don’t really deserve, but God trusted you with.
- You work with excellence even when nobody is watching, because Someone always is.
This mindset turns:
- Grumbling into gratitude
- Victim thinking into stewardship
- Drama into discipline
2. The Parable of the Talents; Matt 25:14-30 – God’s View of Responsibility
Jesus told a story about a master who gave three servants different amounts of silver (or “talents”) before leaving on a journey.
- One received five bags and doubled it.
- One received two bags and doubled it.
- One received one bag, got scared, buried it, and did nothing.
When the master returned, he praised the ones who multiplied what they were given:
“Well done, good and faithful servant… I will put you in charge of many things.”
But the one who buried his bag out of fear and laziness?
The master called him wicked and lazy and took away what he had.
This is exactly how I try to treat my business today.
I see my company, my money, my influence as God’s property on loan.
That perspective:
- Keeps greed, envy, and covetousness in check
- Helps me stay a servant leader, not just a “big shot”
- Reminds me that raises, promotions, and new roles are not trophies — they’re talents to be multiplied
So when I sit with managers for reviews or promotions, I think like that master:
God gives you more so you can increase, not become complacent.
He doesn’t give you a bigger role so you can coast, hide, or hoard.
He expects you to grow what He gave you — profits, people, culture, all of it. The main purpose of any company is to make money.
But in my businesses, there’s a deeper purpose:
To help the people inside the organization and those outside it — like vines growing outward so God can reach more lives.
3. Second Chance People: What That Really Means
Before I started my company, I told God:
“I’m not worthy. I don’t know what I’m doing. But if You help me, I’ll use it to help You and Your kids.”
That’s how a second-chance organization was born — founded by a second-chance man, filled with second-chance people.
So what’s a second-chance person?
A second-chance person is someone who:
- Has messed up big — morally, financially, relationally, or legally
- Knows what it feels like to be at the bottom
- Has tasted grace they didn’t earn
- Chooses to use that grace to grow, not to repeat old patterns
We are all second-chance people in some way.
Look at your own life:
- Times you should’ve lost everything but didn’t
- Times you hurt people and God still opened doors
- Times you were in addiction, or anger, or selfishness, and someone didn’t give up on you
Now look around you.
The people you’re frustrated with right now? Many of them are just earlier versions of you.
Faith-based leadership looks at your “failures” and asks:
How can I use this to help someone else instead of pretending I’m above them?
That’s why at Spike, when I lead — especially in tough or emotional situations — I try to go to God first.
4. How I Try to Discern God’s Will in Business
Do I always know God’s will? No. Nobody does.
But I’ve learned this much:
Anything rooted in selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, pride, greed, envy, or ego is not God’s will.
So my process is simple:
- Search my own heart first.
- “God, show me any selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, pride, or ego in me. Remove it.”
- Pray for the other person.
- “Give them wisdom, peace, and clarity. Help me love them more than I love being right.”
- Let God lead the room.
- I ask Him to guide my words, tone, and timing.
- Remember there can only be one ultimate leader.
- When you have multiple business partners, that can get messy. Isn’t it a relief that ultimately, God can be the leader We don’t have to fight for that spot.
We pray, we calm down, we talk through the problems, and we fall in love with the problem — not the drama.
Then we work together to build a Godly solution that serves people and honors Him.
Practical Action Steps (Do These This Week)
- Write Colossians 3:23 where you can see it.
- On your desk, in your truck, as your phone wallpaper. Let it reset your attitude daily.
- Before every hard conversation, pause and pray.
- Ask God to show you your defects first. Then pray for the other person.
- Treat every promotion as a “bag of silver.”
- Ask your leaders: “How will you multiply this — for the company, and for the people God brings under your influence?”
- Identify one second-chance person you can invest in. We all are second chance people in some way shape or form.
- Share a piece of your own story with them. Encourage, coach, not from a pedestal but from the same level.
- In big decisions, rule out any option that flows from ego, greed, or resentment.
- If the only way it works is by compromising integrity, it’s not from God.
- Pray for wisdom daily, like Solomon.
- Make it part of your morning: “God, give me wisdom to lead Your company, not mine.”
Brutally Honest Self-Reflection:
Here are some tough questions to sit with:
- Am I leading for a mission bigger than myself, or do I secretly make it about me?
- When was the last time I admitted I was wrong to my team?
- Do I actually listen to feedback, or just wait for my turn to talk?
- Would my people describe me as humble? If not, what would need to change?
Be honest. Pride is sneaky. It shows up in small ways, interrupting, deflecting, taking more credit than you give. Spot it and strip it out.
Grounded Wisdom
- From The Purpose Driven Life: Your work is worship when you do it for God, not just for a paycheck.
- From Extreme Ownership: You can’t control how others treat you, but you can own your attitude and your response.
- Power isn’t for domination — it’s for stewardship. Influence is a loan, not a trophy.
Brutally Honest Self-Reflection
Use these with your journal or your leadership team:
- If someone recorded my attitude at work this week, would it look like I’m working for God — or for people I secretly resent?
- Where have I buried a “bag of silver” out of fear, laziness, or comfort?
- Who gave me a second chance — and how am I passing that on, or hoarding the grace?
- When was the last time I prayed before making a major decision at work?
- If God audited my leadership today, what would He say I multiplied — and what did I waste?
Final Word: Whose Business Is It Really?
At the end of the day, my company is not my company.
It’s God’s.
He pulled a wreck of a young man out of the mess, gave him a second chance, and then trusted him with people, money, and influence.
Faith-based decision-making is simply my way of saying back to Him:
“I know who this really belongs to — and I want to run it in a way that makes You proud.”
Lead like you work for God.
Treat money like His.
Treat people like His kids.
And your business becomes more than a paycheck.
It becomes a ministry, a second-chance machine, and a legacy that outlives your time on earth.
That’s how I try to lead.
And that’s my challenge to you.
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