In many areas of life and business, we find ourselves trying to hold several priorities or objectives in balance. For example, as missional enterprise leaders, we pursue not a singular goal, but a triple bottom line: making a profit, making disciples of Jesus, and making a difference in our communities.

When we think of the word balance, we might picture something calm, centered, and still—like a gymnast poised on a balance beam. That image can be comforting. But for many of us, especially those leading missional enterprises, it can also be frustrating, because life and business rarely feel balanced.

A Different Picture

Instead of striving for balance, perhaps we can consider the concept of healthy tension.

A tent is a great illustration of a situation where tension can be healthy and even essential. A tent can only stand because of the tension between its cords and stakes. Too little tension, and it collapses. Too much, and the cords snap or the stakes rip loose. The goal isn’t slack or stillness—it’s a structure that holds up under wind and weather because the tension is right.

In the same way, missional enterprises thrive not in a fragile balance but in dynamic tension between the three bottom lines. These tensions are not problems to eliminate, but realities to be wisely tended.

For example:

• Profit can enable generosity. When we create margin, we have an opportunity to hire more people, care better for our teams, serve more customers, and invest more deeply in our communities.
• Disciple-making can strengthen the business. As we develop spiritually mature leaders, they can become mission-minded coworkers who help pursue both business success and community impact.
• Community impact can build a reputation. As we love our communities well, word spreads more widely, and potential customers, partners, and new employees are attracted to us.

If we were chasing balance alone, we might aim for a “4 out of 10” on each of these areas and call that a win. But that’s not health—it’s a kind of mediocrity spread thin across all three. Instead, listening to God’s voice, we stretch outward, responding to opportunities. We may take risks in one direction, then recalibrate in another. It’s not always even, but it can be faithful.

Even outside the Christian community, corporate management researchers have recognized the value of dynamic approaches to managing tension between complementary objectives. In a paper published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, the authors note:

“Paradoxically, we observe that the same policy conditions that made tensions salient can thus spur organizational innovation in response … These conditions reduce tensions and enable firms to find equilibrium among the competing demands of the triple bottom line, pursuing them simultaneously rather than trading off or prioritizing one over others.”

Beware Tension Toxicity

Of course, tension can also turn toxic. Some leaders, perhaps even unknowingly, stir up conflict and call it ‘healthy tension,’ using it to justify control or disruption. Many of us have seen this firsthand—when what’s framed as creative friction becomes a cover for ego or insecurity. Burnout, mission drift, and strained relationships are all signs of tension that’s been misused, unmanaged, or never anchored in trust and purpose.

A deep dependence on God, along with the wisdom of trusted counselors, helps us anchor the stakes of our enterprises firmly. In addition, clear vision and values are critical to strengthen the cords.

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes reminds us that “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.”1 And Isaiah called the people of Israel to “enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes”.2 As we stretch in faith, we can trust God to guide us, to strengthen us, and to extend the reach of his work through us.

Verse(s) of the Week:

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. Isaiah 54:2-3 (ESV)

May God give us the grace this week to stretch out, to lengthen and strengthen the work he has called us to, for his glory.