Faithful in the Long Middle

March 10, 2026

Theology of Work

Mission and Values as Stewardship

In recent articles, we’ve reflected on purpose by exploring God’s original intention for creation, and vision by looking to God’s promised future. We are left with a pressing question:

What, then, are we to do now?

In the context of an enterprise, this is the focus of conversations about the mission and values of a business. And understandably so. Leaders want to know what they should aim for and how to achieve it. Yet here, too, missional enterprise leaders can feel the tension between importing a standard framework and trying to force spiritual language onto it.

Scripture once again invites us to begin somewhere deeper.

Living in the Long Middle

We live in what might be called the “long middle” of God’s story—the space between Genesis 1–2 and Revelation 21–22. Creation has been declared good. The future restoration has been promised. But in between, the world is both fallen and redeemed, broken and beloved.

This is the space of stewardship.

Jesus often described this in parables. A master entrusts resources to servants and departs. The servants are not asked to invent the master’s purposes, nor to bring the story to completion themselves. They are asked to be faithful with what has been entrusted to them until he returns.

Mission and values belong here.

Mission as Faithful Participation

In the parable of the faithful and wise servant (Matthew 24:45–51), the question is not merely whether the servant is busy, innovative, or impressive. The question is whether the servant remains faithful to the master’s intentions during the master’s absence.

Mission, then, is not about heroic achievement. It is about participation: aligning our work with what God is already doing in the world.

God’s mission is fundamentally redemptive. Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, God has acted decisively to reconcile the world to himself. That work is complete in its foundation, yet ongoing in its application. We do not create redemption, but we are invited to proclaim it and live in light of it.

Our enterprises participate in this mission by embodying, however imperfectly and incompletely, the implications of the gospel in concrete, local, and ordinary ways.

Values as the Shape of Faithfulness

If mission answers the question what are we entrusted to do?, values answer the question how are we to do it?

Jesus’ stewardship parables consistently emphasize not only outcomes, but character: watchfulness, integrity, patience, mercy, and accountability. Faithful servants act in ways that fit the master’s character, even when no one seems to be watching.

Values, in this sense, are not aspirational traits chosen for branding appeal. They are practices that make sense in a world that belongs to God and is moving toward restoration.

They guide how we treat people when pressure rises, how we use power when we have it, how we speak truth when it is costly, and how we resist the temptation to justify unfaithful means by appealing to desirable ends.

Big-M Mission and Small-m Mission

God’s Big-M Mission is nothing less than the renewal of all things in Christ. This is not something our businesses accomplish independently, but something they are caught up in.

Our small-m mission for our enterprise is the particular way we will steward what has been entrusted to us during this in-between time. It is always partial, always provisional, and always accountable to the larger mission it serves.

Likewise, our values do not stand on their own. They are grounded in God’s character and revealed supremely in Christ, who shows us what faithfulness looks like in the midst of obedience, suffering, and trust in the Father.

Rethinking Mission and Values Work

What might this mean for the way we approach the development of statements of mission and values in our missional enterprises?

Rather than beginning with competitive advantage or cultural trends, we can begin by asking:

What has been entrusted to us, and what does faithfulness look like here?
Where are we tempted to confuse success with faithfulness?
How do our everyday practices reflect trust in the Master rather than fear of outcomes?

Mission and values, shaped this way, become less about differentiation and more about discipleship. They form people and organizations capable of faithful presence over time.

Faithful Until He Comes

The stewardship parables end with a reckoning, not as a threat meant to paralyze, but as a promise that faithfulness matters. The story is going somewhere, and what we do in the meantime is not forgotten.

For missional enterprise leaders, this is both sobering and hopeful. We are not responsible for finishing the story, but we are responsible for how we steward our chapter.

Verse of the Week:

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21 (ESV)

May the words of Jesus inspire and empower us to discover and live out his mission and values for our enterprises.