The Redemptive Way of Work
A reflection on what we count, and what we’re here to redeem.
The Shift
You can feel it, can’t you? The world keeps speeding up, and so do we.
Our dashboards glow with progress… followers, revenue, conversions. But something still feels off. We’re achieving more than ever, yet the results often feel hollow.
Maybe it’s because not everything that can be built should be. Not every product, not every pursuit. Work isn’t neutral. It’s always forming us into something.
Every organization tells a story about what matters most. It shapes what we love, what we chase, and who we’re becoming. James K. A. Smith calls this our “liturgy of work”... the daily habits and systems that quietly train our hearts. Redemptive business doesn’t just do good; it reorders love. It builds in a way that forms people toward wholeness instead of hurry, generosity instead of grasping, renewal instead of exhaustion.
Redemptive work recognizes that we were made for more. Not just bigger or faster, but more human. More whole. More true.
I truly believe business can be something more. Not just an engine for profit, but a vehicle for renewal. Not just an arena for ambition, but a practice of love. Not just a platform for recognition, but a place to lift others up.
What “Redemptive” Really Means
The word redemptive carries both heart and grit.
As the folks at Praxis say, redemption moves us beyond what’s ethical to what’s restorative. It’s the difference between avoiding harm and bringing healing.
They describe three ways of doing business:
Exploitative: taking advantage for personal gain.
Ethical: playing fair and doing no harm.
Redemptive: stepping into what’s broken and working to renew, restore, and reconcile.
A redemptive business doesn’t just make money and then do good on the side. It builds good into the whole system. It asks how love, generosity, and renewal can show up in every partof how we work.
That idea hit me deeply because it put words to something I’ve felt for decades. There has to be something more. Something better.
Why This Ledger Exists
The Redemptive Ledger exists to celebrate and resource the kind of work that heals instead of harms.
Each entry will look at a different side of redemptive work:
Stories of organizations rooted in love.
The tools and principles that help purpose become practice.
Leaders and environments that refresh people instead of draining them.
We’ll draw from ancient wisdom and modern models. One I use often is the Headwaters Framework from Dr. Mark Herringshaw: Purpose → Motivation → Engagement → Productivity → Profit.
Profit isn’t the purpose. It’s the proof. It’s the downstream evidence that redemptive work works.
The Kind of Work That Refreshes
My mission is simple: To multiply environments, resources, and organizations that create ripples of redemptive influence and beauty.
I really believe that organizations rooted in love can become the most powerful force for transformation in the world. I build, invest in, and coach those organizations not for extraction, but for flourishing.
That same conviction shapes this newsletter. It’s not a stage for self-promotion or personal brand. I hope this becomes a place to slow down, remember what matters, and get refreshed for the work ahead.
