Are You an Owner or a Steward? The One Shift That Changes Everything

by James A. Goins

This small mental mindset transition will change your view and your life.

Today, I aim to explore the topic of managing and expanding a business from a biblical perspective. Approaching it from a secular standpoint often leads to excessive stress due to the numerous systems and metrics that need attention. It seems that business has been complicated by too many imposed viewpoints on its nature and management. I intend to simplify the process of running any business by focusing on fundamental principles grounded in a biblical worldview and see if this approach resonates with you.

Many people of faith experience a significant and deeply rooted tension in today's marketplace. Although the secular approach to business offers some valuable tools, it often emphasizes profit maximization at the cost of people, purpose, and peace.

A biblical perspective doesn't remove the need for strategy, planning, or financial responsibility. Instead, it serves as a foundation and a lens through which all business activities are assessed. It simplifies by clarifying the ultimate why behind the what.

Let's break this down into its most basic, fundamental precepts from a biblical perspective.

The Foundational Shift: From Owner to Steward

The single most important shift in thinking is this: Your business is not yours. It belongs to God. You are not the ultimate owner; you are the manager, the steward. This reframes everything.

• Secular View: "This is my company. I built it. Its purpose is to generate wealth for me and my shareholders."

• Biblical View: "This is God's company. He has entrusted me with these resources (time, talent, capital, people). Its purpose is to glorify Him and serve others."

This single shift from ownership to stewardship is the root from which all other precepts grow. It alleviates the crushing pressure to have all the answers and to control every outcome. You are a manager for a benevolent and all-powerful CEO.

With that foundation, here are the core precepts for running any business.

Five Fundamental Biblical Precepts for Business

1. The Precept of Purpose: Glorify God through Service

The primary purpose of a business is not to make a profit. Profit is essential, but it is the result of a well-run business, not its ultimate purpose. The true purpose is to serve.

• Biblical Anchor: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31). "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve..." (Mark 10:45).

• Core Idea: Your business is your primary vehicle for ministry and worship. You glorify God by serving your stakeholders excellently:

  • Customers: By providing a product or service that genuinely helps them, solves a problem, and brings value to their lives. You are serving Christ in your customer.

  • Employees: By creating a work environment where they can flourish, use their God-given talents, and be treated with dignity and fairness. You are providing for families and cultivating a positive community.

  • Suppliers/Vendors: By being an honest and reliable partner, paying on time, and building relationships of trust.

• Application: Instead of asking, "How can we maximize profit?" start by asking, "How can we best serve our customers and employees today?" Profit becomes the fuel for the mission, not the mission itself.

2. The Precept of Integrity: Unwavering Honesty

In a world that often encourages cutting corners, a business run on biblical principles must be a beacon of integrity.

• Biblical Anchor: "The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him." (Proverbs 11:1). "Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out." (Proverbs 10:9).

• Core Idea: Your word is your bond. Your marketing is truthful. Your accounting is transparent. You deliver what you promise. This commitment to integrity may seem disadvantageous in the short term, but it builds the invaluable currency of trust over the long term.

• Application:

  • Pricing: Fair and transparent. No bait-and-switch.

  • Marketing: Honest representation of your product/service. No deceptive hype.

  • Contracts: Clear, fair, and honored.

  • Mistakes: When you make a mistake, own it, apologize, and make it right. This builds more trust than pretending to be perfect.

3. The Precept of Excellence: Reflecting the Creator

Your work is a reflection of the God you serve. As such, it should be done with diligence, skill, and a pursuit of excellence.

• Biblical Anchor: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." (Colossians 3:23). "Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men." (Proverbs 22:29).

• Core Idea: Complacency and mediocrity have no place in a business dedicated to God. This isn't about perfectionism, which leads to anxiety. It's about diligence—giving your best effort with the resources you have. We serve an excellent God, and our work should reflect that character.

• Application: Continuously improve your craft, your product, or your service. Invest in training for yourself and your employees. Don't settle for "good enough" when "excellent" is achievable through diligent effort.

4. The Precept of Provision: Trusting God for the Results

This directly counters the stress I mentioned. The secular world says you are 100% responsible for the outcome. The Bible says you are responsible for the effort, and God is responsible for the outcome.

• Biblical Anchor: The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13). The sower's job is simply to sow the seed (do the work). The growth comes from God. "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3).

• Core Idea: Your job is to plan, to work diligently, and to operate with wisdom and integrity. But you must release the results to God. Some marketing campaigns will fail. Some products won't sell. The economy might turn. Your peace comes from knowing you've done your part faithfully and trusting God with the increase.

• Application:

  • Prayer: Begin your day and major decisions with prayer, asking for wisdom and guidance.

  • Generosity: Operate with an open hand, not a closed fist. Be generous with profits, with your time, and with your employees. This demonstrates trust in God as your ultimate provider.

  • Financial Prudence: Save, plan, and be wise with debt. This is good stewardship, not a lack of faith.

5. The Precept of Rest: Honoring the Sabbath (Rest Bro, Rest Sis)

The secular "hustle culture" is a direct path to burnout. God, in His wisdom, hard-wired the principle of rest into the fabric of creation for our own good.

• Biblical Anchor: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day." (Exodus 20:11). "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." (Psalm 127:2).

• Core Idea: You and your employees are not machines. Consistent, intentional rest is not a sign of weakness; it is an act of faith and a key to long-term fruitfulness. It demonstrates trust that God can handle the world while you recharge.

• Application:

  • Set Boundaries: Establish clear working hours and stick to them.

  • Take a True Sabbath: Designate one day a week for rest, worship, and family—not for catching up on work.

  • Encourage Vacation: Ensure your employees take their paid time off to truly disconnect and recharge.

  • Model Rest: As the leader, your team will follow your example. If you never rest, they will feel they can't either.

Redefining "Systems and Metrics"

You don't throw away metrics, you change them. They become tools for stewardship, not idols of worship.

The "Owner" Metric	The "Steward" Metric
Profit Margin	Provision & Generosity: Is the business financially healthy enough to provide for its employees, honor its commitments, and be generous to the community?
Growth Rate (At all costs)	Healthy Growth: Are we growing at a sustainable pace that doesn't sacrifice the well-being of our people or the integrity of our product?
Employee Turnover	Employee Flourishing: Are our people growing professionally and personally? Do they feel valued and secure? Is the workplace a source of dignity?
Customer Acquisition Cost	Customer Service & Blessing: Are we genuinely solving our customers' problems? Are they better off for having done business with us?
Personal Net Worth	Kingdom Impact: How is this business being used as a tool for God's purposes in my life, my family's life, my employees' lives, and my community?

Enjoy the fruits of labor, don't stress over them.

By focusing on these fundamental precepts, you are building your house on the rock. The storms of business—recessions, competition, difficult clients—will still come. But your foundation will be secure, and your peace will not depend on the shifting sands of the market, but on the unchanging character of God. This is the path to running a fruitful, sustainable, and deeply meaningful business.

Parting Notes: I have learned in my 35+ years of business that "simple is best." Not that complexity isn't good or doesn't exist, but that complex systems are at their best when they can be quantified and reduced down to their basic purpose.

Cars and aircraft are complex modes of transportation, but at their core, they move you from point A to point B. Learning to drive a car is simple (takes a little time), but after you learn the user interface that the engineers have simplified (steering wheel, etc.), you do. Simple. Flying a plane is also simple (takes a little time to learn the systems), but after you work with the user interface the engineers have simplified (flight controls, etc.), you do. Simple.

Consider this passage from Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 2:18-21:

"I hated all my toil in which I toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This is also vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil." (ESV)

Here Solomon, recorded as one of the wisest men on earth, laments that all his hard work, wisdom, and achievements will ultimately be left to someone else after his death — and he has no control over whether that person will be wise or foolish. This realization fills him with despair, as it makes all his labor feel meaningless (“vanity”). He sees it as a great injustice that someone who never worked for it will enjoy the fruits of another’s effort.

In short: Solomon recognizes the futility of working tirelessly for worldly gain, since all of it must one day pass to others who may not value it — making human striving under the sun seem empty and pointless.

Whether you’re a person of faith or not, I urge you to flip the script on how you approach your business. In the end, everything we build will one day be left behind — for someone else to either carry forward or let fade away. A business is a blessing meant to be enjoyed, not merely endured. It offers a freedom that few ever experience, but also challenges that few ever understand. So work with wisdom, gratitude, and balance — knowing that what truly lasts isn’t just what you build, but how you build it.

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