When things in our organizations are going well, we want to steward the opportunity well. We want to make the most of the moment and make hay while the sun shines. But sometimes this comes at a risk. There are tradeoffs to growth at a fast pace, and sometimes those sacrifices cost more than we're willing to invest. When things are going well, it's also an opportunity to take a measured approach — to intentionally go slower in order to preserve the relationships or the well-being of those around us.
The mistake most Christian leaders make is seeing these paths as a fork in the road — a binary choice between growth and sustainability. We interviewed three leaders who faced the question of growth versus sustainability and came out the other side with a beautiful theology of pace.
The question that keeps leaders up at night: how much is enough?
We've all heard sermons about maximizing the talents God has given us. We've also heard sermons about the wisdom of restraint and living at a sustainable pace. Both teachings come from Scripture, and both are sound.
The Christian leader navigating a growth decision is thinking through it from both an operational and a theological perspective. Is growth a calling? Or is it an idol? And because the answer is "it depends" — based on context and motive — how do we actually tell the difference in our own circumstances?
Alex Judd: the retreat that didn't answer the question
Alex Judd knows this question well. He left his job to found Path for Growth in June 2020, and within the first six months, by every external measurement, he was succeeding. Coaching slots filled in two weeks. His first two hires came within a month.
It was in that season, surrounded by the evidence of his own success, that he declined an invitation to visit Richard Branson's luxury resort. Instead, Alex turned off his phone and computer and got quiet.
Jared Flinn: growth as a byproduct of value
Jared Flinn didn't start Bulk Loads to build an empire. He wanted to be home when his kids were young, so he started the business in his basement in 2011. The SaaS platform serving the trucking industry grew steadily for fifteen years because Jared thought of growth in terms of value rather than targets.
"I don't look at it through the lens of 'how do we grow?'" he said. "I look through the lens of 'how do we keep providing value?' Because if you provide value and keep increasing it, the stability will find its way."
On a mission trip to Uganda in 2020, Jared met a stranger who mentioned, almost in passing, that he had just hired his thousandth employee. Jared asked how. The man said he hired a coach. That one conversation set off a chain of events for Jared that produced 100% year-over-year growth at Bulk Loads — the highest in the company's history.
Whitney Putnam: "You're leading the wrong team"
As VP of Marketing and Communications at the Global Leadership Network, Whitney Putnam was given a mandate to aggressively grow a marketing team of two into a team capable of executing a global brand. Three months in, Whitney was on a call with a contractor handling logistics for an Oklahoma City event. The contractor was complaining about the constant emergencies the marketing team had normalized. Whitney said she didn't want to lead that way — she wanted a team where emergencies were few and far between, not a daily occurrence. The contractor said, "Well, you're leading the wrong team."
That conversation sparked a resolve in Whitney: she decided to build something different — that this kind of chaos was not the abundant life Jesus invites us into. So Whitney developed her own approach to leadership. She works to be the most non-anxious person in the room. She intentionally asks about each person before the start of the business portion of a meeting. And she insists that each employee take a "solitude day" each month as a form of rest and renewal. Whitney has very intentionally built a different culture, and it started with her.
For Alex, Jared, and Whitney — and for every Christian leader who has faced a growth decision — the core question is the same:
Their stories create a biblical framework for the next time you're sitting with a difficult decision about pace and growth. The solution isn't one-size-fits-all. But you'll have what you need to navigate it with wisdom and integrity.