12: This Time Tomorrow (Justin Mertes of Made to Flourish)

When we evaluate the vitality of a local church, we typically count heads in pews, measure annual giving, or analyze Sunday volunteer teams. But what happens when a pastor steps back and realizes that his congregation spends forty, fifty, or sixty hours a week in an entirely different domain? For Tom Nelson, former lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Kansas City and founder of Made to Flourish, that realization led to a profound moment of personal repentance; he confessed to his elders and congregation that focusing exclusively on Sunday morning gatherings amounted to a form of "pastoral malpractice."

In this episode of Finding God at Work, host Chris Easley sits down with Justin Mertes, Director of Program Engagement at Made to Flourish: a national network equipping pastors to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom into the heart of their congregations.

What does it take to build a "Church for Monday"? Justin shares insights from Scatter, a survey platform developed by Made to Flourish that gives pastors real-time visibility into the vocational lives of their people. The data reveals the challenges workers are facing: Remote workers feel quiet isolation as they navigate daily labor behind a laptop screen. Many professional believers long to connect with peers in their specific fields. Across the board, everyday Christians are hungering for a church that sets the table, validates their Monday realities, and equips them to serve as faithful witnesses in the marketplace.

Justin articulates a vision rooted in Colossians 1, challenging us to unlearn the sacred/secular divide that limits our spiritual imagination. Whether through simple practices like "This Time Tomorrow" interviews or shifting the way leaders talk about who is "called" and "on mission," Justin offers a rich framework for seeing saints in every vocation—from software engineers and professors to parents and union managers—as active participants in Christ's work of reconciling all things to himself.

Whether you are a pastor longing to shepherd your people well, or a professional seeking to understand how your 9-to-5 fits into God's redeeming story, this episode is an invitation to stop escaping your daily realities and start recognizing the kingdom breaking forth right where you are.

Sources

Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV)

Colossians 1:19-20 (ESV)

Made to Flourish

Scatter

Tom Nelson, Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Morning Work (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011).

Tom Nelson, Why Your Work Matters: How God Uses Our Everyday Vocations to Transform Us, Our Neighbors, and the World (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2025).