Faith at work: A conversation with David Miller

This past Sunday, Ministry Assistant Maddie Abbott preached about finding meaning in our work — and about the fine line between honoring God through our labor and accidentally making work into an idol. Together, we looked at the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32 and asked some hard questions: How do we love the people right in front of us — our coworkers, our customers, our teams — without turning our workplaces into sacred altars? How do we discern whether we’re faithfully showing up for others, or just surviving the grind?

This week's resource picks up right where that sermon left off: a Forbes interview with David Miller, a professor at Princeton University and the founder of the Faith & Work Initiative. Miller used to be a senior executive in banking and tech, so he knows firsthand the ethical and emotional complexities of the workplace. In this conversation with Seth Cohen at the NASDAQ MarketSite, he talks about the real tensions people face when trying to bring their values — especially their faith — into their professional lives.

Miller’s big question is: What does your Sabbath have to do with your Monday? In other words, how does your faith shape the way you live and work the rest of the week?

He shares stories from his time in the corporate world, including moments when he had to choose between doing what was profitable and doing what was right. He also reflects on his students — many of whom, regardless of their country or faith background, want to work for organizations that make the world better. But that desire isn’t always easy to live out in practice.
One of the most striking points in the interview is Miller’s call for workplaces to become “faith-friendly” — not faith-based, but open to honoring people's values and spiritual practices. He emphasizes that character and culture matter as much as compliance, and he challenges us to think about how our personal formation — by mentors, family, traditions — shapes the way we show up at work.

A few takeaways worth pondering this week:

• Do I know what story I’m telling about my work? What meaning am I making from it?
• Where do I draw the line between being faithful and being consumed?
• How might my workplace culture be shaping me — and how might I shape it in return?

If you’re in a season of questioning, wrestling, or just trying to hold it all together at work, this interview might feel like a deep breath. It doesn’t offer easy answers. But it opens up space to explore what it means to succeed without selling your soul — a phrase Miller’s students coined that became the subtitle of his upcoming book.

You can watch the full interview here!