A week after the world shut down for COVID, a team at Praxis wrote that “every organization is now a startup.”

They were writing for businesses, but also for churches. And they were right: over the past 19 months, church leaders have adapted worship services to the internet and then back to in person, reconfigured small groups, seen core members leave, and welcomed peripheral members to fuller involvement. They’ve grappled with questions such as “Can we do communion over Zoom?” and “What exactly does a church service need to include?”

In many ways, every church is operating as a new plant, figuring out its culture and members all over again.

That’s why I loved J.D. Greear’s advice for entrepreneurs. He writes for businessmen, but the concepts also apply to someone starting—or restarting—a church.

His advice also applies to me. I’m neither a church planter nor a business entrepreneur. I’m just an employee and church member who is trying to work with excellence and effort. But I, too, can be guilty of overbalancing and placing my time, energy, and efforts too much in one place.

Greear’s four warnings and four encouragements are helpful for anyone who wants more than a chasing after the wind.