Podcast episode
Episode 355 – The Most Obvious Gap in the Church No One Talks About | Mark Vroegop
Mark Vroegop serves as President of The Gospel Coalition, but his journey through thirty years of pastoral ministry—including profound personal loss—gives him unique insight into why the faith and work movement struggles to connect with local churches. In this honest conversation, Mark addresses the mutual intimidation, schedule blindness, and missed opportunities keeping pastors and entrepreneurs from the partnership both desperately need.
EPISODE NOTES
Mark Vroegop serves as President of The Gospel Coalition, but his journey through thirty years of pastoral ministry—including profound personal loss—gives him unique insight into why the faith and work movement struggles to connect with local churches. In this honest conversation, Mark addresses the mutual intimidation, schedule blindness, and missed opportunities keeping pastors and entrepreneurs from the partnership both desperately need.
Beyond theory, Mark offers practical wisdom from two books addressing universal human experiences: Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy explores lament as the biblical language for grief (including business failure and betrayal), while his work on waiting addresses how leaders navigate gaps when outcomes remain uncertain. For entrepreneurs facing closure, pivots, or partnership betrayals—and pastors bearing leadership weight—this episode provides both theological framework and actionable next steps.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: Bringing faith and work back to the local church
01:34 What is The Gospel Coalition?
02:49 Leading a council of 45 diverse pastors
04:04 Theological triage: Keeping main things main
05:42 Current challenges facing the church today
07:26 Information overload and AI’s impact on truth
09:31 Gospel Coalition’s AI Christian Benchmark Report
10:33 Should the church engage AI or wait and see?
12:15 Faith and work integration comes to the church
13:31 Faith and work 2.0: Beyond valuing work to church partnership
14:56 Why business leaders need to be good churchmen
16:00 Why are pastors and entrepreneurs missing each other?
17:18 Week in the life of a pastor breakdown
19:49 Translating pastoral demands into entrepreneur language
21:04 Where entrepreneurs could help pastors most
22:28 The missing platform and presence problem
23:44 Meeting business leaders in their world
25:44 Dark seasons: Introduction to lament
26:54 Defining lament as prayer in pain leading to trust
28:42 Grieving business closure and entrepreneurial loss
30:07 Four types of lament in the Psalms
31:06 Why leaders need permission to lament
33:29 Navigating uncertain seasons and gaps
34:44 Waiting on the Lord through uncertainty
36:20 Gaps in biblical stories we often miss
37:21 Psalm 27: Waiting as a position of strength
38:51 Building waiting into your strategic plan
39:33 When gaps become uncomfortable and idols emerge
40:17 Next steps and practical application
More Episodes
Stay Connected to the Movement
Listen on your favorite podcast platform:
JOIN A FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR GROUP
You need allies. We have groups.
No Cost. No Catch. Online or In Person.
Journey with 10-15 other Entrepreneurs through the
8-week Study. Don’t Journey Alone. Find your Community.