Episode 382 – Why Every Entrepreneur Gets Generosity Wrong | John Cortines

In this episode recorded live at Kingdom Advisors, John walks through the two questions that reframe everything: not “How much do I need to give?” but “How much do I really need to keep?” He unpacks the four heart conditions (pride, coveting, anxiety, and indifference) and their gospel antidotes: gratitude, contentment, trust, and love. Drawing from King David and King Nebuchadnezzar as the ultimate biblical contrast, John shows how subtle pronoun shifts reveal where our hearts really are.

John also casts a bold vision: professionally managed giving funds becoming as mainstream and accessible as index funds, so busy entrepreneurs can give with the same rigor and joy they bring to investing. Don’t miss this one.

00:52 Introducing John Cortines: family, farm, and faith

03:11 The journey into generosity: Harvard, Chevron, and a Bible study

05:00 The wrong question Christians ask about money

07:02 Flipping the script: How much do I need to keep?

08:04 Studying generosity with student loan debt

10:21 Why secular effective altruism felt joyless

12:42 Missing the prayer component in collective impact

13:37 Financial finish lines: lifestyle and net worth guardrails

15:14 The shadow side of entrepreneurial ambition

16:00 True Riches: the four heart conditions around money

17:28 Pride—and why pronouns matter for entrepreneurs

18:49 Nebuchadnezzar vs. King David: the pronoun test

19:57 Practical gratitude: what it looks like daily

21:25 Coveting and contentment: the mansion test

23:35 Social media and the battle for contentment

25:47 Anxiety to trust: seeking first the Kingdom

29:42 Indifference to love: the hardest heart shift

33:07 Going on the generosity offensive: collective giving

35:28 Joining God’s heart for the global poor

37:02 Professionally managed giving funds: the vision

39:14 From mutual funds to giving funds: a tsunami shift

42:06 The joy of community in collective generosity

44:13 Celebrating gifts with your family

45:24 First step for busy entrepreneurs: offer the 100%

46:51 Closing encouragement and next steps

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Faith Driven Entrepreneur is an educational platform hosted by Faith Driven Movements, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and mobilize people to use their time, talents and other resources in the marketplace. Faith Driven Movements brings together leaders from around the world that seek to make a financial, social, environmental and spiritual impact through their business ventures. The website is intended to be an opportunity to exchange ideas for educational purposes. Faith Driven Movements is not responsible for the opinions, advice, statements, materials, presentations, data, images, videos, documentation and other information (collectively, the “Materials”) expressed or otherwise shared by guest contributors (including without limitation podcast guests, conference speakers, guest writers, participating companies and investment professionals). The Materials are for informational purposes only, and the statements, views and opinions expressed at any presentation or in any Materials are those solely of the presenter and not of Faith Driven Movements. Hosts and Guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. Further, Faith Driven Movements does not endorse or recommend any presenter, promoter, investment advisor, strategy, company or any views mentioned at any conference or in the Materials. Under no circumstances will Faith Driven Movements (or their respective trustees, directors, officers, employees, or agents) be liable for the accuracy, quality or reliability of any of the presentations or Materials, any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of presenters, or any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from any presentations or Materials. By visiting the site you agree to comply with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.