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In my article “True Story: Bridge to Nowhere”, I explore a lesson in Strategy & Surrender that is also featured in my book, The Christian CEO. The story carries a powerful warning for every leader: sometimes the bridge is still standing, but the river has moved.
The question is, will we recognize it?
Recently, we took that question into our U.S. Christian Chamber of Commerce President’s Advisory Council, gathering leaders from investment, law, payments, marketing, technology, economic development, higher education, health and wellness, media, entertainment, and more for a Strategic Intelligence Session.
What made it even more interesting? We began hearing many of the same signals emerge among members during networking at The Exchange.
We asked one simple question:
What are you seeing because of where you sit?
Every leader has a different vantage point into the economy. We weren't looking for predictions. We wanted signals. What is changing? What are customers doing differently? What no longer works the way it once did? Where is the river moving?
What happened next was fascinating. Leaders sitting in very different parts of the economy began describing remarkably similar shifts.
Unsurprisingly, AI dominated much of the conversation. But this wasn't about how AI might change business someday. Leaders talked about what it is already doing across software development, marketing, education, payments, media, professional services, and knowledge management. The river has moved, and it continues to move fast.
Yet the more interesting conversation wasn’t about what AI is doing, it was about what AI cannot do.
Across industries, leaders raised questions about authenticity, critical thinking, institutional knowledge, intellectual property, craftsmanship, trust, and relationships. A fascinating possibility emerged: the more artificial our world becomes, the more valuable the authentic human will become.
When anyone can generate content, original thought matters. When information is unlimited, wisdom matters. When transactions are automated, relationships matter. And when almost anything can be manufactured to look authentic, character matters.
That has enormous implications for Christian business leaders.
Technology can help us produce, analyze, automate, and access extraordinary amounts of knowledge. But it cannot tell us why our company exists, what we value, what we refuse to compromise, whom we are called to serve—or Whose we are.
Perhaps in a world where everyone increasingly has access to the same powerful tools, identity becomes one of our greatest differentiators.
That’s why strategic intelligence alone isn't enough.
I thought about the men of Issachar, described in 1 Chronicles 12:32 as those “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” They understood what was happening around them and possessed the discernment to know what to do about it.
Our challenge is not accessing more information. AI gives us more than we can possibly consume. Our challenge is discerning what matters, what represents opportunity, what requires caution, what we should embrace, and what we should refuse to surrender.
Perhaps the prayer for the Christian CEO is simply:
God, give me the wisdom to understand what is changing and the discernment to know what You would have me do.
Our President’s Advisory Council conversation reminded me why rooms like this matter. No single leader can see the whole river. But when leaders with different vantage points bring what they are seeing into the same room, patterns emerge.
I challenge you to take a hard look at your own business—and invite your team into the conversation:
What are you seeing because of where you sit? What is changing? What needs to change—and what must never change?
Pay attention to the marketplace but remain connected to the Source. “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:5) Our advantage as Christian business leaders is not simply better intelligence—it’s wisdom, discernment, the living word of God, prayer and community rooted in Christ.
Thank you to our President’s Advisory Council for bringing your perspective and wisdom to this conversation. These are exactly the kinds of conversations we want to multiply across USCCC, including through our AI Collaborative launching in September.
The river is moving. Keep your eyes on Christ. Stay connected to the Source, and trust Him to light the path ahead.
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