Christians for Impact · Discernment Tools
CFI Weighted Model
By JD Bauman. A simple way to compare two callings — one that takes both your impact and your whole life seriously.
Scripture tells us to count the cost before we build a tower (Luke 14:28), and Jesus commends the servant who invests his talents rather than burying them (Matthew 25:14–30).
But counting the cost is genuinely hard when one decision touches everything at once — your impact, your income, your family, your prayer life.
Below I offer a tool to help you compare options. This is a CFI version of a weighted factor model — the same kind of tool researchers at Charity Entrepreneurship and Ambitious Impact use to compare charity ideas.
What makes this version Christian is not the maths but the weights, informed by Scripture and my Christian values. I score each path on two things.
I. Its Impact Score
Here we ask the two questions we keep returning to. First, impact: how much concrete good — outcomes that conform to God’s plan to renew our fallen world, i.e. lives saved, people helped — does this path do Second, career capital: how far does it build the skills, connections, and credentials that will let you do still more good later? A role that scores modestly on impact today but richly on career capital may be the wiser long game.
II. Its Personal Fit Score
For this I draw on older wisdom about a life well lived. Most people need most of seven things to flourish: family, friendships, faith and prayer, health, hobbies, a romantic relationship, and meaningful work. Work is the very thing you’re weighing — so the other six become your fit criteria.
When one part of life — even a noble, world-changing job — begins to cannibalise all the others, that is a kind of idolatry, and a good pastor will say so. Impact is a marathon, not a sprint. A path that quietly wrecks your marriage or your prayer life by year two is rarely the one God means you to walk for forty years.
Below is a blank version for you to fill in.
Now weigh your own two paths
Weighting is the model’s value-judgment made visible. Set it to fit your convictions and your season.
JD’s real example
Two roles he genuinely considered, scored side by side.
What each row is asking — and why it’s here
Each factor earns its place on two grounds at once: Scripture treats it as something God cares about, and the research on human flourishing keeps confirming that it matters.
Impact Score
Impact / 5
How much concrete good does this path do for the poor, sick, lost, and vulnerable? We were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10), and the harvest is plentiful while the workers are few (Matthew 9:37). Purposeful, meaningful work is also one of the strongest non-relational predictors of life satisfaction.
Career capital / 5
What skills, relationships, and credentials does this path build for the good you’ll do later? The faithful servant multiplies what he’s entrusted with rather than burying it (Matthew 25:14–30); Joseph’s and Daniel’s hard-won competence later sheltered whole nations. Early skill-building compounds, widening your options for decades.
Personal Fit Score
Family / 5
Will this path strengthen or strain your ties to parents, siblings, and the children you have or hope to have? Scripture treats providing for one’s household as inseparable from faith itself (1 Timothy 5:8; Exodus 20:12), and close family bonds are among the most durable sources of long-run wellbeing.
Friendships / 5
Will the role leave you time and proximity for real friends? “Two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10) and “a friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17). The strength of our social connections rivals diet and exercise as a predictor of health and longevity.
Faith & prayer life / 5
Will this path draw you nearer to God or crowd Him out? We’re told to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to “seek first the kingdom” (Matthew 6:33). Regular spiritual practice is consistently linked to greater wellbeing and resilience — and, notably, rising affluence often pulls in the opposite direction.
Health / 5
Does the role leave room for sleep, movement, and a stable mind? Your body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19), entrusted to your care. Sleep, exercise, and diet remain the foundations of both physical and mental health.
Hobbies / 5
Is there space for rest and ordinary delight outside of work? God Himself rested and hallowed the seventh day (Genesis 2:2–3); there is “a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Leisure and play measurably lower stress and lift mood.
Relationship / 5
How will the role affect your marriage, or the prospect of one? “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), and marriage is given to image Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25–33). A supportive partnership is among the strongest correlates of a happy life.
Hold the number loosely
This is a tool for thinking, not a substitute for it. The CFI view treats reason and evidence as real gifts from God for making wise choices — but they sit alongside prayer, Scripture, and the counsel of people who know you. A spreadsheet can clarify a decision; it can’t make it for you.
A few things the number won’t capture. Vocation is broader than paid work: parenting and serving your church are callings too, and not everyone is called to a role the world would label “high-impact.” God does occasionally direct someone plainly toward a particular task — though this is rare, and worth testing carefully with mature believers rather than treated as the normal way to decide. And Scripture reminds us we plan our course while the Lord establishes our steps (Proverbs 16:9), so we can act thoughtfully and still hold the outcome with open hands.
If you’d like a second set of eyes, that’s exactly what we’re here for — you can read more about the CFI view or book free 1-on-1 advising.
