I have heard this feedback before...

You shouldn't bring your Christian faith into your business.

Some people are uncomfortable that I openly talk about Jesus Christ. Some do not like that Functional Nurse Academy offers optional biblical content. Others have objected to the fact that our business financially supports Christian ministries.

And yes, I know there may be people who decide not to train with us because of my faith.

But I have come to a very simple conclusion:

I cannot separate my identity in Christ from the rest of my life.

I cannot clock into work in the morning and clock out of my Christianity.

My faith isn't something I practice for an hour on Sunday and then put back on the shelf until the following week. It influences how I raise my family, how I treat other people, how I approach healthcare, how I run my business, how I use the resources God has entrusted to me, and ultimately what I believe my purpose is.

The Bible tells us:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” — Colossians 3:23

That includes my business.

I give all glory to God for the success of Functional Nurse Academy

I am tremendously grateful for the success of Functional Nurse Academy. But I do not believe I built this organization through my own strength alone.

I believe God gave me the ability to learn and understand functional medicine. I believe He gave me a gift for teaching. I believe He opened doors I could never have opened myself, and I believe He has blessed and grown this organization.

Therefore, the glory belongs to Him.

That perspective also changes the purpose of having a successful business.

Of course, businesses need to generate revenue. We have employees and contractors to pay, technology to maintain, continuing education and accreditation expenses, marketing expenses, taxes, and countless other costs.

But money cannot become our god.

Jesus warned:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...” — Matthew 6:19–20

James reminds us just how temporary this life is:

“You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” — James 4:14

That changes how I look at money.

If God has blessed our business with resources, I believe we have a responsibility to ask how some of those resources can be used to serve others.

That is why we donate a portion of enrollment revenue to humanitarian outreach efforts. Those have included Christian ministries involved in rescuing and rehabilitating victims of human trafficking and ministries helping provide clean water in impoverished communities in Africa.

We also financially support an organization providing assistance to individuals suffering from severe adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination. While this organization is not specifically a Christian ministry, we believe helping people who are sick, suffering, and in need of medical support is an important way to serve others.

We want our success to accomplish more than simply benefiting ourselves.

Christ comes before course sales. 

Why Functional Nurse Academy Includes Biblical Content

Functional Nurse Academy is a professional functional medicine education program for nurses. Our core curriculum teaches functional medicine concepts and provides nursing continuing education.

But we are also a Christian, family-owned organization.

Because of that, I created additional biblical educational resources for students who want them at no additional cost. 

These resources are elective.

Students are not required to complete them. They are not required for completion of the Functional Nurse Academy program, and students do not pay an additional fee to access them.

Why include them at all?

Because I believe healthcare has increasingly tried to treat human beings as though we are merely collections of biochemical pathways.

We aren't.

Human beings wrestle with purpose, guilt, forgiveness, grief, fear, hope, relationships, suffering, mortality, and questions about God. For Christians, spiritual health cannot simply be severed from the rest of the person.

I watched events during COVID-19 that strengthened this conviction. I watched what can happen when fear, power, financial incentives, and human institutions become ultimate authorities.

My conclusion was not that healthcare needed less God.

It was that I wanted Christ at the center of what I was building.

Faith and Health Are Not Opposing Subjects

One reason I find the insistence that spirituality should be excluded from conversations about health particularly interesting is that spirituality and religious practice themselves have been subjects of scientific research.

A major prospective study published in JAMA Psychiatry followed women participating in the Nurses' Health Study and found that frequent religious service attendance was associated with a substantially lower risk of suicide.

Another large Nurses' Health Study analysis found that frequent religious service attendance was associated with lower all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality.

Researchers have also studied forgiveness, a principle taught throughout biblical texts long before the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.

Scripture repeatedly teaches against harboring hatred, vengeance, and bitterness and instead calls people toward mercy and forgiveness. Modern research has associated forgiveness with better psychological health and has also examined relationships with physiological measures such as blood pressure and heart rate.

I find that incredibly interesting.

We also now understand the brain's capacity for neuroplasticity—the ability to form and strengthen neural pathways in response to repeated patterns of thought and behavior.

For Christians, it is difficult not to think about the biblical instruction:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2

Modern neuroscience is increasingly demonstrating just how profoundly our patterns of thought, attention, behavior, and repeated mental practices can influence the brain.

Neuroscience has also examined prayer and religious practice. Research has associated religious and spiritual practices with measurable activity and changes across brain networks involved in attention, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and other functions.

As a Christian, I don't need neuroscience to prove Scripture to me.

But as a nurse and functional medicine educator, I find it fascinating when modern scientific research identifies associations with practices and principles that Scripture has discussed for thousands of years.

What Does Science Say About Prayer?

Prayer has also become a subject of scientific research.

Researchers have documented measurable neurological, cardiovascular, and autonomic changes associated with prayer and other religious practices.

There have also been studies examining intercessory prayer and reports of miraculous unexplained recovery of complex conditions following prayer.

The Global Medical Research Institute has specifically investigated medically documented cases involving significant recoveries reported following Christian prayer, including cases involving serious health conditions.

For Christians, the idea that prayer matters isn't surprising.

We believe prayer is not simply a relaxation technique.

We believe we are communicating with God.

And we believe God is capable of healing.

Biblical Principles, Herbs, and Modern Health Research

The Bible also repeatedly mentions plants and natural substances including frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, and aloe.

Thousands of years later, researchers continue investigating compounds found in these plants and their potential biological and medicinal properties.

That does not mean every biblical reference to a plant was intended to be a medical prescription. But as someone who has spent years studying functional medicine, I find the intersection between God's creation, traditional plant use, Scripture, and modern biochemical research fascinating.

The same is true of principles such as forgiveness, gratitude, prayer, fellowship, caring for our bodies, controlling destructive thought patterns, caring for the sick, and helping those in need.

Science does not threaten my faith.

Studying creation gives me an even greater appreciation for the Creator.

Christianity Is Offered Here—Not Forced

Being bold about our Christian identity does not mean treating people poorly because they believe differently.

We welcome students from different backgrounds.

We do not require students to become Christians.

We do not discriminate against students because they hold different religious beliefs.

And our explicitly biblical educational resources are optional.

There is an enormous difference between forcing faith upon another person and refusing to hide your own.

I respect every individual's freedom to decide what he or she believes. Christianity itself teaches that faith cannot be coerced.

But religious freedom also means Christians are free to speak openly about Jesus Christ.

I will continue to do that.

I will continue sharing Scripture.

I will continue creating resources for Christian nurses who want to incorporate biblical principles into their lives and work appropriately.

I will continue giving God the glory for what He has done through this organization.

And I will continue supporting ministries and humanitarian causes that I believe are doing God's work in this world.

My Identity Is in Christ—Even If It Costs Me Business

I understand that being this open about Christianity may cost us enrollments.

There may be prospective students who see a Bible verse on our social media page and decide Functional Nurse Academy isn't for them.

There may be people who criticize me for donating to Christian ministries.

There may be people who believe Christianity should remain completely outside business, healthcare, and public life.

I respect their freedom to make that decision.

But my Christian faith is more important to me than a course sale.

If the choice is between concealing Christ to make my business more universally marketable and openly acknowledging Him, I choose Christ.

Jesus never promised His followers universal approval.

He said:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” — John 15:18

Christian business owners should not intentionally antagonize people. We should not be arrogant, cruel, or self-righteous. In fact, our faith should compel exactly the opposite.

We should conduct ourselves with integrity.

We should treat people fairly.

We should work diligently.

We should tell the truth.

We should serve people well.

We should be generous.

We should admit when we are wrong.

And we should love our neighbors—including those who completely disagree with us.

But humility is not the same thing as silence.

An Encouragement to Other Christian Business Owners

If you are a Christian business owner who has felt pressure to hide your faith because you are afraid someone might criticize you, unfollow you, or decide not to purchase from you, I want to encourage you:

Know who you belong to.

Your identity is not ultimately in your business.

It isn't in your revenue.

It isn't in the number of followers you have.

It isn't in your professional credentials.

It isn't in the approval of strangers on the internet.

For Christians, our identity is in Christ.

That should influence how we work, how we lead, how we spend, how we give, how we treat people, and how we define success.

There will always be people who disagree.

Love them anyway.

Serve them well anyway.

Treat them with dignity anyway.

But don't allow fear of criticism to determine whether you acknowledge the One you believe gave you everything in the first place.

Functional Nurse Academy will continue to provide rigorous functional medicine education for nurses.

We will continue welcoming people from different backgrounds.

We will continue making our explicitly biblical educational resources optional.

We will continue using a portion of what God has blessed us with to help people who are suffering.

And we will continue being unapologetically Christian.

Because ultimately, this business is not about glorifying me.

It's about using what God has given me to serve others and glorify Jesus Christ.