I had the privilege to co-host a Victory Makati Business Community gathering earlier where my Australian friend Martin Delabat was sharing. Years ago, Martin was in full-time ministry, but today he’s in the business world… still ministering and preaching, just in a different pulpit. He now embraces and advocates Kingdom Economics, helping leaders see that the marketplace isn’t a detour from God’s purpose. For many, it is the mission field.

As Martin was speaking, I found myself reflecting on something he shared which I have encountered a few years back: the Engel Scale.

The Engel Scale is a simple way to understand that people don’t usually move toward Jesus in one dramatic moment. Most people travel a journey, from skepticism, to curiosity, to openness, to seeking, to trusting Christ, and then toward discipleship. It reminds us that faith is often a process, not a switch.

In the marketplace, this matters deeply because in your office, your industry, your boardroom, your client meetings… you are not always surrounded by people who are “ready” to hear a full gospel presentation. Many are still in the earlier stages: cautious, resistant, hurt, indifferent, curious, or searching. But here’s what we often forget: God is already at work in them, even before they ever say yes to Him.

This is where I’m reminded of theologian N.T. Wright’s constant refrain: Christianity is not about escaping earth and going to heaven one day. It’s about God’s kingdom breaking into the present, renewing lives, relationships, communities, and even systems. The gospel is not just “how to get saved.” The gospel is the announcement that Jesus is King, and His reign is already unfolding right now.

So when we talk about evangelism in the marketplace, we are not just trying to “recruit converts,” we are participating in God’s work of renewal, helping people take real steps toward the King. This is why the Engel Scale seems so helpful: it teaches us to value movement.

Every step toward Jesus matters.

Sometimes the win isn’t conversion yet. Sometimes the win is:

• a hardened heart becoming curious
• a cynical person becoming open
• a wounded person learning to trust again
• a broken leader seeing the difference between religion and relationship
• a skeptic finally asking, “What makes you different?”

Those are not small things. Those are Kingdom moments.

This aligns perfectly with what Brett Johnson emphasizes in Kingdom Economics: that economic life, work, money, business, ownership, was never meant to be separated from God’s rule. The marketplace is not simply a secular place where Christians try to survive with integrity. It is a place where God’s people can model a different kind of economy, one shaped by stewardship, justice, generosity, and love. Brett Johnson talks about how the Kingdom redefines prosperity, not as accumulation, but as responsibility. Not as self-indulgence, but as stewardship. Not as “How much can I keep?” but “How much can I bless?” This is why marketplace believers are more than workers, they are Kingdom representatives.

Your life is actually preaching something every day. Your work ethic preaches. Your integrity preaches. Your generosity preaches. Your humility preaches. Your peace under pressure preaches. In fact, for many people, your life will be the first gospel they are willing to read. Mother Theresa famously said “spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.” I may not fully agree with that quote since we need to proclaim the gospel, but she does makes a very important point on the need to demonstrate the gospel.

And when you see it through the Engel Scale, you realize: those daily choices are not just “good behavior.” They are Spirit-empowered ways of helping others move one step closer to Jesus, because evangelism in the marketplace often looks like farming, not hunting.

Plant. Water. Cultivate. Pray. Trust God for growth.

This is also very consistent with how N.T. Wright speaks about Christian mission: we are called to be “signposts” of the coming Kingdom, people whose lives give the world a preview of what God intends for humanity under King Jesus.

So when you do business with honesty in a culture of shortcuts, you are pointing to the Kingdom. When you choose generosity over greed, you are pointing to the Kingdom. When you treat people with dignity in a world that treats them like tools, you are pointing to the Kingdom. When you lead with compassion, patience, and courage, you are pointing to the Kingdom. In that sense, you don’t just share the gospel, you embody the gospel.

So yes, we pray for salvation moments, we pray for boldness, we pray for open doors and we pray for people to come to faith in Christ. But we also celebrate the smaller movements, the quiet progress, because those are often the beginnings of surrender.

Maybe today, God isn’t calling you to “close the deal.” Maybe He’s calling you to represent Him faithfully, and help someone take one step closer to Jesus. Because in the Kingdom, progress is progress, and God is always at work… even in boardrooms, sales calls, strategy meetings, and deadlines.

The marketplace isn’t outside God’s story. It’s one of the main places where His story is unfolding.

He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30