Is your work-life balance out of sync? Do you struggle with burnout, workaholism, or feeling like your job defines you? In this episode of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer sits down with Ariana Malloy, communication professor at Biola University and author of Healthy Calling: From Toxic Burnout to Sustainable Work, to unpack the dangers of job idolatry, the power of Sabbath, and how humility helps us maintain a sustainable calling.

Key Topics Covered:
How to recognize when your calling is becoming an idol
The difference between a job, a career, and a calling—and why calling leads to the most burnout
How Christian organizations unintentionally pressure employees into overwork
Practical Sabbath rhythms to break the cycle of exhaustion
The three aspects of humility that protect against burnout
Why accountability should go beyond moral failure to include work-life balance

Ariana also shares her personal journey with workaholism and burnout—plus practical strategies for staying on the right side of healthy calling.

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
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Resources Mentioned:
Get Ariana Malloy’s Book – Healthy Calling (20% off with code for IVP- use code IVPPOD20 for a 20% discount) IVP Press

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