Why I'm Publishing My Manifesto Today

I wasn't planning to release this today.

The Totem Manifesto has been sitting in my files for over a year—written during a season of business uncertainty, but never published. Not because I didn't believe in it, but because I was afraid. Afraid that declaring my Christian faith publicly would cost me business opportunities. Afraid that being explicit about building technology "in service of Christ" would make potential partners uncomfortable. Afraid that in a society often skeptical of faith, I would be seen as less serious, less professional, less capable.

But let me be clear from the start:

This isn't about building a Christian business that only serves Christians. It's about building technology that demonstrates how principles rooted in my faith—radical truth-telling, sustainable trust, voluntary cooperation—serve everyone.

I'm not asking anyone to share my specific faith commitments. I'm asking whether we can build together on principles we discover we actually share: systems that serve human flourishing rather than extract from it, frameworks built on character rather than surveillance, economic models based on value creation rather than value extraction.

A Sermon That Changed Everything

Sitting in Grace City Church in Wenatchee, Washington, I listened as Pastor Josh McPherson delivered a message about courage, conviction, and the cost of public faith. His words about the necessity of living our deepest beliefs openly, even when it carries genuine risk, cut straight through my comfortable rationalizations.

Pastor Josh spoke about someone who had paid the ultimate price for refusing to compartmentalize their faith, and then he issued a challenge that I couldn't ignore:

Pastor Josh spoke about leaders throughout history who paid ultimate prices for refusing to compartmentalize their faith—who integrated their deepest convictions with their public work even when it carried mortal risk.

Then came the words that made my own contradiction unbearable:

"Every Christian had best to take a long walk this week to review whether or not they are ready to pay the price of their life. And you better get the answer right. The answer is yes. If you're in Christ, you've already died."

As I walked out of that service, the weight of my own hypocrisy became clear. Here I was, building systems designed to serve human flourishing through Christian principles, while hiding the very foundation that gave that work meaning.

The Stakes Are Unprecedented

If there could ever be a risky moment to make this declaration, it would be today. But here's what became clear: the greater risk isn't in building on foundations I believe create sustainable trust—it's in building on foundations that cannot withstand the pressures that sustainable success requires. Partnerships built on hiding my deepest convictions aren't partnerships I can sustain. Investment that requires compartmentalizing the principles that guide my decision-making isn't investment that serves the long-term mission.

The rational business decision would be to wait. Publish the manifesto after the event, after the partnerships are secured, after the funding is closed. But that's exactly the cowardice that Pastor Josh's sermon exposed. When we compartmentalize our deepest convictions to protect our professional opportunities, we become precisely the kind of leaders who prioritize temporal success over eternal significance—or in secular terms, short-term optimization over long-term integrity.

What This Means Practically

This commitment to building on Christian principles means creating systems that work for everyone who values truth, character, and voluntary cooperation—regardless of their faith background or philosophical framework.

In our supply chain sovereignty work, this means:

• Building systems that operate on trust and expectation rather than surveillance and enforcement

• Creating frameworks where individual autonomy and collective intelligence enhance rather than compromise each other

• Designing algorithms that scale character rather than just efficiency

• Pursuing economic models based on value creation rather than value extraction

  
  

As I've written about in my Alps and Desert Starlight series, the most sophisticated innovation comes from integrating multiple forms of understanding—technical precision, systems wisdom, economic sustainability, and spiritual purpose. Christian faith doesn't constrain this integration; it enables it by providing the foundation for sustainable trust and long-term thinking.

A Call to Others

Pastor Josh's challenge wasn't just personal—it was universal. Every leader faces the choice between authentic conviction and convenient compartmentalization. Every entrepreneur must decide whether their deepest beliefs inform their business strategy or remain safely sequestered in private life.

I'm responding by releasing the Totem Manifesto today, not because conditions are perfect, but because hiding our deepest convictions while claiming to build systems that serve human flourishing is a contradiction I can no longer live with.

I especially call others to similar courage—whatever your faith tradition or philosophical framework: integrate your deepest convictions with your professional excellence, declare the principles that actually guide your decision-making even when it carries genuine risk, and demonstrate that systems built on character create competitive advantage rather than competitive disadvantage. For me, those principles flow from Christian faith. For you, they may flow from different sources. What matters is that we stop pretending we can build systems of trust while hiding what we actually trust in.

The Manifesto

What follows is the manifesto I should have published a year ago. It declares Jesus Christ's lordship over every sphere of human activity, including technology design and business strategy. It commits to building systems that serve human flourishing rather than merely human efficiency. It calls for courage in integrating faith with professional excellence.

You don't need to share my faith to collaborate on these principles. The manifesto articulates my foundation, but the work it describes—building systems on sustainable trust, protecting human dignity, creating frameworks for voluntary cooperation—serves everyone who benefits from those outcomes.

→ Read the Totem Manifesto Here

Moving Forward

This week has clarified something I've long believed but haven't had the courage to declare publicly: the greatest business risk isn't in building on Christian principles—it's in building on foundations that cannot withstand the pressures that sustainable success requires.

I'd rather build something that serves what I believe is eternal than something that serves only market forces. I'd rather lose opportunities that require compromising my deepest convictions than gain partnerships that demand I hide the principles that actually guide my decisions.

Pastor Josh reminded us that courage in living our convictions isn't optional for those who claim to follow Christ. The cost is real, but so is the call. And I believe this courage—whatever its source—is what enables us to build systems worthy of the trust people place in them.

The real work begins now.

~ Drew Zabrocki