ILI: History Makers Leadership Podcast

Ep. 86 | Becoming a Faith-Driven Leader

• International Leadership Institute • Season 1 • Episode 86

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What does it look like when faith moves beyond belief and into every part of life and leadership. In this episode, Rob Streetman shares the defining moments that reshaped his understanding of discipleship and transformed how he leads in both ministry and the marketplace.

Rob opens up about the power of story and testimony in spiritual formation, explaining why discipleship is meant to be lived, modeled, and shared rather than simply taught. He offers practical insight on the importance of spiritual mentors, how to recognize the right voices to learn from, and why true growth often requires humility, surrender, and honest self examination.

The conversation also dives into the challenges leaders face in the workplace, including identity struggles, hidden pride, and the tension between calling and career. Through real life examples, Rob illustrates how God can redirect professional paths into opportunities for Kingdom impact and deeper obedience.

Tune in to gain insights on becoming a leader shaped by lordship, grounded in discipleship, and committed to investing in others wherever God has placed you.

Rob's Website; https://inlightconsulting.org/


Join a community of leaders who are ready to change history and make an impact in this world. When you take part in ILI training, you will discover how ILI's Eight Core Values will help you transform your leadership. Discover more at ILITeam.org/connect.

SPEAKER_00:

I think one of the most incredible things is that God designed people to be people of a story. That's why Jesus uses parables in so many of the ways that he teaches and helps to disciple others. And I think it's one of the reasons why we see scriptures that say things like, um, we will know by the word of their testimony. And today I want to introduce you to an incredible leader, Rob Streetman. Rob uh leads an uh uh ministry in an organization called Inlight Consulting. He's been walking alongside leaders uh for um decades at this point. Uh, but one of the beautiful things about Rob is his incredible story. On today's episode, we're gonna look at uh how in the life of a leader there's gonna be a moment of uh clear lordship. There's gonna be a moment where we step into intentional discipleship and a moment where God moves us into a role of leadership in the lives of others. I think Rob's story will encourage you, challenge you, and uh show you a bit more of how God wants to work and move in your own life. Uh excited to be joined by Rob Streetman today. Well, Rob, I love getting a chance to sit down with you, man. Uh we get to grab coffee and and and talk. Uh I was trying to think, man. It's it's uh it's it's every you know two, three months we'll get a chance to sit down and catch up. And I always uh am so encouraged by it. I love uh to hear what God's showing you and teaching you to understand um your heart for for the church, for Christian leaders, uh, for the marketplace. Uh those are are are near and dear to my heart. I love serving Christian leaders. Um and I I'm just so thankful to be here with you, man. Thanks for joining us today. Thanks for thanks for letting me be here. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh well Rob forward to it.

SPEAKER_00:

I've known you for a little while now. Uh uh we were discussing even off camera. I think it was Billy that that helped to connect us, and we found each other even on LinkedIn um, I think for a little bit there. But uh tell tell everybody here that's joining us what's some of your background, uh, you know, how did you come to faith? Uh, what's your context for for Christian leadership and what's some of the stuff that God's got you in at the moment? Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. So um I I came to uh I asked the Lord to be my savior uh in the Methodist church when I was 12, 11 or 12. Um it was savior, but not Lord. So that was uh that created some conflict, some challenges. Um I tried to figure out how to be Lord and let him be savior for a while. But um in my mid-20s, um just kind of got tired of trying to do it myself, run my life, and um have fortunately had a very strong Christian family. And one day the Lord, I was standing in my mom and dad's uh living room, the Lord said, you know, why don't you try this thing that's closest, you know, to you? And it it was an invitation, but there was also a little bit of a warning in it, like things are gonna get worse if you don't. So so I did, and you know, just just surrendered uh in in my like I said, in my mid-20s. Um and by that time I was uh married, let's see, that would have been married four or five years. Okay. Um already in corporate America that long, um, apprenticed into the IT industry uh with a company called um Total Systems in Columbus, Georgia. Okay. They are the largest credit card processor in the world. No kidding. Yeah. At the time um that I got involved, they were just beginning. Um so that was that was interesting, you know, and still, you know, early in the computer age, you know, that was a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00:

And I bet there were some wild moments. I mean, that's that's startup to major corporation. Yeah. Uh and that it's in that, it's in the midst of that that the Lord's saying, Hey, uh I'm not just your savior, I I've got to be your Lord.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. That's a lot to juggle at once. Well, yeah, and and um I guess I need to tell more of the story. So so when I was at Total Systems, um, it was wild because everybody entertained. And and I was I I got caught up in that. You know, so that was part of my wandering from from the Lord and coming to the end of myself. And he was uh he was kind enough to he offered me a job with Sunbank of Florida. Okay. Um that I couldn't turn down. It was like a 60-something percent increase in salary, and it was just to get me out of, you know, that environment. And then down in uh in Orlando Um he used a book, uh, what's the name of that book? Um, More Than a Carpenter. Uh may have heard of that book, Lord Lee, you know, Lord Lunatic or um Liar. That's right. And so that helped my mind kind of settle. Um, it opened my mind up to, you know, just think beyond the confusion that I had going on. And then he used um he used the United Methodist hymnal to break my heart.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

So, you know, it's an orchestration. It was clearly an orchestration.

SPEAKER_00:

So um I love hearing that because it it also it, you know, I I know some of your story here, and it also points to um just the the impact and the legacy of of of written thought, of of oh yeah, understanding, okay, Lord, you're you're showing us things that that are are not just for me, but it's it's for others and it's for even other generations, right? We talk about uh leadership is influence, and the reality is some of the most influential leaders are ones that have already actually passed on. Uh but their writings and the things that God has has done through them remain. Um and so yeah, Lord Lunatic Liar, uh you know, more than a carpenter, great book. Um and gosh, even in this stream. Oh, yeah, sure. Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, my my my daughter-in-law, um her father is getting reinterested. He was raised Catholic, he's getting reinterested, and she wanted something to something to give to him. So we're so she and he hopefully he and and my wife Beth and I are both uh reading through more than a carpenter again. Wow. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, that's great.

SPEAKER_02:

And and you know, you mentioned the um the the writing and the the mentorship that we get from that. You know, I mean, like now in my devotion time, I've got three different mentors. You know, I've got Oswald Chambers and A. W. Tozer and C. S. Lewis. Rather. Because they wrote, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Wouldn't you love to have sat at a table with all three of those guys while they were alive?

SPEAKER_02:

I wouldn't have been able to.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean I would have just sat and listened. Like I don't have to say anything. I'll just try. Y'all just go ahead and keep on, you know, uh talking about what the gods what God's saying. And yeah, but that's that is, man, that is such a gift in the uh in the midst of that process. Um it's just going, okay, Lord, um, you're showing us things and and by writing them down, we get to we get to pass them on. Yeah. Uh okay, so uh you're down there in in Florida. Uh God's kind of got you uh in this place, he kind of pulled you out of something and he's he's stirring something new in you. Right. What happens next?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, um, you know, we were we were in Orlando for uh three and a half years. Um Sunbank and Trust Company of Georgia merged. Okay. Um so all most of the IT uh department in in Orlando moved to Atlanta. Oh but again, got orchestrating. Um we uh were allowed to stay an extra year because Beth was in school. So they were nice enough to leave us down there for her to get her master's at UCF. And um so when we moved um to Atlanta, we didn't move into into um West Cobb or East Cobb like most of the other IT people did. Um we were on our own. And you know, so they're showing us how you know we're we're they they gave us trips, you know, to come up and find a house. And I had family that lived out this way. So this was a natural place for me to look. So that's why we moved here. And of course, you know, you just you you look back on those things and you see the orchestration, you know, the the the man that has mentored me for twenty five years, you know, I never would have met I probably wouldn't have met him if we hadn't been here. And you know, he's John Brown's had the you know the strongest influence and and my he's my spiritual father, so he's had the strongest influence. But that's from being, you know, out here and you know, all the experiences are out here.

SPEAKER_00:

So I love that, and I love that you just used that phrase, spiritual father. I was talking to um uh a friend of mine uh over in Egypt, and he was describing some work that he does in a in a closed country. And uh they had invited him to come for Christmas, uh, some of the believers in that in that persecuted country. They said, Hey, why don't you come over for Christmas? We'd love to spend some time with you. Um and he and he said that exact same phrase. He said, Because they really do see me as their spiritual father. Right. And I I think uh what what really pricked my heart was uh the question, how many believers today couldn't say that that they are a spiritual mother or a spiritual father to someone else? Yeah, right, missing that discipleship opportunity, missing that the blessing that comes from mentoring, right? Uh, because I know you know this, uh being mentored is is a blessing, and being the mentor is a blessing. Like God has allowed both sides of that equation uh to be blessed. So I just think to how many, how many uh uh individuals in the body of Christ are missing that opportunity and the blessing that comes from it? Because God brought you here, but he brought you here with the intention of finding, developing, building different relationships, being a part of a bigger kingdom thing that he was working out. Right. Um okay, so you guys, you move up here. Can I speak speaking to that?

SPEAKER_02:

So um, particularly for the next generation or for people that don't have a mentor or somebody discipling them, um it it's uh I mean there's but there's two sides to it, right? There's there's those that are disciplers and there's those that want to be discipled. And, you know, I I I I did it it wasn't like I had a word from the Lord or anything, but I I'm I'm a pretty proactive person and and you know, like most type A's. And so I, you know, I just got it in my in my mind, you know, I needed somebody to disciple me. And, you know, I didn't wait for John to ask me if if he could disciple me. You know, I ask him, you know, and and so that's I think that's something uh just a recommendation for um you know everyone is you know, obviously you need to pray, you know, Lord, show me who is the one, you know, if there's gonna be a one, right? Um and and it's a it's it's it comes out of a desire, you know, God, I I want to grow in my faith. I need somebody to help me, I need somebody to walk through all this with me. And and then you just you know ask God to tell you who that is, and and you're gonna have to go ask them. Because people don't walk around, you know, thinking I'm gonna ask, you know, who can I ask to to disciple? Um and unless they are, you know, of course, being led by the Lord too. But you know, but John even John, you know, he when I asked him, uh, he took a couple weeks, you know, to pray about, you know, whether or not. And then he asked me a couple of hard questions, you know, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

And do you remember those questions?

SPEAKER_02:

Um yeah, he well, I remember one of them for sure. Maybe the other one will come to me. He asked me what is the uh most difficult sin that I struggle with. Um and he probably then asked me something. I mean, I what I would ask is, you know, what is the desire of your heart? He didn't ask that exact question, but probably something along those lines. One of those things. That's where things start.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, no question. Uh one of the uh in a similar vein, one of the best questions I'd heard uh and I try and use with some of the younger leaders that I walk with is the question, what's the one thing you don't want me to ask about? Oh yeah, sure. Right. Like just same thing. That we can, you know, present, uh, but are are the presenting issue not the underlying issue. Right. You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um Yeah, the other thing that's on my mind to to share before I forget it, um, that was different uh with John is, you know, I I had this assumption that John was that when I asked John to disciple me, that he was going to be praying for me a lot. And and I I can't remember the con how the conversation went, but what I discovered was he was praying more for himself than he was for me. And it's just a good lesson. You know, he was preparing, he he was praying to be prepared to speak what God had to say when we got together rather than praying something, you know, for for me. Yeah. Um and I think that's just really important for a disciple maker.

SPEAKER_00:

That's good. I you know, I I think that can be an easy thing to to to miss, right? Where uh you know, I I think fundamentally Christian leaders have to abide in an intimate relationship with God. And if we're not, right, we're gonna we're gonna have faults, failure, uh, right. You know, those are those are debts we're incurring along the along the leadership path. Right. And even in those discipleship relationships, I think acknowledging, wait a second, the goal here is still greater intimacy with God in myself and in them. Right. And so uh that that has to be a a primary focus, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Um there's a hard head thing um involved too. Um you know, we we I mean I've had leadership training and you know me, you know, coaching and and all of that, and and a lot of it um, you know, it's out of your head. It's it's knowing the right questions to ask. It's you know, it's it's like you know, you somebody starts talking and you start, you know, kind of looking into your own mind, like how can I respond? What's the best thing to say? And and we really need to be leading with our heart, not with our head. Um, because it's with you know our heart that fa that's where faith is and desires are and and if I'm discipling somebody, um, it's just I mean, we know that it's not it's not what we say, it's the way we live our lives. Yeah. So me knowing that John was coming to the meeting himself prepared, just said volumes, you know, um get your heart right. That's basically what he was saying.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and and it it's a it's a challenge to to equally come prepared and to be a part of that. Right. So you you just boldly said, Hey John, come like I I want you to do this. John spent, you know, some time in prayer consideration, right? Um, and began that process. Man, that's uh it's funny how complex we can sometimes make those kinds of things. Yeah, uh when it's just a simple, hey, would you would you be willing to do that? Like, you know, practically we're gonna sit down and then have breakfast, you know, once a month or something, but but you do that in that kind of consistency and dividends.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. I'm sorry, I'm talking over you. No, it it it um it's part of oh what was I gonna say? Um Well, I I I guess what I'm what I'm thinking is um we we've gotta get we've gotta get back to the way that um the kingdom works. And it works with discipleship. I mean y'all y'all know that, you know, I L I, I mean that's what y'all do. But but out there, you know, in the in the world, um, even in the church, this we've just lost the sense of what discipleship you know is. We we think somebody's speaking for, you know, thirty to forty-five minutes that that the congregation's being discipled and and so um yeah, so we've just gotta again as I'm I'm just thinking about the you know the next generation of leaders and and and what they're gonna need and and what you know we, you know, I'm a I'm a boomer, so you know, my my days are coming to an end soon. And not that too. Well, hopefully not, but but but in terms of of leading, you know, the the next form of church that you know that comes, the next, you know, even forms of business, whatever types of business. I mean, we're in a transition where I mean the the the chaos we're going through's um it's there's something going on, you know, and and so you know the one thing that I have to offer or that any you know mature Christian has to offer is wisdom and you know and I just hunger. You know, you know, I I would I would probably overcommit myself if if every young Christian, you know, would come to me and say, Would you disciple me? Because I'd be like, Absolutely, you know, why not? You know, that's what's what I got to offer. You know, so you know, it's investing in the kingdom. Yeah. You know, and and those we know, I'm just I'm saying stuff that you and and the people probably listening know, but that's the investment that's not where rust and moths destroy. That's investment, you know, forward. Yeah. And and there is a return on that. I mean there there truly is in the next age a return on on those investments. So like I said, I'm hopefully I got, you know, 30 more years maybe, but um you get to a point in your life where the you know, ear earlier rather than later, but you really do start thinking about, you know, your investments and and where where where am I truly giving my time and attention?

SPEAKER_00:

So when do you think or or or or what do you think really uh was that triggering point in your own life or experience where you you began to see uh hey, this discipleship piece is something that that um we've missed, we've lost sight of, or or we're we're we're you know in the midst of fumbling. Um when do you think you really started to kind of see that? And uh what do you think are are some of the remedies in that?

SPEAKER_02:

Um well it I I hate to say this, but it came on slowly. I mean, you know, it it just kind of grew on me. Sure. Um and and probably um just being a being around John and and hearing John teach and and you know, he probably shared, you know, something about discipling, you know, he because that's just that's that's been that's been his bent ever since I've known him is putting his finger on what's missing, you know, and and like you said, how do we how do we uh rectify that mistake? Um but look looking back, um some some moments in time that that I can reflect on, you know, I one one thing that I've I I know now is there were people that were discipling me that I didn't know they were discipling me. And they probably didn't know either. Because it's not just 90 minutes, you know, once a week with somebody studying a book or the Bible. Um, you know, I I had a had a time at uh at Sun Trust, you know, the Lord was just trying to, I didn't know it at the time, but he was trying to uproot, you know, some pride in me. And and and so uh many, many times, you know, we see uh we see the Lord's judgment. Sometimes it comes off, we think it's persecution. So so I'm at work working at Sun Trust and and and uh got myself in a tough spot with with my boss. Um again, that we don't have to tell that part, but that it was it was mostly my fault. And and I got put on probation um for sharing my faith at work. So of course I jumped to persecution, I'm being persecuted. And uh almost immediately the um panic attacks started coming because work was my identity. Right. I'm my identity's being threatened. Again, I'm looking this is hindsight being 2020. And so, you know, this goes on for for weeks and and I'm fighting back and and I'm having panic attacks and and I walk down the hall uh there at Sun Trust. We had a Bible study in in a corner office, and I walk in and and this gentleman, Bobby Little, uh a black gentleman that um just just a kind man, you know, but um he asked me how I was doing. And so I took about probably five or ten minutes to tell him how bad things were. And he said, uh he said, so you got that pride thing going. And that just kind of like went right past my head. I mean, what does that have to do? I'm I'm being persecuted, man. That's not got nothing to do with it. And then uh uh a couple minutes later, Mike Close walks in and uh he says, How's everybody doing? So I get to share again. And we get to the end of it, and guess what he says?

SPEAKER_00:

Got that pride.

SPEAKER_02:

You got that pride thing going. And it was I was dumbfounded. I mean, I was dumbfounded. I I was just like, that just smacked me in the in the head. But see, that that was th they didn't like formally, they weren't formally discipling me. They just had a word from the Lord that didn't have anything to do with what I and and it the it it it it really was a a a a marker, it was a milestone. It was the first uprooting of pride in my life.

SPEAKER_00:

Would you say that they had just positioned themselves to know the truth and be able to speak the truth to you?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh yeah, yeah, exactly like John. I mean I you know, I I don't know that from but but they were they were strong Christian men that had more maturity than I did, and God gave them eyes to see and something to say, you know, and and so you know those are those are the things w when when you you know as a as a leader and and with a with a desire to disciple, those are the moments, you know, that you you you look for, but you can't create those in your head. They have to come out of your out of your spirit. Right. And and and your spirit and m my my experience is my spirit speaks more to my heart than it than he does to my head. You know, the Holy Spirit. And 'cause when it gets into my head, it gets distracted and confused and and I just I just do better when I'm you know just trying to lead with my heart.

SPEAKER_00:

Well and one of the uh you know w when we teach uh about just different barriers to an intimate walk with the Lord. Yeah. One of the elements that we talk about, and it's it's one of the barriers for me is is um uh information over intimacy, right? Where knowledge about God supersedes knowledge of him. Right. And uh that was I mean it's definitely part of my story, right? I I I love learning uh and have a passion and a and a longing to learn. But uh it can often be for the sake of learning rather than for the sake of of really knowing. Right. Uh and you know, again, a little bit to that head heart uh duality. But I I love I love this because here here's here are the the uh the chapters in the story I'm hearing. There's a moment where you go, okay, you're you're Lord. And so so uh definitive, I'm going to live in a place where you're Lord. There's a moment where you you begin to intentionally seek and receive um development in your faith, right? Discipleship's one way that we often re refer to that. Uh John Mark Comer uses the praise the phrase apprentice. Uh and I think that's I think that's a a really good word uh to describe it because it's it's not just like discipleship has really taken on a an intellectual connotation, which I think you're you're speaking to this idea of now, it's heart, but I would say it's heart and hands, like it's it's it's oh yeah, it's holistic, right? Uh and when we even talk about the Great Commission, right? We're we we do missions, we're seeking to reach unreached people groups, we're seeking to uh uh equip local believers to reach their communities. Um, but it it's not just reach them with a singular uh one moment message, it's to teach them to obey all that Christ commanded, right? Like that's the that's the the the second element to that that call in in Matthew and in Acts. And and so um you have this moment where you say, Okay, I see Lordship. You have this moment where you're stepping into uh really the receiving end of that discipleship, right? Um when did you recognize, hey, I want to step in and uh work with leaders explicitly, um, intentionally. How did you make that transition? I mean, you're there, you're there at uh at at the bank, right? Uh you're doing these different things, but there is some kind of transition that that that brought you into this space where you're going, wait a second, I'm going to invest in these people in this way because. How did you how did you get there?

SPEAKER_02:

So, so while I was, you know, while I was at at Sun Trust, you know, in man, I was in management, you know, I was a ladder climber and you know, all that. So, you know, I had people under me and um uh I just just felt a responsibility, you know, to be as much of a Christian as I could at work, you know, and so I had the little sign, you know, and I wore my cross outside my jacket, I mean outside my shirt, you know. Um and you know, I was just it it was it was an outward kind of a kind of a thing, you know. Um performative maybe? Yeah, it was. It was performative. And it actually was the thing that got me in trouble at work that started the pride thing, which is interesting. But um, so so there was there was that, and and you know, just as as as I was progressing at at Sun Trust, the Lord was doing things, you know, my life outside of outs outside of work, you know, I'm just getting more exposed to um more of the kingdom. But then um there came a time, this was in uh 2005, um, we were doing uh reduction in force at Sun Trust. Okay. And and I actually was on the reduction in force team. Um but uh I ended up being the um being one of the reduced. Um and and again, that's a if you we could tell that story, um, it it's a God thing too, you know, it's just orchestration. But um, so you know, I figured, well, okay, fine, you know, I mean, why would God want me working for a bank anyway? You know, that's money, ma'am, and you know, all that. So, you know, I had in my mind that I would, you know, I was gonna go work for Hobby Lobby or Chick-fil-A and continue being an enterprise architect and you know, be good at that and and get to do that in a Christian environment. And and God didn't he just didn't have he didn't have that for me. So I went I went through uh 11 months of wrestling with God over my career path.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you think there was still some identity wrestle in the midst of that?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, sure. Uh well, yeah. I mean, you know, it kind of gets you know, the the thing about um about our subconscious is you know, w we our our carnal mind hides in our subconscious and and the only way to discover where things are going on is to reach in there and pull things out and deal with them. And some things are deeper than others and and are more subtle, you know. So there probably was some of that, but really I I guess I just it it confounded me that um that God would God would put aside all of that, all my whole career and all the all that I knew and all that I had done and um you know and and somehow there was gonna be like a starting over, you know, at when what how old I was 45 at the time, you know, so still quite a few years of enterprise architecture ahead of me. Oh yeah. Um so um so I ended up actually ended up getting a um uh uh what do you call it? An internship at 45. I got an internship at Chick-fil-A in their marketing area, running projects because I knew how to run projects. So so I'm running projects, assuming that I'm gonna be the next enterprise architect at Chick-fil-A. That was the open door.

SPEAKER_00:

That's it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So not only did that not happen, but they canceled my little contract that I had with them uh two months early. And so I'm sitting in my chair kind of like this, and um really upset, angry. I asked God, you know, what in the world do you want me to do? You know, what you know, and it it it wasn't asked nicely, you know, but um he was kind. He said, So what is the desire of your heart? And so I did my head down like this, um, and my heart said, help Christian leaders find joyful, spirit-filled ministry. That's a quote. I mean, I my my heart, I I I I you know, if your heart speaks, that's that's what my heart said. And uh, you know, at the time I, you know, I so I was broken. I mean, there, you know, I I was I mean, he might as well just, you know, touched my hip, you know. I mean, it was like a Jacob thing, you know, I was just done. And and so I, you know, I figured because I had, you know, I'd been on boards of parishurch ministries and done all that stuff working with pastors. I just assumed that's what it was. I was just gonna go work with pastors or elders or whatever. And he just orchestrated things um where I eventually discovered it was, you know, leaders in Christian leaders in the workplace. Yeah. And again, another it's just it's just a long story, but you know, met uh Oz Hillman and he, I don't know if you your leaders probably don't know him, but he's kind of like a like a uh godfather of marketplace ministry, at least this last round of it, you know, in the United States. And he had a conference, Lance Waldnow was there. Um there was a thing that happened at the conference, Lance Wallnow was talking about transformation. And I had been doing transformation work at Sun Trust, working with business units, helping them to transform using technology. That's one of the things I did as an enterprise architect. And and, you know, again, you just see the art that you just see the orchestration there. I was able to to connect, you know, what I had learned in change theory in the corporate world with what this guy was talking about. And and transformation has been, I mean, that's been the thing. Um the transformation process has been the thing that we use um since we, you know, for 20 years. Wow. So um that that's that's when it, you know, yeah, that's when it to answer your question, that's kind of when it started. It was it was a really a very definitive point in time. Um now, you know, since then. Sorry. No, you know, for me, there was there was a time, you know, in the work in the workplace, you know, in the in the midst of, you know, trying to, you know, have a career, raise a family, and and and then, you know, be as as much of a Christian man at work as I could be. Um uh and then there was this moment where it was a complete shift, you know, and and you know, it it is something that that you know the the business leaders that I've worked with, that's one of the one of the things that they struggle with. You know, am I supposed to give, you know, like Rob, am I supposed to give up my career, you know, and become a minister or become, you know, and and I and my my answer is always, unless you're specifically told, unless you get, you know, wrestle with the Lord for 10 or 11 months and he says, you know, go do this, go do this, it's just not that's not his way. His his he he has positioned leaders in the workplace to represent him and the kingdom where people spend most of their time, most of their waking time is spent there. And and so there's there's just there's just more there's there really is, I think, well, no, I guess you couldn't say that. I mean, if you're a pastor and you're you're really being a pastor and you're really discipling 200, 300 people, yeah, you know, you're building that kind of a culture. That obviously that is like you've g you're giving your whole life to that. Oh yeah. But um the impact that leaders in the workplace, and when I say workplace, I don't just mean like, you know, in the marketplace. I mean like in education and in government, all that. That's what that wherever people work, um the um yeah, the the potential for influence is well it's outside the box. And it literally is outside the box, because I'm not in a church in a box of whatever my denomination is or whatever my doctrine is. I mean, we you know, at Sun Trust we had regularly had Bible studies and there were people of all sorts, you know, in those Bible studies, and we didn't have any issues at all. I mean the kingdom was in the room, you know, um without division.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and and that's for me, uh you know, uh when Paul talks about, you know, the eye and the ear, uh can't see one another, we don't we don't need you. Right. Um that's uh that's what I think of when I think of that. The the body of Christ, uh it's not who's gonna impact more. Um it's uh it's simply are you being faithful in the place that God has placed you, in the place that He's called you. Um and I I I think that's that's one of the things, Rob, that I I love about you is you walk with these leaders and you really take you really take these elements and you you put them together because you you you identified, hey, lordship means lordship over all things. Um and so it's not just it's not just that you're my ticket out of hell, it's it's you're my you're you're you're the um the senior partner, you're the the owner, you're the um uh the master, and I have the freedom of living as your servant because there's freedom in that. I don't carry the burdens, right? The owner of the business carries more burdens than the than the employee in the business. That's right. Um and when he's the owner, then as as business owners, we can we can take rest and refuge in that. But you you not only identify the lordship, you've got this deep heart for discipleship and apprenticeship. And and the way you're you're merging and melding these things together for leaders is uh I think it's it's I mean, well, it resonates a lot in my heart, man, because that's that's certainly what God has called me to do. But I think it carries a long-term impact. So here's a here's a question I have for you. For that person that's a believer in the workplace, that believer in the marketplace. Um I have, maybe you haven't, uh, or maybe you could correct me. I have often heard from them that they are sometimes missing those examples of what does it look like for me to disciple in this context? What does it look like for me to to lead well in this context? What does it look like for me to make other leaders in this context, right? Um uh that that can be a struggle, right? Um yes, it's good to have um those kinds of Bible studies. Uh, but I also know, look, I can put a Jesus fish, uh, an ichthus on the on the outside of my building, treat my employees terribly, give them terrible pay and benefits, and be like, oh, well, you know, it and and suddenly undermine all of that. Right. Hey, leaders, I want to thank you so much for joining us in today's conversation. Uh, you know, the life of a faithful Christian leader is going to be one that identifies his lordship, lives in a life of discipleship, and recognizes that that leading others is going to be a process of personal transformation. Uh, but also the the value and importance of um remembering that that the that platitudes and these these old sayings we've heard for so many years uh don't aren't absent of value just because they're familiar, uh, but they actually carry a lasting truth. Uh listen, we pray and hope that this serves you well. If it has, please leave a like, subscribe, comment, uh, give us feedback so that we can help bring you uh the thoughts, the conversations, and the uh uh um really the transformational stories of what God is doing in the lives of men and women. Uh, thank you so much for being a part of this. You can find more information about the International Leadership Institute at Ili Team.org.