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Jordan Raynor

Episode: 109

Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast we welcome best selling author and entrepreneur, Jordan Raynor. Jordan spent the first decade of his career as a tech entrepreneur, starting and selling two software companies before he ever wrote a book. Today more than seven million Christians have engaged his work on connecting the gospel to the job they do Monday through Friday. When a mentor told him his work as an entrepreneur was already ministry, Jordan set aside plans to plant a church and built his career around the conviction that the work you do matters deeply to God. Join us as Jordan shares why Jesus spent most of his adult life swinging a hammer instead of preaching, why the ministry of excellence comes before the ministry of the gospel, and the template he uses to say no without damaging the relationship.

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Mentor's Surprising Advice

0:00
One Sunday after church, I had this

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godly mentor pull me aside and he's

0:02
like, "Hey, dude. I heard you're

0:04
thinking about plenty of church." And

0:05
I'm thinking, "This guy's gonna pat me

0:07
on the back, maybe write me a check to

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get the church started." And he just

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looks me like dead in the eyes. He goes,

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"I got to be honest, that sounds pretty

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stupid uh for you."

Introducing Jordan Raynor

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Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast,

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we welcome best-selling author and

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entrepreneur Jordan Rener. Jordan spent

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the first decade of his career as a tech

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entrepreneur, starting and selling two

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software companies before he ever wrote

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a book. Today, more than 7 million

0:37
Christians have engaged his work on

0:39
connecting the gospel to the job they do

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Monday through Friday. When a mentor

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told him his work as an entrepreneur was

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already ministry, Jordan set aside plans

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to plant a church and built his career

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around the conviction [music] that the

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work you do matters deeply to God. Join

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us as Jordan shares why Jesus spent most

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of his adult life swinging a hammer

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instead of preaching. Why the ministry

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of excellence comes before the ministry

0:01:01
of the gospel and the template he uses

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to say no without damaging the

0:01:05
relationship. Also, before we dive in,

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make sure to give this episode a like

0:01:10
and subscribe or follow the show so you

0:01:12
don't miss the next conversation.

Welcome Jordan Raynor

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Jordan, thank you for being on the

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Servant Leadership Podcast.

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Yeah, Chris, my joy. Thanks for having

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me.

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This I told you before, but this is a

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little bit intimidating because I

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listened to your podcast for the longest

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time and you are a great interviewer.

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So, we'll see how this goes.

Jordan's Writing Journey

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How did you get into writing books? Talk

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to our audience about your career path

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that led to you writing a lot of books.

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And I I have a bunch of questions on the

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books after.

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Yeah, sure. So, um you know what I write

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about today is very very narrow. Uh, I

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write books that help primarily

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Christians understand how their faith

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shapes the work they do in the world.

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But I kind of came to this craft in a

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roundabout way. I spent the first 10

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years of my career as a full-time tech

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entrepreneur. Started and sold a couple

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of different software businesses. And it

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was actually after u my exit of that

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second company that my story kind of

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began to take shape. I I sold the second

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company trying to figure out what the

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hecks I was going to do next

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professionally and wanted to start a

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third business but didn't really feel

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permission to because and I think a lot

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of Christians can resonate with this. I

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would go to church on Sundays and feel

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this guilt of like man how dare I want

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to go start a business when there's a

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need for you know people to be pastors

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or missionaries or be Mother Teresa like

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whatever. And um so for a little bit

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there my wife and I were praying about

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two paths. Path A was go start another

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business. Path B was go start a church.

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We were actually talking about uh going

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to DC to plant church in DC because Lord

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knows our friends in DC need Jesus. Um

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and um so yeah, man, I'm praying about

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these paths and one Sunday after church,

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I had this godly mentor pull me aside

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and he's like, "Hey, dude. I heard

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you're thinking about plenty of church."

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And I'm thinking this guy's going to pat

0:03:03
me on the back. Maybe write me a check

0:03:05
to get the church started. And he just

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looks me like dead in the eyes. He goes,

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"I got to be honest. This sounds pretty

0:03:11
stupid uh for you like personally." I

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was like, "Oh, so I should take this

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personally." Cool, cool, cool. He's

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like, "Dude, like don't you get that

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your work as an entrepreneur is

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ministering to the world? You're meeting

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customers needs. You are a servant

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leader. Like, don't you get that? That's

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ministry?" And I said, "Oh, yeah, sure."

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Like, I go to work so I can evangelize

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my customers or write a check to the

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missionaries on my refrigerator. He's

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like, "Sure, Jordan, but like God cares

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about the work itself and not just the

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evangelism you do within the work." And

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that blew my mind. And after that

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conversation, Chris, I went home. I

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opened up my Bible. I read a passage,

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the first page that I had read a

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thousand times before, but this time I

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saw in a totally new light. I saw

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something that is unique about

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Christianity and the history of world

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religions. Christianity alone claims

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that God himself

God's Work and Creativity

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works. That blew my mind. It's literally

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the only thing we know about the

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character of God on the first page of

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scripture is that he is a God who

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creates. I would argue God was the first

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entrepreneur, right? Taking a risk to

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create something new for the good of

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others. So that blew my mind. Long story

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short, I did not go plant a church. I

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went and ran another company because I

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was so overwhelmed with this vision of a

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God who I love so much, who himself

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loves work and creativity and

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entrepreneurship so much. And so since

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then, I've been on this lifelong quest

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of sharing that message through my books

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and podcasts and a bunch of other

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mediums. M reading your content it

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resonates so deeply with me because uh

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when I was in college I was working had

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some success in college and was thinking

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okay all I can do is work and make a ton

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of money and then we're going to give it

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all away and I didn't really see it as

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what I was doing was ministry at all or

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had anything to do with my faith other

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than I'm a Christian. Uh it was all

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about okay make a ton of money and give

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it away. Um, one thing I think is

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interesting in your sacredness of

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secular workbook, you talk about Jesus

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and you talk about his management styles

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and you talk about his work. Like, can

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you can you elaborate a little bit more

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on how you see that show up in scripture

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even after Genesis 1 and God creating?

Jesus' Life as a Carpenter

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Yeah, sure. So the the Christian

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tradition in in Matthew, Mark, Luke and

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John, these four biographies we have on

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Jesus's life. Uh Christians believe

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Jesus is a son of God, we are taught

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that God the father sent his son Jesus

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to grow up in the home of a carpenter

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named Joseph. And in the first century,

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you were what your dad did, right? Like

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you grew up in the family business. You

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learned that trade. That became your

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trade. And most theologians and scholars

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believe that Jesus spent 85% roughly of

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his adult life not preaching sermons but

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swinging a hammer and making tables,

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cutting stone, right? Sometimes that

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word is translated carpenter. Sometime

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it is translated uh to mean stonemason.

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And here's what's mindboggling to me.

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Given the trajectory of Jesus' life and

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what he said he came to earth to do, to

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forgive sins, to usher in the kingdom of

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heaven. It is startling that that's the

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trade his heavenly father wanted him to

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learn because God the father could have

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chosen for Jesus to grow up in the home

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of a priest where he would spend all day

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every day in prayer like his cousin John

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the Baptist did. He could have chosen

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for Jesus to grow up in the home of a

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Pharisee like Paul where he would spend

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all day every day studying the Torah.

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But instead, God in his sovereignty

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chose for his son to grow up in the home

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of a small business owner named Joseph

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in this backwater town of Nazareth where

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he would spend all day every day making

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things with his hands. And if that

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doesn't assign in intrinsic value to the

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work that you and I do with the material

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world, making things with our hands,

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typing on aluminum MacBooks, whatever it

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is, man, I don't know what else does.

Reframing Work's Importance

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Yeah. When you reframe it that way, it

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puts such a different perspective for me

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on the importance of work. I I never

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even considered, okay, did the job Jesus

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had mattered? Did God think about that?

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like it just was he was a carpenter. Uh

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you talk about in in I forget which book

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pro probably the sacredness of secular

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work but you talk about the four ways

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that our jobs matter for eternity.

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How did you come up with the conclusions

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there? Uh and what were you hoping

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people would take away and change about

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how they view work?

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Yeah, my my hope was that they would

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walk away and see that their work has

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both instrumental and intrinsic value.

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So here's what I mean by those terms.

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Most Christians understand that their

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work has instrumental value. I.e. I go

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to work so I can evangelize or I go to

0:08:13
work to make a lot of money to donate to

0:08:14
other people. That's instrumental value.

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The sad thing is that's like less than

0:08:18
1% of our actual job, right? Uh writing

0:08:22
the check, sharing the gospel, whatever,

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let's be honest, is.1%

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of the time we spend at work. The

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radical truth buried inside of the

0:08:31
Bible. It's actually not buried. kind of

0:08:33
all over the place is that in addition

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to our work having instrumental value,

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it also has intrinsic value to God. Said

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more simply, 100% of your time at work

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matters to the God of the Bible. Right?

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And so I walk through these four ways

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that that is true. Four ways your job

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matters for eternity. Number one, our

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work is a means of bringing pleasure to

0:08:57
God. Not that he needs us to do anything

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for him, but he allows our work to

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contribute to his eternal happiness.

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Number two, our work is a way that we

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can maximize eternal rewards and ensure

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that our work physically lasts into

0:09:12
heaven, which is a crazy idea. Uh number

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three, our work is the means by which we

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can scratch off glimpses, not literal

0:09:19
glimpses, but glimpses of the kingdom of

0:09:22
heaven in the present. And then finally,

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number four, and this is the one most

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people already get. Our work can be a

0:09:27
means of sharing the good news that

0:09:30
Jesus is king uh with people who we work

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with and live with and are in community

0:09:36
with. So that's the rough sketch of that

0:09:39
book. And those truths are largely

0:09:42
unexplored in most churches today, but

0:09:44
they are all over the Bible. I'll leave

0:09:47
you with this, Chris. The Bible talks

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about work, mentions work more than 800

0:09:52
times. That's more than every single

0:09:55
mention of worship, music, and praise

0:09:58
combined. Clearly, our work matters

0:10:02
deeply to God because he himself is a

0:10:05
working creative God.

Revolutionary Thoughts on Work

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Why is this such a a revolutionary

0:10:11
thought um and so like new to today? I

0:10:16
feel like even 10, 20 years ago, this

0:10:19
was something that just didn't come up.

0:10:21
And now it's like, okay, this is so

0:10:22
central to the Bible and it always has

0:10:24
been. Uh why are people caring more? Why

0:10:28
why has it been missed for all these

0:10:29
years?

0:10:30
Yeah. Yeah. It's not new. It sounds new.

0:10:33
I would argue what we preach in our

0:10:35
churches today about work is what is

0:10:37
new. Um and here's the crux of this. And

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if you didn't grow up uh going to a

0:10:43
church or you don't go to a church

0:10:44
today, this may not make sense. But for

0:10:45
those who do, I think this will

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resonate. We are living at the only time

0:10:50
in the history of Christendom, in the

0:10:52
history of the church, where the

0:10:55
[snorts] great commission to make

0:10:58
disciples, Jesus' call for us to share

0:11:01
the gospel and teach other people to

0:11:03
live in his way has functionally become

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the only commission that pastors preach

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to their congregations. The only

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commission that they call them to. And

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when that's true, when that's the only

0:11:15
thing that we hear, of course, we're not

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going to see any eternal significance in

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our work because 99.9% of the time that

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we're at work, we're not walking people

0:11:23
through the Romans row. We're not

0:11:25
sharing the gospel. But this is a very

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new development in church history pri

0:11:32
and it's it's so interesting that the

0:11:35
Baptist tradition is one of the worst

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culprits of this over the last 200

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years. This is coming from an elder in a

0:11:40
Baptist church, by the way, because the

0:11:42
Southeastern Baptist Theological

0:11:45
Seminary, I quote in this book, saying

0:11:47
that up until a few hundred years ago,

0:11:50
the great commission was never mentioned

0:11:55
ever. Like in the context of Christian

0:11:57
mission, there was not even just not an

0:11:59
emphasis on it. It was barely discussed.

0:12:02
And so we have turned a commission from

0:12:05
Jesus' mouth into the single

0:12:07
all-encompassing great one. The heading

0:12:09
in my Bible calls it the great

0:12:12
commission. Respectfully, every command

0:12:15
that ever came out of Jesus' mouth was a

0:12:18
great commission, including the command

0:12:21
to love the poor, to love God, to love

0:12:24
neighbor, to do justice, to pray. All of

0:12:27
those are great commissions. And so our

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work can be a means of honoring him even

0:12:33
if quote unquote all it is doing is

0:12:36
loving our neighbors as ourselves which

0:12:38
is the essence of servant leadership.

Excellence in Work

0:12:41
Yeah. Uh in your book master of one

0:12:44
which I know goes way back. Uh you talk

0:12:46
about excellence in our work being one

0:12:49
of the greatest ways to love your

0:12:50
neighbors. Um, my dad growing up would

0:12:54
always tell me, uh, if you're not going

0:12:57
to work harder than everyone else, don't

0:13:00
tell people you're a Christian.

0:13:01
Amen.

0:13:02
Uh, and and I remember that being really

0:13:06
meaningful to me and it changed how I

0:13:07
viewed work and working hard and working

0:13:09
to represent Christ well and all this

0:13:11
stuff.

0:13:12
But then I brought that up to other

0:13:13
people and other people are like, "Well,

0:13:15
that sounds terrible." Like, I don't

0:13:17
agree with that. How have you seen push

0:13:19
back and how have you had those

0:13:20
conversations with people because at

0:13:22
first it takes people back uh I think

0:13:24
when they hear stuff like that.

0:13:26
Yeah, it does. U but man, you you get

0:13:28
less push back than you think. I I I

0:13:31
think um we know intuitively in our

0:13:33
bones that the ministry of excellence is

0:13:37
our most fundamental ministry. Nobody

0:13:41
cares what you believe until they know

0:13:44
that you care about them. You know how

0:13:46
you show that you care about them? You

0:13:47
make an exceptional cup of coffee. You

0:13:50
show unreasonable hospitality. You get

0:13:54
extraordinary results for your clients

0:13:57
and your customers. Right? I love how

0:13:59
Steve Martin put it once. He said, "Be

0:14:00
so good they can't ignore you." You want

0:14:03
to make Jesus winsome in the world.

0:14:05
Listen, non-Christians could not care

0:14:07
less about Jesus. You know what they do

0:14:08
care about? Whether or not you can make

0:14:09
them money, whether or not you can serve

0:14:12
them well through your business. And if

0:14:14
you do that, oh man, they'll be eager to

0:14:17
hear about anything you have to say. I

0:14:19
tell this story um in I believe it was

0:14:22
the sacredness of secular work. My

0:14:23
friend Ron Johnson uh phenomenal

0:14:26
entrepreneur, Steve Jobs hired Ron uh to

0:14:29
create the Apple store. And Ron and

0:14:31
Steve had a close friendship throughout

0:14:33
their lives. And uh after Steve Jobs

0:14:36
found out that he had uh cancer, one of

0:14:39
his first calls was to Ron. And Steve

0:14:42
asked Ron, "Hey, please tell me what you

0:14:46
believe about eternity, about life after

0:14:48
this life." But guess what? Ron Johnson

0:14:51
would have never gotten that call had he

0:14:53
not been a master of his craft, right?

0:14:57
It was the ministry of excellence that

0:15:00
paved the way for the ministry of the

0:15:02
gospel. And I am so sick and tired. I

0:15:06
honestly Chris if I drive down if I'm in

0:15:08
a if if I'm coming to speak in Wheaten

0:15:11
where you're at right and I walk down

0:15:13
the street and I see a coffee shop where

0:15:15
all of the T's in their logo are crosses

0:15:19
I'm going to skip past the coffee shop

0:15:20
and go to the Starbucks across the

0:15:22
street because most of these businesses

0:15:24
are taking Jesus's name in vain. I would

0:15:27
argue using his name to sell product and

0:15:31
then failing to obey Jesus's command to

0:15:34
truly love their neighbor as themselves

0:15:36
when they deliver that product. We

0:15:38
should be ashamed of ourselves.

0:15:39
Christians should be known of creating

0:15:42
the best lattes, creating the best

0:15:44
processes, creating the best results for

0:15:46
our clients because we are called to

0:15:49
love our neighbor as ourselves. And the

0:15:51
ministry of excellence is practically

0:15:54
how we do it Monday through Friday.

Challenges in Maintaining Excellence

0:15:56
I don't think people start out trying to

0:15:58
do non-exellent work for the for the

0:16:01
bulk. They try to do excellence and then

0:16:03
somewhere along the way they get off the

0:16:04
rails. Uh talk about how that has shown

0:16:08
up because I know like your work has

0:16:09
continued to build on itself and you

0:16:11
talk about redeeming your time,

0:16:13
redeeming your goals. Like talk about

0:16:15
how people have kind of um just share

0:16:19
your thoughts on all of that.

0:16:21
Yeah, man. I I I I think I think it's

0:16:24
natural for all humans to coast, right?

0:16:27
Uh to plateau, to refuse to put more

0:16:31
weight on the bar. And in Master of One,

0:16:34
man, I studied all the academic

0:16:36
literature, all the business literature

0:16:37
on what leads to worldclass performance.

0:16:40
And a few things just kept showing up,

0:16:42
man. It was apprenticeships, right? And

0:16:45
that does not end, you know, when

0:16:46
you're, you know, out of your internship

0:16:48
in college. I am constantly apprenticing

0:16:51
to other people. Uh it is purposeful

0:16:54
practice, not naive practice. And

0:16:56
purposeful practice continues to put

0:16:57
more weight on the bar. And then number

0:16:59
three, it's discipline over the time.

0:17:00
Over time, it is saying, "Hey, I want to

0:17:03
get world class at this craft in service

0:17:05
of others. And because of that, I am

0:17:07
going to discipline myself to do it

0:17:09
well, to learn how to continue to do it

0:17:10
better."

0:17:11
And redeeming your time and redeeming

0:17:12
your goals really builds on that. Right?

0:17:15
Those books are are are helping me. that

0:17:18
there would have worked for me to look

0:17:20
at Jesus as a model for how to better

0:17:22
master my craft because I can't master

0:17:24
my craft if I'm not mastering my time.

0:17:27
And I can't master my time if I don't

0:17:29
have clarity around my goals and know

0:17:31
how to really go after them. And so,

0:17:33
yeah, man, I do think it's human nature

0:17:34
to coast, to settle, to um I don't know

0:17:39
because that's easier, right? Um, but if

0:17:42
I believe my work matters, then I will

0:17:45
be committed to the relentless pursuit

0:17:48
of better because I believe the work is

0:17:50
a means of loving my neighbor as myself.

Redeeming Time and Goals

0:17:53
What does it look like to redeem your

0:17:55
time or redeem your goals for somebody

0:17:57
who's listening to this? Because your

0:18:00
your book is just awesome. Uh, and it

0:18:05
walks through some really cool

0:18:07
principles that were really meaningful

0:18:08
to me at least.

0:18:09
Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Uh I don't even

0:18:13
know how to answer this question.

0:18:14
There's so much there. I I I'll give a

0:18:17
short answer here. Listen,

0:18:20
Christian or not,

0:18:23
I would challenge you to dispute this

0:18:26
claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the

0:18:28
most productive human being to ever walk

0:18:30
the earth.

0:18:32
2,000 years after his death, even if you

0:18:34
don't believe in his resurrection like I

0:18:36
do, 2,000 years after his death, a third

0:18:39
of the world claims to follow his

0:18:41
teachings, right? Time magazine has

0:18:43
called him not just person of the year,

0:18:46
but the most significant figure in all

0:18:49
human history. Take that Elon Musk and

0:18:51
Taylor Swift, right? And so, here's my

0:18:54
point.

0:18:55
Um, sure. We got a lot to learn from

0:18:58
friends of mine, business authors like

0:19:00
uh Cal Newport and John Auff and Jim

0:19:04
Collins and Andy Duke. I love these

0:19:06
friends. Right. But it is the height of

0:19:09
arrogance

0:19:11
not to learn from the most productive

0:19:14
human being to ever walk the earth. And

0:19:16
I've heard people say, "Well, we have no

0:19:18
idea how Jesus managed a 24-hour day. We

0:19:19
have no idea how Jesus pursued his

0:19:21
goals." Sure we do. We have four

0:19:23
biographies on his life. They're called

0:19:25
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They're

0:19:26
the first four books of the New

0:19:29
Testament of the Bible. And when we look

0:19:31
at the life of Jesus through those

0:19:34
biographical lenses, we see somebody who

0:19:37
is able to accomplish so much by the

0:19:39
world's standards, but more importantly,

0:19:42
more by God's standards. He was able to

0:19:46
crush his goals without his goals

0:19:49
crushing him. He was able to be wildly

0:19:52
productive without feeling wildly

0:19:56
hurried in his soul. That's what I want,

0:19:58
dude. Right? And so, listen, I'm happy

0:20:01
to continue to learn from other human

0:20:03
beings, but my first and ultimate guide

0:20:06
is going to be Jesus Christ, who I

0:20:08
believe was fully God and fully man. And

0:20:11
that's the premise of redeeming your

0:20:13
time and redeeming your goals. In each

0:20:15
book, I sketch out these seven timeless

0:20:18
principles from the life of Jesus as it

0:20:21
applies to time management and goal

0:20:22
setting. And then I map those principles

0:20:25
to dozens of totally optional, not in

0:20:28
the Bible, my practices for how to live

0:20:33
out those principles in our modern

0:20:35
context. That's the that's the core of

0:20:37
those books.

Principles for Goal Setting

0:20:39
Give us an example of one of those

0:20:40
principles of how to live it out.

0:20:42
Yeah. especially on the goal side

0:20:43
because that's on the newer side.

0:20:45
Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Um so seven principles

0:20:47
in this book, a couple of my favorites,

0:20:49
um this this principle of baptizing your

0:20:52
imagination, right? I think most

0:20:53
people's goals are embarrassingly small

0:20:57
because they are looking in a mirror at

0:20:59
what they can do in their own strength.

0:21:01
But all throughout the gospels, Jesus is

0:21:03
baptizing the imagination of his

0:21:05
followers, asking them to look out a

0:21:08
window at what God can accomplish

0:21:10
through them. Right? And so I talk about

0:21:13
a bunch of different practical ways we

0:21:14
could do that in the book. Another one,

0:21:16
u this principle from redeeming your

0:21:18
goals of lightening your load. Right?

0:21:19
Throughout the gospels, we consistently

0:21:22
see Jesus saying no to good things so

0:21:25
that he could say yes to the most

0:21:28
essential things in his goals. We've got

0:21:31
to do the same. We got to lighten our

0:21:32
load by saying no to make room for the

0:21:37
best things on our list. And I'll just

0:21:39
share one of 58 practices in redeem your

0:21:41
goals that would help to that end. Um,

0:21:44
you know, one of the reasons why I think

0:21:46
we have a hard time saying no is that it

0:21:49
takes a whole lot longer to say no than

0:21:52
it does to say yes. Right? So if Chris

0:21:55
Lesner emails me, it's like, "Hey

0:21:57
Jordan, uh, will you go to dinner, you

0:21:59
know, tonight in Tampa?" It takes me one

0:22:01
second to say sure. It takes me 10

0:22:04
minutes to think about how to let Chris

0:22:06
down lightly. You know what I mean? And

0:22:08
so over the years, I've been developing

0:22:11
this template. No, that eliminates 90%

0:22:15
of the time it takes me to say no. It's

0:22:17
really, really simple. Here's the

0:22:19
template. Hey, I so wish I could insert

0:22:23
requests of the person. So, for Chris,

0:22:25
it' be, "Hey man, sorry I can't join you

0:22:26
at Chili's tonight. I'm sorry. Uh, but

0:22:28
unfortunately, my schedule's fully

0:22:30
committed right now. I simply can't say

0:22:31
yes to you and still make good on the

0:22:34
commitments that I've already made to

0:22:35
others." That said, I'd be more than

0:22:39
happy to insert small alternative,

0:22:42
right? So, hey Chris, be more than happy

0:22:44
to hop on Zoom and do a virtual coffee

0:22:46
next week. Right? Really, really, really

0:22:48
simple template. I send it all the time.

0:22:52
And guess what? It's never met with

0:22:54
hostility. I've never had anybody say to

0:22:56
my face, "Man, you're such a jerk for

0:22:58
telling me no." You know what I do hear

0:23:00
a lot of though? Dude, I want to say no

0:23:03
like you do. I want to say no more

0:23:05
often. I want to say no more generously.

0:23:08
And that template inside of Redeem Your

0:23:10
Goals is a really, really great place to

0:23:13
start. Of course, customize it, make it

0:23:15
your own. I've refined mine over the

0:23:17
years, but that's the template that's

0:23:19
allowing me to say no in the spirit of

0:23:22
lightening my load so that I can make

0:23:24
maximum progress in my goals like Jesus

0:23:26
did.

Identifying Great vs. Good

0:23:27
That's so good. One of my favorite books

0:23:30
is Screw Tape Letters by CS Lewis. And

0:23:33
and one of the things it talks about, as

0:23:35
you know, is like keep them busy and

0:23:37
keep them thinking that things are going

0:23:39
really good to keep them away from the

0:23:42
great things that God has called them to

0:23:43
do.

0:23:44
Yeah.

0:23:44
How have you tried to explain to people

0:23:46
that maybe what they're doing is really

0:23:48
good and maybe it seems really good and

0:23:50
it's what they're being told to do, but

0:23:52
it's not the great things that maybe God

0:23:54
has in store for them.

0:23:56
Man, gosh, that's a really, really good

0:23:59
question. Um, I don't know that I would

0:24:02
be prescripted to somebody like that.

0:24:04
Here's why.

0:24:06
Because

0:24:08
I I think the God of the Bible gives his

0:24:11
children a whole lot of freedom to

0:24:14
discern what they're going to be chasing

0:24:16
after. So, I'm going to focus on my

0:24:19
to-do list, what I think is essential

0:24:22
and what's not, and leave it to you to

0:24:24
decide what's essential for you. That

0:24:27
said, that's it. Uh there's one

0:24:29
exception to this and it's what I call

0:24:31
my stopd doing meeting that I have found

0:24:34
terrifically valuable over the years. So

0:24:36
here's the deal, right? Like I'm really

0:24:39
bad at discerning the great things from

0:24:43
the good things on my to-do list and my

0:24:44
calendar because I'm in the weeds of my

0:24:46
own life and work. So roughly once a

0:24:49
quarter, I will trade laptops with my VP

0:24:52
of marketing, right? or my wife and

Reviewing To-Do Lists

0:24:57
we will review each other's to-do lists to

0:25:00
make recommendations for what the other

0:25:02
person should drop because it's good but

0:25:04
it's not great. I love this practice,

Importance of Feedback

0:25:08
right? Because I think everything's

0:25:09
important. I think everything is a great

0:25:11
use of my time. When I get a little bit

0:25:13
of distance with a partner who

0:25:16
understands my goals and can lovingly

0:25:18
but courageously tell me what's great

0:25:21
and what's good, man, it's an absolute

0:25:23
game changer. Wow. It obviously you've

Reflecting on Past Beliefs

0:25:26
been writing for a long time. You have a

0:25:28
lot of business experience before you

0:25:30
even started writing.

Leadership Principles Evolution

0:25:31
I'm sure there are things that 10 years

0:25:33
ago or 20 years ago you thought were

0:25:37
absolute gold leadership principles that

0:25:39
[laughter] now you've kind of like

0:25:40
you've realized maybe there's another

0:25:42
way. [snorts] What what is something

0:25:44
that you feel like, hey, I was here and

0:25:46
now I realize maybe I was wrong on this

0:25:48
and maybe that'll resonate with what

0:25:50
people they can go down that same

0:25:52
journey. That is a phenomenal question.

Writing Retractions

0:25:55
That is a phen phenomenal question. I'm

0:25:57
actually thinking about uh writing a

0:25:59
devotional series in the next few months

0:26:01
on retractions of like it's crazy to me

0:26:05
that authors don't print retractions. If

0:26:07
the if if whatever your favorite author

0:26:09
is doesn't disagree with something they

0:26:10
wrote 10 years ago, they haven't learned

0:26:12
anything in the last 10 years, right?

0:26:14
Like it's the stupidest thing I've ever

0:26:15
heard. Um all right. A leadership

Showing Vulnerability

0:26:18
principle that I believed 10 years ago

0:26:20
that I no longer

0:26:23
Yeah. Um,

0:26:28
I used to believe

0:26:31
that it was always weakness to show my

0:26:34
weakness. That it was always a poor

0:26:38
stewardship of my leadership role to

0:26:42
show stress, to show fear, to show

0:26:46
anxiety. And listen, there are certainly

0:26:48
times when it is. I do not think um as

0:26:51
the leader of an organization you should

0:26:53
share all your stress, all your anxiety,

0:26:55
all your fears with all of your team. I

0:26:56
think that's pretty stupid. But I do

0:26:58
think this truth is nuanced, right? I do

0:27:01
think there are times when your team

0:27:03
needs to see your concern, needs to see

0:27:07
your fear, needs to see you doubting,

0:27:10
needs to see your weakness, and know

0:27:13
that it's okay to feel those things and

0:27:16
press forward anyway. So that's one

Incentive Compensation Critique

0:27:18
thing. Number two, a little bit more

0:27:20
practically, I used to think incentive

0:27:22
compensation was the greatest thing in

0:27:23
the world and would incentivize my sales

0:27:25
teams accordingly. I now think it's like

0:27:27
one of the stupidest things in the

0:27:28
world. I I I think it's really dumb. Uh

0:27:31
and so I refuse to do it. I don't do

0:27:33
incentive comp. Reed Hastings, one of

0:27:35
the uh founders of Netflix, convinced me

0:27:38
of this in his book, No Rules Rules.

0:27:40
You and I want to hire A players. A

0:27:42
players are intrinsically motivated.

0:27:44
They do not work harder if they've got a

0:27:47
bonus tied to it, but they will work

0:27:49
with more stress

Reevaluating Leadership

0:27:52
if they can't show up to work and not

0:27:54
worry about, man, if I don't get this

0:27:57
bonus, gosh, things are going to be

0:27:59
really tight at home. So, I just don't

0:28:01
believe in incentive comp anymore.

0:28:03
That's a very controversial take. Uh,

0:28:05
but that's something I've reversed

0:28:06
course on.

Rethinking Team Structure

0:28:07
I like that. Now, I'm trying to think

0:28:08
through our team structure on a few.

0:28:10
[laughter]

0:28:11
I'm like, "Huh, I should probably

0:28:12
consider that." uh on the retracting

0:28:15
something that that made me think of and

0:28:16
you mentioned Jim Collins who I know you

0:28:19
know well uh even last week I was

0:28:22
listening to Jim and he was talking

0:28:24
about how level five leaders in his book

0:28:26
Good to Great, he used to think that 10

0:28:28
or 20% of people at most would ever be a

0:28:30
level five leader and now in his new

0:28:32
book he wrote uh most recently that just

0:28:35
came out this year I think um he thinks

0:28:37
at least 80% of people have the capacity

0:28:39
to become level five leaders and it's

0:28:41
like yeah I I think that that's so

0:28:43
important and I love when we can step

0:28:45
back and reframe and be like, "Okay,

0:28:47
here's where I was and it made sense of

0:28:49
that time, but I've learned a lot along

0:28:50
the way." Hopefully, we're all

0:28:51
developing somewhere for the better.

Chasing Eternal Rewards

0:28:53
Yeah.

0:28:54
Um,

0:28:54
well, I'll give you I'll give you one

0:28:55
more very, very quick one.

0:28:57
Yeah.

0:28:57
I in sacredness, um,

0:29:01
you know, basically said, "Hey, listen.

0:29:03
It's a really good idea for a Christian

0:29:04
to to chase after eternal rewards." I'd

0:29:08
rewrite that. It's not a really good

0:29:10
idea. It's a command.

0:29:12
It's a command from Jesus Christ, right?

0:29:15
Christians feel queasy about chasing

0:29:17
after eternal rewards. I would argue

0:29:20
that that's to bring a pretty serious

0:29:22
accusation against Jesus Christ because

0:29:24
he commanded roughly 20 times in the

0:29:27
gospels that you and I chase after

0:29:29
eternal treasure, eternal rewards. Why?

0:29:32
Because he knows we're going to chase

0:29:34
after something, either rewards in this

0:29:35
life or the next. And I know I don't

0:29:37
know about you, Chris, but I would much

0:29:39
rather chase rewards that are going to

0:29:40
last for eternity.

Understanding Eternal Rewards

0:29:42
Give us some examples of when you say

0:29:44
eternal rewards. Yeah.

0:29:45
What does that mean to the average

0:29:47
listener today and how does it apply to

0:29:49
them?

0:29:49
Yeah, it depends on your theology,

0:29:51
right? But Jesus is very very explicit

0:29:54
about a few types of eternal rewards. Um

0:29:58
he says that when we pray that when we

0:30:00
obey his commands, there are treasures

0:30:02
in heaven. I don't know what that means.

0:30:04
uh I don't know how you interpret that

0:30:06
but there's treasures in heaven. He also

0:30:08
says there are increased job

0:30:09
responsibilities

0:30:12
in eternity. And this will come as a

0:30:14
shock to many of our listeners, but

0:30:17
God's plan for heaven is not for heaven

0:30:19
to stay in the clouds. It's to bring

0:30:21
heaven to earth. And heaven will not be

0:30:23
an endless worship service, but endless

0:30:26
worship through service and the work of

0:30:28
our hands. And Jesus made very clear in

0:30:30
the parable of the minus that some of us

0:30:33
will lead and others will follow on that

0:30:35
new earth. We're all going to long enjoy

0:30:37
the work of our hands. Isaiah 65 says,

0:30:39
but we will have varying levels of

0:30:41
responsibility based on how we work and

0:30:45
steward this life. And so, dude, like

0:30:48
I'm happy to be a servant leader in this

0:30:49
life. I'd much rather be a servant

0:30:51
leader for billions and billions and

0:30:54
billions of years. And so, I'm trying to

0:30:58
steward my work today in a way that will

0:31:01
maximize those eternal rewards. How do

0:31:04
we do that? How do we earn those eternal

0:31:06
rewards? And just to be clear, I'm not

0:31:08
talking about earning your spot in

0:31:10
heaven. That is impossible. Right? We

0:31:12
are saved by grace through faith.

0:31:14
Period. Full stop. There's nothing we do

0:31:17
to earn our salvation. We simply must

0:31:19
declare with our mouth, Jesus is Lord

0:31:21
and the boss of our life and believe in

0:31:23
our hearts that God raised him from the

0:31:24
dead. See, Romans 10:9. You got me

0:31:26
preaching now, Chris. I apologize.

Accumulating Eternal Rewards

0:31:28
Right. I love it. love it.

0:31:30
But but the rewards we enjoy for

0:31:33
eternity

0:31:35
are based on our good works in this

0:31:38
life. And there's many things that Jesus

0:31:40
says will trigger those rewards. But to

0:31:43
sum it up really, really, really

0:31:44
tightly, Paul says, and I think it's

0:31:46
Ephesians 6:8, God will reward you for

0:31:49
whatever good you do in this life.

0:31:51
Basically, anytime you obey God's

0:31:53
commands rather than sin and do things

0:31:56
selfishly, you are accumulating eternal

0:32:00
rewards. And Chris's are going to look

0:32:02
different than mine. Chris, you're

0:32:03
probably going to have a lot more than I

0:32:04
am, man. So, I'm looking forward to

0:32:06
hanging out at your house on the new

0:32:07
Earth.

Balancing Rewards and Faith

0:32:08
So, I mean, I I love what you're talking

0:32:11
about. uh minus me having more rewards

0:32:13
than you, but the uh but thinking about

0:32:15
the rewards, the eternal rewards, how do

0:32:18
you keep in mind that the eternal

0:32:22
rewards? And I'm thinking back to just

0:32:23
how it's talked about in scripture, the

0:32:25
point of the jewels, the point of the

0:32:27
eternal rewards are then to also lay

0:32:30
them down at Jesus' feet. So, how do you

0:32:33
balance this?

0:32:34
I want to work for eternal rewards, but

0:32:36
also not making it about the

0:32:39
rewards. It's about Jesus.

0:32:41
How do you There's there's nuance here,

0:32:43
Chris.

Storing Treasures in Heaven

0:32:45
I agree with you. There's there's

0:32:46
biblical language that talks about

0:32:48
another reward are these crowns of

0:32:50
believers throwing their crowns down at

0:32:52
the feet of Jesus. But there's also

0:32:55
Jesus's words where he commanded, what

0:32:57
did he say? Store up for yourelves

0:33:04
treasures in heaven. Here's what I think

0:33:07
is going to happen. When we see Jesus on

0:33:09
the new earth, we're going to take

0:33:11
whatever rewards we got and we're going

0:33:12
to throw them all at his feet because he

0:33:15
alone is worthy of all of the praise and

0:33:19
all of the honor and all of the glory

0:33:21
forever and ever.

0:33:23
But I think based on his command to

0:33:25
store for yourselves treasures in

0:33:26
heaven, I think Jesus is going to take

0:33:28
some of those rewards and put it back in

0:33:30
our hands back. No, you keep it. And I

0:33:31
think we do keep it, right? I and we put

0:33:35
those treasures on a shelf on our home

0:33:36
on the new earth or we're engaged in

0:33:38
that job, that leadership position uh

0:33:40
Jesus gives us on the new earth to lead.

0:33:43
I think those rewards are always going

0:33:46
to be reminders because scriptur is very

0:33:49
clear. We're going to remember this

0:33:50
life. We're going to remember this age.

0:33:52
I think every time we see the treasure,

0:33:54
every time we engage in the job, they're

0:33:55
going to serve as a reminder that

0:33:56
whatever we gave up in this life for the

0:34:00
sake of Christ was way, way, way more

0:34:03
than worth it.

Discussing Eternal Rewards

0:34:05
Yeah, it it's interesting. And I know

0:34:08
some people here are going to be totally

0:34:09
on board with what you're saying and

0:34:11
some are going to be like, "Okay, this

0:34:13
is a crazy conversation." Correct. Uh

0:34:15
we're one of the episodes I don't know

0:34:18
if it's before you or after you uh but

0:34:20
is Randy Alorn and he wrote a great book

0:34:22
on heaven. You know when you think

0:34:25
through for somebody who thinks okay

0:34:26
what Jordan is talking about is absolute

0:34:28
craziness. Uh I don't know what he's

0:34:31
talking about. What do you even

0:34:32
recommend they do to start thinking

0:34:34
about what's the purpose of life for

0:34:37
themselves and what does it look like

0:34:40
after? Yeah, it's a really great

0:34:42
question. And first of all, I got to say

0:34:44
Randy is a dear friend uh and wrote the

0:34:46
best endorsement uh I've ever read in my

0:34:49
life for the synchronous secular work

0:34:51
where where a lot of this is coming

0:34:53
from. Um here's what I would tell you. A

0:34:56
lot of what I'm saying sounds crazy to

0:34:58
some of our listeners. I would submit

0:35:01
that a lot of the things we talk about

0:35:02
in Christian culture are what's crazy

0:35:05
and new. But don't take my word for it.

0:35:07
Please don't take my word for it. check

0:35:09
every single one of my words against

0:35:12
God's good and perfect work. He is the

0:35:14
final authority. I've had so many

0:35:17
people, I cannot tell you, Chris, how

0:35:19
many people have come to me and be like,

0:35:20
"Dude, I heard you talk about the new

0:35:22
earth and eternal rewards and I thought

0:35:24
you were crazy, but then like I don't

0:35:27
know, man, like I went and I engaged

0:35:29
with the scripture and like this is

0:35:31
bulletproof.

0:35:32
This is bulletproof." Like you're right.

0:35:34
It's been there all along and I've

0:35:37
missed it. And let me try to make this

0:35:38
practically relevant for our lives

0:35:40
today. Like why does all of this matter

0:35:43
here in 2026? And this is deeply

0:35:46
connected to the idea of redeeming your

0:35:48
goals.

Living with Eternal Perspective

0:35:49
Here's the deal.

0:35:51
If this life is my only chance to pursue

0:35:56
every dream that God gives me, to travel

0:35:59
the world, to experience the best things

0:36:02
of this earth, there's no way I'm going

0:36:05
to fully lose my life for the sake of

0:36:07
others. I'm going to waste this life on

0:36:10
my stupid bucket list because Satan has

0:36:12
convinced me it's now or never, baby, to

0:36:15
get it all right. And I'm also, it's

0:36:18
going to be really, really, really,

0:36:19
really hard for me to say no to some of

0:36:22
the dreams on my to-do list because

0:36:24
every time I consider dropping a dream

0:36:26
of writing that book or launching that

0:36:29
podcast or starting a business with my

0:36:32
kids, every time I think about dropping

0:36:34
that thing I know I need to drop but

0:36:36
can't quite do it, I'm subconsciously

0:36:38
trying to decide if I am going to drop

0:36:40
it forever.

Trusting God's Timing

0:36:42
Right? But if God's word is true,

0:36:44
spoiler alert, it is. and we're going to

0:36:46
have all of eternity to quote long enjoy

0:36:49
the work of our hands. That's Isaiah

0:36:51
65:17-22

0:36:53
if you want to look it up. Then I can be

0:36:55
at peace with the fact that I will die

0:36:57
with unfinished symphonies on my to-do

0:36:59
list. Because if the things on my to-do

0:37:01
list are on God's to-do list, one of

0:37:03
three things is going to happen when I

0:37:04
die. Number one, God's going to tap

0:37:06
somebody else to do the work because I'm

0:37:08
not that special and neither are you.

0:37:10
Number two, he's gonna finish the work

0:37:12
without any human involvement because he

0:37:14
doesn't need us to do anything. Or

0:37:16
number three,

0:37:18
God will invite me to complete that work

0:37:21
when I arise from the nap that is death

0:37:25
on the new earth. And either way,

0:37:28
blessed be the name of the Lord. Right?

0:37:30
And this truth has been so freeing for

0:37:32
me. Years ago, I I created a folder in

0:37:35
my to-do list in my commitment tracking

0:37:37
system. I now have three folders. This

0:37:39
week, this quarter, and someday maybe

0:37:42
slashnew Earth.

Organizing Goals and Priorities

0:37:45
Serious. It took me five seconds to do

0:37:47
this. And every day when I see that

0:37:50
folder, I'm reminded that all of these

0:37:53
things I want to do, all of these things

0:37:56
that I want to experience, they can wait

0:37:59
because I got billions of years to do it

0:38:02
free from the curse of sin with my

0:38:04
savior in the resurrected flesh.

Setting Long-Term Goals

0:38:08
I love that. I'm interested, you know,

0:38:11
in the next five or 10 years, you've got

0:38:14
a lot of goals and I know you talk about

0:38:16
this and people have a lot of goals and

0:38:18
at the same time they might hear what

0:38:19
you're saying and think through, well, I

0:38:21
have all the time in the world to do it.

0:38:22
Don't need to do it now.

0:38:23
Yeah. Yeah.

0:38:24
How do you think through what goes in

0:38:27
those in those three folders?

Filtering Goals

0:38:28
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My goals are the

0:38:30
filter, man. And when you say I have a

0:38:31
lot of goals, I actually don't. Right.

0:38:33
So I have one big insane audacious

0:38:39
long-term goal personally and profess

0:38:41
professionally at a time. That's it.

0:38:43
Those goals span one to five years.

0:38:45
Down from that every quarter [snorts]

0:38:48
I have shortterm goals that are

0:38:50
connected to those long-term goals and

0:38:53
that's what dictates what gets in those

0:38:55
folders in my to-do list. It's very very

0:38:57
very simple, right? I've got my lifetime

0:39:00
goal becoming like Christ. I got my

0:39:02
long-term goal personally and

0:39:03
professionally. I got my short-term

0:39:04
goals. And then everything in my to-do

0:39:06
list, if it's not aligned with the

0:39:08
status quo of my business, the whirlwind

0:39:11
as the authors of 40X called it, or

0:39:13
align with my short-term goals, it

0:39:15
doesn't go in my this quarter folder.

0:39:16
Period.

Quarterly Goal Setting

0:39:17
Just doesn't go there. And once every 90

0:39:19
days, I take a quarterly retreat to

0:39:20
measure my goals, set new goals for the

0:39:22
next quarter, worship, whatever. That's

0:39:24
when I decide once I've set those new

0:39:26
short-term goals for the next 90 days,

0:39:28
what do I pull out of that someday maybe

0:39:30
new earth folder and what do I keep out

0:39:32
of sight, out of mind so that I could

0:39:34
focus on the goals at hand?

Book Recommendations

0:39:36
So, when we're linking for people who

0:39:39
are listening, when we're linking to

0:39:40
show notes and to books you've written,

0:39:42
the best book to help them walk through

0:39:45
those is that redeeming your goals.

0:39:47
It really is. is I mean redeem your

0:39:49
goals is the uh baby of sacred to

0:39:53
secular work. Redeem your top all the

0:39:55
practical stuff and all the theological

0:39:57
stuff is baked together in this one

0:40:00
package called redeem your goals. I

0:40:02
think the vast majority of books should

0:40:05
have been blog posts. I try to make sure

0:40:07
that every single chapter I write is

0:40:10
more valuable than the most valuable

0:40:12
book you read this year. It is

0:40:14
jam-packed with theology and practice to

0:40:17
help us achieve our goals the way Jesus

0:40:20
achieved his. It's redeem your goals.

0:40:21
It's out October 13th.

Aligning Time and Goals

0:40:23
I love that. So, we're definitely going

0:40:25
to be linking to that so that people can

0:40:27
check it out because I think a lot of

0:40:28
people are going to hear this and

0:40:29
they're going to be inspired. But then

0:40:30
it's then what? And I think the thing

0:40:33
that you have is years of practice doing

0:40:37
the saying no to things that don't

0:40:39
align. I think the hardest part is a lot

0:40:42
of our time is not our own and people

0:40:43
take advantage of it and it's like oh

0:40:45
man how do we actually align and then we

0:40:47
get nothing done and I think this is

0:40:49
where it's cool because people have uh

0:40:52
like a framework to actually figure out

0:40:54
what's important to me how do I break it

0:40:57
down and how do I make sure that

0:40:58
everything I'm doing is pushing that

0:40:59
most important thing forward

Value for Non-Entrepreneurs

0:41:01
even if you're not an entrepreneur by

0:41:03
the way right so lots of people who work

0:41:05
for other people have already read this

0:41:07
book early copies of it and gotten a

0:41:09
phenomenal amount of value because

0:41:11
listen, I got a lot of discretion over

0:41:13
my goals. You might not, but you don't

0:41:15
have no discretion, right? Especially

0:41:17
especially regarding how to get them

0:41:19
done. This book, I promise, will serve

0:41:21
you in that context. If if if

0:41:23
you're not willing to look to Jesus as a

0:41:25
guide, this book is not for you. It's

0:41:27
not for you. He's on almost every page.

0:41:30
But if you are, if you're willing to

0:41:33
accept the premise that Jesus is the

0:41:35
most productive person by the world's

0:41:37
standards and by God's, this is the book

0:41:39
for you.

Understanding Work's Sacredness

0:41:40
I love that. One of the other things I

0:41:42
think just a chime for one of your other

0:41:45
books that I think is interesting for

0:41:46
people who might be like, "Hey, well

0:41:47
that book's not for me then."

0:41:49
Yeah.

0:41:49
Sacredness of work.

0:41:51
Yeah.

0:41:52
Is really well written by you. Uh, and I

0:41:55
think that it helps people understand

0:41:58
why their work matters because a lot of

0:42:01
us are showing up to work and it's we

0:42:03
are working to live. We're not living to

0:42:05
work. And that book helps reframe a lot

0:42:07
of the hey, there's an opportunity for

0:42:10
you to live to work and love it.

0:42:12
Absolutely love it.

Exploring Work's Purpose

0:42:14
Yeah. The sacred the sacredness of

0:42:15
secular work is my deepest dive on why

0:42:18
your work matters. You get the two-page

0:42:21
version of it in redeeming your goals,

0:42:23
right? They're very very very tight

0:42:24
subs. So if you want the cliff notes of

0:42:26
that message, it's in redeem your goals.

0:42:28
If you want the fuller treatment, it's

0:42:29
the sacredness of secular work. Yeah.

Rapidfire Questions

0:42:31
Yeah. I love that. All right. I want to

0:42:33
finish with 10 rapidfire questions.

0:42:35
I love it. Let's go.

Servant Leadership Inspiration

0:42:37
First person you think of when I say

0:42:38
servant leadership.

0:42:43
Um Cheryl Bachelder.

0:42:45
Oh, love Cheryl. Uh

Book Recommendations

0:42:48
book or author you most recommend?

0:42:51
Tim Keller. Easy.

Personal Preferences

0:42:53
Favorite food?

0:42:55
Chinese food.

Alternate Career Choice

0:42:57
Favorite vocation that if you could do

0:42:59
anything else you would choose to do,

0:43:02
it has to be something else.

0:43:03
Yeah, it has to be something else,

0:43:05
man. [laughter]

0:43:07
Cuz I know you love what you do.

0:43:08
I wouldn't mind being a travel planner.

0:43:11
Like I love like planning trips for my

0:43:13
friends and Yeah, that that sounds fun.

Travel Preferences

0:43:15
All right. Favorite place you've been

0:43:16
then?

0:43:17
Quebec City.

0:43:18
All right. Is there anywhere you want to

0:43:20
go that you have not been to yet?

0:43:22
Many, but I will not make it in this

0:43:24
life likely. I'm not kidding. I think I

0:43:27
got billions of years to do it. I'm

0:43:28
good.

Hobbies and Interests

0:43:29
All right. Favorite thing to do in your

0:43:30
free time.

0:43:32
Oh, this is so lame. Read.

0:43:35
Read and watch TV. I love TV. TV is my

0:43:38
favorite medium on the planet.

Surprising Facts

0:43:39
What's a surprising fact about you then?

0:43:43
[laughter]

0:43:45
Um,

0:43:46
I'm not going to say what first came to

0:43:48
mind. Surprising

0:43:51
fact about me. Um,

0:43:55
I don't know. I I got to spend some time

0:43:59
interning the Bush White House in 2006.

0:44:01
That was pretty fun. Pretty surprising,

0:44:03
especially since politics plays zero

0:44:07
role in my life today. That's a surprise

0:44:10
to people who who just meet Jordan Rener

0:44:12
in 2026.

Best Advice Received

0:44:14
Love that. Uh best advice you've ever

0:44:17
received.

0:44:19
There's never

0:44:21
ne there's no amount of success that

0:44:23
will be enough ever to fill that

0:44:25
God-shaped void inside of your heart. It

0:44:28
is only once you rest in your secure

0:44:32
status as a beloved child of God,

0:44:34
irregardless of success, irregardless of

0:44:36
productivity, that you can be content

0:44:38
with any level of success.

Importance of Servant Leadership

0:44:40
I love that. All right. Finally, podcast

0:44:43
on servant leadership. Why do you think

0:44:45
people should care about becoming better

0:44:47
servant leaders?

0:44:49
Because [snorts] this is the thing we

0:44:50
were made to do. This is the thing we

0:44:52
were made to do. We were made to work.

0:44:55
It was the first job God gave us in the

0:44:58
beginning to work and to lead. Adam and

0:45:00
Eve were leading the most cosmic project

0:45:04
of all time. The extension of God's

0:45:06
kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. But

0:45:10
we were never meant to do it in a way

0:45:12
that oppressed people, exploited people.

0:45:15
It was always in service of other image

0:45:18
bears. Sin has made that hard on this

0:45:20
side of Genesis 3. But man, this is

0:45:22
still the vocation that we are called

0:45:24
to. It's the vocation that Christ

0:45:26
modeled for us during his time on earth.

0:45:29
And this is this is the thing you were

0:45:30
made for. And oh, by the way, it's the

0:45:33
thing that if your faith is in Jesus

0:45:36
Christ, you're going to be doing forever

0:45:38
and ever.

Closing Remarks

0:45:39
Wow. Well, Jordan, thank you for being

0:45:41
on the podcast. Uh, I'm a fan,

0:45:43
obviously. I'm excited to go through so

0:45:46
many new books that I know you're going

0:45:48
to write in the future as well to help

0:45:50
us keep getting better.

0:45:51
Chris, thanks for having me.

0:45:53
Thank you for listening to this episode

0:45:55
of the Servant Leadership Podcast. If

0:45:58
you enjoyed what you heard, please give

0:46:00
it a thumbs up [music] and leave a

0:46:01
comment below. Don't forget to subscribe

0:46:05
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miss an update. Be sure to check out the

0:46:09
servantleershippodcast.org

0:46:11
for more updates and additional bonus

0:46:12
content.

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