Pastor Plek's Podcast
Pastor Plek's Podcast
Authenticity and Respect in Professional Life
305: What if the true measure of your work's worth isn't found in the job title, but in how you carry out your duties? This episode unravels the profound story of Bezalel and Oholiab from Exodus 31 and what it means to be divinely inspired in our everyday tasks. Pastor Plek, Pastor Mo, and Adrienne dive into the concept that every job, whether secular or sacred, carries an intrinsic value when done to the glory of God. Challenging traditional hierarchies within Christian work, we redefine 'real ministry' and recognize the sacred in the secular.
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Back to Pastor Flex podcast. I'm so glad all of you are joining us as we're recording live here from Austin, Texas, and excited to have all of you join us on YouTube and all the other platforms. Joining me this afternoon in studio is none other than the very sweet, sweet, sweet mother of four, Mrs Adrienne Pleginpole. Welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:It's good to have you. How are you feeling right now?
Speaker 2:I'm feeling really ready for summer to be over.
Speaker 1:All right. Awesome and also with us is none other than Muhammad Ali just preached an incredible sermon this past Sunday. Welcome back, muhammad. Good to be here, all right. Preached an incredible sermon this past Sunday. Welcome back, muhammad. Good to be here, all right. So let's talk about. We talked about Exodus 31, and we started from verse 1, ended at verse 11, and we talked about two names that nobody here probably knows Bezalel and Aholiab. Talk to me about where you took us this Sunday and really the biggest point of application that you may have seen.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I feel like in the text there's some really cool words like called God, called by name, a holy Abba Bezalel. Uh, they're filled with the spirit of God, which is the first time in the old Testament that it says that about somebody. And then it looks like God equipped them with knowledge, wisdom and skill to perform the tasks that he had for them. So for me, like it kind of just sprung my mind to how are we, as followers of Jesus, called? So that led me kind of to Ephesians 2, we've been called by God into our salvation. And what's the process of that salvation? And it kind of gives it out from verses one to three onwards and then what we've been called to. So that kind of went from general calling, which is salvation, to specific calling, which is how we are to administer our spiritual gifts. So that's kind of where my mind went when I saw that text. Um, you know, they were called to build a tabernacle. Followers of Jesus, we're called to build up the bride, the church.
Speaker 1:Okay, I love that. Let's talk about Bezalel and just like, like how do you what I love about this? How do you think? Obviously God calls them. But I found out just doing a little research that Bezalel was the husband oh no, was the great grandson of Miriam. Did you hear that?
Speaker 3:The great grandson yeah okay yeah, so kind of wild right. So all right, because her was supposed to be miriam's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah so like you're kind of like or it's not great grandson grandson yeah so, um, I thought that was interesting that yeah, so her, and yeah her Miriam, and then you've got their son and then Bezalel. So kind of wild that you're like thinking that that's sort of like little. Is that nepotism, or was that actually God just ordaining what he wanted to happen? So you know, you could probably go either way. If you're not a Christian, you'd say, aha, see, it's just a big scheme of power. If you're a follower of Jesus, you're like no, that's just God choosing who is already qualified.
Speaker 1:So kind of interesting though the relation there, although the thing that Aholiab, he was from the tribe of Dan, so no relationship whatsoever to the Levitical family that you'd see with Moses, new little Levitical family that you'd see with Moses, okay.
Speaker 1:So one of the things I noticed here that you brought up was that the very first reference to somebody being filled with the Holy Spirit is in this case and it wasn't about preaching, it wasn't about like doing some sort of it was ministry, but doing sort of like a ministry that we think typically, which is like counseling somebody or ministering to the poor or doing some great evangelistic work. It was in metallurgy. So I found that personally inspiring, because I know there's a lot of people who don't consider themselves like I't I'm not one of those people who reads the bible all the time, or it's like I just want to live, live for the lord, and I think there's a real blessing in that and a calling for that you want to talk a little bit about, like people's calling, even as in a, uh, what you might deem non-spiritual, secular work that actually goes to glorify god yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3:it says that for everything that we do, whether we eat or we drink and I think the whole point that Paul is trying to make there is due to all of the glory of God is everything that you do exhaustively is either spirit filled or it's not.
Speaker 3:We either walk in the spirit or we don't. So I think it's a great example of just like, whatever your day-to-day looks like, whether it's in the office or at the house or in the gym, you're either doing it filled with the Spirit, the way that a holy Adam and Basil are supposed to be, or you're not. So that's just what I see in like walk with the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit. So you're either doing it by the power of the Spirit or by the power of the flesh. It doesn't sound like the Christian can walk in step with the Spirit, so you're either doing it by the power of the Spirit or by the power of the flesh. It doesn't sound like the Christian can walk in a neutral middle ground. It's only the flesh or the Spirit. It sounds like to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that, Adrian. I don't know if you remember this part of our marriage which I'm sure this was like the most blissful time, but there may have been something I may have said which may have sounded like I'm doing real ministry, you are just having a job. That was probably not a good moment for me in my Christian life, when you were teaching and you were exhausted and I was like I'm doing real ministry, you need to support me and, like you know, your little day job needs to take second place, because I kind of diminished in that moment your incredible role of ministering to kids in middle school, high school. So let's just go back to that. Maybe this is a good marriage counseling moment Maybe a bad time for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So let's talk about how you really viewed your role as a teacher, as an educator in a secular environment as an incredible way for the gospel to be shared. In fact, we got to share the gospel to your students quite a few times and it was powerful. I thought it was really an incredible opportunity. So talk to us just roughly about that.
Speaker 2:So for me, I had always wanted to be married and I wasn't married and so I was like, when it was time for me to major and then go get a job, I cared a lot about having a job. That felt like a ministry, that felt like something that I could potentially do someday with kids as a mom if I needed to. That was my whole basis for teaching and, honestly, I never really thought I would be a career person. I never. I just didn't really know. I didn't understand the corporate world at all. My dad had been. My dad was a CPA, which I knew I didn't want to do anything like that, and so I was like that was the only career I'd really ever been close to and seen. And so because of that, I think in my mind I desired to have a ministry of literally like raising my own kids, like kind of doing what I saw my mom do. I think that that was kind of my only picture really, that I was close to and saw, and I did desire that. And I think my mom was a teacher before she had me and I came from a long line of educators and so that seemed like a great way to have a ministry, but also something conducive for a family life, which is what I really wanted, and I also did desire to do full-time ministry. I think I thought about this a lot recently, but I really do think my upbringing in the youth group growing up, really did kind of tie me to a place where I wanted to do like I wanted to marry someone in ministry. I would have been fine had I not, but that was something I hoped would happen. And so all this to say I had picked a career because it felt like a ministry to me. I picked a job that that, more than anything, was a ministry and and it absolutely was like it was. It was a.
Speaker 2:Being a teacher is like is unbelievable. You have such a perspective. You're with these kids every single day. For many kids I was there, like school is their only source of stability and consistency. But even within that, there's certain class periods and certain teachers that will offer more consistency than others. And, uh, and you really do have the power to create an environment as a teacher, especially in high school, cause I mean, these kids are with you for like 90 minutes and you can really create an environment in those 90 minutes, and so it was a huge ministry and I had kids Teachers are always assigned like when you're on your off-duty time, like half of your off period was supposed to be spent like working a hall monitor position or a cafeteria position, and so I had this hallway that was like far away from the classroom that I taught in, so a lot of my students would be like in classes on the other side of the school building when I was in my hall duty spot and they would just come find me and like talk to me.
Speaker 2:They'd I guess they had gotten permission to go to the bathroom or something and they would come and they would sit and they would talk and they would share things with me and someone sometimes kids would come early.
Speaker 2:I never stayed after school, that was never something I did, so I never talked with kids after school, but it was like there was just so much relationship, so much ministry, and then you show up at their sport, sporting events or their plays and and it's like you engage on a level that like I feel like I had more influence on lives there than I actually ever have felt in ministry, because I had. I was at this place where they were, I was in their in their actual day-to-day life and I was seeing everything and getting to speak into their strengths, their weaknesses, their being a place for them to come, when they had just had. I had a couple boys that came to my classroom at 7.30 am, straight out of juvenile jail that morning, and it's like the opportunity that you have to connect and to like inspire them and kind of call them to a higher standard. That's like you just don't get opportunities like that. I don't think in without being in a career where they're coming to you anyway.
Speaker 1:Right. So and I and I, I know teaching is really specific and special. It's like a niche thing that only a few people can really engage in. But, but, but I think to your point. You're rubbing up, rubbing shoulders against people day in, day out, and I think that you're able to really cause. It's not just the students that you had an impact on. You had impact on your fellow teachers.
Speaker 2:I did. That's a good point. I did and because part of it, though, it's like you're, it's almost like what happens on a mission trip. It's kind of similar a teaching job because it's like everyone's there right. I know that after leaving the teaching world I found out the reputation that teachers have is kind of this like you can't do anything else You're teaching it and I'm like, okay, it wasn't really true.
Speaker 2:I mean, that might be true for 10% of the people in education, but for the most part you've picked a career, kind of like I did. For some reason, you're choosing a career where you're going to get paid less.
Speaker 1:That only applies to college professors.
Speaker 2:Go ahead a career where you're going to get paid less. That only applies to college professors Go ahead.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I wouldn't agree with that. Those who do do, those who can't teach, that's the college professor world. Sorry, no, just don't judge me. I'm not going to get in trouble for that. Go ahead, abraham.
Speaker 2:Listen, I knew several college professors that did really great things.
Speaker 1:I'm sure they were amazing and they also were college professors.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just telling you where the saying comes from, but the saying this. But anyway, I think that I, um, a lot of people were in my same boat in terms of, like they picked this job where they knew they would get paid less, they knew they'd be working harder and the hours, and there's this whole like well, you're off all summer. You are off all summer, but you're also the stress that you're under dealing with behavior of like kids every single day.
Speaker 2:There's nothing professional about that there's nothing um like kids every single day. There's nothing professional about that.
Speaker 2:There's nothing um, like kids aren't different, I mean like elementary teachers, I can't even begin Like I would. I would sit in prison, I think, before I'd want to sit in an elementary school all day. Um, but the high school realm, it's like there's still kids, right, there's still. They're so disrespectful. I mean I was, I was cussed at daily by these kids and like the way that they treat the administrator, the administrators, the other teachers, the other kid. Like you're, I mean you're receiving such horrific treatment. And then, and then the behavior that you're, I mean I would walk around like why I would be teaching and I would just pull out headphones, little earbuds, I teaching and I would just pull out um headphones, little earbuds, I would just pull them out while cause it was like telling them to take them out and having some policy was like the most unaffected thing ever because there was no school rule, there was no, there was no higher like it was my influence that was going to get these kids to engage my class.
Speaker 1:It wasn't because we were no school rule will get them take out their earbuds.
Speaker 2:Well, no, but also there was no school rule, there was no district rule, there was no policy, there was no enforcement. So if I had, if I, if I had some rule, and then I tried to be like, oh, they're not, nobody cared. And so it's like I, it's your influence, it's going to get these, your students, to engage, your content, it's really nothing else. And so, um, obviously, if I'm pulling out earbuds, my influence is only going so far, but it would work in terms of like they would feel, I think they would feel embarrassed enough and they would sit and they would engage for the rest of class. And so there was like I think a lot of teachers were in that category, but they wanted to make a difference.
Speaker 2:They were taking a job that was so challenging, emotionally, mentally, physically. I mean I didn't sit, I never sat down. Like my last year of teaching, I kind of learned how to like sit on the stool and like maintain control. But, like my first three years, I, if I wasn't walking aisles, I didn't have control of my classroom. And so, like you, you don't sit down for eight hours and you don't. Your lunch break is like 15 minutes.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's just, it's an insane job from a like a work life. It's a bad, it's not a great morale in terms of like what you're engaging, but you're there because you're after a purpose. You're after these kids. You're after no teachers really there Cause they love their content that much. They're there because they care about these kids and they want to make an impact.
Speaker 2:And so when you're around other adults like being in an environment around other adults they noticed when I um like I would make these worksheets, I would find ways to kind of make things fun but also challenging, and they would be so impressed by that. It was like anything that I did that was effective in my classroom gained rapport and um favor with other teachers. And then they, you start to like care about their lives and you start to follow up with them. And and I was single at the time, and so in foreign language, I was in foreign language department them and and I was single at the time, and so in foreign language, I was in foreign language department, and so those were like a real eclectic bunch of people.
Speaker 1:Um, so you fit right in.
Speaker 2:I did actually. But I mean you had like a couple of homosexuals. You had a couple like real, just like real artsy, kind of odd people, and then you had like another person that was kind of similar to me and, um, and we're all working together and we're all kind of in this, and so when I saw Friday night I would come around and that my two gay teacher friends would be like, inviting me to go hang out with them and their partners at some, they we all lived in downtown Dallas and we drove, we commuted 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:And so they'd invite me to come and I and I sometimes would, and I and when I would sit there and we would like drink together on a Friday night, they would share about like their life and I got to know them and then we could follow that up in school days. It was just. It was a really cool like we were kind of in the trenches together for a common goal that wasn't Christian but yet motivated from some of the same issues, some of the same hurts.
Speaker 1:But how did you get Christ into that environment? How are you? Because I know you were able to share the gospel because I was part of that, yeah, so like. But in those conversations because I think this is the struggle that people have they're in a secular world, they may not be doing metallurgy, but they're called by God to do a gifting thing teaching, for example. They're surrounded by people far from God, in dark, evil, and yet you're called to be a light. How is that? Do you're able to bring joy, hope, christ into the middle of that, over drinks on a Friday night?
Speaker 2:So with students it was always like first day of school I did an about me PowerPoint and I always outed my faith Like I had to be very upfront with that because it was because the students had to initiate, so raising the flag early that you're a Christian's a big deal.
Speaker 2:It was. It was essential because the students had to initiate with me. I couldn't initiate a spiritual conversation with my students, but I could talk all day long about my faith if they initiated the conversation, and so I made a huge deal to make that super public. And then if kids asked me what I did over the weekend like I was just very intentional about mentioning the Christian spiritual things I was doing, and it worked like kids would come in even if they didn't have faith or even if they didn't care about my Christianity they it was like they knew that I therefore cared and that they kind of they were drawn to, to wanting to be like hey, uh, a christian show or christian no, no, no.
Speaker 2:They would just come tell me like about the abuse they were getting from their mom or yeah, it was like it was kind of like they were. Um, it was a. It was on this on ramp of like here's someone I can trust it.
Speaker 1:Almost it was like, being a christian gave you um morality or not. Morality?
Speaker 2:uh, I don't know what it safe safety, maybe safety points? Okay, it was like and then with um, and then some kids would share that they went to church like they were proud that they did something similar to me. But most of the kids I feel like I had the greatest impact on it was almost like me being confident in that area. It was like they knew oh, this is like a lighthouse.
Speaker 1:Talk to me about the confidence factor, because I think that is where people lack, because if you have the, the spirit of God, oholiab and Bezalel I don't think we're like ashamed of the fact. They were filled with the spirit, but they were in the confidence. The Lord literally called them to build golden, awesome things for God. Here you are called by God to teach. Talk to me about the confidence.
Speaker 2:So I think it has to be genuine, like. So I like to think I had a tiny bit of a cool factor. But I sometimes look back at pictures. I'm like I don't really know if that was just in my head, but I mean I was 22 and I was single and I was pretty fun person and so people like that was a draw, they couldn't believe I was 22. I mean, I had a couple of students that were 20 because yeah, yeah and so like yeah, yeah, they recycled.
Speaker 2:They've been in jail. A couple have been in jail, one had just gone, failed so many times. They were on their third round of senior year.
Speaker 3:Dang they allow that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they do.
Speaker 3:Dang? Is there a Most?
Speaker 2:people drop out at 18 if they're in that category.
Speaker 1:But you had that 20-year-old said like I can make more money than you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he dropped. The day before he dropped out he came and said bye to me and he said and he would just ask me if I knew how much he could make selling drugs. And I say don't know. And he said well, it's more than you make. And I was like I don't doubt that, but you know, it wasn't interesting.
Speaker 3:I thought Dallas was nice. It's rough dude. We were in Garland, Okay.
Speaker 2:Garland is um the armpit of the Metroplex, as I learned after I accepted this job, but um anyway. So I think the confidence had to be part of everything else, that the kids knew that I was. It wasn't like this dorky side of me, it was like the side of me that I was I.
Speaker 2:It wasn't like this dorky side of me, it was like the side of me that I was, I own, most proud of. Yeah, I was proud of it as like not that I wanted to be in your face about it or obnoxious I didn't want to be obnoxious with. I'm this Christian and I'm going to try to make it look cool. It was like this is I have a hope and I have a purpose because of my faith. And when I kind of got my feet under me, I got involved with FCA because I needed, I wanted a place where I got to like take a more of a stand and have some more leadership, and that was huge.
Speaker 2:I opened many doors and I think with the, with the going back to the teachers, like, how do you transition spiritual conversations when people are telling you about their life over drinks?
Speaker 2:They're opening up and almost I found everyone I taught with in that school had spiritual hurt that they were real quick to share with me, I think because they knew where I was at and so and I didn't feel a need to like fix their spiritual hurt, but I did feel like, oh, I have an opportunity to speak truth into maybe what went wrong in the story that they've just shared.
Speaker 2:And so in the times where, like one of the one of the other Spanish teachers that I taught with, he was his dad, was a Spanish pastor and had completely neglected the family, like pretty horribly. I don't think he was ever around and he was one of the guys it was him and his partner that I would go out with the most and, um, he was so hurt by his dad and by the negligence of his dad. He was disgusted by Christianity because of that, and so that was a great opportunity just to share like man. That was so not how it was supposed to be and it's not what God would have wanted from you. He wasn't. God wasn't proud of all of his from your.
Speaker 1:He wasn't god wasn't proud of all of his. So you had spiritual conversations with absolutely almost every one of these guys that you interacted with and when, when you left, like some, were angry at you somewhere like you, became a yeah, it was a bit, and then you became a part of the fabric that your christ likeness became almost like something they needed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and one of the teachers, the french teacher. She went through a divorce after we'd been teaching to a couple of years and she had never like. She was always nice to me but we'd never hung out, we never connected. She was um, she and I were super different. She was like quirky in all the different ways that I'm quirky and um, and she went through a divorce. That was really hard on her and she just she reached out to me and we spent like three weekends together like shopping and like going. Now she was just dying for somebody and she had nobody because her job was her students and her job was her entire world, and so that was a really special time.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, when I left, that didn't go over well because we were like I said, we were there on like mission Right, and so when I left, I left for a better school district with a different demographic of students, and I told the teachers they asked me why? Because I think everyone's like what's the problem? Was this team that we've been on not good enough? Was your leadership not good enough?
Speaker 1:Because you're a teacher of the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I was awarded that to maybe keep me to not leave, but regardless, whatever For foreign language not global that's important. High school has teachers of the year broken up and I told them. I said I want to go experience what it's like to teach kids that have a story that's more similar to mine. I think that there's a chance I could have more influence and a bigger impact with kids that are broken in some of the ways that I'm more familiar with. And the teachers were.
Speaker 2:They were angry and just like angry that I thought they were like they kind of acted like well, are you implying that you don't have an impact here? And I said no, I'm not implying that you don't have an impact here, but I'm thinking that this is such a stretch and and honestly, it was a good move. It was true that going to a group of students that had brokenness that I was more familiar with was I did feel a bigger impact and it was an easier job also. But the teachers it was like there was something so bonding about our mission together at this one school that when I left that it was like I was this traitor, because for them, their job was the end-all, be-all. They weren't serving a god Right.
Speaker 1:This was it. Yeah, okay, I'm going to pause on that. I want to go back to Mo. Just because you were in IT world. I don't know if you'd feel called to it world, but you were for that season, you were yeah, and was that a season where you were following jesus or both? Yeah, talk, talk to me about like what that was like for you it world to kind of have this gift and then to use it, but to also to also figure out how you're going to glorify God in it With the job.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel like I used it to the purpose of making the next step that I needed to take in order to go to undergrad, go to seminary and kind of fulfill my personal calling.
Speaker 1:So I love that you were in IT while in undergrad or before undergrad.
Speaker 3:It was. This was for. I went back after I graduated San Jose State so that I could work full-time while I was going to seminary.
Speaker 1:Got it, yep. And so talk to me about, like, what kind of impact were you able to have. Was it working remote? I'm sure California was better.
Speaker 3:No, it was not, it was was. So this was uh, because I didn't want to go back into high level right, higher level it stuff, I was just doing like some um actual, like hardware stuff, so it couldn't be remote so cabling and cabling, managing and then primarily working with like phones and laptops and stuff like that so.
Speaker 1:So, when you had interactions with people, with the co-workers alongside you, that you were able to no, I was by myself. I was by myself in a van, which was awesome okay, that was like where you're just like listen to sermons all day and listen to sermons all day.
Speaker 3:And literally because I was like, hey boss, like I don't have I don't have much work, like people are freaked out, they don't really want me to come in and he's like we need you to stay on the clock because we don't know what's gonna come up and we can't afford right now to hire anybody else or to do whatever, so just go find something to do. And I was literally like, uh, yeah, I'm gonna go write all my papers and read all my books. So it was, it was insane, it was awesome that is wild.
Speaker 1:okay, yeah, so for me, when I was in the Army, I lived in the era where I was a platoon leader and I'd have soldiers and I'd share Christ pretty openly. I just didn't care. I was in the government, but I just—it's kind of like when you're in Garland, did they really care if you shared the gospel? Probably not.
Speaker 2:No, no, no because when you're with your, with like sorry, I would have put that. Well, when you have they just had way bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when no one is dying or when people are like in the I mean the fights I watched that were on video for your school I was like you know, you sharing the gospel is the least of their worries. They're trying to keep, you know, this girl from beating down this other girl and I was like okay, so that's kind of how it was in a second airborne division. Like they were not so much worried about me sharing the gospel, they were more worried about, um, paratroopers showing up dead because they got drunk and know like got in a car accident. That was sort of like the reality there and so, um, so guys would be like going to the strip club for meetings, like like, hey, we're gonna get you know, like, hey, we're having platoon meeting to medium, be like you know, legs and eggs, place whatever off, whatever. And you know, military bases are generally places where all like a slew of strip clubs are. So that was just sort of what you would do and so I, you know, of course I wouldn't, I would not take part in that, I wouldn't be, that was not my thing, but I'd always like sort of you know, be involved with those guys' lives.
Speaker 1:In fact, one of the primary instigators of like the strip club meeting time was a guy that came to faith like in during my time as as an officer there and then, um, and he was actually in the platoon of rob. I've told the story of rob probably bazillion times. Like rob would be at, he was a platoon leader at the strip club before he was a christian and like whatever you know, he didn't care. And you know this one sergeant would be like, yeah, we're, you know. This one sergeant would be like, yeah, we're, you know. Just just highlighting how dark and wicked. And he, you know, he'd tell us a story like, yeah, me and my friend we decided to go have these on a kid and then, after we had the kid, we said, you know, we probably should get married. That's probably a good thing for the like, just so. Like that was sort of the wild thought. And so when I was a sort of like by the book Christian as much as one could be back then I'd probably my life I'm looking at right now is probably a train wreck.
Speaker 1:But in most things I was uniquely different and people respected that and I would have bold conversations because we were. We had kind of that same thing. We're shoulder shoulder. We're doing really hard things climbing mountains, jumping out of airplanes, you know, preparing to meet the enemy. And so you would be the conversation you'd have at 2300, because you're about to go out on a mission but you have an hour to kill because you have to sit there.
Speaker 1:You could talk about anything and guys would share, like here's the deal with my wife, here's my girlfriend, here's my kid with this other girl, and we're trying to figure out like all those situations would come out. And you know the gospel, because it's so true and so consistent, nobody would go like, well, that's just dumb, never. They might think that Jesus being raised from the dead was dumb, but they never thought like the way that my life was lived in like moderation and in like, uh, functionality was bad. They were always for that. And they'd say what do you think I should do? I remember one of my favorite questions when I was at war uh, one of my guys that worked with me in the tactical operations center. He was hey, sir, I'm going on leave. Who do you think I should see first, my, my internet girlfriend, or my wife? That was literal like as like dead serious question.
Speaker 1:he wanted my advice on that and I'm like that's a great question do you want to be married when you come back? Well, yeah, yeah, then let's not see the uh, the internet girlfriend like I think that would probably be like, in fact, let's just like, let's take her out of the equation. It was wild to me that that was. I appreciate that they were that confident Because early on I raised the flag, I'm a Christian, I'm going to lead this unit as a Christian. But they felt enough closeness with me that they could kind of I could be a confidant in some way. And yet, you know, still have the distance of leadership, which is always a challenge.
Speaker 1:But that to me was like the, the beauty of the relationships I had with those men in combat and beyond, to your point, the mission, the shoulder to shoulder mission, the ability to do life together and then to say I want your life to be better. And so when guys would have their Russian girlfriend moved to Hawaii and want a divorce and they get the divorce papers in Iraq, the person they were coming to is me, not because they didn't love their other friends, but the moral high ground or the reality. What should I do next? Was the big question.
Speaker 1:So to that end, I want to challenge everybody where they're at, because I do think there's a reality where you want to just do your job and get home, because your primary relationship is your family, but while you're there, if we're going to, you know Colossians 3.23, whatever you do, do it as to the Lord. That's sort of the reality and I think that's where Aholiab Bezalel really invested their time as they were doing ministry while working metal, because it was all for the glory of God. So, whether you're an IT teaching military, wherever you are could be Google, samsung or whatever I want you to kind of get your head around the fact that God is calling you to be salt and light to those in your vicinity, and if you're not doing that, you're sort of missing out on opportunity, which is why I love Colossians 4, pray that I might have the answer, to know how to answer everyone. I thought that's just awesome, like be reasonable, that you may know how to answer everybody. So I think that's the beauty of that.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and I think also. I think there's sometimes this fear of like if you were going to offend somebody or if it's going to be uncomfortable, and I think that's where, if you're, if it's an authentic life that you're living alongside these people, it's never offensive, Like with with my coworking, like my faith was never. Nobody accepted Christ. None of these teachers ever did, and I had my, one of my overseeing teachers she was my best. She was the best.
Speaker 1:She's a Mormon lady.
Speaker 2:No, no, she was just atheist. But she had boys that were like the ages of Austin and Jet now, and she anyway, and so she and I were really close and we she made our off periods the same, so we would kind of talk every day together and she really did mentor me that was her job, I mean, she was like a mentor teacher, but we were super close and at the end of our time, at the end of my time, when I was leaving the school, I went and I wanted to thank her and I and she was the only one that I could never engage in a spiritual conversation and, um, because she, we, we weren't hanging out right.
Speaker 2:So, she wasn't sharing life struggles with me. Like it's just so easy when someone sharing a struggle, or someone coming to you with, um, a problem or discouragement, it's easy to share genuinely how your faith is something that that you're leaning, you would lean on in a situation like this. But with this lady I never had an opportunity like that, and so it was time for us to leave and I said I said you know, I can't, I like you've kind of like made me the teacher that I am and like the, the things I I got mono my second year and um, she was so helpful to me for like, just sort of, but just day to day survival of that spring was kind of hard and, um, she was incredible and at the end of that semester I was like, you know, I feel like it's the most unloving thing I could do is leave here without ever sharing with you the hope that I have and where it comes from, and I say you were like 20, 22, 22.
Speaker 2:And she or maybe. I was 23 by that point.
Speaker 1:Okay, and she, how old was she? Like 35, 37?.
Speaker 2:Oh no, she was probably almost 50. She was in her forties, mid forties, okay, and um, and, and I said I know this is kind of weird, but can I just share with you? And she was like, yep, go for it. And I shared the gospel with her and I said I'm not expecting you to make a decision for this. I said it's just not okay for me to leave here and not share with you the thing that I think could transform your entire life and that, in my opinion, is the only hope that a person can have and after she finished, she goes.
Speaker 2:It's interesting, my opinion is the only hope that a person can have and after she finished, she goes. It's interesting. I've had a couple of, I've had a couple of students do the same thing to me and I was like, and that was so impactful because that was hard for it was awkward, and I was 23 and I had a lot of experience in ministry and and in sharing the gospel and, like I said, I was in this job for that purpose and that there was, like you know, 16, 17 year old students that were having that boldness.
Speaker 2:That was incredible. And she taught. She was like the German five teacher and like I mean she taught the like geniuses like she and I had a very different demographic of student breakdown. And so she had a lot of these like intellectual kids and for them to have been that intellectual and about their faith, like it was really powerful, so um, and I think, but none of, but even after that, like I gave her a hug and we moved on and it wasn't. It's really not that weird to share something that's that authentic to you.
Speaker 2:But if it's not authentic to you and it's this agenda, well then it's totally weird and it is off putting and it is kind of offensive.
Speaker 2:And I'm like if one of these, if one of these guys that I worked with had told me it was like into crystals and was telling me, oh, you know, like you really want to be married and you're looking for a dude, maybe you should get these crystals, I wouldn't have been offended by that. I'd have been like, oh, this is so sweet, like the only way he knows how to get something in life is this, and he's giving me his best stuff and I'm like that's sweet, that's thoughtful, he cares, he's invested in my life. It would never have been, that would never have been an offensive thing for me to hear. And so I think it's important to recognize like, if you, if you're owning your faith as a part of who you are and and something that you are like desperate for to make it, that is never I don't think it's really ever off putting in. But what is not okay is if you're not living your faith that way and you're trying to manufacture something just so you can kind of feel better. That's when it feels weird.
Speaker 1:That's when it's fake. Right, I don't want to say fake, that's when it's forced.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 1:I think you're like I want to, but if you're not having your own experience with Christ, don't try and force it on somebody else.
Speaker 2:And if you're having your own experience with Christ, you're being humbled. So if you're coming off like a a-hole, you're probably not experiencing a genuine faith enough that your edges are being softened and you're experiencing the humility that comes from Christ. And I think that it's one thing to be a jerk that's a better word. It's another thing to be a jerk to the people that we love the most. Right, it's really hard to act humbly sometimes in those. But if you're with a lost person and you're coming off like you like you're just this total jerk that has all the answers and the and the and your faith is the only way, well, that's like. To me that's indicative of something not happening Sure.
Speaker 1:But I think you can still say my faith is the only way and still come off very genuine and loving Right. Because that was what you know, and the fun thing for my style was very bantery and teasing with men, that's just probably you can get away with that. Not probably, not so much with women, but it was a very playful experience where they knew where I stood and when the when it hit the fan, they knew where to come Right where I stood and when the when it hit the fan, they knew where to come right. And so that, to me, is where I had the opportunity to share the gospel over and over and over and over again with those who were above, below whatever hierarchy, wise with me, because, uh, we developed genuine relationships and we talked about spiritual things, even if it was in solo love, fun, banter. So anyway, I think you can even kind of be a little bit like direct, but just the biggest thing was to hear their story.
Speaker 2:Um, anyway, and if you have a humility, if there's, if there's, if you're regularly confessing sin and aware of your depravity that's going to come off when you're sharing, and I think that's essential and I think that I think Christians do sometimes struggle with the discipline of recognizing their own depravity and that is, I think, super damaging. When we go then try to share, it's just, it doesn't go well.
Speaker 1:All right, hey, we got to cut it here. Any final thoughts there, pastor Mo?
Speaker 3:No, love it.
Speaker 1:Hey, yeah, guys, I love the fact. Please engage with us. Go to pastorplekcom or text in at 737-231-0605. Thanks for watching, Thanks for sharing this with all your friends and fam. We'll see you next week. Have an awesome week.