You could ask a million different people that question and come up with a million different answers. With so many points of view out there, we turned to a leader who has spent the last several decades trying to find out that answer for herself. Christine Caine is a speaker, a Bible teacher, author and an activist. Along with founding the ministry Propel Women with her husband Nick, they also started the A21 campaign, an organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking around the world. It’s safe to say, she’s learned a thing or two about being a leader. 

Here’s what she had to say about being a great leader:

What’s the best leadership advice you’ve ever received?

Two things jumped to my mind — and I don’t know that you’re going to want to hear these, young leaders — but truly trust God and be patient. Allow God to open doors and opportunities and to put you somewhere. In an era of being encouraged to build our own platforms, build our own brands, build yourself — be very careful that you don’t try to outrun God and put yourself in a place prematurely that God did not intend for you to be at just yet.

Because if you have the spotlight on you before the character of Christ is developed in you, the light that is on you will destroy you. The light that is in you is only forged in the sanctification process, and that’s through the hard years of hanging in there, being overlooked, being unapplauded, being ignored, being put on the side. It’s those times that God is building character on the inside of you. It’s those times that you’re learning to do it for God and not for people. It’s the time you’re learning to be a God pleaser, not a people pleaser.

But if you prematurely get into the game of comparison and competition and the world’s success measures, you’re not going to make it. You’re going to be taken. There is a real enemy. We forget that there is a real enemy of our soul that wants to still kill and destroy the purpose of God in our life.

Tell me about the beginning of your leadership journey. When did you first feel called into this role?

Well, you know, I certainly wasn’t the fastest one out of the gate. I started A21. Nobody would have picked me as the most likely to succeed and be doing what I’m doing today. I was way overlooked, way in the background, because of years of anonymity and obscurity. And I was born and raised in ministry before there was ever any social media. So I couldn’t be scrolling through anybody else’s life because there was no device to be scrolling with and there was no internet. But it was a grace because it taught me to lay a hold of God. It taught me to know the Holy Spirit. It taught me to trust God, to open doors that no man can shut. It taught me to trust that promotion does not come from the north, south, east or west. It comes from God.

It taught me the difference between being marked by God or marked by man. And if you can’t tell the difference between being marked by God or marked by man, then when the enemy gets you where he wants you, he will take you out. Scripture says that our job, the only labor that we’re supposed to actually do, is to believe God. But here is the issue: there are many unbelieving believers. We don’t truly believe what God says about us. And that’s why we don’t do often what God says we can do because we don’t believe that God is who he says he is, that God would use the kind of people that God can only use, which is flawed, broken people, to bring himself glory.

See, my job’s not to bring me glory, it’s to bring God’s glory. People have said to me constantly, “Look what God’s doing through Propel Women or A21 with your life.” I laugh immediately and tell them that I am the least qualified. I’m not just making this up. I know and God knows.

So nobody has to go, “Chris Caine isn’t really that good” and “Chris Caine really isn’t that smart” and “Chris Caine isn’t really that qualified.” I know. And that’s not even the half of it. I’ve got a whole lot more junk on myself that you don’t even know. But what I do have a revelation of is who God is and the kind of people that God uses.

And to the best of my ability, as much as I can, I try to walk in obedience to God. I try to honor God, but I fail. Everybody does, that’s the issue. And this side of eternity, I always will. I always say to people, “What, am I so healed that I don’t need Jesus? Am I so perfect that I’m not gonna need forgiveness? Do I never say anything wrong that I’m never gonna need to confess?” I think it’s because I’ve got this awareness of my own flawed humanity, about this incredible greatness of God, who has only ever used imperfect people. God has always only used highly unlikely people to do highly unlikely things.

Some people doubt they’re being called because of obstacles or limitations they face. What advice do you have for them?

Look at the story of Moses. The Lord told Moses to set His people free, and Moses says, “Well, who am I?” I’m thinking God’s probably thinking, who cares who you are? Moses came up with excuses like he wasn’t eloquent enough to speak. And the Lord tells him that his ability to speak was never going to be the deal breaker on Him parting the Red Sea.

If I want God to do signs and wonders and miracles in our lives and if I want to see God do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond anything I ever ask, hope or think, if we truly believe that my eye hasn’t seen, my ear hasn’t heard nor has it entered into my heart, the things that God has for me, then it doesn’t matter how perfect I am. It’s never going to be enough. So I can accept that I’m not enough. I know that I’m not good enough. I’m not talented enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not eloquent enough. I’m not connected enough. I know that. But I serve the God that is more than enough. And I think the only difference between me and other people who are way more gifted than me, way more talented than me, is I just believe it.

So when people say, “God shouldn’t be using her.” I’m like — I know, I know. But this is how God gets glory. The bottom line is I can’t be anything else. My start in life was so broken from being abandoned in a hospital. I don’t have a name on my birth certificate. It says: “child’s name, unnamed.” That’s how I started, followed by 12 years of sexual abuse. I can’t start over. So all that God has to work with is what I am and where I’ve been and what my story is and the narrative of my life.

But it’s not that God’s in heaven in shock, falling off the throne going, “I had no idea. I wish someone had told me before I called Christine that she had such a broken past because I would have picked someone that was more perfect.” I mean, of course that’s absurd, but that’s how we treat God.

When did you first feel called into leadership?

I’ll tell you a funny story about when I felt called to start A21. I’m standing in Greece. This is 2007, just before the economic collapse in Greece. So Greece is in a financial mess about to bankrupt the earth. There is so much corruption throughout every institution in the country. That’s why it’s just so economically collapsed. So much corruption. The church is very embryonic, very, very small there, very little light.

Here I was, this chick from Australia. I didn’t even know what human trafficking was at that point. I had not learned much about it. I didn’t have the kind of money that it takes to do this sort of thing. I had just popped out my second kid at 40 years old. So I’m looking for a purple heart. I’m not looking to start another ministry. I’m like, are you kidding me? And I remember distinctly where I was.

I was having this conversation with God, saying, “But God, I’m a woman. But God, I’m from Australia and that’s really far from Europe. But God, I don’t have this kind of money. But God, I just had a second child. But God, I’m 40. But God, I don’t know anything about trafficking. But God, Greece is on the verge of economic collapse. But God, the church is embryonic over here. But all my but, but, but, but, but…”

And in retrospect, God was probably just laughing and thinking, “Wow, I had no idea. I’m so glad you told me, Christine, because I didn’t know what the economic situation was in Greece and didn’t even realize. Did I miss your baby shower? I didn’t even know your birthday. ” We laugh, but that’s how we treat Him!

And it sounds really pious. It actually sounds really holy to people. They think, “Oh, she’s so humble.” But the root of it is actually pride, because the root of it is saying, my limitations are bigger than God’s supernatural ability to do something astounding through my life. And so as pious and holy and humble as it sounds, it’s actually narcissistic and very prideful, because it says I actually have the power in my limitations to limit what God could do in and through my life and you know, last I checked he was God and I wasn’t. So I don’t have that kind of power.

If I truly believe He’s sovereign, all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, all those nice big theological words, then why don’t I act like He is? That even despite my brokenness He could use me just like He’s used every single other flawed person in history.

Amena Brown
Poet

I wish I had known that becoming a full-time artist meant becoming an entrepreneur. At 27, I quit my cushy, corporate job to perform spoken word full-time. I had one paycheck’s worth of savings and no idea what I was getting into. It took my going broke, moving out of my nice apartment into a rented room, plus working the night shift taking customer service calls to realize that seeing my dream become a reality was going to involve a whole lot more than just quitting my job. 

Caitlin Crosby
Founder and CEO, The Giving Keys

I wish I hadn’t been so hard on myself. I don’t fit the mold, and that’s actually a good thing. The Giving Keys was created out of a place of my not fitting the “business mold.” Even though I’m older than 27 now, I still have to tell myself this as a daily reminder so I don’t beat myself up for enjoying who I was created to be.

Tyler Merrick
Owner, Project7

I wish I had “believed” what I read in passages like Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 (which starts with “Whoever loves money never has enough”). We lift up success in America because of the American Dream. That’s not a bad thing, but if not submitted to Christ, it will poison you. You’ll be a closet “success-aholic,” odorless to the public but privately bankrupting your soul. The amazing thing is that Jesus knew that about each of us, and He still took it all on the Cross. He’s graciously waiting for us to bow our knee and cast our burdens on Him. He’ll let us chase those things and allow them to hurt us to learn a lesson, because the lesson has been the same since the beginning of time. 

Christine Caine
Speaker, author and founder: A21 and Propel

When I was 27, I was full of passion, faith and expectation. The thing I lacked was an understanding that people are people, the challenges are great, the obstacles are huge. God’s timing is not your timing. Everything is going to take longer than you think and cost more than you imagined. God is far more interested in doing a work in you before He does anything through you. Nothing is wasted. He is always preparing you for what He has prepared for you. I wasted many years feeling disappointed, anxious and discouraged. If I could go back, I would tell myself that if God said it, God will do it, and no man on earth or demon in hell can stop it. He who promised is faithful. Trust Him.

Scott Harrison
CEO, charity: water

I wish I knew how important initial investments in CRM and other database management systems were to scaling a business. There was a moment at charity: water where we had close to half a million supporters in spreadsheets!

Ann Voskamp
Speaker, author

The size of your ministry isn’t proof of the success of your ministry. The very Son of God had a ministry to 12. And one of them abandoned Him. Forget the numbers in your work and focus on the net value. The Internet age may try to sell you something different, but don’t ever forget that viral is closely associated with sickness. Ultimately, what seems like futile work that’s taking an eternity today is exactly what may make the most difference in eternity. And whatever you do, make it a regular practice to retreat to the “back side of the wilderness.” Because when you do not need to be seen or heard—you can see and hear in desperately needed ways.

John Sowers
President, The Mentoring Project

Ignore the vox populi—the popular voice. I spent way too much time worrying about what others thought about me. I let the vox populi shape my identity. I see a lot of young people today doing the same thing. Listen: your identity is not defined by what others say or think about you. It’s not defined by your Twitter and Instagram followers. Burn those ideas. Your identity is hidden with Christ in God. Lean on Him—and work to be excellent at whatever He puts in your heart, no matter how outrageous or crazy it feels.

Banning Liebscher
Pastor, Jesus Culture

Get ready to live in over your head all the time. What God has called you to is going to place you in situations where you encounter your weaknesses and get stretched in ways you had not imagined. Don’t be in a hurry. Slow down and allow God to develop a deep trust in Him. The key to living in over your head, called beyond your capacity, is to trust God with all of your heart. Trust is required for long-term health and sustainability in all you are called to.

Jo Saxton
Author, Director: 3DM

Burying the hurts, wounds and scars of your heart and soul does not make them go away. You cannot eat them away, drink them away, ignore them or hide them in your work or in your relationships. Eventually, they re-emerge (often with habits that are harder to heal than the wounds themselves). You also can’t cheat your body out of rest. Learn to nurture healthy rhythms.

Liz Bohannon
Founder, Sseko Designs

Chasing after bright and shiny is fun. But it can also be dangerous and distracting. Putting one foot in front of the other in a way that is scalable, measured, disciplined and sustainable is infinitely more valuable than chasing after a unicorn that may or may not exist.

Excellence is not about winning; it’s about producing the best result we are capable of achieving. A commitment to excellence simply means that we will strive to do our very best and expect the same of others. This leads to a culture that rewards effort rather than outcome. In Christian terms, excellence means that we will always strive to use the gifts and abilities that God has given us to the fullest extent possible.

When I left the corporate world to join World Vision, I went from a for-profit secular organization to a not-for-profit Christian ministry. The cultures were completely different. In my corporate jobs, outcomes were everything. They were typical “perform or perish” cultures where profit, or shareholder value, was king. Everyone had scorecards and deliverables, and everyone’s bonus was based on achieving those results. Failure had consequences, from loss of compensation up to and including termination. It could be brutal at times.

But at World Vision I found a different ethic. There the culture was shaped around embracing the inspirational cause of helping the poor and World Vision’s unique approaches to accomplishing it. Relationships were important in the culture, and people took great pride in identifying with the organizational mission, vision and values. But in this Christian nonprofit organization, I found that money, or revenue, was seen more as the means to the end rather than the end in itself. That subtle difference led to less attention on some of the financial goals of the organization.

While World Vision US was right in not placing the total emphasis on financial outcomes, it had also not placed a strong enough emphasis on accountability and excellence in their fundraising. There weren’t clear goals, scorecards, or metrics in place that were visible to the entire organization. I dubbed this the “we’re good people doing good things and that’s good enough” culture. Don’t get me wrong, World Vision was doing some amazing work all around the world and helping millions of people. But I felt they had not created a culture of excellence around their fundraising and financial goals.

For those of you reading this who may be working in a Christian ministry context, this may sound familiar. Sometimes striving for excellence is seen as a “worldly” aspiration that feels inconsistent with Christian values such as kindness, forgiveness and unity. When you’re praying with someone in the morning, it’s hard to give them a difficult performance review in the afternoon, even if they’re failing at their job. But, when real performance issues aren’t being addressed, it can result in dysfunction in the organization. A culture of excellence is not contrary to Christian values; it is actually central.

If we are Christ’s ambassadors in our workplaces and communities, the stakes are high. We are called to do our best because we carry with us the reputation of Christ: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).

During my first weeks at World Vision I began to address the issues of accountability and excellence. We did a deep dive on clarifying the mission, vision and values of our fundraising organization. Then we established financial goals and metrics captured in both an organizational scorecard as well as individual scorecards. All these new initiatives understandably sent some shockwaves through the culture, and I started to hear some rumblings.

My human resources VP shared with me that people were saying things like: “We’re now being run like a Fortune 500 corporation — I thought we were a ministry.” I felt I needed to address these issues at an all-staff meeting. I spoke to our staff saying that yes, if excellence and accountability are hallmarks of a Fortune 500 corporation, then I am guilty as charged.

If excellence is expected of us when we work in a for-profit business, like Microsoft or Procter & Gamble, then how much more should we strive for excellence when we are serving God? I said that I wanted World Vision to be a model for excellence that even the Fortune 500 would admire. Most people enthusiastically embraced the new mentality because they wanted to do more and do better for the people we served. But a few chose to leave rather than adapt.

Over the next ten years World Vision’s revenue tripled, and efficiency improved as overheads were reduced by a third. This wasn’t because of any brilliance on my part. It happened because we released the pent-up potential in our people by creating a culture that celebrated excellence and embraced accountability to be the best we could be. This resulted in a massive amount of money being released into our ministry with the poor.

Millions more people received improved nutrition, better health, clean water, education and microloans to start their own businesses. This was not because we focused like a laser on outcomes but because we focused on excellence, the best results our people were capable of achieving. Good outcomes do not lead to excellence; excellence leads to good outcomes.

Adatped from Lead Like It Matters To God  by Richard Stearns. Copyright (c) 2021 by Richard E. Stearns. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com

Indeed, 170 of the noisiest children I’d ever met served as the backdrop to my shaky foray into leadership. 

I had gone to Kenya to climb a mountain. It was the end of a yearlong trip around the world, and I yearned to hike in a country I had long dreamed of visiting. When someone recommended I spend a night at a guesthouse near the base of Mount Kenya to rest up for the trek, I readily agreed. 

A nearby orphanage owned the guesthouse, and after an hour in that orphanage, I made the decision to stay. I lived in the orphanage for a year, and I never did climb that mountain. 

In the beginning, I led the children. With only three full-time staff members for the scores of kids living in the children’s home, I handily got the job. My primary qualifications? I was there. When I asked the orphanage elders what I should do with the children while I wiled away a year in their midst, they said clearly, “Teach them to run.” 

I was a marathon runner, sure, but I was the slowest one to ever be seen around the Kenyan highlands. Any local could outrun me with a bag on his head. This was not a job I was suited for. But once again, my primary qualifications won out. I was there, and the orphanage elders saw that. 

The months I spent training 18 teens to run a marathon and holding the hands of the dozens of younger children who ran for the sheer pleasure of the chase turned me into a coach. A leader, if you will. I pointed and directed and orchestrated and executed and inspired. Or at least I tried to. 

Along the way, I brought together the athletic and educational programming I was running under the direction of a nonprofit I started: Hope Runs. We ran it from that orphanage apartment, kids screeching and laughing in the background of international conference calls. 

And then, just when I thought I had become comfortable in the one leadership role that had been foisted on me, another one came along. 

My leadership—for lack of a better word—grew. 

At that time, a blog I had started while traveling around the world for a year had become popular, and my recent updates about living with the children in Kenya had continued to reach thousands of readers. People were listening to what I said. Joining Twitter, a then-tiny platform, seemed the next logical step for a digital nomad like me. Even though with my painfully slow connection, I could spend 20 minutes sending one tweet. 

It was worth the trouble, I would come to find, and soon I had many more people listening to me than I ever imagined. 

Together, these early tools of my blooming “online presence” (a phrase someone else suggested for me), started to change my nonprofit organization, the lives of the kids I worked with, and then my own life. 

The kids I led in running practices through my nonprofit weren’t the ones reading my posts. It was the other people, the folks far away, helping to fund the athletic and educational endeavors we were running that were reading them. And by reading, they learned, and by learning, they spread the word, and by spreading the word, a whole legion of people I didn’t know were supporting the work of Hope Runs. 

This was my first lesson on what leadership in an online world could look like, and what it could do to change the world. 

I would come to see that my digital presence was essential to any growing notion I had of my own personal ability to lead. Although I didn’t have grandiose notions of my influence in the crowded world wide web, I was beginning to see that I had a growing platform. 

Then, I heard something else. Leaders lead from platforms, someone told me. Platforms? I asked. Is that what I had? And if so, did that make me a leader? 

The first time someone called me a leader, I scoffed. At the time, I had no one who worked for me. I hadn’t yet graduated from business school or made it to Silicon Valley. I was single, without kids, and nary a pet in sight. Who was I leading? 

And that’s how I started to learn about what the leaders of today really are, and what the leaders of today really do. We lead by being thrown into it. I led by scrambling to do all I could. And then I led by being told what I had become in the process. By becoming a, yes—reluctant—leader. A leader who could barely say the word without a sheepish grin and a quick glance over my shoulder to see if there was someone else—a real leader—standing behind me. 

Still shaky, I grew in confidence. These were, after all, my first wobbly steps towards leadership. Later, when I would make it my business to hear the stories of how leaders became who they are today and what they did to shape and direct their own stories, I would see that this common thread unites all of them. 

Or, rather, all of us. 

Along the journey, I’ve learned that leaders of today—the “new leaders” as I call them—need to push the envelope of what it means to truly lead in today’s world. 

Here are the four key rules, as I see them, to being a new leader in today’s world.

1. Power Loses, Relevancy Wins

Most leaders today will agree that leadership isn’t about “power.” This outdated notion of authority simply isn’t what the new leaders of today seek, or what the new leaders of today aim to cultivate. 

Instead, what leadership does offer—and what leadership does beg—is relevancy. Engagement. A need to stay in constant communication with the populations and communities a leader can most impact, so that he or she can best understand the pertinent needs and where he or she can be most effective in meeting these needs. 

No longer do leaders desire to sit at the head of the table directing a meeting, or stand on a podium addressing their adoring employees. Although this may happen at times by result of their position, the new leaders of today proactively take an entirely different tack. By working alongside their teams, by asking for constant feedback from those who seek their insight and by consistently seeking to better equip themselves with new knowledge, the leaders of now find that relevancy and engagement beat power any day. 

2. Tribes, Not Followers

In a world where power is dead, you can be sure that the notion of “followers” has fallen by the wayside. Leaders today don’t want sheep to flock to them, but tribes to encourage, equip, bolster and change the nature of their work. 

The new leader seeks a vibrant group she can count on to regularly give her new ideas that will transform her business and life. A group ready to engage, debate and wrestle with the issues at hand, and not just accept the authority of a leader’s thoughts and ideas. A tribe ready to push back when a leader is wrong, and stand up for her when she is right. A group not intimidated by their leader, but supportive of her. 

A leader today recognizes that he doesn’t know everything under the sun, and that the knowledge and wisdom of his tribe is essential to growing his leadership. 

3. Lead Deep, but Also Lead Wide

The new leader of today doesn’t limit her passions. 

When I became a leader of my nonprofit organization, I didn’t hang up my leadership hat. I kept going. I did graduate from business school, I did move to Silicon Valley and start work at Twitter, a then-fledgling startup. I did write books. I did become a digital influencer, writing a business blog that many thousands read daily. 

I reinvented what leadership meant for me, several times over. I went deep—caring about the work I did and doing it well—but I went wide also, casting a net that could encompass several parallel passions. Yes, I work in Silicon Valley, but I also started a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting the lives of AIDS orphans. I’m also a wife and a mother to a new baby and to a Kenyan foster son. And I’m also an author, publishing a memoir about the story: Hope Runs: An American Tourist, a Kenyan Boy, A Life Redeemed. Among other books now.

My passions in leadership run deep, but they also run wide. And they’ll continue to do so. 

4. Old Leaders Must be New Leaders

If you are a conventional leader—you have employees, say, or you regularly give the opening remarks at quarterly board meetings—that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to the new rules of leadership. 

Firstly, remember that your leadership is not confined to the walls of the office. The boardroom doesn’t create a barrier. Instead, your leadership and your ability to influence others extends beyond the office. You are responsible to those you lead at all times—even on your off days.

Secondly, remember that you can be a leader in different aspects of your life by highlighting different strengths. Leaders in the office make leaders at home and leaders on the playing field and leaders in the yoga studio. Find leadership opportunities everywhere around you, no matter how conventional the leadership you exert in your day job happens to be. 

Ultimately, the new leader of today sees the potential in these changing times, and finds unique ways to lead in the face of change. For some, this means taking the old ways and throwing them out the window. These leaders build online presences that attract devoted, clamoring tribes. 

Others reshape old models. They create entirely remote companies where employees only see each other face-to-face a few times a year, but where the organizational structure remains hierarchical. Either way, the challenge for the new leader of today is finding the best way to create change and build movements in a world where the rules of leadership are being redrawn daily. 

It’s an exciting, rewarding and thrilling time, and one I’m deep in the thick of. Come join me, you leader, you. 

What made you think, “This is the idea. This is the book”?

It was about two years ago, after I released my first book. I started to hear from a lot of women who were dissatisfied with their life. They weren’t dissatisfied with their life because they necessarily didn’t like their life. They just wanted her life. They wanted to be like her. They wanted to have her job. They wanted to have her followers. They wanted to have her voice. I’ve felt this way, too.

I think we’ve all walked through this, but I started to really think, “What would it look like if we just owned up to who God made us to be?” What if we could call up women and men to believe that God made them not only with a purpose, but He made them how they’re supposed to be. 

What are the perks to just being you, instead of trying to “be her”, like you said?

You could be like somebody else and have a lot of success, but what I think is missing is the satisfaction. I think that that idea of working so hard to do and emulate exactly what they’re doing, I think that’s not sustainable. Here’s the deal. You’re watching someone else, and you just want to be like them because they’re successful. Well, what happens when they’re not successful anymore? Then you have to reinvent yourself to be like the next person that culture tells us is a success. Not only is it exhausting, it’s not sustainable, and I don’t think that you’ll have that true satisfaction because you’re constantly wondering, “Am I doing enough? Am I who she is? Because when I do that, then I’m going to get the accolades. Then I’m going to get the applause. I’m going to get the attention.” It can’t sustain you, and it’s constantly changing.

If there’s somebody out there who feels like they don’t know what it looks like to be themselves, what would you say to them? 

Isn’t that the question of the hour: “Who am I?” I think that we’ve all felt that. I think that we all will kind of walk that journey of going, “Who am I? What was I put here to do? What did God put me here to do?” Honestly, I don’t think it’s like you’re going to wake up one day and be like, “I know it. I know the answer. Now I have it all figured out for the rest of my life.” I think it’s a constant journey. I look at my own personal life, the way I have figured out what I’m good at, and where I can use my gifts and talents, where my voice matters, all those things, they have come from me serving. 

I have discovered so much about myself when I began to look outward. It doesn’t make sense because you’re like, “I need to look inward to figure out who I am,” but I’ve actually discovered the most about myself when I’m giving myself away for other people. Look at Jesus. He did this his whole life, and I don’t think Jesus needed to discover who He was. I think He was fully confident in who he was, but I do think that we see a life of him giving his life away and serving. When I’m trying to figure out, “Where do I fit in? Where do I belong? What are my great qualities that I might find about myself?” most of the time, I figured those out by serving and giving myself away.

For somebody who has done the work, knows who they are, but is struggling with financial obstacles or practical realities, do you have any advice? 

I think we’ve all had times in our life where we feel as though we’re supposed to step out and do something, but there’s some kind of obstacle, like you said, whether that be money, or, “Do I have a place here?” or, “Is there an opportunity here?” My encouragement would be, sometimes it takes small steps to get to the big goal.

I remember when I started my podcast, I was a stay-at-home mom. I have a job. It wasn’t like I was bringing in money, so I had to have small, small, small steps. I joke all the time that I recorded my first 50 shows with my Apple earbuds. I didn’t have a real microphone.

Finances were an issue for me to kind of step into what I really thought that God was calling me to do. I just had to take small steps and small steps and small steps. Now, six years later, I have myself a nice microphone, but I didn’t start there. I think that is also something that holds people back, is this belief that, “If I’m going to do something, it has to be the finished product. It has to be how it will eventually look.” There’s a lot of learning in the process of chasing those dreams and stepping into your callings. Everybody has those roads.

What about the person who finds what they’re called to do, whether it’s a new job or a ministry, activism, and it just doesn’t work out? 

Something happened to me a couple of years ago. The place that was hosting my podcast, they came out, and they were like, “Hey, we’ve been doing this a little bit wrong. Your downloads that you thought you had, they’re now cut in half.” They were cut in half for my show. I had this moment of crisis, where I thought, “I’m a failure. I thought I was good. I might as well quit because I’m not what I thought I was.”

I had my little pity party and then I had to reevaluate. I had to change what I thought was going to be success for myself because the day before I found that out, I was still faithful to making the show exactly like I thought I should be making it. The day after, I’m still making the same show, and I’m still being faithful to my purpose and my calling for my show. I look at The Happy Hour, and I’m like, “If I can encourage women, point them to Jesus, and allow people to have fun and inspire them, it’s a good show. Check.”

I had to think, “I want to strive for faithfulness over success.” Now, obviously, I want to do good at everything, but I think a lot of times success is a moving target. I think culture changes what they say is successful. It’s hard to keep up with. You just have to reevaluate the way you’re thinking about it. Were you faithful with what you were supposed to do? Then I think that you can change the language a little bit.

To play devil’s advocate, You be You is a self-centered idea for Christians, and Christians shouldn’t be focused on themselves. Is there any validity to that idea?

I got a really mean comment on Instagram. Believe it or not, there’s people that just want to be mean.

“We’re supposed to look like Christ. We’re not supposed to be self-centered. Nothing we do is for us.” I very politely responded. I was like, “Thank you for the nice words about a book you haven’t read. I agree with that so much.” One of my favorite conversations in this book is about how our gifts were never meant for us, that they were meant to serve others around us. Anything that you are, anything that you are successful at, good at, gifts, talents, voice, it’s all because of Jesus. What we do with that is we make him known and bring him glory.

Our highest calling is not to be a wife or a mom, but our highest calling is to make God known and bring him glory. That’s what this whole message is about, is, “Hey, God’s giving you good things. He’s given you gifts. He’s given you talents. Do something with them. Don’t just sit around because when you do, people see Jesus, not you.”

The idea was actually Foer’s, who came up with it while dying of boredom while eating a burrito. As he told Vanity Fair, he wrote an email to Chipotle’s CEO, saying “‘Wouldn’t it be cool to just put some interesting stuff on it? Get really high-quality writers of different kinds, creating texts of different kinds that you just give to your customers as a service’ …what interested me is 800,000 Americans of extremely diverse backgrounds having access to good writing. A lot of those people don’t have access to libraries, or bookstores. Something felt very democratic and good about this.”

Chipotle liked the idea, so there you have it. Now, when you go to Chipotle, you have three guarantees: food for the body, food for the mind and guacamole costs extra …

“After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family,” he wrote in a note to employees. “Just kidding—I was fired today.” Mason continued the note in good humor, which included such classic CEO references as “If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever playthrough.” You may not know what Terra Tubes are anymore than Groupon’s remaining employees do, but Wall Street seemed to take it well. The company’s stock rose 4 percent following news of Mason’s firing …

Fortunately, we don’t have to choose. And we’ll have more success if we don’t settle for less than combining all three elements.

Discover your passion. Do work that blends that passion and gives you significant income. Be responsible, pay your bills and have money left over. Make a difference and change the world. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have it all. And today’s business models create plenty of options.

Social Entrepreneurship really does provide a way to do good while doing well. Pura Vida Coffee has as their motto: “It’s better to give than receive. Unless you can do both.” TOMS Shoes says, “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.”

Ethical Capitalism simply implies that normal for-profit businesses are doing things that are socially, spiritually, ethically, and ecologically responsible. At Wisdom Meets Passion we are able to give free workshop materials to prisons, halfway houses and schools because we have profits generated by the our daily business sales.

There’s also a relatively new corporate entity. In addition to C Corp, S Corp, and the LLC, we now have an option to be a B Corporation. B Corps are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

The lines have softened between nonprofit and for-profit. I tell people that our company is a “not-only-for-profit” organizations. You can address your passion, the needs of the world, and your desire to be wealthy all at the same time. There are many ways to make a difference and generate reasonable profits at the same time.

Our goal, in the Wisdom Meets Passion community is to show how work that is an authentic fit will do the following:

• Integrate your skills, personality traits and passions
• Provide a sense of meaning, accomplishment, and fulfillment
• Be a person’s greatest vehicle for living out God’s purpose and calling
• Ensure an unexpected flow of income and ultimate wealth

I encourage you to pursue your passion, devote yourself to a worthy cause and make a great living. It does not have to be an either/or. Don’t settle for less than both.

The cost of renting is soaring due to stricter lending requirements—fewer people are qualifying for mortgages these days, so there’s more demand for rental units.

At the same time, home prices are depressed and mortgage rates are near historic lows. It’s tempting to go bargain hunting and assume you will win in the long run.

Still, there are many variables to consider when making one of the most important purchase decisions of your life. Here are several factors you should include in your decision making process:

Purpose

Remember the purpose of your home. It is a place to live. For decades, buying a house was considered an investment that would always appreciate in value. That assumption led many to overextend before the housing crash—and the result was serious financial pain. If the home meets your minimum needs, it is fulfilling its purpose whether rented or purchased.

Job Stability

In most areas today, the danger in buying is the loss of mobility. If you lose your job and must move to find a new one, you may find yourself stuck with a house that won’t sell. If your job is not relatively stable (an increasingly rare commodity in this economy) and you depend on it to make your mortgage payment, you’re likely not in a position to take on such a long- term obligation.

Budget

Whether buying or renting, the temptation is to max out the budget to get the best we can afford. It’s a mistake.

Keep to these rules and you can enjoy your home without worrying if you’ll be able to make your payments. 1) No more than 30 percent of your total budget should go towards housing—that’s rent or mortgage—including the associated costs of taxes, insurance and maintenance. 2) If you decide to purchase a home, make a minimum down payment of 20 percent. This will make it easier to sell your home if you must relocate for work. 3) Be sure you have an “Emergency Fund” of three to six month’s income saved and don’t touch it after you purchase your home. The temptation to dip into your savings to furnish a new home is nearly overwhelming. If you stick to the rules, you’ll likely avoid the financial nightmares that others have experienced since the housing bubble burst.

Also, make sure to seek advice about the housing market from several different sources of information, not just a single website or real estate agent. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.”

Many young people are becoming “renters by choice.” They enjoy not having the obligations of taxes and upkeep, and staying free to move about as needed for employment. They also enjoy amenities such as pools, tennis courts and exercise facilities that come in some rental communities that they could not afford if they purchased a home. Others see this market as the best opportunity to make a great purchase, capitalizing on low home prices and mortgage interest rates. Either choice will be a good one if you consider the factors I have listed here.

One last tip: Think small whether renting or buying. The average new home is now about 1,000 square feet per intended occupant. One hundred years ago the average was only 200 square feet per person. I foresee a glut of large homes in the future as baby boomers seek to downsize. Besides, smaller living quarters and lower costs will make your house feel like “home sweet home” regardless if you buy or rent.

My mistake? I broke the cardinal rule of freelancing and worked without a contract.

Yes, I had been warned. I had been warned by friends and family and fellow freelancers of the risks, but I did it anyway—justifying that it was only for a few days while I drew up a long-term proposal and contract. When we sat down at my client’s kitchen table and discussed the details of my hourly rate and workload, it had all seemed just fine.

I had been looking for an opportunity to move my career toward full-time freelance work and away from working at an office. She offered me enough work that I felt confident in my decision to scale back my hours at my office job to accommodate her needs. I could work from home and save gas money. I could earn more per hour. I could even keep my benefits at my office job because I was still working 30 hours per week.

It seemed like a dream scenario—at least for my first foray into serious freelancing. It seemed like my client and I were on the same page. I was sure that enough of my bases were covered for the time being.

Yet reality snapped me out of my “dream scenario” pretty quickly.

The client didn’t like the proposal, didn’t like the contract, didn’t like the invoice I gave her for the work already completed. And though she never expressed dissatisfaction until she saw the bill, she claimed she didn’t really like my work anyway and therefore felt no obligation to pay me.

I was infuriated with her for hanging me out to dry, but the more I thought about it, the more my anger spiraled inward.

Why hadn’t I listened to anyone? Why had I thought it was OK to shortcut my own standards? I had become the cliché: the young and foolish freelancer who would be forced to eat ramen for the next three weeks, or worse—ask my parents for money. And I would have to go back to my boss and ask for the chance to return full-time.

Thankfully, my boss was happy to welcome me back to 40 hours per week. And thankfully, though I had been too embarrassed to ask for money, my dad sent me a sweet card and a check anyway.

But my pride? My pride was totally broken by my blunder.

I was so sure that I was doing the right thing, that I had the upper hand, that after gaining some freelance experience and working as a staff writer in a marketing/public relations office for three years, I was a real professional. God had finally given me a chance to move forward.

Yet I acted like a total amateur.

God may have given me an opportunity, but in retrospect, I can see how I didn’t steward it well.

We’ve all made rookie mistakes at some point. One friend told me she had ghost-written an entire book without a contract and was gypped out of $8,000. A photographer friend told me about the time her hard drive crashed and she nearly lost 12 clients’ sessions (miraculously recovered, but she still had to offer them discounts).

Yet another friend told me about the time her boss found out she had been mentioning her company and work on her blog. At her 90-day review, her boss told her that because of her cavalier attitude and rather blatant admittance that she didn’t want to work there forever, they had decided never to consider her for any promotions.

How do you come back from that kind of professional blow? Her sage advice:

“It’s a great opportunity to be faced with the truth of yourself and ask, ‘Who do I want to be in response to this?’”

I think the thing that helped me find my confidence again was my attitude in the aftermath. I was upset, but when my friends coached me through my anger and fear, I decided to listen to them this time. Their wisdom kept me from firing off venomous emails or going to the mattresses with my client’s rude assistant.

There comes a point when all of us will face our fallibility as professionals. Listen to any one of your friends, colleagues or mentors, and you will realize that like eating ramen and driving a veritable death-trap of a vehicle for a few years, making a professional blunder is inevitable, maybe even a right of passage.

Though the vulnerability of that moment will mortify you and maybe cost you your rent, you can bounce back. To do so, you have to be willing to ask yourself the tough questions. There will always be that really terrible freelance client, the temptation to shortcut your standards, the liability of your inexorable arrogance and naiveté.

The real bottom line is how it will affect your character.

First, a car should be considered transportation, not a fashion statement. Since cars rapidly depreciate (the minute you drive them off the lot), you should first decide if you need a new one or whether a used one will meet your needs.

Next, consider the purpose the car. Is it for commuting to your job? Meeting the needs of a growing family? Will you frequently have multiple passengers? Will you need it for other purposes outside of your work, such as recreation or long distance travel? The answers will help you make a logical decision vs. an emotional choice and to not cave to pressure from salespeople.

Finally, understand the total cost of the purchase. The best approach is to pay cash for reliable transportation that will allow you to save more money or pay off other debt. If you have to borrow to purchase the car, crunch the numbers on the total amount of interest you will pay. If you plan on driving the car for many years, look for a dealer that offers special financing at lower overall cost than other forms of financing. Vehicles cost far more than the purchase price. Calculate the cost of insurance, maintenance and gasoline. Be careful not to “pre-pay” all of your gasoline savings by paying a premium for hybrids or other cars that get higher miles per gallon.

I prefer to purchase my cars used. I decide about six months in advance what I need and begin searching for one that is three or four years old and in excellent condition. This method allows me to go slow, compare models and act when I find a deal. I try to find a vehicle I can buy directly from an owner who kept good maintenance records. Always check the history of a used vehicle using CarFax, have it inspected by a trusted mechanic and ask for time to test drive it at highway speeds. The condition of the interior and the tires are usually signs of how the car has been treated by the previous owner. Be careful to avoid car scams that occur on e-Bay, Craigslist or other websites. Buying new from a dealer usually eliminates these concerns.

Learn to be content with what you have, whether it is the car you actually want or not. I once bought a car for $800. It leaked oil, water and even the air in the tires. I did not like it but it served its purpose to allow me to get to work while saving money for a better vehicle. In fact, it turned out to be the only car that I have ever owned that I drove for two years and sold it for the same amount that I originally paid to buy it.

Never fall in love with a car or you will fail to negotiate your best price. Before agreeing on a final price, train yourself to politely ask, “Is this price the best you can do?” Be prepared to walk away if the price is outside of your budget.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. My education? I graduated from college with a degree in Bible and in English education. These would be great credentials to teach tenth-grade English, if I still had any desire to be an English teacher. But after a semester of being that awkward student teacher who made students wish they were a grade higher (or lower) just to be in a different class, I knew that teaching English was out.

So, here I found myself, in the same place you are right now, applying for jobs to be working with data, working with computers, working with people. Applying for jobs selling cars, shelving books or sending emails. Applying for any and every job that sounded interesting.

Sadly, the degree in English ed wasn’t a big help for any of those jobs. And I wasn’t even sure if I should list the Bible degree on my résumé for non-Christian jobs. Using my résumé to find a job felt like trying to start my Subaru with no spark plugs—it wasn’t getting me very far. And my work history? I painted houses for a summer. I worked at Menards throughout college. I worked in the college writing center, helping people edit their history papers. It was not exactly a cohesive job history pointing to something better.

So my résumé became a carefully crafted work of art. Was I an “expert in Microsoft Excel”? No, definitely not. How about “comfortable with Microsoft Excel”? No. How about “familiar with …”?

With each refinement, my goldfish and I would discuss how great a résumé I had. We’d look at it and think optimistically, “This will get you the job you want.”

But as my savings account dwindled, with zeros in all the wrong places, and as my wallet had moths fluttering out of it instead of cash, I began to wonder: Did I make a mistake?

And I know that many of you wonder the same thing. You’re looking at your philosophy major and then looking at the job market, and you’re asking yourself, What was I thinking?

Listen to what God says to you today, the God who created you, the God who brought you to where you are today, philosophy major and all:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;  the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isa. 43:1-3)

Maybe you’ve just graduated into a really tough job market, and you hoped you’d have been hired by now. Maybe you find yourself competing with experienced veterans in a field you’re not even familiar with. Maybe you’re not sure how your history degree will help at all. It feels like a flood threatening to drown you. It feels like a fire stinging your eyes and blinding you with smoke. I know the feeling.

And the scariest part is that God will not take the fire away. He will not stop the river from rushing through your path. He doesn’t promise that at all. But He does promise this: He will be with you.

As you feel the water rushing around, don’t panic! God is with you. Trust that He’s right alongside you in the midst of this trial and that He sees the other side of the river you just cannot see above the waves. He was with me, and He is with you.

I no longer find dust in my wallet when I’m hoping to find cash. From a data processing job to database management to an enrollment research position at a Christian university (with other twists and turns along the way), God has led me down a job path I never would have envisioned when I was 18 years old. He led me in a direction far different from where I planned to go at age 22. But now, looking back, I can honestly say that I am right where God wanted me all along. I just had to walk through the fire to get there.

Derek N. Stavem, M.A., writes short articles from his personal experience with broad Christian application. See more of his writing at theworntilefloor.blogspot.com.

That’s a direct quote from our 21-year-old daughter, Emma, who recently graduated from college and is now living in her first apartment. Emma is honest enough to express what most of us feel—we want our homes to be uncluttered, fresh and inviting, but getting there can seem daunting.

People of faith who care about God’s creation face another confounding factor: How we do we tend our homes without hurting the planet? Fortunately, it is getting easier than ever to care for our homes while caring for the planet. The bonus of homemade and green cleaning products? You’ll save money while exposing yourself to fewer harmful chemicals.

Here are my top 10 spring cleaning tips for saving time, money and God’s green Earth:

1. Clean the house (with family/housemates) every Saturday in preparation for the Sabbath. The anticipation will make this day of God-ordained rest all the more precious.

2. Institute a “no shoes inside” policy. Keeping the dirt outside will significantly reduce the amount of cleaning you need to do.

3. Purchase green cleaning products. The price has dropped in the last couple of years, and they now can be found in most grocery, “dollar” and home improvement stores.

4. My universal (and cheapest) cleaning solution: Fill a spray bottle with 1 quart warm water mixed with ¼ cup vinegar. This can be used in the kitchen, bathroom—just about everywhere.

5. Baking soda is another must-have cheap and green cleaning product. Use it to scour toilets and bathtubs, scrub nonaluminum pots and pans, deodorize the refrigerator and clean the kitchen sink.

6. Clean from the top down. Save floors and carpets for last, so dust has time to settle.

7. Go through one doable space (one shelf of a closet, one drawer of your desk) per week and give away anything you haven’t used in the last year. “If you have two coats,” Jesus teaches us, “give one to the poor.” Check to see if your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store will provide credits to local charities for your donation—a great way to give twice.

8. Get to know the people at your local refugee ministry. Many people come to our country with nothing, which is a big motivation for me to clean out the garage, attic and basement. When I know something is going to a family that needs it, I am much more likely to give it away.

9. If you don’t have a compost pile, start one. Our family used two inexpensive ($20) flexible containers made from recycled tires. We filled one pile and let the other sit. Every few months, we had a new crop of “black gold.”

10. Invite some friends over for a laundry-detergent-making party:

1 cup washing soda (such as Arm & Hammer)
1/2 cup borax
1 bar soap
Approximately 3 gallons water

You’ll also need a container to mix this in, such as a five-gallon bucket, a large wooden spoon, another pot to boil soapy water in, and a box grater to cut up the soap. Put about four cups of water into the pot. Turn on high until it’s boiling, then lower the heat to a simmer. While it’s heating, take a bar of soap and cut it up into little bits using a grater. When the water is boiling, start adding the soap a bit at a time, stirring until all the soap is dissolved. Divide into containers.

Green cleaning may seem like a small thing, but a lot of little acts by millions of people add up. The average American home has 63 synthetic chemical cleaning products in it, which amounts to a whopping 10 gallons per household. Picture 10 milk jugs filling your refrigerator—would you to drink 10 gallons of toxic chemicals? But in a very real sense, that is what we are doing—every single ounce will some day end up in the water someone drinks or the food we eat. When it comes to toxic cleaning products, there is no magical “away.”

Psalm 24 tells us the Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. If I borrowed a car from God, I wouldn’t want to return it with the gas tank empty and the ashtray full of cigarette butts. The same principle applies to green cleaning. The earth is not mine to do with as I please; as a sojourner, I’m called to pass it along to future generations in as good or better shape than I received it. Green cleaning is a simple way I can live out my faith, 365 days a year.

Nancy Sleeth is the co-founder of Blessed Earth and author of a new book, Almost Amish: One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life (Tyndale, April 2012). For more Almost Amish tips, visit www.blessedearth.org.

Jon Acuff, author of the book Quitter, writes, “We’re becoming the ‘I’m, but’ generation … We inevitably say, ‘I’m a _____, but I want to be a ______.’ ”

Before moving, I was an account executive in a marketing firm, but I wanted to be a writer/theologian. I had been inspired by the book Mere Christianity years earlier, and I wanted to help others as this work had helped me. So we left for Oxford, dreamy-eyed and inspired by C.S. Lewis, in pursuit of this dream. What I’ve learned in the process has been beyond what I ever imagined, and it just might help anyone considering pursuing God’s calling.

You can do God’s work wherever you are

Many of us would end the second part of Acuff’s statement above with something that seems "bigger" than what we’re currently doing for God’s Kingdom. One of the greatest pulls leading me away from my previous job was an itch to do something more for God’s glory, an itch that wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. I’d wake up early to write about faith and everyday life before going into the office, and I’d help lead youth group and volunteer at the local food bank in the evenings. But it always felt like I could be doing something more to help spread the Good News. And this step seemed to be the solution.

But now, having made this dramatic life-change, I routinely find myself in the middle of a library, with my nose in Augustine, Luther or Kant, thinking, “Is this how people see God in my life?” It sounds cliché, but I’ve come to the realization that God was made visible in my life during the evenings I spent volunteering at our local food bank. Or explaining how this 2,000-year-old story about a Nazarene man has relevance for a group of high school students today. It’s only since we’ve left home that I’ve been reminded just how important the everyday opportunities to share Christ are. That student you’re mentoring, that team you’re coaching, that guy you’re praying with every week over coffee—they all see Christ in your life in those times.

You may very well be feeling called to do something else for God’s Kingdom, but don’t rush off to do so before considering the ways you are already bringing Christ to others. You may still need to leave to allow you to do something else, as I’m confident we did, but don’t rush it. Allow yourself to see the ways God is currently working through your life, and don’t allow the green grass to blind you to the ministry right in front of you.

Our dreams are tied to our fears

When we’ve yet to act on our dreams, they come to us only with warm feelings. But once we’ve set out to pursue them, that’s when we can expect an onslaught of fears we’ve never faced before.

I remember sitting in my Greek tutorials shortly after arriving in Oxford, in a 400-year-old stone-built room around the corner from where the dining hall scenes were filmed for Harry Potter, wondering how I’d keep up with my classmates, and thinking to myself, “I wonder if my old job will take me back…” I feared I’d finish this degree and still not know exactly what I wanted to do. And I found myself plagued by a sense of guilt that I’d made the greatest mistake of my life. The irony is that I didn’t have these fears before we left. What I’ve found is that it isn’t until we take a step in the direction of our dreams that such fears become real.

I was told something that shed new light on these fears during a conversation with an English pastor by the name of Simon. “There’s an old Pentecostal saying that goes, ‘Different levels, different devils,’ ” Simon said to me in his rich British accent while on a walk around the Christ Church meadow in Oxford. He explained that every time God steps us up a level in our vocation, we can expect assault in new ways from the enemy. He went on to say that, while there will be some joy in pursuing God’s calling, it will also be contested at various levels (spiritually, relationally and practically). “You are devoting your life to contending for the Gospel,” Simon said to me, “That’s front line. You can expect incoming fire.”

God is greater than our fears

Since my wife and I took this step in faith, we’ve seen God at work in some rather incredible ways, even as I struggled with fear. When we began looking for jobs in Oxford, the C.S. Lewis Foundation called (unexpectedly) and asked if we’d be interested in jobs as a tour guide and admin assistant at the Kilns, Lewis’ former home. When we worried about making rent on time, we received a check in the mail from family back home (who had no idea of our situation) the same day our rent was due. When we returned home for the summer, not knowing where the money was going to come from for our second year, someone who knew of our journey (but not our need) asked to meet with me and told me he planned to cover our expenses for the following year. When we were worried about finding housing for our second year in Oxford, we received an invitation to move into the Kilns, just weeks before returning.

The result of these experiences is a deeper trust in God’s provision and the knowledge that God is so much bigger than our often-crippling fears. I’m not promising that if you make a decision to make a dramatic life change, God will meet each fear you face in equally dramatic ways. But I am telling you that each time I came to Him in prayer, paralyzed with fear at how this was all going to work out, I was brought to a point where I could look back and say, “This is how God provided for our lives as we took this step in faith.”

Has it been scary to leave everything behind to pursue the dream I believe God placed on my heart? Yes. Do I still have doubts? Yes, quite regularly. But, has this process forced me to rely on Him in ways I never had to in my comfortable day-job? Am I thankful for the opportunity to see Him at work in ways I never imagined? Would I do it all again?

Absolutely.

Ryan is currently studying Theology at Oxford University in the UK, where he currently lives with his wife. You can see more of Ryan’s writing at www.RyanPemberton.com, or follow along at www.RyanAndJenGoToEngland.wordpress.com.

Who are we?

We’re twenty- and thirtysomething Christians seeking God and striving to impact the world around us. We are people who want to live well—artfully, outwardly and intentionally. We are pro-Church and want to love our neighbors as ourselves. We love great art—whether that be redemptive music, movies, books or design. We are daily seeking to show how God is at work in the world and in our generation.

We try to publish ideas that break stereotypes, challenge the status quo and spur a generation to know God more—and change the world while they’re at it. We want to engage our generation in a deeper conversation about faith, challenging worldviews and causing people to see God outside the box they’ve put Him in. Encountering God changes things.

We believe God is alive and speaking both inside and outside the four walls of the church. That’s why we cover life issues and culture next to social justice and spiritual growth—to look at the things relevant to our lives and world, and give voice to what God is doing in and through our generation. We believe a lot can be learned by looking more deeply at things that challenge you. But we also believe in the importance of the Church and want to be catalysts for change rather than part of the mass exodus of our generation leaving it.

Christians can’t be complacent living in a Christian bubble and never engaging the world they live in. We want to live the way Jesus did. Through relationship and love, the world was changed. We don’t think believers should be known primarily for legalism and bigotry. We believe in dialogue—about Truth, about faith, about freedom in Christ.

Cameron Strang founded RELEVANT Media Group on June 1, 2000, when he was 24. It’s a self-contained, for-profit business not affiliated with any other companies, denominations or organizations. We published books from 2001-2006 (R.I.P., RELEVANT Books), launched RELEVANTmagazine.com in March 2002, and the print magazine in March 2003. In September 2011, we reimagined the magazine for an iPad edition now available in the iTunes App Store.

We’ve been adding new products pretty much every year, including our 150,000-circulation social justice magazine, Reject Apathy, RELEVANT U, RELEVANT.tv and more.

You can subscribe to RELEVANT for only $14.99 a year (six issues, plus a ton of extras)—68 percent off the newsstand rate. With each subscription, you’ll also get four quarterly RELEVANT Collection albums featuring exclusive performances and top tracks from our favorite bands, six print magazines, and full access to all magazine content and premium downloads online. That’s a lot.

OUR PURPOSE

RELEVANT Media Group is a multimedia company whose purpose is to impact culture and give voice to what God is doing in and through our generation. We believe encountering God changes lives, so the magazine looks at how we can live that out in tangible, intentional and thoughtful ways. We talk about culture and real-life issues that other faith-based magazines might shy away from, because we believe it’s important to address the gritty stuff of life—even when it makes us uncomfortable. If it’s relevant to our readers, you’ll find it on our pages.

What we’re currently working on:

RELEVANTmagazine.com is the daily updated, interactive counterpart of RELEVANT magazine. Together, they have become the leading platforms reaching a generation of culturally savvy world-changers hungry for God.

To get the full RELEVANT experience, be sure to subscribe to our magazine, which gives you unlimited access to magazine content and premium downloads on the website. If you have an iPad, check out the RELEVANT iPad Edition. Each issue is only $2.99 in the App Store, or you can subscribe for a great discount, and full website access as well.

Don’t miss out on what 80,000+ other weekly listeners have discovered—be sure to download the always entertaining RELEVANT Podcast, featuring interviews, live studio performances and some fun, nonsensical discussions with our editors. A new one is posted every Friday. 

Remember to visit the other members of the RELEVANT family—Next, our sub-site just for creative innovators, social entrepreneurs and emerging leaders; and Reject Apathy, our digital magazine and site about local, global, Christ-centered social justice. And an all-new RELEVANT.tv and The Drop are coming soon!

To get our best content in your inbox each week, sign up for our newsletter, RELEVANT This Week. (And no, we won’t give your email address to anyone else.)

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Whether 20 years into it or just starting out, if you’re at this website you’re probably on a spiritual journey. Christianity is not a destination. No one has it all figured out. And because of that you’ll find the articles in RELEVANT ask questions a lot of others won’t, which is something we feel is vital to our spiritual growth. We need to never stop pursuing Truth and authenticity with passion.

But we do believe. We believe that eternal life and the only true freedom is found in Christ. We believe a relationship with Him changes things forever. You are not the person you used to be after you find Him. You may not be perfect—we’re all sinners, after all—but you don’t live the way you used to. Jesus told us to be in the world, yet not of it. We’re supposed to stand out and make a difference. We’re supposed to live for something bigger than ourselves.

That’s not something we can magically attain overnight. Following Christ and figuring out what it means to be like Him is a lifelong quest. It’s the hardest, longest and most rewarding thing we will ever undertake. It is what will define us—not only in this life, but the life to come.

For more information about Christianity, we recommend checking out the Bible (it is the source, after all) and finding a good local church where you can meet other people like you.

Contact Us

RELEVANT Media Group
PH: (407) 660-1411 

FX: (407) 401-9100
900 N Orange Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789