“Well, Collum, the day you really believe that, maybe you’ll do something about it!”
Those jarring words were from the man who managed a site with four nuclear power plants.
I was one of his four plant managers. He was both wildly successful and wildly blunt. He could distill a situation into a rather sharp, memorable point. He would then jab that point into the side of your brain. He got your attention; although many people struggled with his approach, I got used to it and improved.
His point brought to the surface a rather obvious fact: It is easy for me to mouth the words of what I believe. It is an entirely different matter for me to live them. He had reason to challenge me. I had been spouting off a platitude to him quite a bit, and yet if you looked at my team, it was hard to see. I have held onto that teachable moment for over 30 years.
As a leadership exercise, consider listing five to ten beliefs you have, and then list how those beliefs show up in your regular life. If you are like me, you might find some gaps between what you profess to believe and your daily actions. I never outgrow the need to do this leadership drill.
I became President/CEO of The Pocket Testament League after decades of leading. Still, I came face-to-face with one such gap. Not only had I been a Christian for decades, but I had also been a pastor for over a decade. I certainly proclaimed that I believed in the power of God’s Word. I could quote Isaiah 55:8-11.
Yet as a pastor, I routinely placed my teaching of the Bible ahead of simply getting people into the Word of God. Did my behavior and teaching effectively demonstrate that I believed in the transformative power of God’s Word alone? Answer: not really. I operated with the idea that people needed help to understand the Bible. And people, that would include me, do need help. I failed to fully appreciate that the Holy Spirit was there to provide that help.
When I came onboard The Pocket Testament League, I came face-to-face with one of those pointed comments, one of those gaps. I came face-to-face with an organization that lived out the Parable of the Sower. In that parable, the Sower throws seeds on hard path, rocks, thorns, and everywhere else; very uncharacteristic of how one would normally plant seed. In that parable, except for the seed that lands on the hard path, the seed always grows. As if the challenge of God’s Word wasn’t enough, The League then deluged me with thousands of yearly testimonies of how God’s Word alone transformed people.
The result was clear: If I was going to lead such an organization, I had to change how I lived. If I professed that I believed in the power of the Word of God—if I believed in the Parable of the Sower—then I needed to share it liberally. I needed to share it among thorns, rocks, and hard paths (to people who metaphorically seemed to bear resemblances).
Then I remembered the “hard path” I had been for many years. I recalled those who kept sowing the Seed. I rejoiced they had not given up.
There is power in living a belief. The hard work comes in inculcating into our lives what we believe. When we do, we both refine our beliefs and shape our character. I will spare you the “hard jab” I received and simply invite you to reflect on how that is going for you.
*Every day for the last four years, over 25,000 people have been invited to meet Jesus with the Word of God. For more information about The Pocket Testament League, contact David at dcollum@ptl.org. To further unpack the Parable of the Sower, consider Let God Speak.
About the Author
David Collum
President & CEO of The Pocket Testament League
I have a passion to see people meet Jesus and get to know God. Why? Because for years I was one of those guys who tried to follow all the rules, do everything right, and I even had some success. In the end though, my focus on “being right” led me to actually behave as if “I was always right”. I was no fun to be around. God in his mercy let things fall apart, and then met me in my brokenness.
I have been fortunate to work in Corporate America, with my last position leading the organization that cared for the nuclear power plants of our nation’s fleet of nuclear submarines. I also had the privilege of working in the Church as a full time Pastor for 12 years.
Today, I serve as the chief executive officer of The Pocket Testament League, where I get to lead this global movement of Christ-followers who are sharing Jesus in His own Words.