Episode 223 - Tim Tebow Shines a Spotlight on the Light of the World
Tim Tebow is a two-time national champion, Heisman Trophy winner, first-round NFL draft pick, and a former professional baseball player. The four-time New York Times best-selling author, speaker, and football analyst shares about his most recent book, “Mission Possible.” In it he explores how the secret to a truly meaningful life is not more comfort or ease, but a clear mission and understanding of our God-given significance. We’re excited to have Tim discuss life, work, and making sure the spotlight is always shining on Jesus.
All opinions expressed on this podcast, including the team and guests, are solely their opinions. Host and guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as specific advice for any individual or organization.
Episode Transcript
Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it.
Rusty Rueff: Welcome back, everyone, to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast. Our guest today, well, you know him already, Tim Tebow. Tim is a two time national champion, Heisman Trophy winner. First round NFL draft pick and a former professional baseball player. The four time New York Times best selling author, speaker and football analyst is most passionate about his work with the Tim Tebow Foundation and its mission to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The Tim Tebow Foundation is currently fighting for people who can't fight for themselves in over 70 countries. During our conversation today, we'll talk to Tim about his most recent book, Mission Possible. In it he explores how the secret to a truly meaningful life is not more comforter ease, but a clear mission and understanding of our God given significance. We're excited to have Tim on the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast as we discuss life work and making sure the spotlight is always shining on Jesus. Let's listen in.
Henry Kaestner: Welcome back to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur. I'm here with William. William. Good morning.
William Norvell: Good morning is a good morning. It's like 8 a.m. out here at Pacific Time. Daylight still coming in. It's beautiful
Henry Kaestner: It is a beautiful morning. Hey, before we get started, we've got we got a really special guest today. Dude how is a new start up?
William Norvell: It's going well. I mean, I think so, you know? Yeah. Yeah, we're getting to serve people. And actually, we've got our first team offsite starting here in about an hour. So flying the team out here and you know, we've signed on a couple of people, the most exciting. We signed up a public school district a while back. So with our mental wellness platform, we're serving 300 teachers down in Santa Clara.
Henry Kaestner: Awesome. 20 seconds or less. What is it paraclete?
William Norvell: Yeah, we're a non-clinical mental wellness platform, so we connect you with guides, and we have trained them in our proprietary training program called Soul Care. So if you think people at your workplace need soul care, not necessarily licensed therapy, which is great too. We love therapy, but we think there are a lot of people out there that just need to have somebody listen and be there for them and hold a sacred space in a confidential way. So that's what our guides love to do. We got ten on the platform right now and they love to chat with you.
Henry Kaestner: Outstanding. Awesome. Well, I love the fact that, well, you've been an entrepreneur before, also an investor. And now back on the entrepreneur side. And I'd love to just check in with you every ten or 15 episodes and hear what you're learning and what God is teaching you as you are getting out there and making it happen.
William Norvell: We learn a lot, we make a lot of mistakes as usual.
Henry Kaestner: So you're also in this kind of mission formation period right now. And so we've got a guy who, as I begin this part of the intro, people won't probably place it right away. But the guy has written a great book. I'm talking about capturing your mission, and it's called Mission Possible, but even more famous than the concept of putting together your mission on paper and just leaning in and just persevering and just thinking God shaped and God sized dreams. Tim Tebow is known for an athletic career. He's known for having grown up overseas. And one of the folks that when we sit down, we think about what does it look like to be excellent as a Christ follower? He's been a guy that we've been thinking about for a long time. And so today we've got him on the show. Tim, welcome.
Tim Tebow: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you guys having me. Wait a second. So did I hear William? Yeah. Your business is called paraclete.
William Norvell: It is. It is.
Tim Tebow: Now. Is that after Scripture?
William Norvell: It is. It is.
Tim Tebow: Let's go, the Helper, come on.
William Norvell: There we go. Advocate and helper.
Tim Tebow: I see what you did there.
William Norvell: We you know, we we like to call it a little dog whistle sometimes. You know
Tim Tebow: Now how you explain to people what paraclete means.
William Norvell: We do. You know, it gives us a great I know. I know you may talk about apologetics here, too. It gives us a great chance to explain it two different ways. Right. Obviously, in the in the Greek, it means advocate and helper. And we get to lead off by how we love helping people and advocating for them. And when people ask to do the deeper meaning, we get to go deeper with them. Right.
Tim Tebow: Dude. I love it. I love stuff like that has multiple meanings. And, you know, one of the cool ways that I like to think about paraclete is like, hey, when we're out there, especially as an athlete and we're trying to play and we're trying to run and we're trying to cut, right? What do you need? You need a pair of cleats. And so, you know, a cleats as an athlete is a helper. And so, you know, that's what the Holy Spirit is to us. Imagine your life as an athlete. If you're playing on a field and you do not have a pair of cleats, you're going to suck. Like there's no chance you could compete at your highest level, right? So the helper, imagine if you put on a pair of cleats, a good pair of cleats, you're going to be better. Right. And, you know, and obviously, a pair of cleats never compares to a real helper, but I just love it. I think it's just encouraging. So thanks for just, you know.
William Norvell: Hey, thank you, brother. And if I can take this audio, I've got a new marketing campaign right there.
Tim Tebow: Yeah. Let's go, baby. Pair of cleats help you run and cut and fulfill the mission. Let's go.
William Norvell: I'm in.
Henry Kaestner: Yeah. Before we went live, we were actually talking about the segment in the book where Tim talks about growing up, in relatively humble beginnings. His father was welding together weights and he put together a batting cage at a fishing wire. And I sold t shirts as I started my entrepreneurial experience. Tim sold okra. But one other things, which is amazing. It's not about the fact you don't have okra hands when you're trying to swing a baseball bat. But one of the things that we're talking about is that you grew up in the spot where you needed to wear those cleats for two years. And my son right now is trying to convince me that after three months, he needs a new pair of cleats. But there's some amount of your background having grown up and spent a lot of time in the Philippines, but then also being in a house without a lot of funds. There's given you a perspective on beginnings, and I want to get into that a bit. And we're going to give maybe with this guest, we'll give a little bit of less of an autobiographical flyover. But yet I want to touch on some of that because you've written this book on Mission and Purpose, and it all starts with beginnings. There are two things that I hope that our listeners are going to get from today's episode. One is delving into the work that Tim has in his book about mission, and I think that even for an entrepreneur as well along on his mission, I think there's a lot that you can get. But I think that there are also a segment of folks that are listening right now. They're saying, I really want to be a Faith Driven Entrepreneur, I really want to be a business owner. I think that God puts something on my heart to create and innovate, but I'm not exactly sure what to do. And then also a framework. So I want to get into that. The other thing we're going to talk about today is what does that look like for us that are sitting in a relatively comfortable country where we can actually most of us can't afford to buy a new pair of cleats once a year. What does it look like for us to get involved in some of these developing countries around the world? And Tim's got a ton of experience on that. But Tim, give us a sense about how your beginnings have shaped your faith, how it's shaped your sense of purpose and mission.
Tim Tebow: Well, I would say to start it, let me see firsthand what actually living by faith, not by sight, not by comfort, really look like my mom and my dad, arguably my two biggest heroes besides Jesus. And there's so many things that they told us and they taught us growing up. But the biggest lessons we learned were by watching them, you know, be one thing, if my dad would say, hey, it's important to serve, to give, to live generously, to give generously. But it's totally different when two times in my life growing up, I got to watch a conversation between my parents overseas where my mom says, Hey, Bob, we only have a couple of dollars. And my dad says, okay, well, honey, give it away. Give the rest away. And both times, both times. And I'm sure it happened more, but I wasn't around for it. But two times in my life I got to watch that and then see our neighbors come over and say, you know, we don't even know why, but we just had too much food, we made too much food. And we thought we were called to come over and deliver dinner over here tonight. And you're like, wow. Like, God is such a big God. And, you know, the way he provides even in moments like that, you know, just incredible. And so I think for me to be able to see what that faith looks like and to see how much they trust God, when you know your call to something that, you know, my dad would always tell me, he say it's one thing to have compassion, it's another thing to be called. And there's some missionaries that will go overseas with compassion because they want to help in compassion is a great thing. But then some people go overseas and they know their call and see what happens. If you just have compassion the first time you get a bloody nose, you're going to look for a lot of exit signs. How can I exit? How can I get out of here? How can I? And it's easy, right? Well, you know, it's medical, it's this it's you know, we felt like we need to go back to our home church, whatever. But if you're called, it doesn't matter how many times your nose gets bloodied, you're going to stay in the fight because, you know, you're called and that's exactly where you're supposed to be. And so that's something that I literally got to watch over and over again, the difference of just people that would show up to have compassion and people to show up that were called. And I got to see all these other missionaries that would show up two, three, five weeks a year and be gone. And then my parents just stay after it for whatever this is, I don't know, 40 years or whatever they're still doing my dad with Parkinson's and I still can't get him to stop going and leading and preaching and building teams. And, you know, it's just when, you know, you're called to something, it's so incredible. But I would say what happens is when, you know, you're called it also, this level of faith rises and this level of fear decreases. And, you know, for me, that fear is too many times been too high. But I could watch my dad, for one example, go into a village and they said, do not come in here and preach the name of Jesus. And he said, Well, I want to tell you about a message that truly saves. And he stands up and he starts telling about the love of God. And a man's at the back of the village and he has a machete and he takes his machete out and he starts walking. And for some reason my dad doesn't know why. Just forgiveness gets put on his heart. He starts talking about forgiveness, and this man walks up and stands right in front of him. And tears are flowing down his face. And he says. I just want to ask if you would forgive me. And my dad says, Forgive you of what? He says, I was sent here to kill you. And I want to ask if you would forgive me. And, you know, to me, that's what boldness and that's what courage looks like. And so much of my life, I got to see it in a big way, but I also got to see it in a small way, in little ways of, you know, after church when we could go to lunch, which was very rare because you couldn't always afford it. But when you get to go to lunch and and my dad would stand up in a restaurant and we'd all hold hands and he would pray so loud. And I would kind of like lean down in my chair because I was like, Dad, I know we got to thank the Lord for our food and everything, but like, why do you have to be so loud with it, you know? Why does it have to be so bold? And it's just my dad was so unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ that it was the message that saved him from darkness to light. And it's the best message in the history of the world. And when you really understand the message of the gospel and how it is, the best thing you could ever do in your life is to say yes to the Gospel, and then as to be able to say yes to bringing the gospel to other people. And you know that it's actually the most loving, kind, sacrificial thing you could do is to present that to other people. It changes your life. And I got to watch that firsthand. And then I got to understand what boldness means to put it all on line, to do what is necessary. That's what the Tama means in the Greek. To put it all on the line, to do it is necessary. See, my dad was willing to you know, people will say, hey, Tim, you're so bold. And I'm like, no, I'm not. Not compared to most Christians that have put it on the line. So I might have got criticized. That's not putting it all on the line. It's putting a tiny bit my dad and these other heroes that put it all on the line. Right. But we need to put everything into, you know, comparison to really understand what's happening around the world. And I'm just so grateful that I got to grow up watching, in my opinion, true heroes of the faith that were willing to put it all on the line. Because Jesus matters so much, other people matter so much, and they're willing to give because they know they were called.
Henry Kaestner: Okay. I've got a question that came up. Was your dad at every one of your baseball and football games growing up?
Tim Tebow: Not everyone. But I'll tell you, my dad worked so hard. My dad would be in the Philippines and he would fly through the night, not get any sleep. Land gets in time for the game, stay up, watch the whole game, hop in a car and take me to Tennessee or LSU or Alabama or Southern Cal or a visit or wherever it was. And he would sacrifice so much. And I'll tell you honestly, that's one of the reasons my dad had such an effect on me. It's not only because how he loved Jesus, but then how he loved Mom and us. And I would say, like, dad was never blessed to be able to have a lot of stuff because stuff didn't matter, Jesus and people mattered to him. And so then, you know, we were talking about earlier before he hopped on, of all the stuff that dad would do of building a batting cage out of fishing net or before Christmas because he knew I wanted to work out to train, he would weld weights together. It's by the way, we literally have steel in our barn to this day at my parents house. And I was just over there just because I wanted to see it all and be nostalgic but also be inspired by it. And you know what? That created such an edge in me that no amount of fancy weights or Bowflex or P90X or whatever the trend at the time that I wanted, but I couldn't get because we couldn't afford that would have never had the same impact as, you know, when my dad would stay up all night to weld it together and he would have it be in my own heart, in my own head. Well, you know what, dad? This isn't the fanciest thing of all time, but watch how I do this with you. All the kids that have all the fancy dad. Just because you put in all the effort, this is going to help me and I'm going to crush them. And it just help this mindset of it's not about the fancy, you know, it's about the will. And I'm going to make a choice of the will to use these PVC pipes in this welding. And it is going to weld something in me that is different than anybody else, you know, and it really did. My dad couldn't afford the nicest, but, you know, he would stay in the batting cage and he would throw till he couldn't lift his arm. And, you know, that sort of sacrifice for us and that love for us just I mean, still to this day has an impact that is way last night I was on the phone with my mom and and my dad. Getting wisdom on some other big decisions is because they're not only my greatest heroes, they're also mentors and people I go for wisdom and discernment because the first thing that they do is quote scripture. When you ask them something as they don't depend on their own knowledge, they depend on the scripture for what they say. And so still to this day, even though they're fighting a lot of illnesses, they're still my greatest heroes.
Henry Kaestner: That's awesome. Okay. So I ask that question because I pick up on your father's faith and what it meant for you and the fact that he was so bold as to risk his life. And that's what made an incredible impression. One of the links that we have is a love of Africa, in particular South Africa. And I think about. The time at Lausanne is a conference that happens once every 20 years in a church and was in Cape Town in 2010. And my boys were four, six and eight and I made all their soccer games, then went to this conference and then left two days early so I can make all their soccer games the next Saturday. And if I'm honest, one of my idols is youth sports. And for a once in every 20 year conference in the church, I can probably miss a couple of youth soccer games. And the bigger thing that I've picked up from you about you honoring your dad with this story is that your dad was about mission first, not at the expense of loving you, but what I picked up from the beginning part of your answer is that he missed some games. He was there for a lot of them and he clearly loved you and provide all sorts of opportunities for you. But the mission was the most important thing and that's the legacy he's given you about serving the people in the Philippines. Am I reading too much into that? Because I think, you know, most of our listeners are parents and there's almost this thing like never miss any of your kids sporting events.
Tim Tebow: But Henry, it's why do you miss right? And he would only miss a few, but why do you miss? And it would be understanding and sharing is, hey, I don't know that I can get to all your basketball games, but I'm going to be to every football game. But then for the first half of basketball, I'm going to plan, you know, the trip. So I'm going to be gone in January and February and those couple of months I'll be gone, but I'll be back for the championship games of basketball and they'll be the first set of baseball miss some. But I'll be back for the U. National Championships of Baseball. So he would still have the mission, but he would plan it around the biggest events for me, but then usually still be there for most of the football games. And he would even fly and by week, he would fly to the Philippines, be gone for exactly two weeks, but make the game on the front end and make the game on the back end but be gone in the middle. And so it was even understanding how called he was to, you know, the people of the Philippines and Southeast Asia, but also how called he was to us. And that support of both ends was incredible. So it's not just, you know, if you missed, it's why you miss because honestly, it was a piece of us that wanted to support, dad, you don't have to come back, that it's good that I promise it's fine. You know, don't worry about it, you know, we're good. But even that was just so encouraging to us in the middle of it. And I also want to mention that my brother in law and my brother were both at that conference in South Africa as well.
Henry Kaestner: Oh cool. That's awesome. I bet they stick around for the whole thing.
Tim Tebow: I don't know. But I guessing. Yeah.
Henry Kaestner: Well I tell you just said popped into. So I was only there for five days. One of the days I spent mountain biking on Table Mountain with 12 other delegates, incredible people, and one of them was from Iran. Farhad And he was like, Roberto Benigni I don't know if you've ever seen the movie Life Is Beautiful, but this incredibly infectious, very great comic actor. He won the Oscar maybe ten years ago for that movie. Farhad was exactly like this guy, Roberto Benigni. And so we all went out. Farhad got a flat tire, we didn't have a flat kit. It took him an hour to come get us to give us new flat kit. It but it gave us an opportunity for us to hear about what life was like as a believer in Iran. And he spent an hour talking about the fact that every two weeks his family needed to move. So you already know that I hid all the soccer games. I went mountain biking and I went to the conference and then I left two days early so I could catch the soccer games on the back end. Farhad left Cape Town, went back to Tehran and was arrested and was put in jail for the next 12 years. He didn't catch any of his kids games, but the infectious enthusiasm and joy for Jesus that he shared during that hour when we were waiting for the flat at that conference, changed my life and just the expenses, all the things that he would do and count as pure joy. So whenever I read James, I think about Farhad [...]. Okay. We're going to go back to a couple of things that I really want to delve into that I mentioned at the outset of the program. You've written a new book. It's called Mission Possible, and I love the way that you talk about Tom Cruise at the beginning. There's a lot for a lot of movie buffs in here. Clearly, you've watched a lot of movies and some of your transpacific flights and things like that. And I love that you provide a framework through which a believer might think about how to understand what their mission is. And some good number of people, again, that are listening to this are saying, I really want to go ahead and I want to start my own business. I feel called into it, but I'm not sure what to do and I need a framework. Help me to think through it. And this book really reads like that and it shares so many of the marks that we have of Faith Driven Entrepreneur you talk about the identity in Christ, you talk about excellence, talk about why you wanted to write this book and how you see it being applicable to a Faith Driven Entrepreneur.
Tim Tebow: First of all, I wanted to write it because it had been on my heart for a while, looking at so many things that are going on around the world with so many people and how we're just as a culture, we're missing the mark of meaning. And I wanted to write Mission Possible because the mission is a job or task that you have been given to do, but actually in the origin of the word it means to send. And I believe every single one of us had been sent here for a reason. And I also believe that to live out our mission, it's possible, right? This isn't Tom Cruise movie where it's impossible and you have to be one of, you know, a billion people to accomplish it. And so many times we feel like that as believers, like, oh, my gosh, so I'm not going to be able to do this. Listen, the mission that God has given you, he's also equipped you to be able to do and possible means to be able. And I believe every single one of us, we have a mission. We are able to accomplish it. And it doesn't mean that we can all go and beat LeBron James at basketball. That's not what I'm saying. But I'm saying to make your life count, to fulfill the mission that God has given you, it's able for every single one of us to truly make our lives count, to truly have impact. And I wanted to encourage people that it doesn't have to be this daunting, overwhelming. I can never do it, you know, because I don't have this skill set. I don't this skill set. I don't have this platform. No, the mission is possible for every single one of us. The good works that God created beforehand for us to do it is possible for us to go live that out every single day and we get to choose that with every breath. We have purpose and I want to encourage people to go live that out. And then also I feel that just some of the statistics and stuff that was happening in our culture was just it was also a heavy weight on me of learning that 12% of our daily thoughts are spent in some form of comparison, are learning that one third of people are lonely most of the time or all of the time are being able to see that in 2020 alone, 10 to 24 year olds, there was over 6600 suicides. And knowing that over 60% of 18 to 34 year olds say that there is no one in the world that believes in them. So when you add up all this and there's so many more things you're saying, people are lonely. No one believes in them, we're spending time comparison. And all of this is leading to more suicides. You know, and what we're teaching, what we're telling, what we're doing is missing the mark. Because what we're saying is that, hey, guys, to be fulfilled, you need money, fame and power. You know, to have meaning, you need to have platform praise and promotion. You need to have status. And you know what? Some people might have all those things, but if that's all you have, you're still missing the mark in success. I want to encourage people. Success is not a bad thing. I think success can be a really good thing. I want people to be successful. I think the Bible actually talks about success. I think whatever hands find to do, do it with all our might. I think it talks about excellence over and over and over again. Like as believers, we even have, I think, more pressure to try to be good at what we do because of who we are honoring, with what we're doing and every single thing. And it's not just about that task. It's about transcending that task. That is never just a job of 9 to 5. Every day when we go to our work, that's actually our place of mission, it's actually our place of purpose. Our mission doesn't start on a mission trip. Our mission is every day with every breath of everything that we're doing all the time. And so it's being able to live that out. I encourage people, whether you're called to a 9 to 5, your call to be a Faith Driven Entrepreneur, you're called to be an athlete, you're called to be a singer. That is not just your mission, is not just this three week thing. You go on. It's an all of those things all together, all of the time. Jesus's mission wasn't just when he stood up to preach. He was living his mission, everything he ever did all the time. And we need to have that same mindset. And I can't tell you how many times I've been convicted even in Africa. You know, last month when we were traveling to all these places as man, when we had land, I would be on mission and it would be okay, this is what we're doing. Launching another hospital, launching another campus for girls who've been trafficked all of this. But you know what? It was so easy for me to lose sight when I got on the plane because I thought mission pause. Right? And I forgot, oh, my gosh, the people around me in this plane, that's also my mission field, you know, and we lose sight of this because we think, oh, no, this is not my place of mission. This is my place of occupation. This is not my place of mission. This is my family. This is not my place of mission. This is my community. This is not my place of mission. You know, this is my university. All those are your places of mission, you know. And so just to try to encourage people that we can have the mindset of mission and that it's possible and we can also take this success, whether that be a lot or the success, whether that be a little and also turn that into significance of being able to take the focus off of us and put it on other people. So it was just this mindset that was on my heart of so much of the inspiration of my parents and of other heroes of the faith. That man, the heroes that so many have impacted me are people that always transcended what they did, and they had a mindset of wherever they were, whatever they're doing, they were going to live this mission possible life.
William Norvell: Oh, that's amazing, that's amazing. I'm excited, I'm about to go out and do something.
Tim Tebow: But I don't actually get very passionate about it.
William Norvell: No, no. I mean, I could tell we're looking for a little more energy, so, you know, we're going to talk about that. But we can we can take another take, you know.
Tim Tebow: Perfect. Next the next.
William Norvell: One, you can do the more energetic take. People won't know it's okay. All right. So here's where I'm going. Here's where my head's going. So people are excited, right? I want to hear how do you find that clear mission? So my heart's always been one is like if I knew what to do, I think I could do it with everything and I get stuck in. Yeah. Is that really what I'm called to and how do I think through that.
Tim Tebow: Yeah. Cripples people and it's crippled me at times is you know in the trying to figure it out well what God what exactly do you want me to do. And I would start with this. I think on the macro, every single one of us have the exact same calling and purpose. It's the love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. So in the macro, we're all called to do the same thing love God and love people. But in the micro we all have a unique and different purpose, right? Something for us that is exactly, you know, the poem that God has written for our life, the good works that God has in store for us, the the unique callings that we have. And so, so many times, it's actually probably one of the number one questions that I get in my life is Timmy, how do I know what my purpose and my calling is? And usually my first response is, Well, I don't exactly know, but have your eyes ever been open to a problem, to a need, to a hurting person, to a church, to a root, to an injustice, to something that you even think can be made better? And has your heart ever been pricked to want to do something about it? If so, that is probably a really good place to start. And a lot of times we'll think, well, I don't know what the end destination is. I don't care. I don't know what the end destination for my life is either, you know. But I do believe that's a place where we need to start. And for me, that was how my life was radically changed. When I was 15, I met a boy in the jungles of the Philippines who was born with his feet on backwards. And because of that, he was viewed as curse, as less than as insignificant. And I knew that day God was putting it on my heart that he's not a throwaway to me, he's not insignificant to me. And I want you to meet this need. Then I want you to fight for boys and girls all over the world like this boy. You know, that's still something we're doing and something I'll be doing till my last breath. And then hopefully a lot of people would take over doing that when I'm gone. But there's also been a lot of times the same way, you know, that we've added initiatives to our foundation is because God's opened our eyes and pricked our heart for more and more things. And so we just continue to try to expand that way. But I would say to most of the listeners right now that are saying, Hey, well, I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do, what I would say, okay, look back on your life. What has God open your eyes to and what is he pricked your heart for? And if so, maybe that's a really good place to start. And it doesn't mean that you have to have it all figured out. But I think when we step out and we go fill that need, we go help that person, we step into it. What happens is, even though that might not be our end destination, it's we learn so much God's like, Hey, maybe this is what you're supposed to do, or he continues to direct your path in it. But I just know from so many of my family, friends, heroes of the faith, people that have been around, God has used those moments when we stepped in more times and God can do whatever He wants. He's used those moments more than He has when we've just been laying there watching Netflix and you're like, God, well, when are you going to show me what I'm supposed to do? And it's like, So you want him to just interrupt Netflix? You know, like maybe he's open your eyes and he's prick your heart, step into it, you know, step into what you think, step into. And it might not be exactly the end goal. Like for us, I didn't know so many things that we were going to get into, but he just kept opening our eyes and pricking our heart along the way to more and more and more. But that was for me a lot of times how I started and. A lot of heroes that I talk to, okay, how did you get into it? And it was, you know, a lot of times a similar way. And so that's my encouragement to those people that are listening that aren't sure about, you know, obviously, you know, if you've seen this issue, then you know about it. And you know what? If your heart has been moved, then maybe God saying, hey, this is what I want you to step into and this is how I want you to start.
William Norvell: Amen. Amen. This is not a good promo for Netflix, but a great promo for change and for the change in the Kingdom of God. Tim, I love this line in your book that said God is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for willing people. Yeah. And I want you to dive into that out of the context of sometimes as entrepreneurs, we get that and then we start putting our own power into things. Right? We start looking at where we're going to go. We start at one of our marks is how to determine when you're being faithful versus when you're being willful, driven by your own will. And I wonder how you done that and all the things you've been a part of. How do you how do you focus on God's wisdom and how do you feel like you're on the journey with him not pulling it up the mountain by yourself?
Tim Tebow: Well, it's a really good question. I think there's kind of a few questions in that. I think the first one is that God is not looking for a perfect people. He's looking for a willing is so many times we feel inadequate or ill equipped to be able to go live out a life that counts, live a life of impact because of our mistakes, and that we forget the power of the cross. The truth of the Gospel is that Jesus took our place is that He paid for all of our sin. And so when we've accepted Jesus, Jesus doesn't call us by our sin. He calls us by our name. We're covered with the blood, right? And God's not looking for people that, oh, my gosh, you know, you have been better than the rest. It's they know you're willing, right? It's not about you know, Jesus was the only perfect one. The rest of us, we're all flawed. We're all messed up. We've fallen over and over and over again. And you know what? I know I'm a traitor. You know, I've known Jesus, and I still messed up. That makes me a traitor, you know what? But for some reason, Jesus still calls us co laborers. Jesus will still use us. And so let me tell you that you're not too far gone or you're not too good. Right. And I want people to know that it's not about how good you are, is about how perfect Jesus was on the cross. That's what makes the mission possible. And I believe Jesus is looking for willing people, because when you look at the Scripture, so many of those guys have been flogged, messed up, and they're still heroes of the faith because they were willing, even after messing up, you know, to get back up and to live out the mission that God had for them. You know, and then we also need to be reminded that what God can do through us and in us is not about our skill set. It is about when we give what we have to him. And I'm reminded by, you know, John 6:5 through 14, you know, the boy brought his lunchbox to the party, you know, and and disciples and Jesus take his lunchbox. And a couple loaves of bread and some fish. And and that boy gives what he has to Jesus. And, you know, a lot of people probably think, well, that boy didn't have a lot to give. And that's right, he didn't have a lot to give. But where did the miracle come is when he put what he had in the miracle maker's hand. And so a lot of people would say, okay, well, what about if that boy had 100 loaves of bread and 50 fish, it would have been more, right? No, God can do whatever he wants with whatever he needs. Like He can take whatever you give. But I think God's just looking for us to say, You know what? Here you go. Because the miracle didn't come. Because the boy gave a lot. The miracle came because the boy gave and put it into the hands of the miracle maker. Right. And I think that's also what we need to have in our lives is saying, you know God, it doesn't feel like a lot. I don't have as much money as these people. I don't have the experience of these people. You know what, I'm not a scholar like these people, but I'm just going to give what I have to you. I just want to ask you to do something with it, because I want to be willing to do whatever you want with my life, whether that's for a million people or for one person. I'm just willing to give it to you. Here is what you've done, because it's not even ours in the first place. We're just borrowing it. Our time, our talent, our resources, all of it. It's just borrowed for a little bit. And so while I'm borrowing it, you know, I don't want to clutch on to it. I just want you to take it and do what you will with it. Whether that's feeding five or 5000, you take it and you do what you will.
William Norvell: Amen I love that scripture, too, because, you know, as you've even said it over and over, he's the boy. We don't even know who he is. He didn't even have a name. He just had what he had and he showed up. And so many people are trying to people read that scripture say, I want to be like that boy whose name we don't even know, but whose name echoes in eternity. And it's beautiful.
Tim Tebow: But you know what else is really cool? You know, I was thinking about it not too long ago. You know, when that boy woke up, I doubt he thought today I am going to be part of a miracle. You know, I bet you he had that thought today. I might get to see a miracle. Because the stories of Jesus were making these crowds come. So when he hears about them, I bet you're saying, hey, come here about this guy that performs miracles, right? So he's thinking in his head, okay, right. And boom, I'm getting my lunchbox ready and I'm going to follow this guy. I might get to see him heal somebody. I might get to see him do something cool. And I think, man, the difference between that person that wakes up and thinks I might get to see something or I might get to be a part of something. I want to be that person that's thinking, hey, you know what, God. I want to be that person that's willing, you know, use me. Use me. I'm messed up. I'm flawed. I have the wrong thoughts. I have the wrong actions. I have the wrong words. But you know use me because I just want to be willing. And he shows so many times he can use anybody. But I want to also be that person that's waking up believing that God can come and show up and do whatever He wants. Not that that person that's like, Oh, I want to see from afar what's happening. No, I want to be part of it. I want to be part of what you're doing. God.
Henry Kaestner: Yeah, I imagine, too. This kid is, you know, they've got the story of Ethan, which is in your book, Still on my mind. It's just reverberating around. And I think about somebody like Ethan's age, even if his parents aren't fully believers. Ethan's parents in your book, of course, were. But he's like, you know what, I'm going to go off, I'm going to show up. And because it's not like the boy went to his parents and said, Why don't you give my lunch? He had it. I imagine this. A young boy on fire for God wanting to see real truth, want to see something amazing happen, going out there on his own, not waiting for adult supervision and just making it happen. You know, I've read that passage 100 times and I've never really spent as much time as I should have. And thinking about what was it like for that guy when he woke up in the morning? You know, were all of his friends going out and playing ball or something like that? And he said, Now I'm really looking for something mission and purpose and decided I'm not going to wait until I've gone through all of pharisaical training and all the different type of stuff to have a life that really matters. I'm gonna get out there and figure out what's going on right now. There's something there. Okay? I want to do a little bit of an interlude because I want to transition us from talking about a framework through which we can think about mission and purpose. And again, I can't recommend the book more highly. It provides that framework. You gonna leave it all fired up. And I see a lot of the marks that we've talked about in podcast past. There's a great riff that Tim has on Daniel and excellence, which I thought was awesome, but we're going to do an interlude and by means of transition and read two passages from the book that made an impact on me. Okay. Number one, it's hard to live mission possible when we don't fully believe that we're made in God's image and chosen by Him and fully equipped to carry out works of eternal significance. It's number one. Number two, there are passages in Scripture that talk about mission that are true for everybody. Feed the hungry, clothe the men naked, care for the widows, defend the cause of the poor, speak up for those who can't speak for themselves. Help the weak. Rescue those who are oppressed. Be generous. Sow mercy. These are all missions. You've been able to take that mission overseas. Part of that is just your heritage of having grown up in the Philippines. Part of that is by virtue of the fact that you have married a South African woman, taught us about going on mission overseas and what that looks like and why you think that's something that all Christ followers that are listening listen this need to consider.
Tim Tebow: That is a really good question. I would probably first say I don't know that God has called everyone to go live overseas. But I do believe God has called everyone to go be a part of the great commission, which a lot of people say go to all the world, preach the gospel. Better translation is as we go. So as you go to work, as you go to your job, as you go. And then I also think people need to go be a part of mission trips. I think, God does so much in it. I think you need to go see what's happening around the world. And I don't know if you're called to it, but I do know that your call to something, it might be at the corner of your block or might be at the corner of the world. But you do need to be a part of going and bringing the gospel. And I'm also reminded the difference between knowing about God's love and showing God's love. And I'm reminded by the story of the Good Samaritan. You see, you know, the story of the Good Samaritan is this expert of the law is talking to Jesus, and then Jesus is telling the story about the priest goes by and then the Levite goes by and then the Good Samaritan goes by and what happens and all of that and so on that knows about God's love. And then it's someone that actually shows God's love and there's a difference. There's a difference. The first two, they know about Scripture. The third one is willing to go across the road. Scripture says to go meet the needs. And then the Bible also tells us that he was beaten and left for dead. It was someone that a lot of scholars believe is probably wasn't necessarily liked in a lot of areas, maybe. And so he was beaten and left for dead. And so the Samaritan crosses the road, shows God's love, takes him to the innkeeper. And then at the end of it, Jesus is talking to the expert and he says, Go and do the same. And it's the command. It's in the imperative. For all of us. Go and do the same. What does that mean? It means that the people in our world that are beaten and left for dead. We are called to go and do the same right. And so that is our mission. That is my mission, is that those that are being thrown away, those that are being rejected, those that are being ravaged, those that are being raped, those that are being run down, those that have special needs, those that have term illnesses, the ones that are being beaten and left for dead. That's who God has called us to is. You know, our mission at the Tim Tebow Foundation is to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. But to really sum it up, it's to fight for people that can't fight for themselves. It's those that have been beaten and left for dead. Those are us. And we want to be with people on their worst day, not their best people. We want to go to darkness, chaos, crisis. We want to be with them. There are a lot of people want to show up at people's best day. We want to be with them on their worst day so that one day they'll have a best day. And so that's our mission, is to try to go to the hardest places around the world, to be able to bring that faith, hope and love. Because, you know, we know that when darkness meets light, light wins every time. And, you know, we get to bring not because of who we are, but because what Jesus has done. And we get to bring the good news of the gospel. But we also get to bring it with the actions of the Good Samaritan to of being able to love them, of being able to pick them up, of being able to care for them, being able to bring them to the innkeeper. You know, that is our heart. And so whether that is for those that have terminal illnesses, those that are being trafficked, those that are being thrown away, those that have special needs and viewed as curse, that is our mission. And so, you know, we're fortunate to be in over 70 countries around the world trying to serve. And as you referred to a couple times, we are just in Africa. We're getting to be a part of building another hospital and then open a campus for girls who have been trafficked and more babies safe for babies that are being thrown away. And then we bring to the promise house orphanages. And so it's just trying to do as much as we can to be able to rescue those that are being beaten and left for dead. And I think it why it's so important for people to be a part of it is because it's a command. And then I think also because it will transform your life, because it's hard to have perspective like the perspective that you get when you really see what's happening around the world and also so many places, how they put the value of human life. Because when you understand that your life was created in love by love and for loving the God of this universe has a unique and special plan and purpose for your life. Then it also means that he has that for all of your lives and all of the other lives out there. And so if I believe that right, if I believe that he has that for my life and I believe that it has for other people, and especially those that are hurting around the world, what that does is it creates an urgency in your heart to go do that, to go meet that need, you know. And that's what we want on our team, is to have that urgency to say, you know what? We know that our life matters and we know that your life matters and your life is one worth going on. A rescue mission for your life is one going to do whatever we can to rally the troops, to bring help, to bring hope, to bring faith, to bring love, to be able to meet you in your time of need. Because you know what? It's just it does something to you when you get to our campus there in Uganda for girls that are being trafficked. And and the first girls that we're able to bring in there were rescued from cannibals, literally in a line to be eaten. And, you know, the first girl that we have even a chance to meet and hug and my wife can't even not cry before she gives the girl hug was chased through the entire night through a banana plantation where she's cut up and she's just running for her life and she's able to. Long story made short, she's able to get to a safe place. But, you know, she's literally in line and she knows that if she stays in this line, she's going to get chopped up and eaten. And I know that's brutal for a lot of people that are listening. But, you know, it was the reality for her, you know, and that girl needs help. That girl needs rescue. That girl needs love, you know. And another one of our locations, a mom brought her boy with special needs. And the only reason she could get there is because the dad gave her just enough money to poison the boy because he didn't want to take care of them. And so instead of poisoning the boy, she brought the boy to us because she thought maybe they'll be supportive and obviously we/re going to be, you know, but that's the reality for so many people around the world. And that's how we got to bring this. We believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he came on a rescue mission for us to rescue us. And I believe when you've been rescued, like my pastor says, you're now on the rescue team. And that's by sharing the good news of the gospel. But it's also by being able to do what the Good Samaritan did, and that is to help those that have been beaten and left for dead. And we are called to do the same.
Henry Kaestner: Tim, I want to ask something. You had this great sense, I think, about when God is calling me to do something different. At one point you're in the NFL of course, then you're in baseball, both successful careers when you recognize the seasons that God is calling you to a different mission. And can you talk to us about that framework, what it feels like, how to sense it? And then also on the personal side, what do you feel that God has called you to for a long time? You've been a professional athlete that's given you a platform to preach the gospel and do incredible things in 70 countries. What's this next season look like? But first, what's a framework for a listener just saying, I think God call me to something different, but how do you know?
Tim Tebow: Well, I'll tell you what. Change can be hard and it can honestly feel like it's a sucky time. I will tell you, just a few months ago, honestly, I just thought God was opening up another door and football with the Jaguars and said, you know, we're playing and I get cut and I go home and I'm super disappointed. And to be honest, it's really frustrating, I think, to really tell the truth, probably a little bit bitter and envious and thinking like, honestly, God, I thought this was what you wanted. I mean, I talked to all these pastors beforehand. They were telling me all this. And, you know, I sought wise counsel, you know, we prayed about it, we did all these things. And I was just like, man, God, I thought, this is what you wanted. I mean, turned down a lot of other things. Turn down playing baseball again, turn down so many things. And that same day I get cut. Can't make this up. All this stuff starts to happen in Afghanistan. And so I start our team starts calling and so I go over to the our foundation offices and we're talking and talking through all our partners and everything. And not many hours after that, I was in a plane to the Middle East. And then we're stopping at these different countries in different places. And we have teams in the ground, you know, Afghanistan and surrounding countries. And we're all splitting up, going to different places and helping in, you know, different lines, different feeding, different security, different evacuees. And I remember flying from one of the countries to another one. And I just remember for the first time in a little while to being able to say, God, thank you for letting me be cut. Because what I got to see and be a part of of just seeing, you know, so many lives be thrown away and hurting and I mean, terrible things. But we got to be a part of helping, at least some not enough, but we got to be a part of helping a lot. And, you know, I just remembered being able to say, God, thank you, because if I would have been playing football, if I wouldn't have gotten cut, I would have been practicing or playing this game that I knew was not as important as what I had the chance to do there in the Middle East to help those lives. And I couldn't see the picture and I just didn't know it. And I thought, God, this is a sucky setback. But what was cool is when I'm on those flights flying from the different countries is I remembered, wait a second, if I wouldn't have gotten cut beyond a shadow of a doubt, because this is just what I do, I would have had events and planning and had all these things that there's no way I would have been instantly ready to fly to the Middle East because I couldn't have canceled them, you know? And so God was saying, No, no, no, you thought that I had a setback, really. I was actually just setting you up for what I wanted you to do to help these lives here. And, you know, change can feel hard and it can feel so sucky. But what I want to encourage you is sometimes what can feel like a setback in our life is actually God setting you up for what he really has in store for you in that moment. And I want to encourage you to don't just look at it as a setback, but say, okay, even though it feels like that, God, with my emotions, what are you doing? What are you teaching me? How are you setting me up? Because also we look at Scripture, so much of the heroes of the faith before God use them greatly. He wounded them deeply then before he use them greatly. A lot of times they went through some different setbacks and and, you know, maybe in your life, God, you're okay. You're changing me. But, you know, what are you trying to do in me with me and through me in this moment? And so I would encourage those people if you're going through a time of transition, you know, it doesn't always feel good. But I also think sometimes that's where God can be setting you up for what he really wants for you in that moment. That can actually be that time where you could say, You know what, I couldn't see it, but now I can thank you for it. And I just want to say thank you, God.
William Norvell: Amen. Amen. That's so good. Tim, as Henry mentioned, and fortunately, we do have to come to a close. But I want to highlight one thing. You've said it a couple of times, and I recently read this amazing poem, actually, funny enough in Will Smith biography, he talks about this poem about his grandmother that she loved, and it's called Sermons We see. It's a really short poem, but I'll just read the last line. But it says, Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. And I've heard that how you saw that from your dad and your mom. I get that from you. You know, you're you're speaking of things. You've lived, right? You know, so you're taking us there. We can see that you've gone there, that you've done these things, that you've been a part of these lives. And it's just really impactful. You know, as opposed to just saying we should do that. We should do that. Right. And I want to pause. I know you're not looking for accolades or anything, but I just want to say it's inspiring and I just really appreciate what you do and and how you you go and you do. And I'd seen those pictures of you in Afghanistan and to hear the stories like, I know you were there, you went. And I'm just grateful for you and grateful for how you follow what God puts on your heart.
Tim Tebow: Well, thank you. And one of my favorite quotes is just like that. Every day we share the gospel, but every now and then we use words. And you know, what's really special is when the two of those align, you know, when our words match our actions. And and obviously it won't be perfect because we're imperfect talking about a perfect God. And so we're not going to be perfect. But you know what? We can be striving. And I think, you know, in our goal, to grow closer to him and love him more and love more people, you know, I think that's what people are also looking at is not perfection, but it's this goal to grow closer to him and love more people and not in a perfect way, but also in a striving and a straining of what are we striving for? We're not striving for more stuff. We're striving for for more relationships, for more love with him, to help more people. And, you know, I think, you know, that's what we're also reminded by Paul so many times with [...] games of not running for things that aren't going to last, but striving for things that are going to last forever and for eternity. And, you know, I just I don't want to get to my life. And at the end of my life, turn around and look back and say, man, I was successful. And all the things that don't matter. And I believe that'll be one of the greatest forms of tragedy is people that get to the end of their life and they look back and say, Man, I was successful. But now all the things that don't matter, you know, and I believe that is so much of what society tells us. And that's why we have to be able to turn to God's truth, to God's promises, to what God says matters. Without that, how can we possibly understand that it is better to give than to receive? And how can we understand that when we actually give, we actually have more I don't mean more stuff, but more peace, more fulfillment, more satisfaction. How can in a society where they say comfort equals peace, when no biblically peace is come from the person, it's the prince of peace in John 16:33 says, for in me, you have peace, you know, in the world you're going to have trials and tribulations. But take heart, I've overcome the world is, you know, we're looking for comfort and peace in all the wrong places and all the wrong things. Comfort and peace. They truly only come in one thing, and that's in a person. And his name is Jesus. And, you know, we're not even promised that in our exterior, in our life, we're going to have comfort. But on the inside, in our hearts, we can have peace, even in the midst of trouble and tribulation. Why? Because we know he overcame the world. Because we know that he has good works for us to do, because we know he has the mission for our lives. That mission is possible. Our lives get to account. We get to live for eternity. We get to rejoice in all things again I say rejoice just like Paul did, even though he was in the midst of a basement in prison, tied up knowing that he's getting persecuted and could die at any time. Why? Because everything pales in comparison to his relationship with Christ and living for eternity. And we all get to know that. We get to live that we get to serve the same king.
William Norvell: Amen. Amen.
Henry Kaestner: Amen. Indeed.
William Norvell: You are. You preempted my question there, but I have to ask it again just in case the Holy Spirit wants to move one more time. We always end our show by saying, is there something in the Word of God that is coming alive to you in a new way? And you just mentioned a couple. So, you know, if there's any other thing that God puts on your heart from his word to pass along to our listeners, we'd love to hear it. If not, we're just grateful for it.
Tim Tebow: I would just say the one thing that just popped into my head was just having a chance to talk with you guys is just also being reminded of proverbs and so many things. And Proverbs talks about wisdom and I just remind all the listeners and myself, he who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. And in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom. And so I just encourage all the listeners this as you go out there and you're starting your businesses and you're driving and you're striving and you're straining and you're going and you're going and you're going, man, don't have those people in your life. They're going to tell you what you want to hear, how those people in your life, they're going to tell you what you need to hear. Have those people in your life that are truly wise counsel that they might not be business experts. But you know what? You know that first and foremost, they love Jesus and that they love you. And so they're going to be those wise counsel helping you. And, you know, that's just something that has been so incredibly awesome in my life of, you know, I'm just not always that smart and I don't know all the answers, but I want to have people around me that I know they love Jesus and they love me, and they're going to give me wise counsel. And I just believe that the Bible is true and I believe Proverbs is true. And when we surround ourselves with wise counsel, we're going to be a lot wiser.
Henry Kaestner: Amen. Amen. Proverbs 16: 2 and 21, too. I say the same thing all the man's ways impure to him, but his motives are weighed by the Lord. And that's so sobering. But how do you find that? How do you find out what your real motives are? Well, you ask God, but you have those people around you who know you, who love you and love God, who can all say, Why are you doing that again? And so as you get ready to start on your entrepreneurial initiative, endeavor, being able to spend a great time on your knees, but then with great counselors, they can ask you and just question your motives. Are you doing this for success or fame, or are you doing this because you want to know God more fully? You want to serve him? Why are you doing this new thing? Tim, this has been great. Very, very grateful. You've blessed us. You've blessed our audience. And Heavenly Father, I lift up Tim and Demi, and I just ask that you bless them as they continue to go about doing your work, that they'd find favor, that you'd protect them, that you would allow them to experience your joy as you go out and see you at work and these 70 countries and and that others might hear this message and be drawn into the same. We pray for this in Jesus' name. Amen.
William Norvell: Amen. And if I can give one more plug for the book, the best one, I can give a text to my brother that I was going to do the podcast with you today. And he said, You know what? I just read Tim's book. I never thought I'd love a gator, but man, I love that guy.
Henry Kaestner: That's awesome, man.
William Norvell: As good as I get from an Alabama fan.
Tim Tebow: He's the way. He's one of those guys. Yeah, yeah.
William Norvell: He's one of them. He's one of them, you know?
Tim Tebow: Well, thank you. Please tell him I said hey. And. And it definitely means a lot. I'm so grateful I got the chance to come on and hang with you guys. And thanks for being, you know, that wise counsel to so many people of investing in them and being able to share all these truth nuggets and encouragement and hope and inspiration with so many people that are listening to every show and just continue to pray that God gives favor and God gives you all a lot of wisdom to continue to encourage people because we truly, all really need it.