Without Risk, There Is No Gain: Wyatt's Faith Journey- Part 4
Hi friends! Today is the last part of Wyatt’s faith journey. It has been my honor and privilege to hear how the Lord has worked through his life. I am excited to have caught a glimpse of someone who walks in great humility and truly seeks to make known the name of God, and not himself. Wyatt, thank you for stepping out in faith and sharing your story. Thank you for all that you continue to do to make an impact for Christ. Without further ado, part 4 of Wyatt’s story. Enjoy!
I worked and traveled all over with Josh McDowell for about 2 ½ years. At a high level, it was an incredible opportunity to serve alongside someone making such a global impact on Christianity. During my time in his ministry, I witnessed a godly man equip the church from an intellectual standpoint, I was exposed to different perspectives, and I got to see the world. I was a sponge and soaked up as much as I could. Josh fed my hunger for apologetics.
Although I was working for Josh, I knew that my contract would be coming to an end. It felt like it was time to venture out into something new. In March of 2020, right before COVID shut everything down, I wrote out a list of people who I would love to learn from. I had different people on my list, but one of them was Timmy.
Honestly, I had never been a Tim Tebow fanatic growing up. Being from Ohio, we did not watch SEC football. I was a Buckeye through and through. The only time I watched the homie play was when he beat us in the 2006 national championship. That was the only time. However, there were two things that caught my eye about Tim that drove me to write his name down on my list. One was that he lived his life with a sense of urgency. The second was that he was a compassionate force for people, and he was just getting started with his ministry. Those two things gave me a desire to learn from him.
Shortly after I made that list, my buddy sent me a screenshot of a post that Tim placed on LinkedIn. He essentially said that he wanted to look deeper than a resume when he hired people. Tim wanted to see the passion in their eyes and the drive in their heart.
The next week I had an opportunity to be in Florida, the state where Tim’s foundation was headquartered. I was going to be in Port Saint Lucie with Josh doing ministry. Right after we finished the event, I knew I had one shot to do something creative to get Tim’s attention before I flew back to California.
So, I took a chance. I rented a car and drove 3 hours north to get to Jacksonville. On the way, I contacted FedEx and had them create a big 6-foot board of the LinkedIn screenshot that my buddy had sent me. The next day I headed over to the Tim Tebow Foundation. I brought my resume and a typed-up letter of what I proposed. Although I did not know if he had an assistant, I asked for the opportunity to do that and more. I wanted to do what I was doing with Josh, but on steroids.
Even though I had no contacts there, I went to the foundation hoping to introduce myself to the president, Steve Biondo. I walked into the building holding my big, 6-foot board. I looked like an idiot. Unfortunately, Steve was in a meeting at the time and could not meet with me.
In that moment, the Holy Spirit put on my heart that I had two options, but really it was only one. I could either get upset that Steve couldn’t meet with me, or I could interact with people going back and forth in the lobby. Perhaps by doing the latter, somebody would give a good report if Steve asked who I was. Since that was the only real option, I chose to do that. As people were walking by, they were trying to figure out who I was. Then a guy named Kyle came out. We interacted for about 15 minutes and after that I left.
I had one more thing to accomplish before I went back to California. I decided to drive to Tim’s gated community with the hope of leaving my big sign at his front door. My reasoning was that no matter who you were, if a 6-foot FedEx box showed up on your doorstep, you were probably going to open it.
Well, I did not even get past the security gate. The guard asked if he could help me. I tried to explain that I had a FedEx drop off. He looked at me, sitting in my rental car, and then asked if I was FedEx. I did not want to lie, so I simply repeated that I had a FedEx drop off, hoping it would suffice. This time he pointedly asked me, “Well, are you FedEx?” I admitted that I was not.
Since it was clear that I did not work for FedEx, the guard asked me where I was from. I began to explain that I was from California, but he misinterpreted that to mean that I had driven all the way from California to do this. That made me look like a creeper. It was a mess.
I tried to explain that it was a big misunderstanding, and that I was not weird. We began going back and forth about whether I could drop the package off. He told me, “I can’t let you.” I replied, “I can’t let you not.” To that he responded, “Well, I can’t let you and if you don’t leave, I will have to call the police.” I said, “Well, I can’t let you do that either!” Long story short, he compromised and allowed me to drop the package off at the gate. I did a U-turn and headed back out of Jacksonville.
When I returned to California, COVID hit. Although I continued working for Josh, we were unable to go on the road. The pandemic basically shut down our speaking events. To make the most of my time during COVID, I decided to enroll in Dallas Theological Seminary to get my master’s online. It was the first time I formally studied the Bible. I set out to accomplish my degree in a year, rather than two. Even at that accelerated pace, I knew I would still achieve a high-level understanding of God’s story.
Throughout the midst of the pandemic, God was still moving. A few weeks after my visit to Jacksonville, FL, I received a phone call. It was Kyle, the guy I had spoken to in the lobby of the Tebow Foundation. I did not realize it at the time but it turned out that it was Kyle, not Steve, that the Lord really wanted me to talk to after all. Although Steve headed the foundation, Kyle was the one who worked with Tim personally. He was 50% with the foundation and 50% with Tim. Apparently, right after I left, Kyle got on the phone with Tim and said, “Hey, this dude’s either crazy or he’s called. Let’s at least give him a call.”
That phone call started a 6-7-month process regarding what it looked like to move to Jacksonville, FL and be part of the team. Something that really piqued Tim’s interest was that I was going back for my master’s. Knowing that his life was constantly moving, Tim was aware that he would not necessarily have the time to always go as deep in studying the word as he would like to. At least not by himself. However, he recognized the benefit of having somebody to study together with, and how much could be accomplished through that time. He was willing to make that investment, which says a lot about him.
So, I moved to Jacksonville in November of 2020. I’ve been here for 2 ½ years now. My role is to work with Tim, and his wife, in more of a research and writing capacity. I help them study the Bible, prep talks, try to give wise counsel, and provide creative, helpful strategy for the foundation.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve alongside a Paul like figure. Tim is so consistent and what you see is what you get with him. There’s no comparison of my sense of urgency with his. Tim has it to the Nth degree. It’s very challenging. He truly is an inspiration. Although there is much to be said about Tim, I would be remiss if I did not share about the foundation itself.
The Tim Tebow Foundation (TTF) serves in 80 countries. Its mission is to bring faith, hope, and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. They fight for people who cannot fight for themselves. A recent motto of TTF, and a stamp on Tim’s life in some ways, is pursuing the MVPs. Because Tim had an athletic career, we may think that MVP stood for most valuable player. This assumption would be incorrect.
When Tim was 15 years old, he met a boy in a jungle in the Philippines. This boy’s feet were on backwards. Perhaps Tim couldn’t fully put it into words at that moment, but since then God placed it on his heart that it’s not his job to pursue the most valuable player. Rather, MVP had been redefined and Tim was to fight for the most vulnerable people.
For TTF, the MVP includes the trafficked, the abused, the overlooked, and the forgotten. The foundation fights human trafficking, helps those with special needs (often known through their Night to Shine event), participates in orphan care and prevention, and helps children with profound medical needs.
Overall, scene 3 of my life is what I call the hidden years of being a Tertius type person. First with Josh and now Tim. In January of 2022, I had the opportunity to start my Ph.D. At Liberty and, through it all, I have fallen only more and more in love with scripture.
My hope would be that my story does not come across as if I have it figured out. I don’t. When I look at my life, high level, I see many things. There was a dot in my life that was broken with a sexual addiction that had been restored and redeemed. But God used that. Forever and ever and ever, as long as I’m on Earth, I want to be involved in fighting pornography and helping dudes recover from broken sexuality. I also have a hunger for apologetics, and when I get to teach the Bible, I feel most alive. I’ve had a chance to be behind the scenes of some of the greatest leaders and serve alongside of them. It has been an honor.
As I continue forward, I hope that I maintain a constant willingness to be a little different and that I do not need all the details figured out to be sent. I was thinking about my university’s motto, “without risk, there is no gain.” It is such a secular slogan, but there is practicality to that in the Christian life. Be willing to take the risk.
But then again, I feel like if God has put something on our hearts, is it really a risk?
Great testimony!