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GodWorx helps equip all Christians to influence their workplace and integrate their faith, by making disciples and unleashing the kingdom of God wherever they are.
Hi, everyone. My name is Carrie Whitcher, and you too can be a marketplace multiplier because marketplace multipliers equip all Christians to influence their workplace and integrate their faith by making disciples and unleashing the kingdom of God wherever they are.
Welcome to another episode of the Marketplace Multipliers podcast. I'm Jeff Clark, and I serve as the associate head basketball coach at Indiana West Land. Today, we're joined by doctor Wayne Lewis, the president of Houghton University.
You're gonna hear about his passion for marketplace multipliers and how it's embedded in everything they do at Houghton. In this past year, I got to feel firsthand how this was embedded throughout the university as Houghton's athletic department, our athletic department did a season long prayer initiative. And in every conversation, you could just see how prayer was the driving foundation of everything they did in athletics. So I think you're really gonna enjoy hearing his passion today. We're joined now by president Wayne Lewis.
President Lewis would love to just hear your heartbeat for marketplace multipliers. It's something that I know knowing you is close to why you're in Christian Higher Ed. But why don't you just share with the audience why this means so much to you? Well, thank thanks for inviting me, Jeff. I'm happy to be here for the conversation.
You know, as I think about the starting place for me and where, the light bulb came on more than anything. It was, maybe about 15 years ago. I was part of a a men's Bible study. For me, side note, men's Bible studies have been one of the most formative pieces of my own development. But this group of guys, who I did life with and stay connected with, we we picked different books that we would go through, and we got to to one particular month, we chose, Chen's, Multiply.
And that book was a game changer for me. Because up to that point, you know, there's nothing new here for me. I understood the call of Christ. I understood that, we were called to live as disciples and make disciples, but I don't know that it had ever been really on the front burner for me. I think my own living, my own behavior, my own ministry and work within the church, had been primary for me.
And that time together over that book, in lots of ways, convicted me. And made me realize that if I'm not putting on the front burner, the imperative of making disciples. If I'm not making more disciples, then I'm falling short, of the gospel mandate. It's amazing to hear you say that because I think so often as we do this work, that's what we hear. People that are right where you were at.
The their faith, it informs the way they act, their ethics. Mhmm. But anything else is an add on. It's not the primary driver of what they do. So I'd be curious.
What did you see in that book that made the light bulbs come on, and what changed for you after that? Because I know so many people resonate with that spot that you were in. Mhmm. You know, again, I don't know that it was it was there was any magical phrase or magical chapter. I think it was more than anything.
The opportunity for this group, of people to come together and wrestle with for a month's time, what it looked like to be faithful to the gospel call to make disciples versus overlook it or think of it as a small part, of what we do and who we are. So now take that understanding, fast forward 15 years, and I'm president of a Christian University, which and as I think about that group of guys, they would have been as shocked as anybody, to to to see that coming. But I that burn, that desire in my heart is still there, not just for me, but the imperative to make sure we're doing everything in our power and using all our resources to equip our students to be able to go into their lives. Most of whom are not going into ordained ministry. So going into, you know, medicine, or teaching, or music, or the legal field and make disciples of men and women.
Understanding that they're gonna have greater opportunities to make disciples and to spread the gospel, than people who are in fact ordained and working in the church in a full time capacity. And I know that every time that I've talked with you, your passion for this burns bright. I mean, it is contagious. So I'm curious how you carry that into your role. Because you're looking over an entire university, and you're trying to embed that in every discipline, every area of study.
So how do you steward that passion so it gets infused throughout your campus? Yeah. I think it I think for me, it's a question of priorities. And the imperative of discipling young people and equipping them to make disciples is not one of my priorities. As a Christian college president, it is my primary priority.
There there are lots of places where young people can go to get a great education. You don't need to go to a Christ centered institution to get the skills and knowledge to be a physician or an attorney or a teacher. You can get those certifications. You can get that knowledge anywhere. And to be frank, if there were no more Houghton University tomorrow, there wouldn't be any lapse in the number of people who are becoming teachers or doctors, or lawyers.
Where the hole would be felt if there were no more Houghton University tomorrow is there'd be one less institution completely sold out to discipling young people and equipping them to make disciples. So the disciple, equipping and disciple making work of Houghton University is not an add on. It's not secondary. It's not one of many priorities, that we're balancing. It is first and foremost what we exist for.
Everything else comes second. I know for me, as my kids age and I start to project what will happen when they leave the house, there's something there that stirs my heart. When I think, where do I want my children to end up? It's in a place like you're talking about. So maybe talk to that parent right now who maybe they've never even considered Christian higher education because they've never heard this vision.
Oh, my kid might wanna be a nurse, so all I do is look at all nursing schools and compare them. But you're saying, no. There's something different about our heartbeat that might compel you to come here. What would you say to that parent to draw them to a place, your place or a place like Houghton, where disciple making is primary and it is a motivating passion for the people who are teaching the students? Oh, great question.
Because I think there are many parents, many Christian parents who either either not had a Christian college experience or they're not personally familiar or acquainted with a Christian college and might not understand what we do. You know, for an institution that it that takes its Christ centered identity seriously. They're using an approach that is different than than what I call an and stir approach. Which is basically, where you have the same coursework and the same curriculum, same experiences you would have at a state or secular institution, but you just add in a requirement that you go to chapel once a week. That's not who we are.
Neither are we an institution, and you're seeing this more and more. Institutions describe themselves as a Christian heritage institution. Meaning, they were founded by the church or founded by a denomination, and it's an important part of their background. That's not who we are either. Yes.
We were founded by the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, and it's important part of our background, but it's an important part of every day that we exist as well. So for us, when we say we're Christ centered, we mean everything we do. Our curriculum, our teaching, our athletic program, the way we steward our resources, the way we ask, donors to come in support of the work that God is doing on campus. That everything, every aspect points toward the gospel message. And that everything we do, every policy, every practice is subject to the inspection and correction of the word of God.
That's what it means for us to be a Christ centered institution. So young people who are interested in becoming, a physicist or a physician or a musician or a teacher, they don't have to choose between an institution where they're gonna get an exceptional academic experience or go somewhere where their their faith is gonna be nurtured and they're going to be discipled. They don't have to choose between the 2 because there are institutions like Houghton, like our 5, institutions across the Wesleyan Church that are intentional Christ centered institutions, where we fully integrate who we are as believers in our lord and savior Jesus Christ and and providing an academically excellent experience for our kids. And I can speak firsthand, being great friends with your athletic director, Matt Webb, your basketball coach, Jeremy Bialek. The people I know there embody this, and they are passionate about this.
So thanks for the work that you're doing to equip and prepare students to become that in the world, and thanks for joining us today. Thanks for inviting me, Jacqueline.
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Marketplace Multipliers podcast. For more information, go to www.marketplacemultipliers.com. Please like and subscribe to this podcast and share with others who may benefit.
And remember, you too can integrate your faith and influence your work workplace for Christ.