I’m excited today to post an interview with two friends, Jason Locy and Tim Willard. Both guys have been involved in the Catalyst community for over 10 years now working on our Catalyst Leadership Groupzine project along with other initiatives.
In 2011 they wrote a book entitled Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society that I said, “every leader needs to read.”
They have a new book out this past week, Home Behind the Sun: Connect with God in the Brilliance of the Everyday, in which they weave personal narrative and experiences into a wonderful topic: beauty in the everyday.
Jason and Tim are long-time and life-long friends and I can’t wait for leaders to read this book and to share it with others.
Brad: How should leaders interact with this book?
Jason: We intentionally wrote the book to be an introspective read and then added a discussion guide so that growing and learning could happen first individually and then in community. That way the applications are contextualized based on your environment and past experiences.
We think leaders grow by being around other people in deep conversations. So what we wanted to do was to give you, the leader-reader, deep conversation rather than a book of “how-tos” and bullet points.
Tim: We wanted to give the leader a book that didn’t explain how to do something, like confront unforgiveness in their heart, but a resource that would actually speak to that specific felt need. Our good friend Adam pastors a church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and he is going through the book with his staff. His comment was: “This book doesn’t tell me how to grow closer to God, it actually helps me do that.”
That blew us away, but we’re finding that’s how leaders are using it.
Click here for a sample of the Discussion Guide
Brad: Home Behind The Sun seems like a book that would be great for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to sit down and read an entire book. They could just pick it up and read any given chapter and still receive a timely message. Was this intentional?
Tim: Absolutely. Our favorite books are the ones we return to often. And that’s what we wanted this one to be. Much of the book is broken up into personal narratives regarding the brilliance in the everyday grind of work, relationships, parenting--even in despair and tragedy. We know time is precious to folks and we thought offering a book that didn’t carry the pressure of working through the entire thing would be a welcome change for readers, especially ministry leaders who are inundated with books they’re told to read.
Jason: Yeah, Tim and I get it. I have a 9-to-5 job and Tim’s studying for his doctorate. We understand that time slips away easily. With Home Behind the Sun, you can pick it up with a morning cup of coffee or evening tea and read a bit, and think on it using the discussion guide in the back of the book.
Brad: In the book, you talk a lot about your roles as fathers and husbands. How will this book impact men of faith like yourselves?
Jason: Hopefully it will hit them over the head and knock them down. Ha. I guess I’m only half-kidding. But seriously, we’re passionate for men to come away a good challenge. After reading they might say, “Wow, my view of masculinity is based on sitcom realities. But these guys (Tim and I) are presenting manhood in a different way.”
Because of the way its written, because its written by two guys, because it peppers in experiences with our own sons and daughters, we think it will start to reclaim men’s imaginations on what it looks like to be a dad, a husband, a friend, and a man.
Tim: But even though it’s written by two men, and men will learn from it by our experiences, it wasn’t written specifically for men at all. In fact, we look into the beauty of innocence, the complexity and need for deep relationships and universal topics like that that aren’t specific to men. So we think there’s something for men and women to wrestle with and even enjoy.
Brad: What do you hope leaders will get out the book?
Tim: I really hope leaders will find this book to be an aid to their spiritual refreshment. I think so often the “leader type books” are the ones that explain how to do something. I hope the leader will see this book as one he or she can sit with in the quiet of their homes or apartments and allow the thoughts to minister to their hearts.
So often we don’t know we’ve been running a hundred miles an hour until we sit and listen. Sometimes it’s a song, other times it’s a friend speaking truth to us. I hope this book can be kind of both--a song of encouragement and encouragement from to brothers-in-Christ.
Jason: I would agree with Tim, but also add that I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and ministry leaders and so often I hear about burnout and tiredness and priorities out of whack. We’ve all been there, and for me, this book is a pause and a reminder, that we are leaders who possess the glory of Christ within us. And when we come to terms with that truth, it will affect our spiritual lives for sure, but it will also impact the way we lead others. At the end of the day I hope leaders receive refreshment as they flip the pages and plenty of great conversation with friends as they work through what they are reading.