Justin Zoradi is the founder of These Numbers Have Faces, a social enterprise investing in the next generation of African leaders. After ten years of running the organization, Justin successfully transitioned and is now the President of GivingFuel, an innovative fundraising platform empowering thousands of organizations worldwide. He's the author of two books, Made For These Times and Doing Work That Matters. He holds a BA in communication studies from Westmont College and an MA in international conflict resolution from Portland State University. An obsessive soccer fan and weekend landscaper, Justin lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.
You can find Justin and his work on:
Or check out his work at justinzoradi.com.
Resources
Made for These Times by Justin Zoradi
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Road to Character by David Brooks
Episode Audio:
Chapter 1 - How to Follow God's Call on Your Life
God has a calling on your life. And part of a discipleship lifestyle is serving with purpose in that calling. When you do this well, you feel great about yourself and who you are. It's like everything is right in the world. To say it another way, you feel fulfilled. But what happens when your calling and the work you find so fulfilling faces obstacles and setbacks? What do you do when the people you love most tell you your dreams and your work aren't worth pursuing? In this first chapter of our conversation with Justin, he tells his own story of following God's call on his life as he started an organization to fund the education of African young people. But it wasn't an easy journey. And along the way he encountered multiple obstacles. But he also found help as he continued to pursue God's call on his life in service to others.
Chapter 2 - Are You Living For Your Resumé or Your Eulogy?
When it comes to following God’s call on our lives, it’s easy to get so wrapped up in serving God that we forget to be with Him. We get so concerned with doing the next thing, and the next thing that we begin to define ourselves by what we do, not who we are in Christ. Justin calls this, the pursuit of the “Resume Virtues.” But we need to stop and ask, “What will they say about us at our funerals?" Will they be talking about the items on our resumes, or will they be talking about the kind of person we were. How we were kind, loving, and patient. Or how treated the people around us. That’s why we need to pursue God’s calling on our lives with these "Eulogy Virtues" in mind. As Justin talks about in this chapter, it’s good that we should pursue our callings, but we must not seek achievements and accomplishments if we lose sight of who we are.
Chapter 3 - There's a Time to Work and a Time to Rest
The Teacher in Ecclesiastes wrote, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." While it's important to work, it's also important to rest and recognize your dependence on God. As we do this, we find God works in seasons in our lives. At times we're moving quickly and our schedules are full. But other times he calls us back to rest and dependence on him. In this chapter, Justin tells his story of stepping away from the company he founded and what it was like to face an identity crisis. What he found in the aftermath of that decision was a call to rest and a call to remember who he was in Christ. And from that place, God moved him again into another season of fulfilling work.
Chapter 4 - Never Ignore the Everyday Moments
When it comes to our callings, we often feel pressured to accomplish all that God has called us to as soon as possible. But this is what leads us to pursue the resume virtues and abandon the eulogy virtues of who we are. We feel that because we have been called, we must also be responsible for the results of our callings. But nowhere does God call us to produce a certain result. He calls us to obedience. And so in this chapter, Justin reminds us that often the best approach is one that emphasizes our relationships with people over trying to achieve results. And it’s in these seemingly small actions we take in the everyday moments of life where the Kingdom of God is able to break through into this world and bring us God’s will.
Chapter 5 - Learning to Invest in Eulogy Virtues
In this chapter, Chris and Josh wrap up the week by reflecting on the valueable lessons they've pulled from their conversation with Justin Zoradi.