EP268: Be Holy - Why It Matters More Than You Think with Joe Thompson and Travis Revelle

What if the real challenge isn’t just about success but about becoming who you were truly called to be? In this episode, Dr. Nate Salah, Travis Revelle, and Joe Thompson explore what it means to “be holy” in everyday life and leadership. Through raw stories and bold insight, they reflect on how intentional choices lead to lasting transformation. This conversation might just shift how you think about identity, purpose, and growth.

 
 Key Takeaways To Listen For

• Why “being holy” isn’t about perfection but about intentionality and alignment with divine purpose
• How a clear purpose makes your yeses easier and your no’s more confident
• Understanding the difference between a job, a career, and a calling
• Why holiness is a lifelong process, not a one-time destination
• How embracing holiness brought calm, peace, and leadership transformation

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Hello, my friend, and welcome to this episode of A Call to Leadership. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, your host. I'm so glad you are here. If you've ever wondered about some of the almost crazy verses in the scriptures, like, be holy, what does that mean? Like, could I be holy? I'm just a dude. You're a person, right? We're not floating on air pious as can be. We make mistakes. You have fumbles. I just ask my wife. I am not flawless. How could I ever be wholly respond to that command? Well, friend, you're in for a treat. I've got two other dudes, Joe Thompson, Travis Revelle. We're entrepreneurs, we're we're leaders. We love the understanding of how leadership comes together and raising our bar. We're gonna unpack this term, what it means. Hey, we're not religious scholars. We're not theologians. We are human beings who wanna live better, live smarter, live higher to a higher calling, a higher purpose, and we want to share that with you. So buckle your seats. We are going to go for a ride, and by the end of this episode, we will understand not only what it means to be holy, but we'll be on fire for it. Can't wait to listen in. I'm Dr. Nate Salah. This is A Call to Leadership. Fellas. Hi, how are you?

[00:01:29] Joe Thompson
Hello, Nate. Hello, Travis. Good afternoon. Good sir. What's going on? 

[00:01:34] Dr. Nate Salah
He called you a good sir. 

[00:01:36] Joe Thompson
He just doesn't know me.

[00:01:40] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, I appreciate it, I think appreciate the confidence. Nobody calls anyone sir anymore. I do all that. I do. Yeah. 'cause we're old. 

[00:01:46] Travis Revelle
No, I call other people. Me, sir. And me. Yes. Yeah. Did you forget? Obviously. Thank you, sir. 

[00:01:51] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, it's tough today. I mean, almost. I've, I've had to wonder if somebody's gonna get upset with me. 

[00:01:56] Travis Revelle
I call younger people, sir, and they kind of, you know, gimme a look sometimes, but they'll be like, thank you sir. It's happened a couple times. I hold doors open for people still, you know, stuff like that. Same. And so when people hold the door open for, I, I call it the Midwest swing, where somebody interesting. You know, there's so, so walking into my gym, there's two doors, right? And so, like, there's two separate doorways you have to go through. And so a lot of times, you know, I'll hold the door for somebody, and it'll be a guy, right? And I'll be like, you know, thank you. I'll be like, you're welcome. And then they'll go to the next door and then they hold it open for me. And I'm like, thank you, sir, doing the Midwest swing because it's in the Midwest where you feel like obligated, you know, if somebody does something nice for you, you have to do something nice back to them. Reciprocation. Absolutely. Right. Otherwise, you're, you're, you're, you're off balance. Yes. I, this accountant friend. Do you know what I mean? And you're not, you not debited, credited properly. Yes. Credits and debits have to match.

[00:02:47] Joe Thompson
 I think the only problem is when sir has a question mark behind it, like, as you're saying it, and you're like, thank you, sir. I spin it. It's the thought that counts, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not sure. 

[00:02:58] Dr. Nate Salah
I still think it's a lost, I think it's a lost art. I think we're, I think we're getting, uh, to the point to where it's probably, uh, it's less, it's more of an exception. 

[00:03:07] Travis Revelle
Few more generations. And it's gone. 

[00:03:08] Dr. Nate Salah
Maybe, maybe. Or if it's gonna be, um, you just be different. Yeah. Be different. 

[00:03:12] Travis Revelle
I don't know. Why would we be set apart? 

[00:03:15] Dr. Nate Salah
We might be setting ourselves apart. Wow. Well, what a great, interesting. What a great, uh, great segue. Great segue, huh? Hey, hey. How, how many times in your life, I'm gonna ask you guys a question, okay? And our listener. How many times in your life has anyone looked at you and said, be holy? 

[00:03:32] Travis Revelle
Outside of our conversations here? Zero. 

[00:03:36] Joe Thompson
Yeah, absolutely. Zero. Never. Never. Never. 

[00:03:40] Dr. Nate Salah
Never. Same. Never. Never, I'm, I'm a listener. I'm wonder if you're saying the same thing. Right. And when someone does, if someone were to say that, well say, I mean, I.

[00:03:51] Travis Revelle
You said it so I can tell you exactly how it felt. How'd you, how'd it feel? Uh, very, very intimidating, overwhelming, scary, terrified. It's not, it was not a comfortable, I did not receive that in comfort.

[00:04:08] Dr. Nate Salah
It wasn't like a Midwest swing. No. Swinging the door didn't feel, didn't feel.

[00:04:12] Travis Revelle
There was no way for me to come back and, yeah. And credit that debit side. Yeah. 

[00:04:17] Dr. Nate Salah
That equation did, you didn't feel offended. Did you feel offended at all? 

[00:04:20] Travis Revelle
I didn't feel offended because, I mean, when you say holy, I don't, prior to, I would never have considered myself holy. I. Even though I believe in Jesus, right? Like I, I try to do really nice things like hold open doors for people and, and do, you know, good works and stuff like that. But holy was such, it's such a big, heavy word, right? Right. That like, if I say be holy, I immediately, the first thing that pops into my mind is the Pope. Right? Like something on that level. Right. I'm not saying the Pope is necessarily the whole, but I'm just saying like that. Insurmountable that if somebody, if somebody, if somebody tried to offend me and they're like, you're not holy, right? Prior to that conversation, I would've been like, oh yeah, duh. Okay, cool. Well, what else? You know something. I dunno. Right? Like, okay, like that did nothing to me because I'm well aware that I am not holy. You know? So it was, uh, it was scary. Yeah. 

[00:05:22] Dr. Nate Salah
Met you Joseph. You remember when I told you be holy? I do remember that actually. I texted you first. 

[00:05:29] Joe Thompson
Wow. You got, you got a heads up. I got hammered with it. 'cause he knew the reach. He had to, he knew to drop that get through the bone. 

[00:05:41] Dr. Nate Salah
He's like, I have to prime him. If I didn't, I person he'd just, just center Right you before. 

[00:05:50] Joe Thompson
Before you said that to me, uh, holy was a, uh, more of a destination than a journey. Hmm. You know, like I thought it was something that you like, that you either are or you are not, not something you can achieve. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Yeah. Because you know, growing up there was like the holy people and then all of my friends, wait a minute. Yeah, exactly. Um, so yeah, it was, uh, it was intimidating, I think, and it was encouraging to think like, can I be, can I be holy? You know what I mean? Because I am, I, I have faith and I am spiritual. I never equated it to, I can have this process, which helps me become more Yeah. And the way you define it is. 

[00:06:43] Travis Revelle
Different than the way it was said in my head. 

[00:06:45] Joe Thompson
Right. With the pope thing.

[00:06:45] Travis Revelle
Oh, the way, the way he defines it as paramount to the conversation. 

[00:06:49] Joe Thompson
Yes. That's that's what, because when you just texted to me and I didn't have the, the, the, the crux of what it was, I was like, this guy's insane. Yeah. 

[00:06:59] Dr. Nate Salah
I you're, you're, you're exactly response. I remember it. Your response is, I can't be holy, bro. I mean, that was, that was your four-word response. Yeah, because it's, mm-hmm. It's, it's, it's, it's a, the terminology to us, it, it, the, the, the word picture that many of us have is pious, almost walking on air. You've, you've achieved this level of sainthood almost right to where it's like, whoa. Yeah, no, I'm, I'm not there. I'm not that person. 

[00:07:37] Joe Thompson
I'm just a guy. Yeah. And you don't think you can get there because, you know, what, am I gonna be a martyr? Right. I'm not gonna be a saint. Right. Right, 

[00:07:46] Dr. Nate Salah
Right, right, right. Yeah. Yeah. You think about that, right? You think about all the things, okay, well, what are all the things I would have to like give up or, or. Or, or even like the, uh, there's no way you'd even think about imposter syndrome 'cause you're like, I'm not even close enough to think about what it'd be like. 

[00:08:02] Travis Revelle
It's, it's, listen, I'm, I'm all for a challenge, right? I'm right for a challenge. On a challenge. Yeah. Like, I can, I can, I can do that. When you said that to me again prior to the, you know Yeah. Deep explanation. I was just like, no. Like, I can't, like, I just, I thought, I started immediately thinking about. All the sins that I do on a day-to-day basis. Not even like major things, but just like just me as a human being, right? Like I was like, I cannot be holy. Like I just can't. But after your explanation Yeah. Change. I'm open to the challenge. 

[00:08:42] Joe Thompson
I thrive on someone telling me something I can't do. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Like, you know, you can't do this.

[00:08:51] Dr. Nate Salah
Joe showed up to the next day to the office in a robe, sandals like, bro, is this hat too tall?

[00:08:59] Travis Revelle
Well, this kind got red. 

[00:09:01] Joe Thompson
You know, like as soon as the doctor tells me I can't do something, I immediately start doing it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because I'm just gonna defy it, right? Mm-hmm. Maybe you should have texted me. Hey, don't be holy. Don't be holy. I mean, I'll show you. No, you can't be holy. Yeah. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, that's I think how it would come across to anybody. 

[00:09:20] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Indeed. And even myself in, in the journey of life, uh, that seems like it's unattainable, so you just figure I'm not even gonna deal with it. And that's natural. It's okay. It's where we all start. The, the problem with that is we are instructed, we're commanded two be holy. In the, in the, in the first book of Peter, the scripture says, be holy. Okay. And that not just be holy, but be holy because I am holy. Of course, God, right? God is, God is holy. And it's like, okay, all right, well, sounds good. Not quite sure how this is gonna play out. Right? Right. So we gotta break it down. And, and this is so important with, you know, especially for, for our listener or our viewer, anything that we, that we perceive in the language, it's so important. Go to the source. Go to the source, break it down, understand before we make a judgment. Right? So. Joe, you always talk about reflect rather than deflect. And I love that, you know, let's reflect on this before we deflect it and say, okay, no, no, it's not for me. You got the wrong person. Hey, don't waste your time.

[00:10:38]
Or it's just not gonna happen because it's really interesting. And, and going back to the Greek, uh, this is in the New Testament, the Greek,  for be holy, just the word holy, the Greek word hagios or hagios. It means this. It means to be set apart. It means to be consecrated different from the world. You've got a divine calling. You know, we talk a lot about purpose in our community. Talk about the desire in Great Summit to have significance. Where we've only had success, right? Don't settle for success when significance is around the corner. Right? There's something greater, and this is, this is, I think this is one of the implications of this. Hol not holiness is not just about avoiding, uh, wrongdoing or avoiding misstepping, right? Or avoiding, right? It's an active, intentional, a. For us in our purpose, in every area of life. Hey, that's something I can get behind. 

[00:11:51] Travis Revelle
Yeah. That's a challenge that it seems a little bit more attainable. Yeah. Okay. 

[00:11:57] Dr. Nate Salah
That essence of the definition of just the word holy, because don't we wanna be set apart? Like isn't everything we do in industry with our, with our. With our desire to rise above the mediocre and the standard quo. Isn't that like the heart of our entrepreneurial, our leadership journey? 

[00:12:23] Travis Revelle
I mean, we talk about products and we always talk about what's the competitive advantage, right? This is a personal competitive advantage, right? I mean, that's, that's all it is.

[00:12:34] Dr. Nate Salah
I want to go somewhere with this. Bring, bring it. Okay. So you mentioned divine calling. 

[00:12:45] Joe Thompson
Okay. So, for a big portion of my life, just gonna be honest here, um, sometimes my, like, love for God and everything, I was embarrassing. Mm-hmm. And I, I think some people are gonna relate to this. Like when I would be in a restaurant and I would pray, I'd make the sign of the cross. 'cause you know, I'm camp like, I kind of do like a little head tuck and a little like tiny cross. So no one saw it. And then when I felt called by God, like physically called. When you explain that to someone you don't like, you don't know how they're gonna take it. Like, is this guy a, a nut or is he, you know, does he really feel this way? But to the person that's happening, to it's real. But I was embarrassed to talk about you. All the be holy stuff started coming up and I was like, Hey, uh, this is so like divinely driven, um, that what other people think about it makes no difference because, uh, it's, it's my relationship with God the way I interact with them. Right? Mm-hmm.

[00:14:00]
 I think if there's an embarrassment to say, Hey, I feel this def divine calling. Don't be like, this is your, this is your road to being holy. Right? Because I needed a, I needed a starting point, like I'm operational, so like I needed a starting point. The starting part. Point was be to be holy was divine calling. Right? The rest is how I accept that, right? How I internalize it and I show radical love to others, right? So if you're feeling a little bit intimidated, I'm afraid to tell people like, I feel like I have a divine calling. Like, don't be. Like, tell us this is, this is a good community to talk about it. It's a safe space. Yeah. It's safe space to be brave. That's what we say, right? Safe space. Safe, safe, safe space to be brave.

[00:14:51] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. There's, there's, there's, there's so much of an importance to understanding that calling piece, because I've looked at it like this. You have three different types of employment, if you will. Right? You've got your, you can have a job, and the acronym that I've heard for job is just over broke. Right? Okay. We've all been there, right? I've had a job and I was just over broke. And then you have a career, which is a step up from that, and careers can change and things change and markets change and you may change your career, right? We've all changed careers, but then there's a third tier, there's a third level the calling. The calling is when it's inside burning fire that nothing can stop you, no matter what obstacle you face from moving step by step by step to receive it. Which one do you want calling? Like what's, what is going to truly give you that deepest sense of fulfillment? Significance, meaning value, purpose, joy. Exactly. Right. That's what this is saying. Like, live in that, raise that bar, raise that standard, be holy. And the other part of this, the word be, it's like we can't miss that out. 'cause that was, that was the word. That was the word. Holy be. And the Greek be, uh, that's used here is Genesa, which is a little bit of grammar school from back in the day.

[00:16:27]
 A present imperative, middle passive verb, right? All the, uh, the grammar folks, the English teachers are like, yeah, I remember that. Not us or the homeschools homeschool moms. And my wife would be like, yep. Know what that one is. So here's what it means. It's, it's really got three parts. And so I'll break 'em down, and I want you to, I want you to hear this—the present tense. So, to be holy, it's continuous. It's not just one-and-done. Oh, wow. I've just, you know, I climbed out of bed. Look at me now. Right. Hey guys, check this out. Nate, check it out. Right. I'm holy. No, it's continuous. Holiness is not a one-time act. It's an ongoing process. Right. That's a, that's a little reassuring, isn't it? That I don't just have to like fake it till I make it, right? Mm-hmm. It's a process, right? There's certain things in life that we're called to raise the standard in the bar, and it takes time, and we have to give ourselves some grace in that and keep striving to move forward. So in that, is there anything since you two are here that through this calling out. Calling up that you've been like, okay, I'm taking this on. This is an area of holiness that I'm going to continue to move forward, to be set apart in that maybe I haven't given enough gas. 

[00:18:05] Travis Revelle
I don't know if there's a part of my life. That I, I haven't tried to apply this to, to be honest with you. Um, because when you, when you explain it like you do, it's a process, right? Um, it's not something we just achieve. To me, it's a choice. It's a choice. When faced with situations to choose to do it the way that I've always done it, which I know that outcome, right? I know where I know where that gets me if I choose to do things the way that I've always done them. I can choose to be holy and I can choose to do it a different way. And what I have found in the past three months since you told us that, right? Like I'm not gonna say my life is radically different, right? Because it is a process. Yeah. But I am happier. I am more satisfied. Uh, my circumstances haven't necessarily changed so radically that somebody's gonna see me and be like, you are holy. But internally, I use that as my brain works very much black and white, right? This is good, this is bad. And I like my brain working like that, right?

[00:19:19]
 So once I kind of adjusted my perception of what that means. That is now a filter in which I use, in my decision-making tree. Right? Mm-hmm. It doesn't mean that I make the right choice all the time. Right. Right. I don't, I I don't, but I'm actively trying to. Yep. And I think that the, that intentionality of choosing to actively do that. Has has made, has made it easier to make that choice because it's not something that's being forced upon me. It's not something that somebody saying, you have to do this. I know it's an expectation from God, and I want to please God. And so when I have an opportunity to choose to be holy, I try my best to make that choice.

[00:20:03] Joe Thompson
Mm, that's good. And this is just my opinion, but since you started doing that, I see it in them. Like, I see a change like that. Um, people who've known you for a while I think will will see it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So it, I think there is like almost a physical manifestation of, uh, that calm that it brings you. Mm-hmm. You know, like when you're on that road, you're calm, you know, we're all business guys. Unfortunately, in business, like aggressiveness helps, you know, you're awarded for. Being aggressive, getting it done, you know, pushing it through and wholly being holy is really, uh, for me, it started with just being patient. Mm. Right. Don't be on the attack. Mm-hmm. You know, just be reflective, be patient, and, uh, you know, don't make decisions in the heat of a moment, you know, just stop and, and, and, and, uh, think it through. And that's been my path. I think it's just a more calm feeling. Do you notice more of a calmness? No. A thousand percent. As you work towards it? No. You, yes. You noticed? Mm-hmm. 

[00:21:21] Dr. Nate Salah
I didn't know if you were like taking medication or something or new medication. 

[00:21:28] Travis Revelle
Jesus is my medication. Nate, that's… Jesus is your Xanax. That's shirt. I almost spit that on you. 

[00:21:35] Joe Thompson
That's  a t-shirt from somebody out there. 

[00:21:38] Dr. Nate Salah
It's true. It's true. And, and uh, what's interesting about, as you're expressing this, part of what we're talking about is vision. Then we, we, you know, we talk a lot about vision and the essence of vision because in Proverbs, uh, um, uh, it says that without vision, the people perish. 29 18, I wanna say. And it's, it's, the reason why is because we settle for mediocre without vision, right? Because you, you just don't know. So it's like, well, if I don't have vision, then I mean, I'm just going in any direction. So, like, if you're, you know, if you're on a, on a ship, you're gonna be chasing distractions. You're gonna be stopping at every port. Why? I dunno where I'm going. Right? But if you have vision, if you know this is my destination, you're clearing, you're focused. And because if you're clear and fo that's what you're talking about. Like, now I know I'm clear and focused. I got my permitted prohibited. Right? I've got like on off ramp. And like this off-ramp doesn't lead me to my destination, so obviously I'm not going that direction. Right. So it's not however, every so often because it is a process, I might still stop off. 

[00:22:41] Joe Thompson
Right, right, right. I know I stop. 

[00:22:43] Dr. Nate Salah
Right. I know. You know what? It's gonna take me a little longer to get there. That's okay. That's all right. However, I know where I'm going. 

[00:22:50] Travis Revelle
It makes it easier. Truly, It does. It makes it easier. Because, I mean, you guys have known me for years, right? Like, I'm known to be the hotheaded guy at work, right? Like, when things aren't going well, and my, my partners will be like, you know, they're like, gimme a look. Like, turn it on. You know what I mean? Like, they know. They know, right? They know they, you know, they want me on that edge because I'm, I'm good on that edge, and I haven't lost an edge. I think it's, it's, my dad always taught me that there's intelligence and wisdom. Hmm. And there's a significant difference between the two. And you can be smart but not wise. But I think that by following this, it gives me a little bit of wisdom to not, I have overreacted in some situations, but I've been very intentional when I did that and not reactive when I did that. Mm-hmm. So I can still get the same benefit of using it without the necessity to feel like I always have to use it.

[00:23:47] Dr. Nate Salah
Right. And the charges were dropped. So you're good? Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. 

[00:23:51] Travis Revelle
We're good. Of course, we're safe. I can't talk about it for seven years, but we're safe right now. 

[00:23:58] Joe Thompson
So here's what I love about it. So, anyone listening right now that is being told be holy? Right? Because that's what we're saying, right? Like we we're there like we are those people in 

[00:24:10] Dr. Nate Salah
who have, who have heard that? Is that what you're saying? Yeah. 

[00:24:13] Joe Thompson
Yeah. There's, so there's various ways to begin the journey, right? The process. So like, you know, if you're just, you know, sitting on a college playing video games all day, and you're like, maybe Holly, you know, like there is a starting point for you, right? And that's where this works for everyone. Whether you're a housewife, a CEO, the guy living in the street, there is a process by which you can start this no matter where you are in life. Right. And the status of holiness is the most important thing you can do with a life. 

[00:24:54] Dr. Nate Salah
That's right. And we're gonna, we're gonna get into some of the process pieces today. It's so important to recognize that most of what we do is just status quo. Most of what we do is settling for mediocre, just enough, most of what we do. Mm-hmm. That's why this is essential. That's why it's not about walking on a cloud of air. It's about, hey, what truly sets me apart for the very best that is available to me in the journey called life? It's not, by the way, it's not even about me. Here's the other part about it. We're still working through the present imperative, middle passive verb, right? So, we got to present tense. This is just a word by the way, the word be. That's why it's so cool. Crazy. That's why it's so cool. Go into the original language 'cause it's so rich. Here's the second part, imperative mood. It's a command, not a suggestion. God is calling us to actively pursue holiness. Why? 'cause God wants the best. Right. He doesn't want us to settle for mediocre. It's like, I'm not, no, we're not doing that. Right. Just like with your own family, you might've had a loved one or a child or something like that, and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're not doing that. I'm not making a suggestion for you to live like that.

[00:26:14] Travis Revelle
I use, I use that, that phrase with eight year olds so much, it's not, I'm not suggesting we're doing that. This is what I'm telling you we're going to do, you know? Yeah. Why? Because I know what's best. Yes. Just like God knows what's best.

[00:26:31] Dr. Nate Salah
Yes. Active pursuit is best. It's pursue being set apart and consecrated for a divine purpose is best for you. Not a suggestions. What we were built to do. Yes. We made for right. Yes. Because I don't want you, I don't, I don't want you living a life and then coming back at me. Saying, oh, well you just said I just, you know, I just suggested it like, I could have had a much better life if you would've said, it's not a suggestion, but again, we have doing this free choice. Yes, right. We have free choice. Yeah, you can, you can say no.

[00:27:04] Travis Revelle
Right? But if you choose to go through this process will yield results. 

[00:27:11] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, and just like initially you, you might have a, you might feel a little shock between the two of you. You definitely, sorry, you Travis, you took it better. Sorry, Joe. Like I said, I had to text you, and even through the text you're like, bruh, bruh it ain't happening.

[00:27:26] Joe Thompson
I thought he lost his mind. It finally happened. I wish I'd have known how you were taking it. I've been like, yeah, yeah.

[00:27:35] Dr. Nate Salah
I'm with you and that, and my response was, you don't know what it means. I'll tell you what it means. Right? You don't know what it means. Here's the the third part, middle passive voice. Okay? Middle voice. The middle voice is we participate in the process. We participate holiness requires intentionality. What does that mean? What does that look like for you? What does, what does the intentionality of being set apart look like? 

[00:27:58] Travis Revelle
It means you make a choice that you're going to follow and do this, this path, right? And like I said, it doesn't mean it happens all the time I go to the gym, right? That that's a passion of mine, right? You wanna, you want to look a certain way. It doesn't happen. In a week, a month, a year, five years, you know what I mean? I will tell anybody that goes to the gym regularly, right? Like has is for sure has body dysmorphia, 

[00:28:22] Dr. Nate Salah
Right? It's just on some level, right? 

[00:28:24] Travis Revelle
Oh, oh my God. A hundred percent. Especially if you're, you know, 45 years old and you're gonna, the gym, you know, six days a week you have body dysmorphia. So, you know, a lot of people will be like, what's your goal? And I don't have it. Like, okay, here's when I'm done. You know what I mean? Like, it's just, it's, it's, it's gonna go on forever because it's something that I aspire to do. You know what I mean? So… 

[00:28:44] Dr. Nate Salah
This is important. This is what part of the process that Joe was alluding to earlier. When you're talking about intentionality, let's just break down some of the things that you have to do intentionally to, to take care of having physical health, which is one of our four pillars in our G three model, right? So, you know, spiritual health, mental health. Physical health, financial health, right? So this is the third pillar. Essential, right? 'cause you gotta take care of this temple. 'cause if it ain't working, guess what? I ain't much use. Nope. Right? Intentionality. What are some of the things that, you know, every single day? I have to be massively intentional about… 

[00:29:15] Travis Revelle
I mean, my whole day, right? Like, I mean, how I schedule meetings, right? Like when I'm, I mean, it's not the top priority in my life because I've got family, I've got kids, I've got all these other responsibilities, right? But I have to sacrifice something personally, right? Because I look at it, I have 24 hours in my day, right? I can have one hour of 24 that is specifically for my physical health, right? And that one hour may be six o'clock in the morning. It may be six o'clock at night. It may be 12 o'clock. It doesn't, you know, it rotates, but it's, it's making sure that. All my other hours are accounted for, and it may be an hour's sleep that I'm losing, right? Like I'm sacrificing something for that. But the benefit and the long-term gain is worth that. That short-term sacrifice for me.

[00:30:07] Dr. Nate Salah
Perfectly said. Joe, when it comes then to the issues or the challenges that you face, for example, you mentioned patients, the intentionality. How do you intentionally now approach that? Desire to walk in a greater set, apartness, if you will, in that area. 

[00:30:26] Joe Thompson
It's based on what my focus is. If you shift your focus from something that you aggressively go after, if you look at the importance of it, like in your, in your, your life being whole or fulfilled or having joy, uh, very few of us are going to pick the things that bring us joy, the same as these are the things that I have to chase aggressively in my life. You know, you gotta prioritize anything that you're doing. And the thing I go after now, which is more important, is to be a better husband, be a better friend, be a better neighbor, better son. You know what I mean? Like put those first and give them the time to focus and work on that. And then my secondary part is, oh, put together a business. I structure something for someone, and I'm all, I feel better doing it now. Like I'm a lot more calm doing it. I, by nature have a racing brain. Mm-hmm. Right? And for years and years and years, like, it, it, I wouldn't har I'd barely sleep. Right? Because I was always thinking about like, what's next? What's next?

[00:31:48] 
What's next? And now, like I call out my own ridiculousness when I, when I'm doing that, like, I'm like, Ugh, what are y'all upset for? Yeah. Just focus on what needs to be focused on and those other things, they'll come when they come. If, you know, if I lose a client or something over not being, uh, aggressive enough or, you know, being too patient, I'm okay. I'd be okay with that. Right. Mm-hmm. Because it's, it's just not the healthiest way for me to live. 

[00:32:21] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. What struck me about both of your explanations of this process is the intentionality causes us to reach beyond what feels natural, what feels comfortable. Right. That's a sign. That's a sign that I'm growing. Of course, you know, our, our G three month, right? Grow, give, go. I think about areas of our lives, my life that I've responded to this command to be holy. For example, years ago, I would go home in the evening, turn on the TV. My kid was four or five years old, he'd be playing on the floor and I watched some programs, and we call it a night. And one night I was like, you know what? Turn that thing off. Just turn it off. Just go play with your son. I know it's. The status quo. I know it's normal. I know it just kind of feels easy to just flip the TV on, but engage in his life. That's, you know, these are incremental changes. They don't have to be life-changing. Just be tiny steps, right? Each step forward. And, and that was, that was a massive change in my life, even though it was small, by turning the remote off in my relationship with my son. To be set apart, right for a divine calling to what? Be his father and spend time with him. How about that? For a divine calling right at work.

[00:33:49] 
Travis, you'd mentioned you're a hothead. You have been a hothead. I've seen it in action, and a lot of people don't know this about me on many, many, many, many, many moons ago. I do. I was a hothead, and in fact Joe and I would go to bars, and I'm like, I can be even bigger hothead. 'cause he's a big guy, and we can get into fights, and we can beat people up. Yeah. And Joe would always be like, we probably don't need to do that. We probably need to just bring it down three notches. Right? And, and that, that carried on through a lot of my life, and I just couldn't tame that until I was called higher. Okay. What does it look like? And even in business with, say a customer, a client who was like, Hey, you know, pushing your buttons. Like, you know, you did this, or you did that, and you know you're in the right, and maybe the client has misinformation simply by. Flipping the script and saying, you know, I'm gonna approach this from a divine calling that I'm going to act in. Radical love changed everything. All of a sudden the client's like, oh wow. Actually, I'm sorry, I've been having a bad day. It's not always the case. However, that's this level by the way, greater. There's a lot of things we can't control in life. This is a greater control over the. Attitude we have over the energy we have, over the ability that we have to conquer, take dominion over these circumstances that may seem to us unconquerable.

[00:35:20] 
This is, this is the step in that direction. That's what we're talking about when we're talking about the intentionality of it. Here's the next passive voice. Here's the thing about the passive. In be the be holy, we cannot make ourselves holy. God is the one who sets us apart. We yield to his work in us. Guess what it takes? Takes a little bit of humility. Mm-hmm. Right? Takes a little bit of like, you know what? I don't have it all figured out. You know, there's a, there's a, a scripture where. Paul is, is, asking, I love the scripture. It is one of my favorites in terms of, of focus. Paul is asking for a, a, a reprieve from the thorn in his side. He says a praise three times for this. And he hears, he hears God say to him, he said, actually, Jesus. He says, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness, strong. Because we're strong guys. We, and I don't mean necessarily like muscle strong, but we, we believe and, and there is some of that, right? But, but we, we believe that we can resilient. We're resilient. We can, we can get this done. And God in here is saying, Hey, I want you to yield to my work in you because you don't have to do this alone.

[00:36:43] Joe Thompson
There's a, you know, whenever you sacrifice, you're giving up something. And on this path, you're, you're giving up something. But what you're giving up is really. The, the thing that causes you worry, the thing that causes you doubt, the thing that causes you pain, but we hold onto that kind of stuff because there's almost a comfort level in, if I'm worrying about it, I'm on top of it. You know what I mean? If I'm thinking about it, I'm on top of it, but when you, when you give that up, you're still capable of doing the same things you've ever done. It's just the manner you go about doing it is slightly different. Just slightly different. Right. And the way it affects you is, you know, you said you have to have a little humility. You have to have a lot of humility. A lot, right? I mean, I think back about things that I have said in, in meetings with, with people and um, I was just like, man, the humility wasn't there. Like the advice was strong. The idea was great, but I didn't present it with enough humility. Right? 

[00:37:49] Dr. Nate Salah
That's just so deep. And the, what I find that is so, um, endearing I guess in the, this, this part of the journey of that we take a lot on our shoulders as leaders. We do. And it's, it's a heavy, it's a heavy load. I mean, it really is. And what God's saying in this, like, look, I'm not calling you to go out there into the wilderness and slug it out. I'm just calling you to follow me. I mean, how can you not be down for that? 

[00:38:21] Travis Revelle
I'm down, I'm down. 

[00:38:23] Dr. Nate Salah
I'm down to be holy. Right? 

[00:38:25] Joe Thompson
Yeah. Recognizing it is is huge. Yeah. I, I had my wife one time say, um, you know, I don't appreciate when you don't treat me kind. And I'm like, it's, is there a time I haven't treated you kind? 

[00:38:42] Dr. Nate Salah
There's like eight jokes happen right here, but we're not gonna go there. 

[00:38:47] Joe Thompson
And you know that that hit you now like a ton of bricks, right? Like, man, did I just like ignore? Did I just, you know, go about what I was doing? And, you know, I didn't consider, I may not have considered that before. Might be holy journey, but now that kind of stuff hits me, impactfully. Mm-hmm. 

[00:39:11] Dr. Nate Salah
It calls us, it calls us out, calls to a higher, higher standard, the highest standard really. And that calls us to like, leave nothing on the table. And I think a lot of, a lot of people, I mean, even someone listening right now, it's like, you know, I have been, I've been just sliding.

[00:39:27] Travis Revelle
Oh, if everybody's honest with themselves, I mean, then that's the thing, right? Like, look in the mirror, right? Just be honest with yourself. You, you're not, you're not, you're not telling your, your employees, your shareholders, your family, right? It's just being honest with yourself and everybody can be better. You can be better. You just have to have the desire to want to be better. Yeah. As long as you've got the desire, there's processes to follow to get you there, but everybody has the desire, or everybody has the ability to do better. Yeah. 

[00:40:04] Joe Thompson
You nailed it. It's, it's the honest look at yourself. Yeah. You know, like a deep, hard look at yourself. And, uh, like you said. 

[00:40:13] Travis Revelle
And recognize, it's not the end. It's not in front of the world. Right. And it's not the end, right? Like, it's not like we're sitting here in judgment in front of God after we die, right? And we're looking back on this reel of our life on all the times that we didn't choose to be holy, right? It's just saying to yourself like, okay, this is what I've chosen. This is, these are my choices, right? It's owning it, it's, it's accepting it. It's saying just simply I want to do better. And it's not like I went home and like told my wife or my kids like, Hey, I'm going to be holy. Right? Like, I, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't told anybody that.

[00:40:54] Joe Thompson
So, so it's my daddy. 

[00:40:56] Travis Revelle
So it's also one of those things to where it's, it's, you are your own accountability partner in this, right? Like, you know. If you're a believer, you know, God is with you at all times, not just when you're in church. Right? Like, he knows what's on your heart. And I think I, I read, you know, I read this, I think it was a meme, right? But it was, it was, it was kind of powerful. And it said like, you know, God hates sin, like he detests sin, but he loved you so much more than the sin. He knew every sin that you were gonna commit from the, from the moment he created the universe, but he still loved you more than he hated the sin. Right? So it's not about feeling guilty, it's not about having the shame on you. It's about just making a choice to say, I'm going to do better, and one small step at a time. 

[00:41:49] Dr. Nate Salah
Mm-hmm. And, and in so doing, I'm thankful that you both approached the command, not for me, but from God, uh, with the kind of trepidation, almost disbelief. Because if you would've approached it like, oh yeah, sure, I got this. Hmm. That's a problem. Right? Right. In fact, in our community, as you know, our great seminar, G three, our G three model, that's an intro conversation. Be holy. And we require, in a way that bit of trepidation because it means you're being real. Mm-hmm. Right? Because nobody wakes up in the morning, you know, and says, you know what? Today, I'm gonna be holy. Right. 

[00:42:37] Travis Revelle
Never once 45 years did I ever say that. 

[00:42:42] Dr. Nate Salah
And it's a process that that we experience. We don't do it alone. We do it together. That's what's great about community. And, of course, God instituting that community and doing it with us. And then when we accept the offer to walk with God in that, the next step is. He is going to help us work through that. And there's gonna be some challenges along the way that sharpen us, refine us, and drive us forward. Not in a way that is, uh, I don't even wanna say painful. 'cause there's, there's, there's, there's pain in some, some of the areas of letting go of things that perhaps are keeping us from our very best. It's not that, it's that we have a, a sense of—vision for what's possible now in a way we never, never imagined before. Never imagined before.  And that's the life I wanna live.

[00:43:35] Travis Revelle
It's a daily refinement. Yeah. You know, it's a daily refinement and I think, I think that that's part of the cool thing about the challenge of it is that there, there really is no end. There is no time where you can sit and be like, I did it. I'm holy. Right. Holy, now I'm good. Yeah. I got the T-shirt. Yeah. I'm good. Text you. I got it right. I got it. I'm holy now I'm done. Right. So it's, it's really, it's about how you wanna live your life. Yeah. Right? And what type of person you wanna be? And for me, right? Like, and I, and the people that know me are around me, they know that I, that I, I say this a lot, I just want to be the absolute best version of myself that I can be. 

[00:44:15] Dr. Nate Salah
Come on. 

[00:44:16] Travis Revelle
I don't wanna leave this life and think I could have done that better if I, if I, if I crash and burn, I crash and burn, but I'm going to try to be the best version of me I possibly can be. And part of that is to choose to be holy. 

[00:44:30] Joe Thompson
Yeah. I love it. I use our G three as a, as a kind of a mantra, right? And I try to be in one of those three places at. At some time in the day. So, am I growing? Mm-hmm. Bible studying or, uh, if we're here doing a podcast, learning a trade, like I feel like, okay, I, I have growth there. Like, so like that's a successful day for me. I've grown giving, am I being generous? Like the things that I work for, I. Are they benefiting others or just myself? Right. So if I'm, if I'm giving, if I know I'm in that state right now, so it's a successful day. Right. And then shedding any kind of fear to physically go and help. You know, if I'm helping, I'm volunteering, I'm doing this or that other thing. I'm in one of my three states like that I want to be in. It's a successful day. Yeah. Never looked at that before. Yeah. What I would've called success before is different Mm. Right. Than what I call it now. So, you know, like if you're turning around a business, it's always easier if, if they can figure out where they are. Right. Right. Like, let's find, let's get your compass, compass, thanks. That's my north, my north city. And, and find out where you are and then, you know, we can follow where we want to go. So I always ask myself, where am I right now? Am I growing? Am I giving, am I going right?

[00:46:04] Dr. Nate Salah
And that's part of the, the setting apart, right? That is, that is one aspect of being set apart because that's different. And I think this exposition of be holy is pretty exciting. Right. So, um, thanks for sharing, and I guess next week, or we can talk about what it means to be perfect on a lighter note. Next week is about perfection. Thanks for being here, guys. Thanks guys. 

[00:46:37] Joe Thompson
Thank you guys. 

[00:46:39] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, my friend, we did it again. I'm so glad you joined me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. If you've been with me on the show listening in, you'll know this, but if you're new, you may. Not know that I created a free course for you, that you don't need to provide an email address. You don't need to go anywhere. But to stay right here in the podcast, I created the very first six episodes of the podcast because I wanted you to have the kind of value that you need to take advantage of to thrive as a leader. So, if you haven't done that yet, listen to episodes one through six. I'll see you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership.