During his college years, Steve was involved in a campus ministry that emphasized being sold out to Christ which was demonstrated by entering “full-time” ministry and becoming a pastor, missionary, or parachurch worker. Yet, Steve loved soccer and had a growing interest in international business. After college he joined a large corporation that gave him a global assignment. Yet, over the years, something continued to haunt his heart. Over a cup of coffee, Steve expressed it to me this way. “For so many years, I felt that not being a pastor or missionary meant I was on God’s B-team. That the best I could do was to support God’s A-team.” Hearing Steve’s heartfelt words, I was able to assure him that he was no B-team player, that all apprentices of Jesus, whatever their calling, were on God’s A-team.

There I was, sitting in a large conference room across the table from the Under Armour marketing team and one of basketball’s greatest players, Steph Curry. It was the kind of thing I had long dreamed of. My years of designing and hustling to build an agency had given me an opportunity I would have once thought impossible. I was presenting my work to two of the biggest brands in sports.