Andy Mason (00:01)
Hey, pastor and business leader, this session is for you. Why? Because the truth is we need each other. So that's why I've got Randy Griffin in the studio with me. Randy was a pastor. Now he's a C12 business leader. You're gonna hear about that. And you're gonna hear things like what I as a pastor wish I'd known about the business community, what I as a business person
Which I knew about pastors and how we can benefit from one another. Why is this such a big deal? Well, actually, recent Barna research came out saying that nine out of ten pastors have a conviction they're supposed to help serve, equip, train their business community, but less than four out of ten know how. And then only one in five of your business leaders actually would go to your pastor for any vocational important training.
Bottom line is we need each other. Every joint supplies. And until we get that and honor one another, I'm going to be lacking something. You're going to be lacking something. So Randy, thank you so much for joining us and help us fix this global problem.
Randy Griffin (01:11)
Yes, it's great to be here. Thanks, Andy.
Andy Mason (01:14)
So just quickly, you're tell us a little bit of your story in the shortest version. you were a pastor, you you you're in Dallas. who are you?
Randy Griffin (01:23)
Yeah. so yeah, I grew up in Tech native Texan. went to a couple of Baptist colleges, played basketball in college, and then I was in the business world and actually moved to Phoenix, Arizona and got into real estate, and then God did a work in my life and I ended up moving to New Zealand. I'm sure you've heard of that place.
Andy Mason (01:45)
Well
Randy Griffin (01:46)
So I spent five years in Auckland with a ministry.
Kind of like Campus Crusade for Christ, but we planted churches on university campuses. Our whole thing was change the campus, change the world. So we were trying to reach leaders that were on the campus, you know, now knowing what they're going to do in the future. So spent some time doing that. so five years in Auckland, came back home, actually had a got a job when I came back home, worked for a company that had that I that I thought was pretty revolutionary. They had intercessors on staff.
They had pastors on staff. They had a they were a little bit crazy. They had a lady that would come out and blow the chaufar every day. so I I still
Andy Mason (02:28)
Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Randy Griffin (02:31)
remember vividly like there was a there was a a big office with a hundred and fifty employees and there'd be people on sales calls and customer calls and this lady named Janet would come out and blow the chaufar and everybody would stick their head above the cubicle and be like, What who what what is happening?
Andy Mason (02:46)
Yeah.
Randy Griffin (02:50)
So did that and then Tara and I moved to Australia and help. We had a business leader there that wanted to start a church, but he kind of wanted to do it within his company. And so we did not want to get a missionary visa to go over. I I wanted to work for the company, be in the company, and help plan a church from within the company. So we spent two
Andy Mason (03:13)
wow.
Randy Griffin (03:13)
years in in a little place called Wadonga in Australia.
Andy Mason (03:18)
Yep. All right.
Randy Griffin (03:18)
Planting a church with
yes, Albre Wadonga. We were on the Victoria side. So, so we did that and that was super eye-opening to reach people where they were at inside the marketplace instead of trying to build you know, trying to build this culture of come and see. Our whole thing was why don't we go and be? You know? And so did that for a couple of years, and then came back home, was on staff at a church in Carrollton called Sojourn Church, was the family pastor there for about seven years.
it was planted by a business leader, Terry Moore, who came out of the kind of oil and gas industry. So, you know, a little bit different perspective as well, where he really wanted to, he didn't want people to be volunteering and doing all kinds of stuff for the church. He really wanted to equip the saints to go do the work of the ministry. and then, you know, he always lived with this tension of I I I feel like I'm heart, I'm I have a heart, my heart is wired to be a pastor.
But I love the business world as well. So anyway, so we finished that season and then started a real estate company. And then Tara and I did that for several years. And then my wife was always like, I I wish we could figure out a way for you to get paid to do what you love to do, which is make disciples, have coffee with people, dive into their issues and all of that. So we'd known about C twelve, and then a buddy of mine told me about it again and and spent about a year interviewing and
trying to figure it out and then I became a C twelve chair about two and a half years ago. So
Andy Mason (04:49)
Okay.
So give us a snapshot of C twelve. I I love what they're doing.
Randy Griffin (04:54)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (04:55)
tell us for those that have no idea, what is
Randy Griffin (04:57)
Ja
Andy Mason (04:58)
C twelve? Who's it for and how does it help people?
Randy Griffin (05:00)
Yeah, so I I would describe it as a a a peer advisory forum. So we build groups of twelve CEOs because Jesus had twelve disciples. So the minimum criteria for a C twelve for a for a CEO coming to into C twelve is you actually like to have you have you have to have a company. It's not for like solopreneurs who, you know, so minimum five employees doing a couple of million dollars a year in revenue.
We also have nonprofits in there. So I have a couple of big nonprofits that are in the room. And so we put twelve guys, twelve CEOs or women in a room. And we we spend all day together once a month going through curriculum and wrestling with, you know, our number one revelation that we're trying to get and walk in is that I'm not the CEO. God's the CEO of my company. And if he's really the CEO, what does that mean? How does that change things? What are his KPIs?
You know, how would he run this business if he was the CEO? and then number two, people spend more time at work than they spend anywhere else.
Andy Mason (06:04)
That's right.
Randy Griffin (06:05)
So as a CEO, one day I'm gonna sit on the Bima seat of Christ and be judged for everything I've done.
W what if it's true that I have five, fifty, one thousand employees
You know, getting the revelation of are these people just someone that adds to the bottom line, or are they a soul to be cared for? So
Andy Mason (06:37)
Yeah.
Randy Griffin (06:37)
if if I'm responsible for the most amount of time they're gonna spend on earth, what's my responsibility in that? Should I be discipling them? Should I how should I be caring for them and their families? I may have the most influence on them of any single person in their life.
Andy Mason (06:52)
That's right.
Randy Griffin (06:53)
So from a time perspective, I've got that much time. What am I supposed to be doing with them? And so we wrestle with all of that. What does it look like? How do we practically do it? You know, what kind of care do we set up and all of those things? so that's kind of what C twelve is. It's a peer advisory group that I lead. It's it's a worldwide organization. yeah, and that's what we do.
Andy Mason (07:15)
Thank you. I love it. So let's just dive straight into you're coming to conference, we're having a conference in Dallas, and we kind of had this conviction we need to we need to multiply ourselves. I'm a I pastor business people call it advisoring, mentoring, training, discipling, whatever it is.
Randy Griffin (07:34)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (07:35)
I I did this for 15 years as a self-funded business pastor in California. What if we could
Equip the churches, the pastors to do the same, which is why if you're watching this and you're a business person, bring your pastor and we will pay for him to come to conference. And pastor, if you listen to this, this is gonna give you some practical keys and insights. We don't want to give you more work. We want to just make a pathway easier for you to engage and unlock your business people because we believe that they one of the greatest untapped missionary forces, just like Randy was saying.
Amount of time that they're spending influencing people in your community is just crazy. what if we could untap that, unlock that, and apply it? So, Randy, you bring this beautiful mix from from business to pastor to pastor to business to chaplain to who knows what it is. A church, church, and then a business church, and then a church business. You just a mix of everything in there. So let's
Randy Griffin (08:36)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (08:38)
Let's start with as a business person, what are some of the top things that you wish your pastor knew about you that would unlock you into what you're called to do?
Randy Griffin (08:50)
Yeah,
I I think we have it a little backwards where I think, you know, Ephesians four, eleven and twelve tells us that God calls apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers to equip the saints to go do the work of the ministry So I think we have it a little bit backwards where we say if you're getting paid by the church or you're a pastor, you're in full-time ministry, but the reality is we're all in ministry. So I think that shift of thinking really my people are in ministry and I'm called to be an equipper.
to equip them to go do the work of the ministry. So that that's a huge mindset shift. and I think the the pastors and knowing that my people are actually in ministry. They're the ones out there connecting with the lost and the unsaved and all of that. So yeah, that's a huge one.
Andy Mason (09:37)
Yeah, so number one is that if my if my pastor understood that I'm actually pastoring people in the city, I am also a pastor, whether I like it or not. So connect me, train me to how do I pastor people? I thought
Randy Griffin (09:52)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (09:52)
I'm just there to do business. No, you're doing business and you're a missionary and you're a pastor and you're all of the above, and I need to be equipped in that.
Randy Griffin (09:58)
Yes. Yep.
Andy Mason (10:00)
What else? What are the biggest pain points that you have as a business leader that you wish your pastor knew?
Randy Griffin (10:08)
You know, I I think from from my pastoral hat, I think a lot of times what we're trying to do is we're trying to get people to come to the church. We're trying to get people to volunteer and work in children's ministry and parking lot and greeters and all of the things that the church has to do. And you know, from my time being a C twelve chair, most CEOs don't have time to do any of that. They they would love to do it, but they're running a company.
And they're busy and so they're not probably gonna show up for any of that stuff. And and our only metric in the church is are they volunteering, are they giving, you know, how often are they showing up on Sunday morning? And I just think we're measuring the wrong metric if we're just trying to get them to show up for that. So having a different metric, how am I meeting them where they're at, and how am I how I'm how am I how am I sewing into them and giving back and supporting them in their in their ministry work?
Andy Mason (11:04)
So and I'll just ask this in a direct question way. So as a business person, isn't your greatest value that God gave you the ability to create wealth? So you're there to create revenue to give to the local church so that we do the work of ministry?
Randy Griffin (11:22)
no.
It's another mindset shift. man. Yeah, no. I I think are no, it's not.
Andy Mason (11:36)
Tell me more.
Randy Griffin (11:41)
I I think as a business person, that's what it feels like. It it feels like the the bigger checks I write, the more attention I get, the more the pastor wants to have coffee with me and lunch with me, and we've got another program coming up and something to give into and all of that. And it, you know, I and I think we're just all kind of wired that way, even with the CEOs, like when they start getting on fire, you know, for God and thinking about all this, like their first.
Pathway that they go down is, well, let's go to Africa and build huts, or let's go to Brazil, or let's go do something crazy. And you know, they all do it and it's like time out. The first thing we're gonna focus on is your employees, because the last thing they need to do, the last thing they need to hear is this visionary leader who's got another idea, and now he's going to be committing my time and gonna pay me to go to Africa or do something, and I can't even pay my bills, and I've got a sick kid at home, and all of this. So we take
taking care of our people, you know? And then and I think our whole goal is we need to we're supposed to live a life of overflow, you know? And if I'm not overflowing, then I'm just faking it, you know? So getting our taking care of our employees where they're living a life of overflow and they feel care for. And out of out of the abundance that they feel care for, they give out of that, if that
Andy Mason (13:04)
Yeah.
Randy Griffin (13:04)
makes sense.
Andy Mason (13:05)
Yeah. And and if you were fully doing what God's called you to do with a grace and anointing and a calling in the workplace, that you're pastoring, discipling those people, your business will grow, which by nature is going to increase your giving because there's a local contribution, which we a hundred percent believe in, is that everybody has a biblical requirement really to contribute back to their local church where they're being fed.
Randy Griffin (13:32)
Yes.
Andy Mason (13:32)
So quick
quick win quick win for pastors, I would say, is what what I ask you, Randy, what's one thing a pastor could do for you tomorrow that would just let your heart open you up to what you're called to? If the pastors if less than four out of ten pastors know how to equip, train, activate pastor business leaders, what's one thing that a pastor listening to this could do tomorrow?
That would be a game changer.
Randy Griffin (14:03)
Yeah,
it's a great question. So we I this is I actually saw you there. We were at a conference down at DTS a couple of years ago. And I love what Dallas Theological Seminary is doing now. In order to kind of graduate from their pastoral program, you have to go intern at a church. and part of that requirement, the churches that you intern at, the pastors are are
decide are figuring out who's in their congregation. How many homeschool moms do I have? How many business owners? Like who actually like what are the what are the mission fields that all these people are are called to. And then the pastors actually go to lunch with the business people, go to some of the homeschool stuff.
Andy Mason (14:50)
Go visit.
Randy Griffin (14:51)
go visit, go visit and figure out what what are what's my cong what's my congregation?
What are they doing? What does their day look like? And then actually create messages that that help them figure out how to do ministry where they're at. You know, the hardest part is you get a pastor that's come out of school or never really had a job, or maybe had a job at one point, and he's just been so disconnected and trying to preach a really good message. And then you have an audience who is, you know, at work, homeschooling, doing whatever they do all day long, and they're trying to.
They're trying to figure out how do I take this message and you know figure out how to apply it day to day. How am I gonna wake up on Monday morning and make this thing work?
Andy Mason (15:37)
Make it real.
Randy Griffin (15:38)
Yeah. And so if that would be huge for pastors just to know know the know their flock and know what their flock does and create messages that help them and disciple them in that.
Andy Mason (15:53)
Yeah. So real quick, you listen to this, you're a pastor, or you've got a pastor that wants to engage is not sure how. Really, really simple. One pray. Holy Spirit, who have you given me? Who am I a pastor? Who is in my flock? Know, be diligent to know the state of them. So number one, pray. Ask the Holy Spirit, which one of these people should I go meet with this week? And meet with one. Buy them a coffee. Like you would shock them if actually the pastor's the one. And
By the way, Pastor, if you listen to this and you haven't got the $5 to pay for the coffee, man, reach out to us. We'll help you with that. That'll be that'll be cool to do.
Randy Griffin (16:28)
So yeah. Yes.
Andy Mason (16:30)
and just ask them these questions. start with what are you, business person, seeing God already do in and through your place of work? That by itself is gonna just be mindful and it will give you resources to actually apply and talk to and refer back to on Sunday with what you're doing and preparing your valuable message, because that's really, really important.
And then ask that, what are you doing? And then just pastor, how are you doing? How how's your how's your marriage going? Because this business is great. I'm looking at all of this and you got, you know, pretty some wonderful employees. How's your marriage going? How's your kids doing? That's the gen genuine pastoral question. And then how can I pray for you? What do you need in order to grow and be all that God's called you to be in this place of work? Those questions alone were just
You you might be shocked and surprised. Don't try and create any program platform message before you even do that with, you know, four or six of them. And it's amazing what could happen. And and I'm at the conference, we're actually going to pull, and Randy's going to help me do this. We're going to just do a little breakout for pastors to connect with each other and actually give you some stuff. And and because I know there's different strategies and ideas and thoughts. How can we help one another do that? And by the way, we pay for you to come.
So no excuse. Randy, let's flip it. Okay.
Randy Griffin (17:49)
No excuse. Okay.
Andy Mason (17:52)
Now, so that was what I wish my pastor had known. Now flip it. You're the pastor.
you're a full time pastor. Let's say you've got, you know, two hundred, four hundred people that you are pastoring, you haven't come with any business context or lens. You like feel like God's called you to this and you've given yourself, you've done seminary, you pray, you read your Bible,
Randy Griffin (18:17)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (18:18)
And you've poured your life out for this local congregation. And then you got this business guy that walks in and
Randy Griffin (18:24)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (18:26)
you just like, man, I'm slightly intimidated by him because he's got resources that I don't have. He dresses pretty smart because he's got money. And I've been struggling just to feed my family because I'm paid a fraction because I'm on a pastor's salary. You
Randy Griffin (18:40)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (18:41)
know, so put yourself back in that hat. What do you wish that business person knew?
About you as the pastor.
Randy Griffin (18:49)
yeah, that's good. I I think
I've been there and done that, like we're literally, I think as pastors, laying down our life for people.
Andy Mason (18:58)
Yep.
Randy Griffin (18:58)
That's our heart. and and even though we may not have all the business acumen and all of that, there's no one else praying for them like we're praying for them, and just knowing that there's someone that really cares,
Andy Mason (19:16)
Yeah.
Randy Griffin (19:16)
you know?
for them and for their for their growth and all of that. and we're not too busy. Even though everyone is busy when when a call comes in, that's the most important thing, you know? so I wish they would I wish business people knew how hungry pastors were for that one on one and to really help.
Andy Mason (19:42)
Yeah. So so what could be a couple of things that a business person could do? I think what I'm hearing you say is business people don't recognize some of that internal world, the emotional, spiritual laying their life down that their pastor is walking through. And just sincerely, I want to help, but I don't know how.
Randy Griffin (20:05)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (20:06)
I think there's two things. One, we're
Business people've come in with baggage from previous places, like you talk about. I need to to forgive and remove my expectations and obligations of the pastor and remove that. And
Randy Griffin (20:20)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (20:21)
especially from previous. So I gotta walk through repentance and father forgive me for holding that offense where I've been treated like a checkbook. I feel like a checkbook, I feel like it just a transaction and it's just devaluing. Well, put that one aside.
Assuming that's done, what could a business person do practically to one honor and then two add value or make it easier to engage with that pastor?
Randy Griffin (20:49)
What could a business person do to make it easier to engage? I I think.
Humility.
Andy Mason (20:57)
I ouch, okay. Yeah.
Randy Griffin (21:03)
I I think you've got two things. You you got like what you said, you got the usually the pastor struggling because they're not making what they should make. and you know, we have this thing of, well, if he's successful in making money, he must have it all together. And the reality is that's just false.
Andy Mason (21:20)
no. Yeah very, very good. Yeah.
Randy Griffin (21:23)
You know? And so you gotta tear all that stuff down and go and do away with your preconceived notions of just because this guy's making a lot of money and God's blessed him to do that, it it doesn't mean I mean I I deal, you know, you the same, we deal with these guys every day. They're they're tr most CEOs are control freaks.
We just are OCD enough to try to run it all and
You know, we I say this all the time. it's Mike Tyson said it, everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face, And you're gonna get punched in the face in business and all of that and just having the humility to ask for help and
Know that you don't have all the answers, you know?
Andy Mason (22:11)
So just simply walk up your pastor. I hey, I appreciate you for what you do. Thank you. I thank you for praying for me. thank you for being diligent in the word. Cause because for most business people, I suck at that. I don't know even know where to start. Because
Randy Griffin (22:27)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (22:28)
it just seems to make no sense to what I'm doing for f for eight hours a day. So thank you for what you're doing, Pastor. thank you for praying for me. So that'd be number one. Number two, a real practical.
I need and then they'll choke over the words help. I
Randy Griffin (22:48)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (22:48)
need I need help. I I need to I mean I if for business people I've divorced my business life from my spiritual life and I'm not supposed to and I don't I know you don't understand my world, but would you be can I buy you lunch and you come into my workplace and actually just meet some of my people so that you know what's going on? And could you train me?
How to hear the voice of God for what's going on. How do I pastor my business people? How how do I pastor my employees? How do I do that? Just
Randy Griffin (23:19)
Yep. Yes.
Andy Mason (23:21)
even that conversation is going to provoke the pastor, encourage the pastor, light him up. because it's pulling on the gifting that is in them. And they're wired to do that.
Randy Griffin (23:33)
Yes. And and I and I would say, even as a C12 chair, I I see myself, and I and I would I would say this the same as being a pastor. We're we're it if you put it in medical terms, I think we're more of a general practitioner. If you come in with a with a problem, I I may not have the answer. And I think this is where churches get a little siloed sometime, is they try to create all the
And they try to create all the programs that answer the problems of their people. But the reality is, man, there's some great ministries, some great organizations, some great counselors, even C12, you know, some people would call it. C12 is a for-profit organization, but there's a lot of parachurch ministries. And sometimes churches don't they feel very territorial about that.
Andy Mason (24:21)
Yeah.
Randy Griffin (24:22)
You know, and my job, I feel like, as a C12 chair and even as a pastor was if
someone has a marriage problem that I'm not equipped to deal with deal with, I need to have some really good counsel counselors and not be afraid to see, say, you need to go to counseling or you need to go to some freedom ministries or you need to go to a, you know, a a marriage seminar somewhere. So I think, you know, pastors being willing to have an have an arsenal of things that they do that their church doesn't have to recreate because someone spent a whole lot of time and money and probably has a testimony of breakthrough.
in that area. So so being willing to to to do that, you know, 'cause we're we're all the body and we're here to help each other.
Andy Mason (25:06)
Yeah, so so business person, humble yourself, repent,
Randy Griffin (25:10)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (25:10)
get rid of past baggage as it pertains to the pastor. The pastor wants to help more than you realize, it just doesn't know how. So just
Randy Griffin (25:17)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (25:18)
build the bridge, go and initiate one appreciation, thank you, and then invite them into your world. And I like what you said. you, business person, look like you've got it all together because you got the money and the car and the the wife with the makeup and it's like
It's Dallas. You know, it's this is this is
Randy Griffin (25:36)
Yeah, yeah.
Andy Mason (25:37)
what you look like you've got it all together. And the pastor doesn't actually realize that deep down you're poor, wretched, miserable, blind, and naked, and you're struggling to connect with your wife and your kids and working through control and fear is just different to the pastor. So lower the barrier and just say, Pastor, man, I know like I know I look awesome. I know I work out every day and and you don't, but I do. I I know that.
But actually I'm broken on the inside and I need your help. Would you pray for me? Would you can
Randy Griffin (26:10)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (26:10)
I can I tell you really how I'm getting on with my marriage? How can I I need your help? I need the gifting on your life for me to be what God's called me to be. That this
Randy Griffin (26:19)
Yes, that's huge.
Andy Mason (26:22)
would be pretty wild, Randy. This this happens. Yeah.
Randy Griffin (26:26)
There would be
Andy Mason (26:27)
And let's believe for that because that's part of the plan. And it's
Randy Griffin (26:31)
Yes.
Andy Mason (26:31)
gonna be incredible.
So this is why I'm excited. You you're excited for when I called you, it was so encouraging to say, hey, we're coming into town, we're looking to do this. what is what interests and excites you about this conference coming up at the end of August?
Randy Griffin (26:50)
yeah, great question. I I I think I mean, you know that Jesus said to pray, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so heaven just doesn't happen inside the four walls of the church. The kingdom just doesn't happen there, it happens everywhere. And I think we have such especially in the Bible Belt. I mean, you're you're coming to the the buckle.
You know, of the Bible belt where but we still have this crazy sacred versus secular divide. And
Andy Mason (27:25)
We do. Yeah.
Randy Griffin (27:27)
you know, we say this all the time in C12. You know, Billy Graham said later on in his life they interviewed him and said, you know, where's the next great Billy where where's the next Billy Graham coming from? And where do you see the next great move of God coming? And he was basically like, Listen, there's not another Billy Graham coming. That anointing is just gonna come on everyone.
and the next great move of God is coming in the marketplace because it's where everyone is spending all their time. So I think if pastors could realize
not doing another evangelistic outreach and trying to bring people, but every person that every person that I'm pastoring, if they would have revival and the kingdom manifesting in their life, that's how my church could grow, not just, you know, from some other program, but but really reaching the people that I already that are already in my life. So I so I think what you guys are what what you're touching on in this conference is
How do how do we bring what Jesus prayed everywhere? Because that's where it belongs. The the gospel, the kingdom is best in the highways and byways of life.
Andy Mason (28:37)
Thank you. I I agree. Let let's go. So business person, join us there. You can you'll see the link below. And bring your pastor because if
Randy Griffin (28:46)
Yeah.
Andy Mason (28:47)
we can strengthen that relationship, that's an that's an army right there. One of us, but two of us can send a legion fleeing.
Randy Griffin (28:55)
Yes.
Andy Mason (28:55)
That's powerful. And so that's why we're paying for your pastor to come. You gotta pay, but your pastor gets paid for. So that's that's number one.
And Pastor, if you're listening to this, we want to encourage you and resource you to understand the language and what your business people are facing. And it's easier than you think. Surprisingly. And it's going to make rich relationships and we're going to see more kingdom advancing everywhere you go in your region. you get to come for free as long as you be bring at least one of your business people. If you've got any questions, reach out to us. That's gonna be really, really cool.
Thank you, Randy. This is really valuable. I'm looking forward to it. And let's just see what God will do.
Randy Griffin (29:40)
Yes. Amen. Thanks, Andy.