TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

It has been such a blessing to hear from so many corners of the world on this podcast. But today, we head to somewhere new. Our guest, Alex, is in Moscow and lives out his calling in a variety of teaching contexts, predominantly in higher education settings. I know you'll be encouraged by his story and insight today.

I'm your host, Nathan Jones, and I want to thank you for joining me once again on this episode of the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Alex, thanks again for your time, I've been looking forward to getting to know you and your story a bit. So, let's jump in. Give us a little bit of your background, where you're from, your life growing up, that sort of thing.

ALEX

Thanks for this invitation and the opportunity to share about my life, my experience. I was born in a country that does not exist anymore. And my grandfather was a Soviet military officer, so we moved a lot throughout Central Asia, lived in different locations and throughout the Soviet Union in general, as well.

In this sense my family was not like atheist or anti-religious. But it was not religious either. But somehow and I don't know how, I was thinking about God since my childhood.

So, my first question was to my grandmother, like, “Who is God?” And the first thing I ever heard about God from an adult was that He's someone who keeps everything in order and punishes the evil ones. And I'm like, “What does that mean?” and she says, “You know, if a bad boy insults you, God makes him break his arm.” So, the first thing about God I've ever heard was that, you know, God is someone breaking other children's arms.

So, there was no spiritual or religious context in general. So, only many years later, I found that my grand grandfather was a church minister and actually persecuted and, you know, murdered for his faith by the Soviet government.

Yeah, as I said, I was thinking about God my entire life. And when I was in school, I read everything I could find. But that was not much because I was growing up in a village. The only thing I could find was like some passages from Genesis, the Sermon on the Mount, and I think the first and the last chapters of the Gospel according to John. So, that's what I could find by 10-11 years.

And then, me and my mother, we tried to go to the Orthodox Church. But that was the period when there was only one priest and a couple of babushki. In my context, when people hear about that, they immediately understand that means two old women sitting in the corner and looking at you with evil eyes. And if you stand or do something or say something that is not right, they're ready to show you how to do that.

So, after like several times, I realized that just nothing happens. I stopped going there. And then, I met some missionaries. And I had all those kinds of questions, and their answers pretty much satisfied me. So, I was 14 when I decided to be baptized. My mother was the first person in this location. So, we were the first persons to be baptized. So, that's how the local church in that region started back then.

NATHAN

Where were those missionaries from? Were they local or were they from another country?

ALEX

Well, actually, most of them were from the United States. A couple of them from the neighborhood church, they were from Scandinavia. And I believe a couple of them were like from Baltic region. But mostly, those were American.

NATHAN

So, you were 14. What impact did that decision have on your life? 

ALEX

A friend of my grandmother was our teacher of physics in our school, you know, the kind of fighting atheist. When she heard about that, for several times in front of my classmates, she would say, “Stand up!” And I would stand up and she would ask, “Now tell me: what in the world would you have to do with those sectarians?” And I would say something that like, “I believe in God.”

And next time she would do the same and I would say something, you know, “I go to church” and so forth and so on. So, then I think she just gave up on me, thinking that I'm a part of some cult or something. That was one of the first experiences, because there was no enthusiasm among the people.

Most people would say, “Are you crazy?” or “Why wouldn't you go to a normal church?”  Yeah, that was my context. Not that I'm pessimistic, but often being a Christian in the context where I grew up would not mean something, you know, cool.

It would mean you would, in addition to other challenges, you would have some new challenges like trying to explain to people you're a normal person and in fact, it's good to be Christian. You will not lie like others, or you will not steal like others.

NATHAN

So, bring us to today. What work and ministry does the Lord have you involved in?

ALEX

I grew up in this pedagogical environment. My mother has been a teacher her entire life. Even today, my wife is a teacher and whenever we had guests, most people were teachers, my mother's friends.

And you know, going to a teachers’ college or a pedagogical university would be the last thing I would do in my life, because I knew from my childhood how hard this work is. It's hard work and often, people are not grateful for all those hard work and efforts. 

But God has a sense of humor. And finally, I graduated from pedagogical university. I'm glad I did because that was a good education, and I still work in this sphere. In addition to academic studies and education for more than 20 years, I work in Christian education sphere and Christian studies.

So, that's my work. That's my job. That's my ministry and my vocation, as well. Because looking at my life, I realized that it didn't happen chaotically or in some disorder. Or it's an irony, I never wanted to be a teacher, and I am now. But I see God leading me to particular places and with particular fruits that my work or my ministry bring.

So, yes, that's my work. But to me, being a worker and a minister, there's an equal sign between that. I believe, in ideal, our work should be our ministry and our vocation. And the happiest person, happiest Christian in the world is the one who works and to him his work is a ministry.

NATHAN

Is your teaching what age range?

ALEX

It’s not like high school. I used to work at the Christian University as an international program director. So, I would teach to students mostly from the West in their early 20s.

Some seminars, the last seminars I've been teaching for the past couple of years, those would be like adult ministers or pastors or Christian businessmen who take an active part in church life.

So, yeah, I'm certainly not and I never wanted to work with kids. I prefer to work with people who already have some motivation. You don't have to motivate them. That's probably my weakness!

NATHAN

Well, Alex, this is the Inspiring Stewards podcast. We'd love to hear what role the biblical principle of stewardship has played in your life.

ALEX

That's one thing for which I'm grateful the most. Somehow, very soon after my baptism, God has put this idea in my mind that work should be your ministry and in ideal, it should reflect your vocation.

So, to me, there has never been this border or, you know, I have never been into this false dualism of secular versus spiritual or church versus world. Or ministry is only ministry when you minister inside the church. Or mission is only mission when you go, in my context, we would say like the most distant place on earth is Africa.So, you go to Africa for mission.

Not that I have something against Africa. But to many people in my context, mission is going somewhere far away. It's not your workplace. Or your ministry is when you preach in church, not when you do your job good, or good enough, at least.

So, I have never been into this. So, in this sense, that was the first stewardship principle I learned that when I work, whether in church or not; when I minister, whether in church or not, you still minister. You serve to God and people, and that's the way to expand the kingdom of God in this place, not just in the church. So, that would be the first principle.

And the last principle that I try to improve in my personal life is that I would always understand that whatever we have in this life, it's not by our efforts. We are born naked in this world. We will pass away from this world naked. Like the Bible says, you know, there's nothing you can take with you from this world.

But I don't know. Maybe that's the feature of my current age: middle crisis, even though it's not that bad as people say. But anyway, to me, I realize that, at some point of my life after several crises, I get quite attached to what I have or the amount on my bank account, which is normal. I believe, these things, if managed properly and according to God's principles, they are given by God. But I realize that they comfort me more than they should.

So, I really have to remind myself, it's not something permanent. This won't last forever. Your job, your money, you know, your property, this is something given by God. But it should not be the source of your comfort or kind of hope for tomorrow. So that's the last stewardship principle that has been influencing my life. But still there's a sphere to grow.

NATHAN

Take a step back. How are you seeing God at work uniquely at this time in history and in your world, whether it's locally or on a larger scale?

ALEX

I remember a conversation with the people of my age back when I was a student. I found that a couple of guys at the university, and this was the third biggest university in my country, so it's like lots of people. So, it took me time to find out if there are other Christians, and I found a couple of guys.

One of them organized like an open meeting. The faculty invited everyone to, you know, discuss relevant matters. There were two persons, obviously, kind of anti-faith or anti-religion kind of people. So, they asked the question, like, “Where was God during World War I or World War II? And where He is now?”

So, it's pretty much, you know, you can't answer those questions, like, logically and – it's a symbolic saying – biblically. You can quote half of the bible verses and still not answer the question unless your opponent is a believer too.

I really like the answer of that person who initiated this gathering. He said, “My God is there where He can work to prevent World War III.” And that gave me insight that, God is– He’s not somewhere, He's here! In spite of all imperfections and conflicts happening all around, He's actively working in preventing like, worse things. He's doing something. Sometimes it's hard to believe, but He is there, and He is active in His work.

Locally, the situation is very tough. And many people pray for violence and war to stop. As I said, God is active, preventing worse things or doing something good, despite the evil that happens. And I believe one of His primary tools, at least in ideal, is the church or individual believers. So, it's up to us whether we join His work or not. That's probably the other stewardship principle.

Of course, He is omnipotent, so His will be done, and is being done. So, it's up to you whether you want to join this blessed, but also very hard work, and lots of responsibilities.

NATHAN

That's wonderful. So, as we're wrapping up our time, Alex, any final thoughts you would have for those listening today as an encouragement?

ALEX

I believe, at least that's my guess, that many of our listeners would be from regions that are not considered like, you know, wealthy, prosperous, lucky regions. I believe lots of our listeners face different challenges, also related to social life or material well-being.

That's where I come from, and I'm still there today. So, what I would say, especially to such people, and I am among those people: stay focused on God and His will He manifested through Christ to be able to use the tools that He gives us through the Holy Spirit.

Because it's not culture. It's not our possessions. It's not even our church sometimes, or even just our circles or friends or other people around us who are the real or the ultimate sources of happiness. You know, people can do bad things. The church is the body of Christ, but it's still the assembly of imperfect people.

The material prosperity will vanish any day, tonight, tomorrow, next year. Sometimes I think we replace God with those things. But when those things are in order, on the right place and when we try to do the way God commands us to do and steward them according to God's will, that's when we see God at work also in our life.

Let us all stay focused on the source of everything, which is God, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And be careful not to replace Him with other things, even good things.

NATHAN

Great final word. Alex, thank you for your time today.

ALEX

Thank you, and God bless you.