Pastor Geoff Woodward from Metro Church, joined Bec and Asa on Drive to unpack what it means to stick to your values.

Staying true to our own values can be difficult when other people don’t share that same perspective. Pastor Geoff discussed his own experiences when it came to following the prompt of God.

Courtside Conflict

“One story sticks out to me … I was playing basketball at Lakeside, had been playing there every week. On this particular day, a young referee was making some errors and needed my help.”

One way or another Geoff recalled speaking out of turn in the moment. On the way home from the game he felt the Holy Spirit speak to him.

Holy Spirit in the Backseat

“I don’t remember whether we won or lost, but on the way home, I do remember, the Holy Spirit’s in the backseat. Not Literally, figuratively.”

“I’m getting this thing of like, go back and apologize, and I’m going, oh, forget it. Like, hello, he was wrong. I’m not gonna do that, but it won’t stop. So in the end, I get off the next exit, which was about a 10 minute or 15 minute loop back, go back there, wait for a break and play, go up to this guy who’s a ref, and I said, I’m really sorry, I apologize, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

The referee then looked at him and said, “What did you do that for? You didn’t have to come back.”

Who I Want to Be

“And out of my mouth, I said this without really having thought it out. I said, ‘No, you don’t understand. It’s not about you. It’s about me and who I want to be. I don’t want to be that kind of person.’ And that stayed with me forever, all these years.”

Geoff said it was more about what that person thought about him but rather having the integrity to stand strong in who he wanted to be.

“Like, for me, generosity is a high value. I want to be a generous person in life. And so I want to be a giver.”

Give to Those Who Ask

Geoff referenced the scripture of Matthew 5:42:

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:42

“Jesus said, give. if they ask, give. He didn’t say if they deserve it. He didn’t say go figure it out, follow it up and make sure they’re doing it right. I go, I want to be generous. I want to be a positive and encouraging person,” he said.

Geoff said he also had a story of a time he didn’t get it right, because he wasn’t obedient in the moment.

“I remember being at church one day on my own, I’m praying in the church building because I’ve got a key. And I walk out and here’s this guy who’s obviously a street person and I think I should give him some cash I had.”

He said that he hesitated and it took him driving home once again, for that voice to prompt him again, to convict him not to judge what the man might do with it, and he turned the car around.

Listen in the Moment

“I turn around, drive back, but he’s nowhere to be seen. And that’s just as big a lesson for me because I go, you’ve got to do it while you can.”

Nobody’s Perfect

There is a misconception that many people have about Christians being perfect people.

Geoff listed businesses that sponsor Sonshine as an example.

“The expectation then is, you will be perfect. That if they come and do a job for you, they’re going to be better than anybody else. But no one’s perfect all the time.”

“I think it’s just a matter of, for me, it’s not about what you do or they do. It’s very intensely personal. This is who I want to be. And it’s not a million things. It’s just a few. And I find the more I surrender to it, becomes a habit in your life. It just becomes second nature. You just go, that’s the way I live.”

Check out the full chat with Pastor Geoff Woodward below.