The Big Show

Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."

The Big Show is a term used in professional baseball when a player makes the roster of a major league team. Only one in 200 high school ball players will ever get this chance. If you were able to accomplish one Big Show moment, what would it be? A promotion? A successfully negotiated contract? A lifetime achievement award? For me, my selection to Deputy Police Chief with only fifteen years of experience was one of those moments.

What if achieving a Big Show moment meant you had to compromise your faith? This blog post tells the story of Terry Davis. Terry is a Christian who did not compromise when his Big Show moment was within reach. He stood in the dugout of success looking out at a major league field. His name was on the roster, it was his turn to bat, the bases were loaded and he was going to hit a grand slam. God told him to leave the dugout and go to the parking lot. Terry obeyed.

Terry is the CEO of Tri-California Events, Inc. (Tri-California) He was the marketing, special events and tourism director with the County of Monterey and started the Wildflower Triathlon in 1983. In 1994, Terry accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior and started an event management company with his wife Betsy. In 2000, the Lymphoma Society asked Terry to develop and manage a marathon event to raise money for cancer research. At this point in his career, he was a AAA minor league organizer but that all changed when Nike decided to be the major sponsor of the event. Nike guaranteed that the Lymphoma Society would receive $3,000,000 a year as a major sponsor. The venue for the marathon was in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Terry would become a major league player in the event management world. Many are called, few are chosen.

Planning began in earnest. Terry worked with vendors, government organizations and Nike executives to build an event to exceed everyone's expectations. In the middle of getting all the pieces in place, he received an e-mail from the Nike marketing group wanting to put a female twist on the event naming it the Nike Goddess Marathon. Terry read the message and his heart stopped cold. This was a sports event to help people with lymphoma and a woman battling cancer does not feel like a goddess.

Terry had invested a lot of time and energy into planning the event and knew this would change the course of his career. Yet Terry was a Christian first. He followed the one, true God; not a Greek deity.  Terry said, "My God doesn't want me to work for a goddess." He sent an e-mail recommending Nike to change the name of the event with all his reasons. Nike reps responded and indicted they were going to keep the name.

Terry told God that he wanted to do the event. God told him no. He sent a letter to Nike respectfully stepping down as race director; explaining his concerns about the name of the event and that as a Christian, he would not compromise his faith. He wrote that he would assist with the transition to a different event organizer. He was at peace.

In the weeks that followed, Terry visited all of the people, government agencies and vendors explaining why he stepped down. He shared the faith he had in Christ and people could not believe he would walk away from the money, the prestige and the fame.  Terry listed to God not the world.  Three weeks later, Nike marketing dropped Goddess from the event name, seemingly agreeing with Terry it was not a good choice of a title. It was renamed the Nike Women’s Marathon.

This was not the end of the story. Three months after the race, Nike would ask Terry back to organize the 2001 event. Without Goddess in the name, Terry was comfortable that he could honor God with the event.  He has done so ever since. Standing firm in faith allowed Terry to share the hope he has in Christ with countless people. 

 

There is no compromise, we are called to share our faith and incorporate it into our business lives. With each opportunity to tell people about the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, we chip away at the stone of unbelief. Terry continues to sow seeds of faith in the triathlon marathon and event business community witnessing and helping people to become totally committed to Jesus Christ along the way.

Where is God calling you to step out in faith in your workplace?
 

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On January 8, 2013, Terry lost his oldest son Nick in a solo motorcycle accident at Westmont College.  This post is in the memory of Nick Davis. Pray for Terry and his family that they are comforted as they deal with the loss of Nick.  For more information  go to nickdavismemories.com .