Discipleship of Time w/ Alexander Brandt

Cara: Hello friends, and welcome to this episode of GC Podcast. This podcast is devoted to exploring best ministry practices in the context of Grace Communion International churches. I’m your host, Cara Garrity, and today I am happy to have Alexander Brandt as our guest. Alexander is a pastor at GCI Winnipeg, and today we’re going to continue our conversation exploration of our 2025 theme Kingdom Culture by continuing this conversation about our investment of time, talent, and treasure, and the kingdom.

Today we’re going to be focusing on our investment of time. So, Alexander, thank you so much for joining us today.

Alexander: Of course. Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you.

[00:00:49] Cara: Absolutely. And so, as we jump right on in, I’m just curious: From your perspective, what does our time even have to do with this idea of kingdom culture?

[00:01:01] Alexander: Oh, that’s a great question. I think one of, I’m just going to go back to my history a little bit, and one of the things I grew up wondering was about time and I also started looking at time as a commodity that I could spend. And I realized that I wasn’t probably giving a tithe of my time, even though there’s no scripture that tells you to give a tithe of your time.

But I was considering how much time it actually takes to give a tithe and on the one hand, it feels like it’s too much, like you’re asking for 16 hours a week, which seems significant. And yet, as I got older, I realized the whole idea of giving tithe of time is really not accurate to what God is asking of us or what Jesus is requiring of us. In fact, if we want to make it a requirement, what Jesus is asking for is all of our time, all of it, to invest all of us. So, it really isn’t something that we can give a 10% of. It’s something that God wants: all of us, including all of our time.

And it simultaneously lifted the burden off me to feel like, okay, I have to spend four hours serving. I have to spend four hours reading my Bible. I have to spend four hours looking for different opportunities, and then another four hours doing church. It lifted a burden off me so that I could actually spend my time devoted to God.

And on the other hand, it felt like, wow, that’s such a more significant amount of investment because now I have to consider how I’m investing every moment. I just try not to think about it legalistically. I just strive to recognize that me and everything I am and I have is kingdom-based and belongs to the kingdom.

[00:03:31] Cara: Yeah. I really like thinking that perspective and that insight of all of us belongs to the kingdom and to Jesus. And so that’s everything that we have, including time.

And I think that idea of like even time as a commodity is really interesting to me because I think we don’t often reflect on how we spend our time and where we spend our time and what we spend our time doing. But to think of it as a resource in that sense and how is everything that we have invested in the kingdom. I think it’s a really interesting question for us to be reflective of and really to be discerning and praying about.

And so, you’ve shared like a little bit of what this has looked like for you personally in that journey. And so, can you share a little bit more of what it’s looked like for you to be discipled in investing your time in the kingdom? What has that journey looked like? How have you been shaped in this shifting perspective?

[00:04:32] Alexander: Yeah, absolutely. As I was entering into pastoral ministry almost 10 years ago. Then I was working as a lay minister and I was working a full-time job, probably putting in over 50 hours a week at a job that actually paid me. And then I was putting in a lot of extra time for the church and preparing sermons, getting ready for bible studies, trying to work with one-on-one discipleship mentoring kind of stuff.

And then, in the little bit of downtime that I would have, I would end up feeling like, okay, I just want to crash. I just want to essentially waste time. And I found that during that time I would end up feeling more burnt out by wasting my time instead of investing my time. And I slowly begin to realize that you can spend your time doing almost the exact same things, but when you have a different perspective of what you’re doing with your time.

If, for instance, you could waste your time watching TV, but you could invest your time watching TV. If you have a friend that you can intentionally spend time with that friend watching an episode or two of a show, and build into that relationship and invest that time and feel some sort of, and after that experience, you often feel more renewed. But when you just slap on the couch and you just turn on the show and it’s on repeat and it’s just playing, you can often get up from that experience and just be in the daze and really not enjoy the result.

And you’ve essentially done the exact same thing, but one instance you’ve invested that time with a kingdom mindset or with the idea that it’s not about what I’m doing, it’s about … time really is everything.

It’s the most valuable thing we have and when it’s wasted without our direct control of it, just like how with a budget, when you just mindlessly spend and you all of a sudden get out of the haze, you give your head a shake and you think, wow, I’ve really wasted what I thought I worked really hard for, and I just let it slip through my fingers without control.

Time is the exact same thing, except for we don’t work really hard for it. God has worked really hard for it on our behalf. And when we just let it slip through our fingers, we end up in that similar kind of haze and we wake up and shake our head and wonder how did I just let that go without intentionally controlling this valuable commodity.

And I’ve lost track of the question. It’s just something I’m very passionate about because of the value of it. And so, as I went from a young minister who felt like I had to just turn my brain off at times and I end up wasting time, I’ve now realized how valuable it is, even during downtime, to be intentional about how you are rejuvenating yourself.

So even if you can’t invest in other people with your downtime, if you’re an introvert and you need to recharge by being by yourself, be intentional about the things that you know bring you energy. Even if you’re not a great painter, maybe you need to paint, maybe you need to listen to worship music or you have to listen to whatever kind of music that that you can really reconnect with. Or you go to a park or you drink a really good cup of coffee or whatever it is. Be intentional with how you are restoring that energy instead of allowing more time to slip away and you’ll end up … even if you might end up a little bit more physically tired, your brain will be in a much better spot and you’ll feel much more renewed if you are intentional with that time, especially on the recharge side of things.

[00:09:48] Cara: I am really — what’s the word I’m looking for — really interested in this comparison that you’ve made between wasting time and investing time. I think that’s a really, clear and, I think, impactful image of, are we wasting time, investing it?

And I really like your point that sometimes it’s even the same activity, but it’s just what’s our posture of it? What’s the purpose of that time?

Alexandar: Exactly.

Cara: So, maybe it’s not even the activity itself. But what are we doing it for? Why are we doing it? But I think that’s really … yeah, I just, I’ve never really heard that quite succinct way of wasting versus investing time in that way.

And I think our use of time, like you said, even for the rejuvenation of ourself or the investment in relationships or kind of those things that are edifying and support our work with God. I think that investment can look a lot of different ways, but it’s an investment instead of that wasting. Yeah, I really like that image. Thanks for sharing that.

And so, when we start thinking about, then, what that can look like to invest in instead of waste, what is maybe one thing that you would say we can do to participate in this discipleship and investment of our time in the kingdom?

[00:11:19] Alexander: Yeah. I think the best way to start investing in the kingdom is investing in people. People are … so time is the most valuable thing you have and the most important thing that you spend that on is other people. Other people are the most valuable thing that God wants, and we are in the kingdom.

And so, I just go ahead, extend this metaphor a little bit — if we have this commodity and it’s going to be our best asset at purchasing the most valuable thing to add to the kingdom, that just as our dollars are the most valuable thing for adding things to our physical lives, our material state, our time is that valuable thing to add the things that God wants in the kingdom, and that’s other people.

So, if you are trying to invest that time, bring other people along. If you’re going for coffee and you have the … so for me, I need a little bit of alone time for rejuvenating. But if you have that, if you want to get a cup of coffee anyways, and it’s just part of how you’re spending your day, invite somebody, bring them along. And it doesn’t have to be a scripted conversation about the gospel. You are being good news if you are embodying and extending the good news that which you have received, then you are investing that, what you have, into that other person.

And investing in other people is crucial. And I think, and the conversation will probably get there, but when we talk about church we aren’t better together because it’s easier together. We are better together because we aren’t ultimately looking for my personal success. We aren’t looking for your personal success. We’re looking for the success of the kingdom. And so that means we benefit the kingdom when we invest in one another, even if we’re investing in fellow believers. Even if we are like co-mentoring each other, or I’m not sure if that’s really a thing that I’d like.

[00:14:20] Cara: I’d like to think so. Yes.

[00:14:23] Alexander: All of my friendships feel that way, like I don’t feel like there’s a mentor-mentee kind of situation, but, rather, we learn from each other and we benefit each other. And that’s iron sharpening iron, I suppose, is the biblical analogy there. But it really is.

If you want to start, just start small and bring other people along. And you might not think that you have this wealth of wisdom to share. But again, the wisdom isn’t the most valuable thing that you have to share. It’s your heart. If you share your time with people, that will be good news for them.

[00:15:12] Cara: Yes, I really appreciate even that practical step of starting small and starting with something that you already do. Like if you already go and get a cup of coffee, then just bring somebody along. Going back to the idea of investing versus just like wasting or using time. If you’re already doing it anyways, can you do it in a way that maybe has a, like you said, that analogy, like a higher level of investment in kingdom values.

Because if we think about like kingdom culture and how we’re building and participating in that culture I think you’re absolutely right that people and relationships have such high value in a culture that reflects the kingdom. And so how do we spend our time in a way that reflects that and participates in that?

Even as you were talking, I get this image of what are, and you’ve inspired me to think about things like, what are the things that I do in my day-to-day life that are just ordinary things that have to get done that could be infused with this really intentional relational aspect, like grocery shopping. Everyone needs to go grocery shopping. So why not grocery shop together? And that transforms then into a time of just getting things that you need, which is valuable, right? Because you need to get food for yourself and your household and whatever that looks like. But it can transform it into something even a little bit more rich, where you’re doing that while you’re spending time with somebody.

And I like how you said, like, where you’re blessing them, of being good news to them, just by the sharing of your time. So, I really think that’s a helpful practical step to start with what you already do. Just bring folks along and be like that.

[00:17:01] Alexander: Yeah. And I, if I could build off your example of grocery shopping, that’s something that we don’t think of enough, especially … I’m sure most of the people listening live in a city or live close to a city. They understand what a university is. And a lot of the younger people that you want to bring into your churches, they might have moved there to go to university, and mom and dad might have taught them to do their laundry.

But how do I go grocery shopping? How do I actually find a good deal? What is a good deal? That’s an incredible resource that most parents don’t think to pass down to their kids because the taking that time to intentionally say, “Okay, this is a good price for meat,” or “this is a good price for milk,” or “this is a good price for eggs,” and “watch these flyers.”

It’s something that, it’s just such a chore for parents to do groceries that they don’t think about passing that skill set down. And so that’s an incredible opportunity to bless, encourage, and mentor, especially young people who are looking for that. And I promise, no matter what your church has as far as music, if you have people in your church that are helping the university students, the freshman students learn how to do grocery shopping, that feeling of, oh, people are investing their energy, their effort, their time, that’s going to change a young person’s life in dramatic ways.

[00:19:02] Cara: And I really appreciate that you … I think we often give that attention to things like what’s the style of music or those kinds of aspects to attract young people. But I think that you’re right. I think it’s that relational aspect and how are we building and investing in those relationships with our time that really matters most.

[00:19:13] Alexander: Yeah, absolutely. I have in our congregation, … and I’m definitely not perfect at this and I’m, like I said, I can be a little bit more introverted at times … I’m still, this is something I’m still growing in, but our young adults leader, a person that’s leading the college and career age ministry right now, I happen to be there and around and God gave me the opportunity to invest into his life and I’m convinced that the reason he’s in our church isn’t because we have the best music or the most entertaining sermon even, or the most inspiring service. But it’s because people have invested and then right away, he started investing back into serving in the kitchen and then didn’t take long by his own investment of time. And so, the investment that was right away placed in and with him, he started to return with his own investment of time.

And he has really transformed our young adults’ ministry in an incredible way. And that would’ve never happened. But yeah, if people didn’t Intentionally invest with him when he first got to our church, I’m at least 80% sure that he would’ve found another church that had at least a better service or had a little bit more money to put towards the experience of coming on a Sunday morning.

[00:21:06] Cara: Yeah. And I think that’s such a tangible example even of what do we mean when we talk about kingdom culture, right? Because what are the most important aspects of that culture? And I think sometimes when we think of culture, we think of like, how does, you know the Sunday worship experience sound, how does it look? How does it, and those are all things that are part of a church’s local expression of culture.

But when we’re talking about like how, what time has to do with kingdom culture, I think those are the lesser, right, those lesser things. And so, I think that’s a really powerful example that you’ve given, that what was a thing that kind of multiplied tenfold within your congregation was the investment of time and then this person’s reinvestment of that time because of what was invested in them.

[00:22:00] Alexander: Yeah, exactly. And I think that church culture is far more about how this; how it makes somebody feel when they are there, because you’ll never out entertain a movie theater. Whatever the latest nightclub is doing, you’ll never outdo that. But you can make people feel that they matter and that they are worth investing in. And when they receive that gift, they will reciprocate.

[00:22:38] Cara: Well, this has been really rich. I have really appreciated your insights, Alexander. As we’re getting ready to wrap up our conversation, what is maybe a final word of advice or encouragement that you would offer to our listeners who are really starting to be prayerful and discerning about the use and investment of their own time?

[00:22:58] Alexander: Yeah, I think I’ll return a little bit to that. I mentioned how parents — and I’m experiencing this myself. I know how when you’re taking care of chores, then involving somebody else makes that more difficult and slows you down. And so, whether you are talking about parenting or discipling, which I think is really very similar work, don’t be afraid to have the process slowed down if that means that you are investing your effort and time into somebody else’s life.

Because that time will hopefully give them a skillset or that will give them encouragement or it’ll give them a little bit of wisdom, or it will help them understand at the very least. At the very least, it’ll help them know that they are loved and worth somebody investing their time in. And I know that God invested everything into them by Jesus dying on the cross. I know that it’s worth at least us slowing down and taking a little bit more time, too, even if it makes our chores go a little bit longer.

[00:24:22] Cara: Amen. Amen. Thank you for leaving us with that last encouragement. And thank you for taking your time to join us today and for sharing what God has been doing in your life, what you’ve been seeing, and how you’ve seen that even growing within the life of your congregation. I really appreciate you gifting us with this time today.

And so, it is our practice with GC Podcast to end our show in prayer. And so, would you be willing to pray for our churches and our pastors, our members, ministry leaders, and GCI and all of our listeners?

[00:25:00] Alexander: Absolutely.

Heavenly Father, we praise you that you are God, Creator, Sustainer. You have given us this life. All that we have is from you. I pray for all of the members of the GC denomination and those in churches outside of the denomination, all those who are part of your church. I pray, Lord, that you would bless them and encourage them by them taking the time to listen to the podcast, by them taking time to search for you and search for a deeper relationship with you. I pray, Lord, that you would return their effort and grow in them a deep and rich relationship with you. And I pray as people continue on with their day, I pray, Lord, that you would go with them and give them your peace by the power of your Holy Spirit, strengthening them and encouraging them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

[00:26:09] Cara: Amen. Until next time y’all keep on living and sharing the gospel.

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Thank you for listening to the GC Podcast. We hope this episode inspired and equipped you to lead with health and purpose. We would love to hear from you. If you have a suggestion on a topic or if there’s someone who you think we should interview, please email us at info@gci.org. And remember, healthy churches grow from hearts grounded in Christ. As you invest in yourself and your leaders, keep your eyes on Jesus, our faithful guide and sustaining hope.