This transcript was exported on Oct 08, 2020 - view latest version here. Announcer: Welcome to The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, a podcast all about leadership, change and personal growth. The goal? To help you lead like never before in your church or in your business. And now, your host, Carey Nieuwhof. Carey Nieuwhof: Well, hey, everybody, and welcome to episode 371 of the podcast. My name is Carey Nieuwhof, and I hope our time together today helps you lead like never before. This episode features Lecrae, the hip- hop artist, and we talk all about, well, what do we talk about? We talk about how he lost his faith when he was on top of the world, finding it again, the anxiety and pressure of life at the top, and overcoming personal trauma. A lot of leaders have been through a lot of trauma. This episode is brought to you by Red Letter Challenge. For our podcast listeners only, go to redletterchallenge.com/being, they will mail a free copy of their newest challenge, the Being Challenge, directly to you for free. And by International Cooperating Ministries, ICM. Check out ICM's latest report, designed to equip you with information on a growing global church, by going to icm.org/growingglobal. Carey Nieuwhof: Well, man, oh, man, I've got to tell you, it has been quite a year, hasn't it? And I just want to say, it's such a joy to be able to still partner with you. So many of you have joined the podcast, found the podcast, thank you for your encouragement. If this episode, and I think it will, if it encourages you, if it inspires you, if it challenges you, and you want to share it, just do so on social. Let Lecrae know that you heard it, let myself know. I'm Carey Nieuwhof on Instagram, cnieuwhof on Twitter and Facebook. So, just share it, get the word out, and thank you for leaving ratings and reviews as well. We so appreciate that, and it's a joy to be able to do this together. Carey Nieuwhof: We also have at the end of this episode, What I'm Thinking About segment, and I want to talk about what happens when we lose our minds online. You ever notice, sometimes our social feed gets a little bit crazy? Well, when Christians lose their minds, people lose their faith. So, I'll do that in the What I'm Thinking About segment at the end. Let me tell you a little bit about Lecrae. Lecrae is recognized as the first artist to have an album debut at number one for both the Billboard 200 and the gospel chart simultaneously. He is a multiple Grammy Award winner. He has gained respect for his socially conscious advocacy work, and speaks directly into some of the most important conversations facing our nation. Carey Nieuwhof: His latest album, Restoration, features, well, all kinds of incredible artists, including John Legend. And he's got a brand new book out today called I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith. He has helped to found and establish the Peace Preparatory Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, and created partnerships with Love Beyond Walls and Masks for the People, which have directly impact disenfranchised communities during the COVID global pandemic. He resides with his wife and three kids in Atlanta, Georgia, and it's just been a joy to get to know Lecrae. We ended up in the same green room at an event we were doing together in 2019, really hit it off, started comparing notes about some of the highs and lows of leadership. And it's just great to be able to bring that conversation to you a little bit later on. Carey Nieuwhof: CNLP_372 –With_LeCrae (Completed 10/06/20) Page 1 of 25 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Oct 08, 2020 - view latest version here. So, I said, "Hey, would you ever be up for the podcast?" He's like, "Yeah, 100%. So, I'm just thrilled, you'll find it real and raw. And, hey, if you're looking for a way to unify your congregation as you head into, well, a brand new season, you may want to consider the Being Challenge from our friends at the Red Letter Challenge. The same people who brought you the Red Letter Challenge have put together a brand new 40-day challenge your whole church can go through. It's called the Being Challenge. And what it does is it focuses on the five keystone habits of Jesus. When the disruption came in 2020, new habits were formed by everyone, and the best habits of all, of course, are those that lead you to life. So, just like the original Red Letter Challenge, the Being Challenge is a turnkey 40-day church challenge, it's got everything. Carey Nieuwhof: It's got small group guides, videos are already done. Your sermons are complete, you can use them, modify them, write your own, whatever. Kids' curriculum's done, graphics are done. It truly is turnkey. The first wave of churches are going through it right now, seeing great results. Small groups are back up again, engagement is reaching all time highs, and social media engagement even increases. And right now, you can get some specials, 10 to 40% off, at redletterchallenge.com/being. That's redletterchallenge.com/being. And if you're a pastor and you want to check it out, but you're like, "I don't know if it's right for me." Because you listen to this podcast, go to redletterchallenge.com/being, request a free copy, they will mail it directly to you. Carey Nieuwhof: Also, there's so much bad news. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just look at my phone, I'm like, "I can't do it anymore." Well, did you know, on Sunday, September 6, just over a month ago, 1,400 new believers were baptized in Central Thailand. That actually made my feed. It was really encouraging. Not only is that one of the largest baptism services in the history of that country, those first-generation Thai believers come from one of the least Christianized people groups in the world. And they are just the latest wave in an indigenous movement that has been growing in that country. So, maybe that surprises you, well, believe it or not, stories of explosive church growth haven't been exactly leading the news cycle, but it is happening. And our partner, ICM, International Cooperating Ministries, is in the middle of it. Carey Nieuwhof: So, if your church is committed to missions and you need some good news stories to share with people, ICM has a report that's designed to equip you with the information on trends in a growing global church. It has insights you can share with people in your church who want to know the good news about what's happening globally. You can check it out by going to icm.org/growingglobal. That's icm.org/growingglobal. So glad you joined us, man, why don't we just dive right into my conversation, the real and raw one with Lecrae? Carey Nieuwhof: Lecrae, welcome to the podcast. It's such an honor to have you. Lecrae: Glad to be here. Carey Nieuwhof: CNLP_372 –With_LeCrae (Completed 10/06/20) Page 2 of 25 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Oct 08, 2020 - view latest version here. Yeah. Hey, you and I had a chance to meet backstage at an event we did, I think, in Dallas, last year, really hit it off, had a good conversation. And I said, "Man, it'd be great to have you on the podcast." You've got a brand new book, which I actually have read cover to cover, great book. And in it, you talk a lot about the celebrity journey, your relationship with your faith, how you lost it, how you found it. But I want to talk about, because we all, particularly in this Instagram age, everybody wants to be famous, everybody wants to be well known, everybody wants to be recognized, but celebrity has pressures and surprises that I think a lot of people don't see. Can you start just by talking about some of the pressures and surprises you've had with the celebrity that's coming your way? Lecrae: Yeah, I think the pressures of celebrity are really, some of them are self-imposed, some of them... I think the biggest thing that I found is that the higher people exalt you, the more they demand of you to fit whatever ideal they have. And when you don't live up to that, in whatever respect, then they're a lot more eager to tear you down. So, we tend to do that. We tend to build up our idols and tear them down just as fast. So, I think I wasn't prepared to be praised as much as I was, and criticized as much as I was. And just finding a space to find myself, to be myself. I actually talk about that on the album a lot, where I just need the space to process, because there're so many voices praising and criticizing all the time. Carey Nieuwhof: Yeah. Do you think that's true of all celebrities? Or do you think that's also especially true in the church? I'm curious as to your perspective.