Eden: Nick, thank you so much for joining us. I’m really excited to talk to you about the work that the Lord has done in your life and hear what he’s been teaching you. So we want to start by getting to know you a little bit. I would love to know what are some things that bring you joy in life?
Nick Gonneville: Terrific. Well, I’m one of those fortunate people that my job actually does bring me joy. I get to live out the experience of not feeling like I work a day in my life. Even before coming to Christ, I always felt very thankful for that. I could always say no matter the hours spent at work, I was enjoying what I was doing. So that’s a big one.
Then outside of that, I enjoy staying active. I always feel weird saying that I just enjoy playing golf as well. People say, “well, you work in golf,” but I enjoy golf as a whole, as the sport as well. The main time filler that I enjoy is staying active in the gym. I’m thankful to fill those joys also with finding great resources of books to read.
Eden: So tell us a little bit about your job, because I didn’t know the difference between a golf professional and a professional golfer until I met you. Tell us a little bit about your work and what you do.
Nick Gonneville: I always describe it to everybody very simply in the first conversation in the sense of, “I am a golf professional by title and not necessarily by skill,” is always kind of the opening joke that I get to make. I do try, obviously, to improve at the game of golf, but the day in and day out job for me is a variety of things. On the surface level it is a glorified customer service position, but it is very much in-person. It’s all about building relationships—or at least the jobs that I’ve had are about relationships with members of a private club and also their friends and guests that they will bring out. So the actual skill sets that I take to work are giving individual golf lessons or instruction, sometimes season-long coaching, seeing the same person day in and day out. But then also more of the business side of golf as well with regards to a merchandising operation and additionally also running golf tournaments. Like I said at the beginning of things that bring me joy, I do benefit from the opportunity to play a fair amount of golf as well.
But my main goal, if you will, showing up to work each and every day, is to make each member’s experience at the club that day as great as it possibly can. It’s kind of our team mission at the club I currently work.
Eden: Yeah, that’s very clarifying. I had no idea the difference between those two things. It’s neat that you can describe your job as a service, and that you’re living to give other people joy. That’s full of purpose and has got to be really fulfilling and rewarding when you see people enjoying themselves and know that you play a part in that.
Nick Gonneville: Yeah, and it definitely is. I mean, even within golf as a sphere, I work in a very niche environment, right? It’s a lot of people that are successful business owners themselves or the CEOs of big companies. So on the surface I’ve wondered, is this the area that we should be serving for the greater good?, if you will. Because there’s a lot of golfers that grow up in minority communities or in the city where they don’t have access to the resources that we do for people that already have their own resources.
However, it was a great clarification a number of years ago from a mutual friend, Ben Souders, when I asked that—Is this what I’m supposed to be doing? But then again, when you come to the idea that we are all given individual gifts and we serve in that manner, I was given great clarification and certainty and encouragement that I was on the path that I felt like I was supposed to be on with the skills that I’ve been given. What even brings me joy? The fact that I can go to work each and every day and not feel like I’m working, there’s a sign in there that no matter what you’re doing, but if you enjoy doing it and there are other people involved and it’s not just self-serving, then it’s a great opening conversation to defining each and every person’s purpose, in my experience at least.
Eden: So true. Well, I want to come back to your work and your journey with Jesus and how he impacted your work. Since we’re Bibles.net and we’re trying to encourage people to open God’s Word, I would love to hear if there’s a place in God’s Word that’s especially precious to you.
Nick Gonneville: Well, sort of in preparation, but also thinking about this in years past, I do have to go back to where I was introduced to the Bible and where I had it recommended to me to start. I did not grow up in a religious household. I obviously knew what the Bible was, but it was a somewhat intimidating thought—how do I open this? It can be like a normal book where you start at page one, and you read all the way through. But that seems very intimidating.
I was thankful to have some great resources and great friends that recommended to start at the Gospel of John. Even going back, and I did this the other day actually, going back to notes that I wrote reading through the Gospel of John and then the Gospel of Luke and to watch how quickly the transition of even the language of my notes happened. I will always remember that the Gospel of John—and probably trickling over into Luke, I can’t say that it happened by the time I was done with John—was clearly the part of Scripture that the Holy Spirit was using to draw me to Jesus. I wholeheartedly believe that. And it’s somewhat hard to believe maybe because it’s where I started, and that’s kind of common sense, but with how fast it happened. That’s where I definitely go as far as a chunk of Scripture, if you will.
Continuing on from there, I have to come across three main Scripture verses that I’ve carried with me and that have always hit or have other sentimental meaning as well with regards to like Philippians 4:13 and Romans 8:28 as you and I discussed. You actually gave it to me, because that’s kind of what drew me to faith, was the conversation of purpose. So verses like that carry a lot of weight in my heart.
Eden: Awesome. In the Gospel of John, I love when the author John writes that he could have written many things in that book, but the things that he chose to write, it says that these things are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you might have life in his name (John 20:31). It seems like that was exactly your experience.
I’d love to go back to work and talk about how your relationship with Jesus has changed your outlook as a golf professional?
Nick Gonneville: For sure. With regards to work and what was next, that’s actually where my story kind of starts because I was asking others and myself at first the question of, was being a golf professional what I was supposed to be doing? It came from a different perspective at that point in a time of seeking my purpose in life, but it was still connected to the idea of service. Am I serving in the greatest capacity?
And I mean, those questions kind of came to my mind when I see people that have served our country, for instance, and been in the military and given up parts of their life to do things like that. Then I looked at myself in a very niche environment, working at a private golf club for people that, right on the surface level, don’t really need, quote unquote, “people to serve them.” They have a lot of things. So with that start, thankfully, I didn’t go too far down that road before having some level-headed folks around me. But it was very, very soon after that that I even was immersed in the faith and reading Scripture.
So in a matter of, we’ll say six months I would say, I went from questioning the path that I was on to being confirmed and reassured and other things that I was doing exactly what I thought I should be doing. So at first it was a confidence booster, if you will—that encouragement that I don’t need to seek something different. I enjoy what I do, and there’s a reason that I enjoy what I do. So my initial introduction to faith kind of gave me that confidence in my heart and mind of I was where I was supposed to be at that point in time, and I’m still doing it.
Carrying over from the beginning and how it impacts my approach each and every day is even—I have to kind of reference here real quick. But like when it says in 1 Corinthians 10, “whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). And if that’s not necessarily motivation for a lot of people, I don’t know what could be. Because that gives you a greater purpose no matter what you’re doing, whether it’s work or not. But also in the day in and day out of what I do or what I’m a part of, there are frustrating moments. There are difficult customer service experiences. There are things like that. A guidebook here, guidebook there, will tell you how to handle those customer service experiences. But in light of serving God and all that we do, it becomes way simpler than that. There’s not a five step process to alleviate an issue. It’s what is best for each and every person in this scenario. And how are we going to handle it that way?
Putting my faith in Christ has definitely made me more patient with other people. It has made me more determined to be better at what I do. But probably at the top of all of that is my motivation is no longer what it had been for a long period of time—what is next for me in my career, and what steps do I have to take to better my own career? It’s actually a day in and day out how can I serve other people better, basically. That’s how my career has been changed, if you will, or definitely my outlook on what I do has been changed for the good in that sense.
Eden: That is awesome. I remember coming out of college and being really insecure about what should I do. And I think, especially in America, the first thing we say to someone when we meet them is, “what do you do?” And we define ourselves that way. And it is relieving to open the Bible and read that we are much more than what we do. That ultimately our value comes from outside of ourselves and comes from Christ. Discovering that is so freeing, and it seems like it actually boosted your joy in what you were doing.
I’m thinking of a young person listening to us talk and them deciding what they want to do in life and asking, “Nick, why should I come to Jesus? What does Jesus have for me that I don’t have right now?” How would you answer them, being someone that’s obviously lived without having known Jesus and then seeing how he’s changed your life?
Nick Gonneville: For sure. I was fortunate to already be doing what I feel like my purpose is right now. However, for me, coming to Jesus made it easier, if you will. I didn’t have to question. I didn’t have to operate on my own understanding. It wasn’t just all me that either had to make a decision or provide opportunities. It also opened my eyes to other opportunities that I [on my own] didn’t think were the right ones. So it kind of cleared out the cloudiness and the clutter of my own mind.
And again, it kind of helped chart my path. My faith definitely made it a very clear path, and I believed in what I was doing and why I was doing what I’m doing, and my confirmation came in the sense of I enjoyed what I did, and I almost felt guilty about that. You told the story of coming immediately out of college and it’s like, well, work should probably be hard, right? And I do want to enjoy it, but it needs to feel hard and difficult and a grind, if you will. Especially being a young person in the professional world. And that was just never the case for me. And before coming to faith, though, I kind of felt basically bad about that. And not all of us are called to serve in the military. Not all of us are called to be pastors. Not all of us are called to be so many things. So for the young person getting ready to graduate or trying to figure out what they’re supposed to do, you find something that you enjoy and if you can serve other people and provide value for other people, that is a huge direction. And there shouldn’t necessarily be guilt in that.
And, again, I forget exactly where I draw it from. But when it comes to purpose, that is a starting point. There’s a reason that there are things in our life that we enjoy doing (Ecclesiastes 5:18). There are skills or qualities that God has given us to enjoy certain things, and it’s absolutely okay that that becomes our job. It’s living a life looking forward to the promises of God and the good things that are going to come and to use those as motivation. If we get joy by going to work each and every day, and that’s our motivation to strive to be better and actually show up to work each and every day, then that’s okay. There’s something in there that society tries to go that route these days and say, “do whatever makes you happy.” But unfortunately, it becomes self-serving for the most part. So there is that proper balance in there. Do I enjoy doing it? But also, can I provide value or service to other people at the same time? That would be my direction for others.
Eden: Yeah. When you talked about life before Jesus versus life after and you talked about having someone to give you direction and to give you answers—We talk about Jesus, we call him the Lord all the time, like, “oh, the Lord, this,” “the Lord that.” And yet it’s so easy to forget what that means. That’s exactly what you were talking about. Like, Jesus is our Lord, he is the one in charge. He’s the King. And that might sound like something some people might not want. But when it comes down to it, we no longer have to live a self-directed life. We have someone that’s wiser and can help us make the decisions and provides wisdom for life. But then at the same time, if he’s the Lord, then we become part of his kingdom (Colossians 1:14). His goal for us is love for others and to love him (Mark 12:29-31). That’s so freeing to find this simple answer to life in knowing him.
Nick Gonneville: For sure. Then, I mean, because the daunting question that we’ve touched on a couple of times is people asking themselves, what am I supposed to do? We are fortunate to live in a society that there are a lot of those opportunities. And I remember this when I was going to college or pursuing internships or things like that that it can be very daunting when you look at the number of opportunities, right? When it almost is an open door of whatever you want to do, you can do it. Well, that’s pretty scary sometimes, actually. When you’re talking about making some of those bigger decisions and whatever it might be versus my mindset now—it’s not quite null and void of what you do, but it kind of is. It’s less important of what you do for a job or day in and day out life, but it’s more so how you do it. That’s a good way to kind of balance those two things because then you can pursue something you enjoy.
But then your question for that person needs to be, how are you doing it? Are you thinking about only yourself, or is it for only the paycheck, or whatever it might be? Or are you doing it for the glory of God and serving other people? And—at least in my experience, it’s not necessarily for everybody—that can be a little bit easier question to pursue. Is how you’re doing something or why you’re doing something rather than what am I supposed to do? I mean, “what” is a very daunting thing.
Eden: Yeah. That is so helpful. It’s like, who are you becoming?
Well, I know you read a lot. What is a book that you would recommend that everybody reads?
Nick Gonneville: So my approach to books has always been application, direct application, something that can be applied each and every day. It provides me motivation to keep turning the page because I feel like there’s something to be learned on each and every page. For everybody to read, I think, Who Am I? by Jerry Bridges would be a great book, connecting to identity. And it’s a very, very short book, very simple read, but it’s packed full of content that I think everybody can understand. There’s obviously a direct application to Scripture, but it helps us figure out who we are and why we do what we do. I think it’s a great resource because you and I have been fortunate to discuss the idea of identity in the past. As you know, identity is something that hit really close to me and how important it is to have your identity in the right place. And it’s less of what we do, and it’s who we are and why we do what we do. That all connects to the identity that Jerry Bridges talks a lot about.
But then Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel. It’s, again, a direct application. He gives processes that everybody can work through to understand themselves better. But also once you understand that it’s not, as many people will talk a lot about—”all right well, I know all the things that I need to get better at, but how do I do that?” And a fortunate part of that book is he gives actual activities, not like homework activities, but practical ways to make those changes. They’re not necessarily going to work for everybody. But they’re things that he’s seen work and worked in his own life.
Eden: Very cool. I love books that give you something to do at the end.
Nick Gonneville: And it can be challenging. It’s okay that each and every book you finish does feel like you have a study guide or homework to do afterwards, but then that’s the nature of life for us, right? Like putting your faith to work (James 2:17). And that’s kind of what it is. It’s great to learn more about faith, but what are you doing with that information?
Eden: Those are some great thoughts. Well, thank you for your time and taking the time to share with us what God has done in your life. Definitely praise God for that work. I appreciate you being willing to talk to us and share about that.
Nick Gonneville: No, I appreciate the opportunity to do it. And as I thought about beforehand, I can only hope that the conversation can be a resource for many others.
Eden: Thank you so much for listening to our podcast today. If you enjoyed our conversation, I would encourage you to like or subscribe to our podcast so that you can hear the next conversation. And if something that you heard today spoke to your heart or got you thinking, I would encourage you to not let the day go by without talking to God about what’s on your mind. We believe that he loves you and that he’s pursuing you today out of that love.