How Joy and Gratitude Impact Your Leadership
This summary and strategic rewrite draws upon a conversation between Christine Caine and Dr. Joy Qualls, a professor, associate dean at Biola University, and ordained minister, focusing on the critical role of communication, discernment, and spiritual formation for leaders, particularly women, in the modern church and academy.
Defining Excellence: The Purpose of Sabbatical and Academic Work
Dr. Joy Qualls, who holds a PhD, serves as a professor and associate dean at Biola University, where she equips future leaders both academically and spiritually. She is also an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God, blending faith and leadership.
Currently on her first semester-long research sabbatical after nearly 20 years in academia, Qualls emphasizes that a sabbatical is not a reward for past work, but a preparation for the next season. Her work during this time is focused on two major book proposals:
- Women and Pentecostalism: A book tentatively titled, What is a Woman, which uses the language of Genesis 1 and 2 to explore the identity of women, including the concept of Ezar Kaggdo (God who named women after Himself) and the warrior god.
- Effective Communication: A practical guide for pastors and church leaders tentatively titled, How We Talk About Things Matters, aimed at improving speaking and interpersonal communication.
Qualls’s academic expertise is in rhetoric, which she defines as the art of persuasion. She studies how communication is constructed over time, often analyzing historical figures (“dead people,” as she humorously notes). Her goal is to teach people how to engage in more effective communication, grounding the instruction in godliness that flows from a desire to proclaim the gospel in every space God has called them to.
The Timeless Wisdom of Rhetoric: Truth and Godliness
Qualls confirms that ancient Greek principles of rhetoric remain fundamentally relevant today. She notes that the work of Aristotle—specifically his book The Rhetoric—is still used 3,000 years later to train people in communication.
Qualls highlights the theological connection between classical wisdom and Christian faith, citing Augustine, who affirmed that the church can use secular theory and that “all truth is God’s truth wherever it may be found”. Even polytheistic thinkers like Aristotle and Plato proclaimed truth that can be redeemed and used in the preaching of the gospel.
Navigating the “Quagmire” of a Post-Truth World
The current societal environment is described as a “quagmire of our own making”. Qualls points to the prophetic work of media critic Neil Postman in the 1960s, specifically his books Amusing Ourselves to Death (predicting that entertainment would kill society) and The Disappearance of Childhood (predicting that technology would steal childhood). She suggests reading Postman’s work to understand the cultural concerns of today.
The Dangers of Passive Consumption
A major contributor to the current lack of truth is the passive consumption of information. Qualls, referencing Christine Caine’s previous sermon on the story of David and Goliath, acknowledges her own guilt in “doom scrolling” at the end of a hard day.
The Consequences of Undiscerned Input:
- Loss of Discernment: People fail to analyze information critically—to question its credibility, expertise, or authenticity.
- Echo Chambers: People create ecosystems where they feed themselves only what they already believe, repeating it out for others and refusing to hear dissenting viewpoints.
- Avoiding Community: Truth is discerned in community, in relationship, and through the Holy Spirit’s work. Engaging in real-life exchanges is likened to “iron sharpening iron,” which is painful because a blade must lose some of its weight to get sharp. People often avoid this discomfort by affirming their beliefs through passive scrolling.
Qualls agrees with Caine’s analogy regarding the story of David and Goliath, where the Israelite army was paralyzed by fear simply by Goliath’s repeated words. Caine uses the metaphor of picking up the phone in the morning and saying, “Goliath come and tell me how hopeless I am, how useless I am,” mimicking Goliath’s 40-day campaign of verbal intimidation.
The Legacy of Faith: Obedience and Enduring the Pain
Dr. Qualls’s deep grounding comes from a heritage of faith, tracing back to her fourth-generation Pentecostal roots.
Generational Faith and Courage
Her family’s faith began with her great-grandparents who were saved in a Masonic Lodge basement in Crosby, North Dakota. This conversion was the result of the obedience of Blanch Elizabeth Britain, a woman evangelist who planted 26 churches in 25 years in North Dakota. Britain even left her unbelieving husband to obey God’s call to preach, an act of obedience that later resulted in her husband’s salvation and blessing of her ministry on his deathbed. Qualls acknowledges that her own walk with Jesus and the faith of her fifth-generation children stem from this single woman’s obedience.
Triumph Over Trauma
Qualls’s personal journey was marked by significant grief, poverty, fear, and a chaotic, volatile home life. Her father, a Vietnam veteran wounded and exposed to Agent Orange, was a very broken and damaged man who engaged in verbal abuse. He left the family twice. Her mother, a “good Christian woman” without a college education, raised three children and raised them in the church, instilling trust in the Lord despite the circumstances.
When questioned about why she turned to God rather than away from Him due to the hypocrisy or pain, Qualls cited several reasons:
- Godly Examples: The faithful example of a godly mother and grandparents who prayed for her by name daily.
- Divine Call: The consistent calling of Jesus, who “never left me”.
- Scriptural Anchor: She sees herself like Moses, standing before the unconsumed burning bush (Exodus 3), called to proclaim God’s message. She clings to Luke 1:45: “Blessed is she who believes that what the Lord has said to her will be done”.
Integrating Faith and Academia: Keeping the Fire Alive
Qualls acknowledges the temptation to lose one’s faith or fire in an academic setting. However, her passion remains strong due to her commitment to Christian higher education and the ability to integrate her faith into every aspect of her teaching.
She teaches with a mindset of constantly asking: “Where is God at work in Aristotle’s ideas? Where is God at work in the ancient writers? Where is God at work in this wisdom…?”. This search for God’s truth in all wisdom keeps her grounded.
Maintaining Humility and Perspective:
- No Hierarchy of People or Calling: Qualls appreciates her small-town American upbringing and knows her values translate universally. She has no hierarchy of people or calling and ensures she never treats anyone as “less than” because of her PhD.
- Dependence on the Holy Spirit: Qualls confessed that she sometimes chooses her own strength over the strength of the Holy Spirit, trying to fix problems with achievement, work, or money, which only leads to digging a deeper hole. She practices humility by confessing her sin to the Lord, recognizing that she needs Him to restore her, like the prodigal running back to the Father.