Jonathan Evans believes in the power of legacy and family — but even more so, he believes in the transforming and saving power of Jesus Christ. As a former NFL fullback, Jonathan now serves as chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys. And through his work as a speaker and published author, he seeks to help develop the next generation of Christian leaders.

Jonathan also gets to serve alongside his father, Dr. Tony Evans, in their local church and national ministry. In this interview, he’s opening up about what passing on your legacy to the next generation really looks like, how he finds spiritual rest and renewal, and where God is leading him next.

The following is a transcript of a live interview. Responses have been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to a meal than palate and preference. How does your go-to order at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

My go-to meal is definitely my mother’s pumpkin bread and mac and cheese. That’s something we used to eat every Sunday, and whenever she decided to do a big cooking meal, she’d have the fried chicken, ham, green beans and all of those different things. But the mac and cheese and the pumpkin bread are a special Lois Evans tradition. Now all of the women in the family know how to make those meals — she gave them the recipe. She passed away in 2019, but fortunately, I can always taste her presence anytime anyone in the family bakes her recipes.

The cool thing about the recipe is that it doesn’t change even if there are changes in circumstances or environments. So that’s the recipe I think of when I think about my hometown of Dallas. That’s my home, where I’m from. And that’s how I get to remember all the things my mom has done for me, even though she’s not here anymore — because even though she’s not here, her recipe still is, and it’s just the taste of home.

View of Dallas, Texas — ALEKSEY KUPRIKOV; Unsplash

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests, but we tend to hide them. What do you love doing that might surprise (or shock) people?

One of my favorite things to do with my wife is watching a TV show that we love, called “Big Brother.” “Big Brother” is a TV show that brings me and my wife together for laughter, fun and date nights. We just enjoy that show, the game that’s behind it, and the play that’s in it. I will say, not all of it is Christian. The people on the show have to do some scheming and “Survivor”-like things to get to the end and win, but we just enjoy watching it to spend time together in an atmosphere that allows us to come together. “Big Brother” happens to be one of those shows. It’s just a normal show; there’s nothing spiritual about it, but it’s one of those mindless activities that we’re able to do as a family. It’s something that brings us together, something we can enjoy as husband and wife when we’re not enjoying ministering together.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?

The thing I struggled with my whole life was formal education. I was awful at it from the time I started my education to the point when I got into seminary. I was afraid to go to seminary because I didn’t learn like everybody else. I thought that, in my family, I was going to be the kid who wasn’t successful. I was going to be the kid who wasn’t going to achieve because I thought success and achievement were based on a classroom setting. And because the kids raised their hand and I didn’t, and because they got good answers and I didn’t, or because they got a good grade on the test and I didn’t, then I associated success with the classroom model where I was unsuccessful.

So I built this wall of fear to be able to move forward as a successful person. After all, that atmosphere is where kids spend most of their time, and it taught me that I wasn’t as good as everybody else.

I started to overcome that mindset when God pushed me to go to seminary. It was something I did not want to do, and I ran from it for a long time. I ignored him because I thought, That’s not what I do. That’s not what I’m good at. Yet he said, “But you have to have faith in me.” The only way I was able to overcome that fear is with faith. I literally could not feel it; I just had to do it and see what God was going to do with it. So I decided to go and I graduated with honors from Dallas Theological Seminary because God was teaching me about my interests, what he’s calling me to do, and how he equips the ones he calls. That was how I got over my fear. It was through faith and realizing that God doesn’t call the qualified — he qualifies the called.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?

I think my toil and my obsession are making sure that I have a great balance in my life. Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD.” A lot of times, we get ourselves out of balance. We’re chasing after this building, chasing after people, chasing after notoriety, chasing after followers, chasing after being seen and chasing after someone else’s gift or being noticed.

Even when it comes to ministry, you’re ministering to so many people that you can lose touch with your primary ministry with your family. I have a wife and five children, so I make sure I have the appropriate balance and have my priorities in order — not just on paper but in my lifestyle, too. That’s my toil and my obsession all at the same time. People need to think about this — and deeply — because at the end of one’s life, no one cares about their career. At the end of a person’s life, they’re thinking about their family and their legacy and what they’re leaving behind for those who carry their attitude, action, character, conduct and the literal blood running through their veins. So I wanted to make sure that I do a better job at that daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. I never want to get so overcome and overwhelmed with my external ministry that I lose touch with my primary internal ministry. I want to balance both of those well.

In regards to my career, I recently wrote a new book called “Fighting Your Battles” that’s about something we all deal with. Everybody has a battle. Maybe you just finished one or you’re in one right now. Those are the only choices you have. This book offers the perspective of not just how to be in a battle but how to fight and win as well — whether it’s loss and grief, a struggle, divorce or difficult relationships.

We all have battles and issues in our lives. But one of the things that I had to learn was that the battle that I face in any area of my life doesn’t belong to me. I think we become overwhelmed with our circumstances because we take ownership of them. You see, many of us don’t realize that stewardship is not just a word for money, and it’s not just a word for how you steward your things or your materials or your family. Stewardship is also a word for your battles. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20:15, “For the battle is not yours but God’s.”

A lot of times, we’re carrying a burden that’s too big for us to carry because we’re taking the ownership role and not the stewardship role. We’re supposed to give it to the Lord and realize that he is the one who determines the outcome. He is the one who determines the ending. We are just stewarding it so that he can grow us through it.

There are a lot of different components in this book that we talk about. We put QR codes throughout the book that lead to helpful videos. My wife and I also talk about our four miscarriages, I talk about my educational challenges and I talk about the loss of my mom in 2019 and the other family members that we’ve lost. So with the QR codes, the book is interactive, and it goes into detail regarding how to win in practical areas and how to win biblically.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

The Holy Spirit invigorates my work and I know that is God when it happens because even when it comes to my book “Fighting Your Battles,” I was reading it and thinking, Who wrote that? There were some parts in it that I knew didn’t just come from the human domain. It didn’t just come from the natural here and now or just an experience that I had — it was a revelation. And what God does is he illuminates things and he leads you and guides you in the truth.

So whenever I can break the barrier of my own intellect, my own ability, my own timing and my own frame of reference, I know that God is coming to break through in a major way that I wouldn’t have been able to do myself. I think that’s important for people to realize. When Peter was trying to walk on the water in Matthew 14:28-31, Jesus told him, “Come.” One word. And Peter’s obedience gave him the ability to experience something that was beyond human while walking on water. When we show that faith in God and allow him to push us further than our natural selves want to go, that’s when we’re able to see the supernatural operate in the natural. That’s when you know it’s God — because without him, you wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it.

One specific example of this was the loss of my mother. I was really questioning God, doubting him, struggling with him and coming to him with an unveiled face. And he spoke to me about victory. When I did my mom’s eulogy, people said, “Man, where did you get that from?” I simply replied, “It was God,” because God had told me, “You’re looking at victory from a human perspective. I understand that your mom died, but my Son died so your mom could live. I answered every aspect of your prayer.” He continued on to tell me, “You’re saying I didn’t answer your prayer? You asked for your mom to be healed — I just did that eternally. You asked for your mom to be with family — I just did that eternally. You asked for your mom to be well taken care of — I just did that eternally. Everything you asked for, I just did way better than what you asked, but you’re complaining because you’re thinking about it as a human and not as a human who’s walking by faith.”

That was my confrontation with God, and he let me experience real victory and understand what real victory is even in the fight lines of defeat.

Another example of God coming through is my football career. I played in the NFL for five years, and I tell people the NFL played me for five years. I was on six teams in those five years and God showed me why he did that. I became like the team chaplain on every team that I was playing on because he had me there for ministry. Once my football career was over, I got a call from the Cowboys to become the chaplain. And so God was just letting that rough patch be the catapult to the ministry that he was going to call me to. That’s one example of how I’ve seen God work in practical ways.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Some people divide things sacred and things secular. But you know, God can surprise us in unlikely places. How do you find spiritual renewal in so-called “nonspiritual” activities?

Right now that’s with my family, especially during the school year. Every night when we sit down for dinner, I try as much as I can to be consistent with family Bible study. Number one, I have to eat in order to have something to say. But number two, I just want to peer into the lives of my kids and my wife and have them peer into me. I want that true traditional family time that brings our faith to grasp in their hands.

Studies have shown that faith is passed from one generation to the next through families in a living room or sitting at a kitchen table. So that’s what I do. It builds me up, keeps me accountable and allows me to pass on my faith and truly get to know my kids and my wife on a deeper level more consistently.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three of your favorite resources?

One of them is “Epic of Eden” by Sandra L. Richter. “Epic of Eden” is a book that I read that I’m now reading again slowly, and I probably will read it over and over for the rest of my life. It is such a practical, well-written understanding of the Old Testament that informs how I read the entire Bible and has challenged me. My sermons now are much more developed and wiser and have much more understanding and discernment in them. They’re built on the context of the whole Bible as opposed to just the Scripture I’m talking about.

Two more books that come to mind are “The Blessed Life” and “The Blessed Church” by Pastor Robert Morris. Those books informed me regarding my gift. My greatest gift is giving, and the author is a major giver. He teaches you about what the blessed life really looks like from a giving perspective, being a blessed church from a giving perspective and being that type of person holistically. That teaching — and Pastor Morris himself — has been really influential in my life.

This isn’t a resource, but it’s something that motivates me — I watch videos of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan all the time. The reason is that I get to see their enhanced dedication to their craft. Their dedication is so beyond what’s normal, and that’s why they are so beyond what’s normal. As I listen to their fire, their output for the game of basketball and what that means for their legacies, it fires me up and inspires me to have that level of consistency as it relates to ministry and family according to God’s Word.

One last resource is “Kingdom Man: Every Man’s Destiny, Every Woman’s Dream,” written by my dad, Tony Evans. It’s one of the best books on men that I’ve read from a practical standpoint.

We all have things we cling to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it’s done for you.

The other person I watch constantly right now is Eric Thomas. He’s a motivational speaker and also a pastor — and his millions of followers are his motivation. I watch those types of videos to keep me motivated because I’m a locker room guy, a football guy and I always had a pep talk before a game. I take that same motif and follow certain people who can really energize me.

I spend a lot of time watching Eric Thomas and other major athletes that have motivational videos online. I’m not reading a lot right now because with five kids, it’s tough to sit down to read and develop your own stuff.

Speaking of developing our own stuff, another one of the things that motivate me is the cartoon we have coming out, “Stories from the Storyteller,” on RightNow Media. I’m especially excited because my family is involved. I’m motivated by family, and I’m motivated by opportunities to serve with them. With this project, my family gets to do all the voiceovers and we’re creating the animated characters.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

God is just beginning to stir up where he’s taking me right now. My dad is 73 years old and I’m 40, so we’re slowly working on a transition with the church. I say “slowly” because preaching is something that he should continue to do for a long time. But God is giving me the gift of leadership and has been stirring up in me the desire to lead in the church context in a greater way. I still have some walls from the past that came up from my supposed inability to do certain things, but God is changing that. He’s teaching me to get rid of those fears and continue to move forward in faith so I can be the leader he’s called me to be — as my father and I work together in the church context and see what God wants to do.

Passing on God’s truth to the next generation is a sacred command all throughout the Old and New Testaments.

In Deuteronomy 6, God told the Israelites to “teach [my words] diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (verse 7, ESV). And in Ephesians 6:4, Paul challenges parents not to “provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (ESV).

For Jonathan Evans, obeying this biblical command means more than going to church as a family. It also looks like reading devotionals with his kids, praying with them, talking about the Lord around the dinner table and having impromptu conversations about Jesus.

So what about you? Practically speaking, how is God calling you to pass your faith on to your kids? And if you don’t have children, how can you still share the truth of Christ with the next generation?

Jonathan Evans