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QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

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

I grew up in the heart of Amish country, first on a six-generation dairy farm and then in a nearby wooded pasture just a few minutes from the peaceful little town of Strasburg in southeast Pennsylvania. I would frequently ride my bike to Strasburg to take in the historical trains, the creamery and the general store. In all honesty, it was mostly for Don’s baseball card shop.

Strasburg is where I found my absolute go-to meal for as long as I can remember. This, my ultimate feast, is served at the humble establishment of Pizza City, a classic New York-style pizza place founded by everyone’s friend, Sam Sr., in the late 1970s after coming from Sicily.

His son, the ever-salty Sam Jr., now runs the shop. While the banter — along with the pizza, cheesesteaks and grinders — is great, the crème de la crème is their regular stromboli. Maybe it’s my Swiss ancestry, but I really value simplicity crafted with excellence. There’s nothing close to this culinary perfection of ham, salami and excessive quantities of mozzarella wrapped into the hand-tossed dough.

One of the best days of my life was perfected when, following our second daughter’s birth on a January Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles won a playoff game, and my parents arrived at the hospital bearing a Pizza City stromboli — truly magical. Could this ’boli be the “bread of angels” God gave the Israelites in the wilderness? I’ll let theologians debate that, but I suspect it may have been.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So, what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?

I love outdoor adventures with family and friends, especially when it includes going off-road on ATVs or dirt bikes. There’s something incredibly enjoyable and satisfying about getting lost deep in the mountains and forests, flying as fast as you can, aiming to survive to relive the tale with each other, and cleaning the mud out of your teeth long after the excursion is over.

Riding off-road gives me a hyper-aware rush because I have to observe and process a lot really quickly. And yet, I experience a paradox in which some moments are incredibly intense and stressful (a particularly dangerous trail, struggling to keep up with better riders, etc.), and yet as I master (or just survive) it, I find euphoric joy, serenity and gratitude.

I guess it’s a microcosm of life. One time a few years ago, I was riding dirt bikes with a group of more experienced riders on some loose stone and dirt switchback “fire roads,” and I was struggling and anxious. I was thinking about what crashing would be like and what my family would do without me. I wasn’t having fun, but then I started to talk to God about it, and he reminded me of the bigger picture — that even if I died, I would be with him, and he’s enough for my family. I immediately relaxed and had a great rest of the trip, even with a hard crash the next day! This clear sense of his presence and faithfulness continues to profoundly impact me in the trials I face every day.

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?

All of our strengths, passions and personal missions have a shadow version. I’m most passionate about living in oneness with God and others, and I value harmony. The kryptonite I wrestle with is moving toward and engaging in conflict, especially when the other person and I both strongly embrace different values. I primarily hide it by using the ostrich technique — attempting to avoid it! At worst, this can look like being nice and agreeable while actually feeling frustrated and anxious.

The greatest gift of awareness and growth comes through my relationship with my wife, Amy, who prefers to deal with things directly and doesn’t let things exist under the surface. In the first season of our marriage, if there was the potential for conflict, I would just get quiet and process internally. This sent the unintentional message that I don’t care and didn’t want to be fully known, which shows that when we fall for the shadow version of our strengths, we actually miss out on what we want most (in my case, oneness and harmony).

Finally, there was a beautiful yet painful moment when she expressed her frustration, which pushed me to blow up and let out my own frustration. I was horrified at myself for losing it, but she reacted with grateful relief and asked for more! It was a mind-blowing epiphany. Here I had believed that great relationships don’t have conflict. But this experience helped set me toward the freedom of knowing the truth: Conflict is simply the pursuit of clarity, and that’s essential for relationship and true oneness.

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?

My personal mission is to know and reveal the oneness of God, standing for the truth with clarity, love and humility. I find God draws me into opportunities to live this out in many different ways. But the primary way I get to engage in this is by serving as the CEO of Sight & Sound Ministries, a company I started backstage with 28 years ago.

At Sight & Sound, we are storytellers who are passionate to see the world transformed through the church living in the fullness of its identity in Christ by telling his story through who we are and what we do. I love that we get to proclaim the gospel through live theater, film and streaming to millions of people all over the world.

And for me, I get even more excited by how we get to do this. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing a diverse, creative group of people come together as one in Christ to create these life-changing stories from scratch over a three- to four-year process. It takes hard work, yet it’s immeasurably fulfilling to bring these stories to life through the diligent commitment of 800 people. My role is to cultivate our culture of oneness and ensure the health of our mission primarily through investing in the lives of our leaders, helping them know who they are in Christ, and leading through Christ’s ability, which our leaders then do for their teams.

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 most significant revelation in my life has been (and continues to be) understanding who God has made me to be and his deep desire for me to join him in what he’s doing. In 2015, after walking through a succession process over several years, I moved from leading our Story, Design, Construction and Show Operations teams into my current role as CEO.

I felt called to the role and as prepared as I could be thanks to incredible mentors. However, by halfway through 2016, I was struggling. Instead of focusing on how God wired me and my strengths, I was trying to be the leader I thought each member of our executive team wanted me to be for them. Thankfully, a key mentor in my life helped me go back to the core of my identity — in Christ, focusing on who he made me to be and how he sees me.

Knowing the truth set me free, and this led me and our team on a journey seeing that God’s desire for us was to be one with him and each other. This includes each of us leading in our diverse gifts and wiring. As we continue to embrace and learn how to live in the fullness of love and truth together, we much more naturally hear how he speaks uniquely to each of us and sense his wisdom in making decisions and seeing our culture grow healthier.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?

I wrestle daily with the temptation to “lean on my own understanding” as Proverbs 3:5 warns us against. I must constantly remember that the source of joy is God’s presence and that the work of life is meant to be done with him, where his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11).

A revelation that impacted me is in John 15, where I saw that oneness is built on two things: identity (in Christ) and love. I also learned that the key is to abide in him — to make my home in him as my everything (love, life and source) and then, from this place of restful relationship, to simply obey what he reveals through his spoken and written word. When I abide in and obey him, my life naturally bears the fruit he desires — without my striving and stressing.

So I endeavor to cultivate the habit of focusing my thoughts and attention on him as much as I possibly can, both in isolated times of getting quiet just with him and in the midst of the busyness of life. Two practices for me include:

1) Taking a dedicated sabbath one weekday a month (in addition to Sundays) for deeper, intentional time with the Lord in listening prayer, meditation on his Word, reading, time outside and the rhythm of looking back, looking up and looking forward.

2) Listening for his leading in everyday activities at all times. For example, if I’m in a meeting where I don’t know where to go next, I’ll quietly acknowledge under my breath that I don’t know what to do and ask for his guidance. Soon, ideas start to bubble up within the team. Or we’ll pause as a team to ask God what he would have us do with a decision and then listen and share what he reveals.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

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

While I really value all three books by The Arbinger Institute, their second book, “The Anatomy of Peace,” rocked me in the way it shows that in every interaction we have with others we choose to see them either as people or objects. Written as a prequel to the first book, they craft a compelling, fictional story of a leader and his family in distress that paints a beautiful picture of what loving others really looks like.

My favorite book on cultivating a kingdom-focused culture at home, work or anywhere is “Culture of Honor” by Danny Silk. Through difficult stories and situations, he offers a great picture of what happens when you focus on showing people who they are instead of telling them what to do. He also explains how this opens the door for God to redeem us and the messes we make. This is a regular read for me because its message is foundational for how we desire to shepherd our team at Sight & Sound.

Lastly, the most impactful work in my life aside from the Bible is “Mastering the Art of Presence-Based Leadership” by my friend and mentor Keith Yoder. This captures the essence of Keith’s life and leadership, centered on the reality that Christ is always present and longs for us, as God’s children, to do life with him. With stories and deep yet practical wisdom, this book is an invitation and roadmap for walking in our true identity, oneness and the life we were created for while leading others toward the same.

We all have things we cling to 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.

One of the best decisions I’ve made was to follow the Lord’s prompting nearly 30 years ago to read through the Bible in a year, which then became a regular rhythm. I’ve been able to read many different translations and some years have a different emphasis from others (more New Testament focus one year or more Proverbs focus the next).

That said, I’ve recently been grateful for “The Passion Translation” by lead translator Brian Simmons. There’s an inspiring, poetic beauty in their goal to capture the heart behind the Bible with words that illuminate well-known passages. It’s a great resource alongside translations that focus more on traditional word-for-word accuracy, which is also essential. Their twice-a-week email insights are worthwhile, too, and more often than not, they provide a key confirmation or insight that syncs up with either how I’m sensing the Lord leading me or where I need encouragement at the moment.

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?

A few years ago, God steered our Board to Isaiah 54:2, which says: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes” (ESV).

At the time, we (the executive team) were studying the fivefold ministry offices from Ephesians 4. In addition to the function of the evangelist through our live theatrical productions of Bible stories and the function of the shepherd through our conservatory, we sensed the Lord’s compelling call to also tell stories through the function of the prophet, which we interpreted as making films.

We believe in learning by doing, so we began a journey to learn by making one, and this past Christmas, we were able to release “I Heard the Bells” to theaters nationwide and on our streaming platform, Sight & Sound TV. We were blown away by how it turned out, the positive response, and all we continue to learn from this new initiative.

Now the hard work deepens as we apply what we learned so far to create a healthy and sustainable process to produce our next film. Many days, it seems impossible, but that is always when we see God most obviously at work. While it’s too early to share the theme for this next story, we are humbled by the magnitude of the many ways God is confirming the significant message we believe he wants us to tell today. Stay tuned!

Whether you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert, you were designed for relational connection (or, as Matt referred to it in our interview, oneness). One of Jesus’ final prayers before dying on the cross was that you would be one with God and with other believers. He said:

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20b-21, NIV).

That intimate connection Jesus shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit? We can experience it, too. That love Jesus had for his disciples? We can love like that, too. But that kind of oneness doesn’t happen by accident. It takes willingness, humility and — yes — vulnerability. What steps can you take toward oneness with God and others this week?

Matt Neff joined Sight & Sound in 1994 as a stagehand. A few years later, he headed the Human Resources team and became the Chief Administration Officer, accelerating Sight & Sounds’ means to create and produce new shows. In 2015, Matt assumed his current duties as CEO, using his passion for organizational development and cultural alignment to further solidify Sight & Sound’s vision and create space to expand into new horizons. Matt is married to Amy, the third daughter of founders Glenn and Shirley Eshelman, and has helped with the strategic planning of the long-term structure of the family-owned business. 

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