Tammy Melchien
13 min read ⭑
“As both a teaching pastor and an author, my obsession is to call people to follow Jesus in the upside-down, counterintuitive ways of his kingdom. I think this has always been in me — I’ve had a strong desire to obey Jesus since I was a small child — but our current cultural climate has fueled it.”
Tammy Melchien fell in love with Jesus at a young age, and since then, she’s spent her life seeking to know and follow him better — and help other people do the same. She now has 30 years of ministry experience and currently serves as a teaching pastor and teaching team leader at Community Christian Church in Chicago. In her recently released book, Choosing the Opposite, she couples thoughtful insights into Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with practical advice for living in his upside-down and oh-so-beautiful kingdom. You’ll find more of her writing in her church’s Bible reading devotional and in her monthly newsletters.
You’ll enjoy reading about Tammy’s favorite place to get chicken shawarma and falafel, why watching Broadway shows moves her emotionally and what “living by the Spirit” means in her day-to-day life. You’ll also learn how the pandemic — and the church’s response to it — inspired her new book.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
My go-to meal near my home in the southwest suburbs of Chicago is chicken shawarma from a local family-run restaurant called Taste of Jerusalem. The chicken is tender and flavorful, and the falafel on the side is delicious. I like to get it to go and enjoy it at home. However, I’ll admit there’s another reason I really love this meal: I’m not much of a cook, and the portion size of the dinner plate is huge — so one meal from this local spot feeds me for two days!
If, however, I were to go with my favorite meal from my true hometown — Parma, Ohio — I’d have to choose either Stancato’s or Antonio’s pizza. I know “Cleveland pizza” isn’t a thing, but I love the pizza I grew up eating from these local Italian-owned restaurants. I’ve never been able to find the kind of delicious crust you get in Cleveland anywhere else. My parents and my sister’s family now live about an hour away from where I grew up, but at least once a year, we make the drive to one of these pizza places when I’m visiting them in Ohio. To my palate, it’s a hundred times better than Chicago deep dish (but don’t tell anyone in Chicago that I said that).
The Morton Arboretum
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?
I love walking among the trees. My favorite spot in the Chicago area is the Morton Arboretum. I’ve been a member for years and visit in every season. I’ve walked every mile of the expansive trails at least once but have my favorites — especially among the spruce trees. I’ll follow a trail deep into the woods and talk freely to God out loud. He somehow feels nearer in nature. My soul feels like it can breathe in the presence of such beauty. (And not going to lie — I also like the Arboretum because it feels like a safe place to be out in the middle of the woods by yourself. I doubt criminals would pay the $20 entry fee.)
Although I don’t get to do it as often, I also love going to Broadway shows and find them “spiritual” in the sense that it’s beautiful to watch people flourish in their giftedness. It astounds me that God has gifted people in such artistic and expressive ways, and I love when they have the opportunity to fully exercise those gifts. I get emotional as much at the talent as at the plotlines.
I would say the same thing about watching sports (which I also love), but they tend to lead me to stress more than refreshment — so we’ll stick with Broadway actors.
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 all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you confront its power?
My kryptonite is the fear that I’m alone. I’ve had some seasons of deep loneliness in the past when I lived in places that weren’t conducive to having a strong peer community, and those were the hardest seasons of my life. Also, as an adult who has never been married, there is a reality that I’m not anyone’s number-one priority. At times, the enemy uses that to try to convince me that I’m on my own. But I know that isn’t the truth. I have a wonderful circle of friends near and far and great relationships with my family. If I’m struggling, I know all I have to do is mention it to my closest friend, and she swoops in with some quality time that brings me back to equilibrium.
There are some things about my singleness that I’ll probably always struggle with (like not having a built-in traveling companion), but I also believe it has given me space to cultivate a deep intimacy with Jesus.
One fun story about that: years ago, when I was in my 20s, I lived in a small town and didn’t really have a peer community. A large Christian Christmas concert was coming to an arena an hour away, and I desperately wanted to go, but I didn’t have anyone to go with me. On the morning of the concert, I decided to stop feeling sad about it and asked Jesus if he would take me. I got in the car, drove the hour and parked in the lot.
When I walked into the box office, I was suddenly struck with an overwhelming sense that I wasn’t supposed to be in there. Confused, I stepped back outside, trying to understand what was happening. Had I driven all this way for nothing? As I stood there, a woman approached me and asked, “Do you still need tickets?” I told her I did, and she said, “Is anyone with you? Because we have two.”
“No,” I replied. “I’m by myself.”
“Well, now you’re with us!” she exclaimed.
The next thing I knew, I was sitting fourth row center in this giant auditorium — with the best seat in the house, for free — and an empty seat next to me for Jesus.
Just one of many reminders that I am wholly and fully loved by God, and that is the deepest source of my identity.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
As both a teaching pastor and an author, my obsession is to call people to follow Jesus in the upside-down, counterintuitive ways of his kingdom.
I think this has always been in me — I’ve had a strong desire to obey Jesus since I was a small child — but our current cultural climate has fueled it. I’ve served in the church for three decades, but these past five or 10 years have been the most disorienting time I’ve ever experienced as a ministry leader.
It really came to a head for me during COVID. Do you guys remember that time? I think some of us are still working through a bit of PTSD from it. But as disruptive as the pandemic was, my disorientation wasn’t because of the lockdowns and constant pivots we all had to make. I’m an introvert — I can stay at home by myself for days.
What turned my world upside down was what COVID seemed to be revealing about our discipleship.
In many ways, these moments of cultural crisis should be when the church of Jesus shines. If you’re a student of history, you can go back and read about how Christianity flourished in the second and third centuries, during a time when plagues swept through the Roman Empire. The church grew rapidly during that time. Why? Because the followers of Jesus ran toward the problems. They cared for the sick others had abandoned. They met needs. They demonstrated a love for their pagan neighbors that turned the world upside down.
And yet, in our moment of crisis, Christians seemed to be just as angry, afraid, combative and divided as everyone else. It felt to me like many of us weren’t looking for ways to love our pagan neighbors as much as we were shouting Bible verses at them.
This was the angst roiling inside me that began to give birth to the thoughts and convictions that eventually became my first book, “Choosing the Opposite.” I believe with all my heart that Jesus came to lead us in a better way — life in the kingdom of God. And it’s available to us right now if we choose it.
Through “Choosing the Opposite,” my monthly newsletters and the teaching team I lead at my church, I’m trying to help people (including myself!) learn to follow Jesus in his upside-down way. The book is a fresh journey through the Sermon on the Mount because I believe it is the primer for life in the kingdom of God.
Despite all the turmoil we’ve lived through, I really do believe there’s a better and hope-filled way forward. I’m determined to live it — and to help as many other people as possible live it, too.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love 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?
Galatians 5 is a passage I think about often — if not daily. In it, Paul calls us to “walk by the Spirit,” “live by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit.” I interpret that to mean that every day I need to intentionally open my spirit to be led by the Spirit of God. I want every word I write, every message I teach and every conversation I have with another person to be Spirit-led.
The best way I know to make this desire a lived reality is to make intimacy with God my number-one priority. The spiritual practices and rhythms I engage in are aimed at this end — to be as connected to God as is humanly possible. I want this for myself, but I also want it for the people I lead, serve and love because I genuinely believe that the greatest gift we can give others is a heart that is intimately connected to God. When that’s true, what we’re offering them isn’t just ourselves but the Spirit of God at work in and through us.
So I ruthlessly protect the time and practices that help me stay intimately connected to God — and then I trust that the Spirit will do what only the Spirit can do through me.
For example, this week I was studying the book of Ezra during my time with God and found myself thinking about another author. When thoughts like that come to mind at random times, I try to pay attention. I leaned in and asked God if there was a word of encouragement from Ezra I should share with this woman, then pulled out my laptop and wrote her an email. A few minutes later, I received a reply. It turns out that 15 minutes before I sent my message, she had been reflecting on a word she felt the Lord was giving her. She wrote, “Your words were written with a razor from the mouth of the Spirit to me as confirmation. Thank you for your faithfulness.”
I love when the Spirit does things like that! This is the kind of wonder I want to experience over and over again — and I believe it happens when we “walk by the Spirit,” “live by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit.”
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
I’m a contemplative at heart, so I love engaging in spiritual practices (well, except for fasting — that one is still a struggle for me). No practice has helped me more in my spiritual journey than journaling. I started nearly 34 years ago when I was a college sophomore, scribbling thoughts into my first notebook. It didn’t begin as a daily discipline, but over time, it became the rhythm that grounds my walk with God. Today, journaling is my lifeline to him. I feel a relational need for it — perhaps because “quality time” is my love language — but without that consistent space to connect with God through writing, my soul feels like it would wither. Pen in hand, journal open, I meet with the one who knows me best.
When I first began, my journaling looked more like a logbook. I recorded insights from Scripture, notes from church messages or thoughts that were on my mind. Somewhere along the way, though, I shifted to writing directly to God. My journal became a running dialogue — a written prayer, really — of what I’m talking to him about and what I sense he’s saying to me. In essence, my journal is my prayer life. It’s a long, often very ordinary transcript of our ongoing conversation. While I talk to God throughout the day in short bursts, journaling is where our deeper, quality conversation happens.
Why do I keep journaling after all these years? Because writing anchors my distracted mind and slows my thoughts enough to let God guide them. Reading back through old journals reminds me of his faithfulness — how he was at work even when I couldn’t see it. When I’m anxious or weary, journaling restores perspective and peace. And perhaps the sweetest gift of all is that somewhere along the way, Jesus became the one I most want to tell everything to.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?
I love this question! I’ll start way back. In my 20s, Brennan Manning’s “Abba’s Child” deeply impacted me. While I had grown up knowing and loving Jesus from the time I was a small child, my early faith journey centered largely on trying to be a “good girl.” I sometimes look back at young Tammy as a bit of a Pharisee — focused mostly on following the rules. Manning’s book came into my life just as I was beginning to realize that, despite all my efforts to be good, I was still a bona fide sinner. His words began to transform my understanding of identity — no longer basing it on performance but on being God’s beloved. I remember feeling like a baby Christian again, relearning everything I thought I already knew, but this time on the foundation of being loved by God.
Next, I’d say Dallas Willard’s “The Divine Conspiracy.” Anything by Willard is worth paying attention to, but “The Divine Conspiracy” invites readers to rediscover Jesus as the smartest, most practical teacher — one who shows us how to live a truly good and meaningful life in God’s kingdom, right here and now. It’s a profound call to move beyond superficial religion and step into an apprenticeship with Jesus, learning to live daily under his wise and loving reign. This book has shaped my understanding, teaching and writing more than any other resource. His influence is woven throughout “Choosing the Opposite.”
More recently, I’d say John Mark Comer’s “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” I’ve come close to burning out three times in my ministry career — and it’s just not worth it. Over the past five years, I’ve made intentional choices to eliminate hurry from my life, creating space and margin to help me live more fully as who I believe God has created me to be — and to live with a non-anxious presence. I’ve practiced this in small ways, such as leaving 15 minutes earlier than I need to so I don’t feel rushed in the car (and can sit in a few moments of silence if I arrive early). And I’ve practiced it in big ways, such as stepping down from a leadership position of power and influence to create more margin to flourish in my teaching and writing gifts. The peace I feel in the rhythms of my life now is priceless to me.
Certain things can be godsends, helping us survive, even thrive, in our fast-paced world. Does technology ever help you this way? Has an app ever boosted your spiritual growth? If so, how?
About seven or eight years ago, I began taking Scripture memorization seriously. I downloaded the Bible Memory App and have been using it ever since. It makes memorizing Scripture feel almost like a game. Over time, I’ve used it to memorize whole sections of the Bible. Early on, I memorized the Sermon on the Mount, and I can’t tell you how often those verses come to mind in the middle of everyday situations. I only wish I had started this when I was younger — when my brain worked a little better!
QUESTION #8: dream
God’s 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?
I think I’m going to be the kind of author who marinates in a section of Scripture for years until a message naturally flows from it. That’s what happened with the Sermon on the Mount and “Choosing the Opposite.”
For the past four years, the Scripture I’ve been steeped in has been the book of Revelation. Admittedly, I avoided it for years. The book always seemed so strange and unknowable — and frankly, the people who were obsessed with it tended to freak me out. But as a teaching pastor, I decided I needed to stop avoiding it four years ago. I took a month-long sabbatical and poured myself into studying Revelation with the help of trusted scholars whose commentaries completely changed my perspective. Now, it’s one of my favorite books in the Bible.
As a teacher and writer, I love taking what I learn from scholars and theologians and communicating it in a practical, pastoral way that the average person in the pew can easily understand and apply to daily life. I’ve taught several Revelation studies at my church in recent years, and I think the next step will be to put that work into book form.
My angle is that Revelation is not a book about prediction — it’s a book that’s meant to be done. It’s about how to live as a faithful disciple of Jesus in the middle of the empire you find yourself in. No definite plans yet, but hopefully, a few years from now, you’ll be able to read my second book, “Doing Revelation.”
When asked what her greatest struggle was, Tammy shared about her fear of loneliness — and she’s not the only one who feels this way. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans feel lonely every week, with young people and single adults being most likely to fall into this category.
God knew loneliness would be one of the hardest struggles his precious children could face. That’s why, right before he created the first woman, he said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (see Gen. 2:18).
Reflect: When do you feel the most lonely? When you talk to God about those areas of loneliness, what do you hear him say? Who else do you know who might feel this way — someone you could perhaps reach out and offer support to?
Tammy Melchien is a teaching pastor and writer committed to helping people take next steps with Jesus. With over 30 years of experience in ministry, she currently leads the teaching team at Community Christian Church, a multisite church in the Chicago area. Her first book, Choosing the Opposite (NavPress) released in 2025. She is passionate about the study of Scripture and has earned an M.A. from Lincoln Christian Seminary.