Living out Faith in Business and Government – Classic

Update: 2025-06-24

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Darrell Bock

Welcome to The Table, where we discuss issues of God and culture. I'm Darrell Bock, Executive Director for Cultural Engagement at The Hendricks Center in Dallas, Texas, and my guest is Greg Adams. Greg, welcome to The Table.

Greg Adams

Thanks, Darrell Bock.

Darrell Bock

Now, people will go, "Well, so who's Greg Adams?" Greg Adams is the first – that's what it says – first Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee. I didn't know government had that position.

Greg Adams

No, it –

Darrell Bock

What in the world is it?

Greg Adams

Well, the private sector has someone that works closely with the CEO to make sure that the operations of the whole company is run on a day-to-day basis. And so Governor Haslam decided, "Hey, maybe that's something we should have for the state, that we can really improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all our departments." So we were old friends, and –

Darrell Bock

Wow.

Greg Adams

– he got me to come up and do it.

Darrell Bock

So logistics, huh? Well, you do all the logistic stuff, and all the – making sure things are in the right place, and all that?

Greg Adams

It's 23 departments, 42,000 people –

Darrell Bock

Oh, wow.

Greg Adams

You know, from doing roads to adopting, to foster care, to you name it.

Darrell Bock

Huh. Well, so how [laughter] does one prepare for that? I mean, tell us your story. How'd a nice guy like you get into a gig like that?

Greg Adams

Well, I was with IBM for 37 and a half years. And it was interesting – during that time the worst job that I had in IBM, that I disliked the most, really prepared me the best for this job.

Darrell Bock

Oh, wow.

Greg Adams

Actually, I got put into the penalty box for not taking a promotion. And I was the vice president then of re-engineering, where we were re-engineering all the processes in the company. And that got me engaged in things that I didn't like to do – detailed project management, detailed IT, et cetera Well, those are the kind of things that for Governor Haslam in the last five and a half years, I've been in the middle of. And so it's just interesting how God used the time that was the least favorable of my jobs, to something I enjoy the most.

Darrell Bock

Oh, wow. And you said you've lived in ten places in your life. You told me that before we got started. And one of the most fascinating was Japan. Talk a little bit about what it means to live overseas in a culture in which you not only have to learn the language but the customs are completely different.

Greg Adams

It was. It was probably, of all the moves and things we've done, just a great family experience. We had three children at the time, and they were eighth grade, sixth grade, and fourth grade. And so for them to come from very good but white suburban churches, and all of a sudden they get thrust into Tokyo Baptist Church, where they look into the choir and there's 25 nationalities, and they hear people saying we're going back to a Muslim country, and we may be killed because of our faith –

Darrell Bock

Oh, wow.

Greg Adams

And so for your children to see that, and to experience that, it really broadened their whole idea of what Christianity was, and to see the impact in a country like Japan.

Darrell Bock

And they're a great age to have that experience, 'cause that's actually something that did mark them, I bet. I would imagine.

Greg Adams

It's something we talk about all the time when we get together as a family. And all of them, before I went over, they had them all take some Japanese. And so when they got there, we lived right in a Japanese neighborhood, and just a wonderful experience.

Darrell Bock

So – And you've been in Nashville as COO for how long, now?

Greg Adams

So we had actually had a stint with IBM in the early '90s, where we were in Nashville, and then we had another stint in East Tennessee, in Knoxville, where I first met the governor. And that's another story we can get back to.

Darrell Bock

Okay.

Greg Adams

And then so we moved up there in 2013. And so I was the COO for this state for five and a half years. I came in almost a third through Governor Haslam's term. And then he was term-limited, and he finished in January of last year.

Darrell Bock

I see.

Greg Adams

I did some transition with the new governor, and now I'm doing consulting, mentoring, chasing ten grandkids, et cetera

Darrell Bock

It's called retirement, but it isn't retirement, right? [Laughter]

Greg Adams

That's right, that's right. Exactly.

Darrell Bock

Yeah. I tease people here that – Some of the people who's like, "Well, I'm retiring," and then they tell me what they're doing next, and I go, "I suggest you go to the dictionary and look up the word retirement," you know? [Laughter]

Greg Adams

Well, one of the things I did, I had a good friend that he – I took a, stretching the term a little, a "jubilee." I didn't quite work 49 years, but I said, "Let's take a year and refresh, reflect, and see where God would have me to do next."

Darrell Bock

Hmm.

Greg Adams

So I'm just finishing that time now, and getting into the next phase. It's wonderful.

Darrell Bock

Very good. Well, so let's talk about some of the things you've learned in doing faith and work. And you mentioned to me earlier that you visited the seminary here back in the 1970s, have I got the time frame right?

Greg Adams

Yeah. Late '70s, I'll stretch it, yeah.

Darrell Bock

Late '70s? Okay, go for it. That's actually when I was here as a student. And you were thinking about going into ministry, so how did you end up in business instead of in ministry? And assess what you think God did with your life in making that choice.

Greg Adams

Can I go back just a little?

Darrell Bock

Sure, absolutely.

Greg Adams

'Cause it helps set the context where –

Darrell Bock

Okay.

Greg Adams

So I was raised in a results-oriented, achievement family. And there was a lot of pressure on academics, sports, art, and –

Darrell Bock

You're supposed to be an all-rounder.

Greg Adams

Exactly.

Darrell Bock

Do everything well.

Greg Adams

But I was blessed that between spring of my senior year in high school and spring of my freshman year in college, God brought men into my life who really challenged me to get into God's Word, read the Gospel of John. I'm not even sure we had a Bible in our house. And fortunately at spring of my freshman year, I finally realized that I can't add anything to what Jesus did, and I can't take away, with my goofy stuff, anything that He did, either. And so I became a Christian in my freshman year.

A year later, I met my future bride and helpmeet. So in a two-year period God totally changed my life.

Darrell Bock

Reorganized your life, yeah.

Greg Adams

In fact, and it's interesting, my wife – getting back to here, Dr. Allen and his wife Lindsay were childhood friends of my wife. So –

Darrell Bock

He's our chaplain. Go ahead.

Greg Adams

Okay, so with that kind of background, I graduated from college. And it's funny, when I speak to IBM groups, one of the thing employees always wanna ask is, "Hey, why did you join IBM? Was it the technology? Was it international?" And I say, "No, it was love." And they go, "What?"

Darrell Bock

[Laughter]

Greg Adams

And then I tell the story that basically my wife – my fiancee – said to me, "Hey, if you're gonna marry me, we're gonna live in Atlanta."

Darrell Bock

Uh-huh. So it was Coca-Cola or IBM? [Laughter]

Greg Adams

Exactly. So her dad had passed away, and she was an only child, so it was a good start. But she ended up moving ten times after that, as we talked about.

Darrell Bock

That's right, it was payback.

Greg Adams

So it's interesting. So as I started working, I was really struggling with this secular-sacred thing. To me, as a new believer, and with my background of heavy works and achievement, I thought, "Boy, the best work I could be doing is sacred work. So why shouldn't I be in the ministry?" And so I said, "What's the best place to learn ministry? It's Dallas Seminary." So I knew a guy that was going here, and so I actually came out to the school, went to Howard Hendricks' class, went to chapel.

But then some men stepped in my life who were really wise folks and started talking to me about this idea of faith and work. "And that really, Greg, the only difference between you and your pastor is how you guys get funded." And I thought that was an interesting concept, just how we get funded. And so it was that point that I felt that God had called me to be salt and light.

Darrell Bock

And I think it's interesting the way you stated this, because you said, "I need to go do sacred work," as if the work over here is something else and something normal and not sacred, which is the way a lot of people do think.

Greg Adams

Right.

Darrell Bock

And I take it that you learned something in the midst of doing the work in the workplace, and that is that you had a call, and the work that you were doing was very much, I guess