Not an event, but a journey

Tavis McVey

Salvation is not a one-time event but the first marker on our journey to know Christ, and it’s in our growth that we see God’s will play out around us. This road of discipleship, as we see in the life of Tavis McVey, is worth every step taken.

“I always thought church was for really good people, people who read the Bible, people who had gone through the sanctification process without having to go through it. They were just there,” says Tavis.

The church was for those who had already arrived, so to speak, to sainthood. Full, unbroken, and not having to work on themselves at all. In other words, the church was for the healthy, untarnished, and pure. “I just felt less than.”

Still, Tavis explains he had heard Pastor Dobie Weasel speak years ago, giving his life to Christ then, but drifted away from the church itself. “I would tell people that I would never renounce my faith, that Jesus died for my faith, but I wasn’t willing to put in the work to understand that better.”

Despite this drift and resistance to returning to any church, God found a way to reach Tavis in an unlikely and unforeseen way: a family dinner. Sitting around the table with his own father and two children, Tavis listened to his dad speak but was hearing something greater.

“He’s got stories for days,” Tavis says of his dad. However, this moment was weightier, as if it wasn’t his earthly father speaking at the table. “This was different. I’ve never heard anything like it.”

A heaviness spread across his mind, and a flash of emotion struck his heart as he heard a stark message. Though around a table, Tavis received a message more typical of a pulpit: Are you prepared? It was a correction that shook him.

“I instantly thought: I need to go back to church, and I need to get these kids to get involved, and I need them to know about Jesus,” Tavis says.

First viewing Dream City online, Tavis soon attended in person. In rows of worshippers, Tavis realized a beautiful truth: we’re all sinners in need of a Savior, a Savior who’s ready to work with, in, and through us. But, yesterday’s deliverance meant nothing without today’s discipleship, and Tavis knew he would have to put work into his side of the relationship.

“It has been a process,” he says. “It hasn’t been easy.”

However, Tavis credits the many discipleship classes offered as a route for growth, from the Unveiled course, where he discovered the full access of what Christ’s sacrifice brought to a class on navigating being single with grace and hope.

“The best help I’ve had is doing the discipleship classes every single term. Even when you have everything—life is busy, and you have your to-do list and work, and your responsibilities are endless—make the commitment, don’t quit.”

Each class challenged him, unpacking layers of his past while uncovering God’s vision for his future.

“It seems like each time that I take one of these classes, God is providing more things for me to work on. He’s making me a better father, a better friend, a better worker and leader, but it’s been something that you have to intentionally do to get the outcome I want.”

Tavis joined the 2023 chronological Bible reading plan for his personal discipleship, though not until July 14. Despite his late start, Tavis diligently saw the plan through, reading many chapters each day.

Tavis and his children grew bolder and bolder in their faith, eventually leading Tavis to the decision to be baptized. “I’m more of an introvert, so going up in front of a bunch of people to declare that you’re this new person was kind of a scary thing for me. I didn’t want to do it, but I did.”

Tavis McVey and his children, praying together before their baptism.

Having spoken about wanting to be baptized, he admits he faced the question of, “Well, why haven’t you?” So, he and his twin children finally signed up to be baptized on Sunday, July 14, 2024, the last and final day of his reading plan. The timing meant he finished his read of the entire Bible on the same day as his baptism.

“It didn’t dawn on me until I looked back,” Tavis says. “It was God saying, ‘Hey, it’s my plan, I have you.’”

And while the timing of completing a read-through of the Bible and his baptism is notable, he says what made the day remarkable was an unexpected moment of healing that followed.

“Knowing we were going to be baptized, I invited my ex-wife, her boyfriend, and our families.” While waiting in line for him and his son to be baptized, Tavis found her standing up front to witness and celebrate the occasion. However, a greater moment was in store.

Tavis McVey moments after being baptized.

After cheering for his son and daughter and then listening to the celebration of his own baptism, Tavis was eager to get out of his wet clothes and help his child get dressed as well. His route to the restrooms was impeded, however, as his ex-wife waited in the lobby.

“I was going to help my son, and she stopped me on the rug,” Tavis says. She simply refused to let him pass by. Instead, she embraced him.

“I was completely soaked—she did not care!” Tavis says, a smile in his voice. “All the frustration and bitterness and everything, it was just gone. It was a gift. It was a blessing that I didn’t know I needed. She didn’t know she needed it. She was so thankful that I’ve embarked on this path.”

While looking back at the difficulties of his journey, Tavis repeats that every bit of discipleship was worth it, reminding us that God is here to help us in every step. And while Tavis understood and saw the benefits for his own life, he admits he did not first realize how his discovery of Christ would impact others.

“Once I declared I love Jesus, he’s my Lord and Savior, what do I do next? That next step is to help others, but that doesn’t mean bringing others to church and giving your life, and that’s it,” he says. ”It’s doing the work to dig out all those things that held you back and get them figured out. That process, it will help others.”