In James Kerr’s best-selling book about New Zealand’s national rugby team, Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life, Kerr said, “Leadership is surely the example we set. The way we lead our own life is what makes us a leader.”

Today’s edition of The Sharper Minute is longer than normal because it’s about a person whom I had originally planned to profile as a Sharper Leader in 2026. With his sudden passing at the young age of 52, I lost the opportunity to personally tell him how much I appreciated his leadership, example, and friendship. Instead, I will share his example with you—and I pray you will take this as a reminder to express appreciation for the leaders, influences, loved ones, and examples in your life.

For the past nine years, I have been blessed with a front-row view of the amazing leadership and example of Dr. Jeff Meyers, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Opelika, AL (FBO). Like many thriving organizations, FBO is filled with strong and faithful leaders—pastors, administrators, teachers, support staff, volunteers— who help members, students, and attendees feel connected and supported.

In most churches, the majority of attendees and members rarely form a personal relationship with a senior pastor. Many attend, worship, listen, and leave—never building deeper connections. Those who choose to serve or get more involved often form relational connections with leaders beneath the senior pastor.  

Even with the size of FBO and the hectic demands placed on a senior pastor, Jeff was different. He consistently made time for people. He wasn’t a figurehead far off in the distance. He was present, approachable, and deeply invested in his family, the church, community, and those around him.

Late this past Friday night, Leslie and I were blessed and encouraged to witness so many young college students relinquish their last Friday night before final exams to support, weep, laugh, and pray with the Myers’ family and FBO community. Their presence revealed Jeff wasn’t just a man on stage to them; he was a loving pastor who led by the way he lived.

In sports, when a team performs well, the head coach typically receives the credit. When the team struggles, the coach gets the blame. In business, companies appear to rise and fall with the CEO. However, in daily life, we realize that the people who most directly affect us are the ones we interact with regularly—friends, mentors, co-workers, teachers, and small-group leaders. Senior leaders can chart a great course and preach impactful sermons, but it’s often our “everyday leaders” who touch our hearts.

Jeff found a way to do both.

Seeing the response of the church, community, and public figures who knew Jeff, it’s clear that he was more than a church’s frontman. He loved and appreciated people—Not just those who shared his beliefs, but all of God’s children in this broken world.

I will remember Jeff as an amazing man God used to impact this world through his “all-in” example. I’m grateful for his incredible knowledge of God’s Word, gifts as a communicator, and his friendship.

I am grateful and blessed for the way Jeff pointed us and shepherded us all towards a relationship with Jesus. We will continue to experience and be Sharpened by his legacy through his family, his team, his congregation, and the church.

While we miss him dearly, today, I thank the Lord that Jeff is happier than any of us now that he’s been promoted to his new body—“6-foot-tall or more”!