"I Was on Church Staff for 15 Years — and I'm Not Sure I Was Saved" (ft. Lee Fields)

Lee Fields is one of the most sought-after live audio engineers on the planet. He's toured the world, built and sold the most successful tech education platform the church space has ever seen, led worship production across twelve campuses of one of America's fastest-growing churches — and turned down an invitation to play Augusta National (there's a story, and he's not telling all of it).And at the bottom of all that success, he found a question most people in ministry never let themselves ask: was I ever actually saved — or was my faith attached to a church staff employee handbook? Connect your faith and your finances → KERUXHQ.comTimestamped Chapters:00:00 Welcome to the David Laut Show00:17 Lee Fields + the top-three golf courses question01:10 The Augusta National invitation he didn't take02:10 Peachtree on a perfect October Thursday + Tobacco Road03:20 David's three: Banff Springs, the Shores, Martis Camp04:30 The real topic: elite at your craft AND built for eternity05:15 Maryville, TN: trailer park, addiction at home, a mom who's a saint06:30 A's on tests, F's on homework — and a college career of Halo07:30 Church as the fabric of Southern life08:30 Cut from the team → marching band → turning down a UT bass scholarship09:45 "Fields, go figure out how to use this stuff" — the PA system gift11:00 Hours from taking the electrician job — the family cycle he refused12:30 The phone rings: Disciple, 200314:00 $20 a show, $5 food money: $4,400 for 200+ days on the road15:15 Sony, 3,000-seat rooms, and finding a safe place to make every mistake16:45 Scottie Scheffler has a coach: how the elite actually train18:00 Pots-and-pans drums, student-loan studio gear, hunting discomfort daily19:30 "I don't ever want to wake up and go to work"20:15 The Toy Story claw: rescued the morning after his lowest night21:45 Divine intervention AND partnership — the choices still mattered22:45 Married at 23 → first tech guy at a Knoxville church23:45 2007: Church Production Magazine, the "virtual pastor," Twitter, #CTDRT25:30 "Where was faith in all this?" — what 26-year-old Lee would've said26:15 The call west: 11 years, 12 campuses, executive worship pastor27:45 Hotel-ballroom conferences are useless → mixing consoles in a circle29:15 Saddleback 2016 → 30 events worldwide → 10,000 subscribers → the sale31:00 Tailwinds and timing: the leapfrog pattern of Lee's career31:50 2022: selling the business and a divorce in the same season33:30 The confession: "I'm not sure I was actually saved"34:30 Faith attached to the employee handbook, not the Bible35:45 "There is no ladder, bro"36:45 "When God decided what He thought about you, He didn't call a meeting"38:00 "You know what we didn't talk about today? Church."39:00 Is Sunday imperative? Church as plan A — and the shame trap41:15 The 10,000-hours math: you can't master a relationship in 90 minutes a week42:15 The Mona Lisa on the wall: "I thought I owned it — now I need it to survive"43:15 Scarcity trauma: trailer park to a million-dollar zip code44:30 "I feel like a three-year-old Christian"45:15 The engineer who can't stop mixing: wanting the worship band to be bad46:15 "Thank you for not distracting me"47:00 The fundamentals: praying daily is still hard — and that's normal47:45 Don't hire the Christian roofer + the freedom of nothing to hide48:58 Outro: KERUXHQ.com + the Faith Forward framework