When God interrupted the Climb
Years into a sales career, Jody Gambrell realized the ladder he was climbing wasn’t the one God meant for him.
Words by Reagen Young | Images by Justin Hunter
Driving home from a medical sales interview, confident that it had gone well, Jody Gambrell envisioned his dream job becoming a reality. Good money. Good benefits. Good life. Then, a thought interrupts — or rather, a voice. What if you’ve spent years climbing the corporate ladder only to realize you’ve forgotten what God called you to in the first place?
Ten years earlier, in 1996, it was Jody’s senior year at Walker High School. He had accepted Jesus as his Savior in sixth grade, but now something deeper is stirring - a call to ministry. What does that even look like? How does one obey God in something so uncertain? The questions weigh heavily, and with no clear answers, Jody sets the thought aside.
After earning a scholarship to Bevill State Community College and completing his degree in health promotion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001, the Jasper native took a year off before starting physical therapy school.
While working at Long Lewis Ford, he received his first paycheck from selling cars, and with it, a spark for sales. “Probably my biggest paycheck to date was my first month selling to all my family and friends. I thought, ‘I’m going to do this forever!’” Jody laughs.
“Forever” didn’t last long. A devoted Alabama football fan, Jody quit his job as a car salesman on the day of the 2002 Iron Bowl so that he could attend the game. Unfortunately for him, the Crimson Tide lost 17–7.
He went on to hold various sales positions, determined to land a medical sales job. All the while, he remained active in his local church, aware that God had called him into full-time ministry. Yet his focus stayed on building a career and making money.
Fast forward to 2006. After that interview with the large medical sales firm in Birmingham, Jody began the drive home, and that’s when God stepped in again, reminding him of his true calling. Jody immediately reached out to mentors, asking them to hold him accountable for following through this time.
“I knew I was prone to running from that,” he says. “I was making decent money at the time and knew this would be a huge step of faith. I also knew I had chased after the paychecks for so long, and it was never enough.”
When he first felt called to ministry back in high school, Jody was terrified of public speaking. Yet over the years, God had been preparing him in unexpected ways. “I was presenting in front of large groups and training sessions,” he says. “Even though I felt like I was running from that call, He had not run from me. He was still using that secular work experience to prepare me for ministry.”
And where God calls, He provides. Soon after, Jody’s grandmother, a faithful viewer of Dawson Memorial Church’s television program, noticed that the church had a full-time recreation minister position open. After interviewing, Jody was offered the job — his first in full-time ministry. Though the pay was much lower than what he had been making in sales, he knew he was finally where he belonged.
During his five years at Dawson, Jody earned his seminary degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary through the Birmingham Extension Center. From there, he accepted a position at a church in Pensacola, Florida, which he thought would be his family’s forever home. But once again, God had other plans, leading him back to his Alabama roots.
Faith and family have always run deep for the Gambrells. Jody’s grandfather, D. Joe Gambrell, played football at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1946, helping lead the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl victory. Growing up, Jody’s love for Alabama football was a family inheritance. So, when Pastor Gil at First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa offered him a student pastor position in 2013, it felt like coming home.
Jody has served there ever since. Each year, he begins the school year with a series on the Gospel. “The Gospel is literally good news. We have a world out there that needs to hear good news,” says Jody. “We don't need to hold that to ourselves. It is not just our entryway into heaven; it changes everything that we do, whether it’s our future career, whatever it is. You never move past the fact that because of sin, we were doomed, but Jesus came to save us and give us eternal life.”
Jody loves his family, which includes his wife Jenny(Grice) and his daughter Avery (16) and son Daniel(14). He also loves his church, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and most importantly, his Savior, Jesus Christ. Working just a stone’s throw from Bryant-Denny Stadium, he attends Alabama games as often as he can. He may not have brought home a Rose Bowl trophy like his grandfather once did, but his reward is far greater — leading people to the ultimate victory found in Jesus Christ. 78
