Dr. Linda Lee Tarver Turned Down a Contract Rather Than Denounce Her Convictions — and Business Kept Coming

Dr. Linda Lee Tarver was offered a contract she desperately wanted — the kind of work that lined up perfectly with her expertise, her calling, and her heart for helping organizations run better. There was just one condition: she would need to distance herself from her political affiliation to get the deal.

She said no.

"It wasn't my faith that was in question. It was my politics," she recalls. "But I decided that I'm not going to be disobedient." She lost the contract. She has never regretted the decision.

That single moment captures the through-line of a career that spans 34 years inside Michigan state government and now a thriving consulting practice built on a simple but demanding conviction: obedience to God outranks every opportunity, every client, and every bottom line.

From the Department of State to Tarver Consulting

For 29 of her 34 years with the state of Michigan, Tarver served in the Department of State, eventually becoming its election integrity expert and community affairs director. She was appointed by the governor as a Michigan Civil Rights Commissioner, where she helped lead hearings into the Flint water crisis and investigated discriminatory practices affecting the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. She spent decades engaged in Republican Party politics, meeting business owners and leaders across the state along the way.

When she retired in 2019, she wasn't finished working — she just wanted to be more deliberate about what she took on. "I wanted to focus my efforts on things that were pleasing to the Lord," she says. "He told me to go to Nineveh." Out of that conviction, Tarver Consulting was born — a political and small business consulting practice where she helps entrepreneurs (her husband among them, affectionately known as "the hot dog guy") navigate the regulatory maze of starting and running a business.

Understanding Michigan's compiled laws, tax codes, and the red tape that overwhelms most small business owners doesn't intimidate her. It's second nature after decades inside the system. But the paperwork was never the point. "I wanted to make sure that Tarver Consulting placed in my heart the things the Lord wanted me to help small businesses do — to advance the kingdom through their work," she says.

Who You Do Business With Matters

Tarver is selective about her clients, and she doesn't apologize for it. She points to the biblical account of King Jehoshaphat, who partnered in commerce with the wicked house of Ahab and Jezebel — and paid for it. "Because you've entangled yourself and went into business with the wicked, I will not let those ships sail," the prophet told him. "There's nothing wrong with building ships and commerce," Tarver says. "But we cannot engage with the wicked."

"Who you do business with matters to the Lord. Nothing's wrong with commerce — but who you engage with is part of the assignment."

That conviction shapes how she practices. She chooses to work primarily with fellow believers, praying with clients and over their businesses, offering counsel that flows directly from Scripture rather than around it. She also cites the story of the five daughters of Zelophehad from the book of Numbers — women denied inheritance rights who petitioned Moses and received a direct ruling from God securing their property claim. "The Lord cares about the affairs of his children, including property rights," she says. "He cares about our small businesses. He cares about who we do business with."

“My faith is not simply one part of my life or business—it is the foundation upon which everything is built. Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone of my life, my leadership, and Tarver Consulting. As Scripture declares, ‘For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 3:11). My desire is that every assignment I accept, every person I serve, and every decision I make ultimately honors Him and advances His purposes.”

Integrity, in her practice, isn't a slogan — it's operational. She encourages clients toward transparent books, proper audits, honest tax filings, and a portion of profits sown back into the communities they serve. "We render unto Caesar what is Caesar's," she says. "You don't cheat the system. You don't open shady operations. Your records should reflect integrity."

The Cost of Staying on the Wall

The contract she turned down wasn't an isolated incident — it was a test she'd faced before, and one she expects to face again. When she took the decision to prayer, she says the Lord's answer was direct: he had placed her where she was for a purpose, and he wanted her to stay.

"I'm not worshiping a political party, but I am standing where the Lord told me to stand. And if he says hit the rock five times, I'm going to hit the rock five times."

She thinks of Saul, who couldn't wait on God's timing and acted outside his instruction — and of Jonah, sent to Nineveh on an assignment that wasn't for everyone, only for him. "Everyone is not supposed to be in politics, or in this particular theater, or media, or whatever mountain the Lord calls them into," she says. "But they need to go when the Lord says it." Declining the contract cost her income. It didn't cost her obedience — and she says the Lord blessed her business even more in the aftermath.

Building With a Trowel in One Hand and a Weapon in the Other

Tarver often points her clients to Nehemiah, who rebuilt Jerusalem's wall with a construction tool in one hand and a weapon in the other — building and protecting simultaneously. She applies the same principle to modern business: protect your client data, your investors, your technology, and just as importantly, protect who you let inside the walls. Nehemiah refused help from Sanballat and Tobiah, men with no good intentions toward what he was building. "Get out those people who have no good for your organization," she says. "Remove the rot, and bring in people who have the same spirit that you have."

That same generosity-with-discernment shapes how she structures her fees. Rather than simply discounting her rate, Tarver often builds contracts that let organizations hire and mentor someone internally alongside her — so the knowledge doesn't walk out the door with the consultant. "Too often organizations hire people, they do a great job, and then they leave, and there's no one to take the torch," she says. "We need Joshuas and Calebs to come alongside and carry it forward. That's the kingdom model — not mine."

What This Means for You This Week

Tarver's counsel for leaders just beginning to integrate faith and business is refreshingly concrete: count the cost before you start. Know your business model, your customer, and the people you'll trust to build alongside you. Then hold every decision — who you hire, what you sell, who you contract with — against one question: would the Lord be pleased?

"We are children of the light," she says. "We operate in the light. There shouldn't be any secret deals, any secret donors, anything that could take away from our integrity or take away from the Lord."

Her challenge to every believer building something this week is the same one she answered when a contract hung in the balance: know what the Lord has said to you specifically, and don't trade it for what looks good on paper. "What did the Lord say to you?" she asks. "Because it may not be what he says to me. He speaks to his children differently and places them where he wants them to be." The question isn't whether obedience will cost you something. It's whether you're willing to stay on the wall anyway.