WEBVTT 1 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.500 Hello and welcome to Word and Work an Intersection. 2 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:31.400 I'm your host Dale Meyer. This hour we'll talk with Reverend Don Everts. 3 00:00:31.400 --> 00:00:36.100 He's the author of a new book from Lutheran Hour Ministries titled "The 4 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:42.500 Hopeful Neighborhood- What Happens when Christians Pursue the Common 5 00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:42.900 Good." 6 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:48.200 I started reading this book, which is going to be published later this 7 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:53.700 summer and in the introduction, I was caught by this: "if you are tired 8 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:57.600 of the church being dismissed as irrelevant find yourself hungry for a 9 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:01.200 compelling attractive Christian presence in our country keep reading. 10 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:05.300 If you are tired of a consumer-oriented faith.. 11 00:01:05.300 --> 00:01:10.900 keep reading. If you are tired of being isolated in a Christian, holy 12 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:14.300 huddle and find yourself hungry for more relationships with 13 00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:20.200 non-Christians keep reading. And if you are tired of despair, if you 14 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:24.600 are tired of blooming culture watchers, who will lament how the cause 15 00:01:24.600 --> 00:01:29.200 of Christianity is on an unrelenting downward spiral... 16 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:30.900 Keep reading. 17 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:37.000 I'm tired of all those things and so I am going to keep reading this 18 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:43.200 book. And I'm thrilled to have Don here to introduce us to the content 19 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:46.900 of the book and to get all of our appetites whetted, so we'll get 20 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:48.000 that book. Welcome Don 21 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 glad to have you here. In a couple sentences. 22 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:56.700 What is the hopeful neighborhood about? The hopeful neighborhood is 23 00:01:56.700 --> 00:02:01.200 about reclaiming what used to be understood as a core part of the 24 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:07.000 Christian Life. Which is pursuing the blessing or the common good of 25 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:10.690 the place and the people who live right around you. So it's a book 26 00:02:10.690 --> 00:02:15.900 about rediscovering the beauty and the fruit that comes with living in 27 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:17.400 that kind of way as Christians. 28 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:18.700 It's about my neighborhood. 29 00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:21.900 It's about your neighborhood and what God wants you to do in your 30 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:22.000 neighborhood. 31 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:22.800 That's right. 32 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:23.500 This is great. 33 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.000 Let's start with 34 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:33.300 telling the folks what Lutheran Hour Ministries is many of our educated 35 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:36.800 audience members know and and some don't. 36 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:38.400 What is LHM? 37 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.300 Lutheran Hour Ministries is all about bringing Christ to the Nations 38 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:44.200 and the Nations to the church. 39 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:48.100 So for over a hundred years, it's about Proclamation Ministry. 40 00:02:48.100 --> 00:02:52.600 It's about sharing the good news of Jesus and equipping everyday 41 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:53.100 Christian. 42 00:02:53.100 --> 00:02:57.700 There's an emphasis on laypeople equipping everyday Christians to be 43 00:02:57.700 --> 00:03:01.400 able to share the hope that they have in the gospel through their 44 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:03.700 words and through their deeds. 45 00:03:03.700 --> 00:03:06.900 So that's what Lutheran Hour Ministries is all about and doing it all 46 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:10.800 over the globe in over 30 countries all around the globe doing the 47 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:11.300 same thing. 48 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:12.200 I appreciate that 49 00:03:12.200 --> 00:03:16.600 you said the emphasis is on lay people because here at Concordia Seminary 50 00:03:16.600 --> 00:03:21.400 the emphasis is upon pastors. Sure. And then the two work together 51 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.100 and we're all in the priesthood of all believers and we work together. 52 00:03:25.100 --> 00:03:27.400 Tell us about your journey in 53 00:03:27.600 --> 00:03:32.100 Yeah, so I've kind of had a nomadic life. 54 00:03:32.100 --> 00:03:33.000 Dr. 55 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.400 Meyer which is a strange for someone like me to be writing a book about 56 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:37.300 neighborhoods. 57 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:42.700 I'm currently living in my thirtieth neighborhood in my life 58 00:03:42.700 --> 00:03:44.200 and I'm not even 50 years old. 59 00:03:44.200 --> 00:03:46.500 Did you pay your bills? 60 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:50.800 I was always on the run, that's right. You know I had a family 61 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.200 that just was always moving and then I worked with Inter-varsity 62 00:03:54.200 --> 00:03:56.900 Christian Fellowship so from campus to campus. 63 00:03:56.900 --> 00:04:03.200 So I have I've had a life of Ministry of doing evangelism among 64 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:07.200 college students and in the local church and really passionate about 65 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:13.100 helping people talk about their faith and their life with Jesus using 66 00:04:13.100 --> 00:04:16.890 ordinary words so that the non-christians in your life can understand 67 00:04:16.890 --> 00:04:17.100 them. 68 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:18.700 So that's a real passion of mine. 69 00:04:18.700 --> 00:04:24.500 But as a nomad I've been doing that on campus and different countries 70 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:27.600 around the world and God's been doing the work in my life. 71 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.700 A partly through this process and research we're doing it with the 72 00:04:31.700 --> 00:04:36.500 Barna group to make me think not just about people all the way around 73 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:41.000 the world, but about the people across the street from me in and how 74 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:46.500 does God want me to be in relationship to the place and the people in 75 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:48.700 the Piermont subdivision, which is where I live. 76 00:04:48.700 --> 00:04:51.800 How did you come to Lutheran Hour Ministries? 77 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:53.600 It's a God story. 78 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.600 It's a beautiful God story where I felt God calling me to use my gifts. 79 00:04:58.600 --> 00:04:59.200 The gifts 80 00:04:59.200 --> 00:05:02.200 God has given me as a communicator in a more focused way. 81 00:05:02.200 --> 00:05:06.200 And the funny thing is I've driven by Lutheran Hour Ministries 82 00:05:06.200 --> 00:05:09.200 headquarters hundreds of times. 83 00:05:09.200 --> 00:05:14.500 And then when God was calling me to focus it turns out that's right 84 00:05:14.500 --> 00:05:17.600 when they were looking for a communicator who is passionate about the 85 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:17.800 gospel 86 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.000 and you know, God did his thing. 87 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:21.500 That's great. 88 00:05:21.500 --> 00:05:24.700 You mentioned the Barna group was worthwhile as we're laying the 89 00:05:24.700 --> 00:05:27.600 background explain to us what the Barna group is. 90 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.500 And the partnership that the Barna group has with Lutheran Hour Ministries. 91 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:36.600 Lutheran Hour, you know, we're kind of passionate about evangelism and 92 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:39.400 equipping people to share the gospel in the world 93 00:05:39.400 --> 00:05:44.000 they live in today. The Barna group is a Christian research company. 94 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:49.800 And so there a premier research company who are passionate about 95 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:53.700 helping people understand the actual world that we're looking at today 96 00:05:53.700 --> 00:05:57.200 and that we're living in today. Things are changing so fast, right 97 00:05:57.200 --> 00:06:00.900 I mean, you know that. And the Barna groups passion is helping 98 00:06:00.900 --> 00:06:06.200 churches navigate those changes. And so we have a partnership where 99 00:06:06.200 --> 00:06:11.200 every year we're researching a different topic that is important to 100 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:14.800 everyday Christians to figure out how to be faithful in the world are 101 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:15.500 living in today. 102 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:19.300 And so this is our third year of research. 103 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:23.200 Our first year was about spiritual conversations how individuals talk. 104 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:27.300 Our second year was about Household of Faith kind of how the Christian 105 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:30.500 faith is nurtured and passed on within our households. 106 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:33.300 And the third year is researching neighborhoods. 107 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:35.700 How are Christians perceived in their neighborhood? 108 00:06:35.700 --> 00:06:39.600 What does it look like for Christians to be a welcome presence in 109 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:40.200 their neighborhood? 110 00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:45.300 And so that research really forms the backbone of everything we're 111 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:51.500 doing kind of going forward. When I was a pastor a real pastor serving at 112 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:54.600 church not a retired administrator. 113 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:01.900 Barna Books yet would always be in my lap drawer at the desk 114 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:06.700 because I would monitor what I hope to do what I was preaching about 115 00:07:06.700 --> 00:07:10.500 over against what the survey show is really happening. 116 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:14.300 Yeah. The word of God is the basis for our sermons are teaching and so 117 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:18.700 on but you know, we've got to speak to where the people are at it and 118 00:07:18.700 --> 00:07:23.500 so I've always appreciated that and when I became a not real Parish 119 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:28.800 pastor, Seminary president, I have still followed this with with great 120 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.200 interest. 121 00:07:29.200 --> 00:07:34.700 Now you mentioned that this is the third installment in your work with 122 00:07:34.700 --> 00:07:35.100 Barna. 123 00:07:36.700 --> 00:07:41.200 Do the first to the individual and spiritual conversations 124 00:07:41.200 --> 00:07:45.100 and then the house will get paid are there books available about that? 125 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:45.900 Yes. 126 00:07:45.900 --> 00:07:50.500 So for each research topic, we create a monograph for leaders and we 127 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:55.200 do that with Barna. And then I'm tasked one of the things that I do is 128 00:07:55.200 --> 00:07:59.500 I'm tasked to take the research take the scriptures and then take some 129 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:05.900 of my embarrassing stories of growth in my own life and in to present 130 00:08:05.900 --> 00:08:09.100 the research and the findings, what's helpful, what's most helpful that 131 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:11.200 we learned and to present those two people. 132 00:08:11.200 --> 00:08:14.800 So for the first year, I wrote a book called "The Reluctant Witness" 133 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.700 discovering the delight of spiritual conversations. The second year 134 00:08:19.700 --> 00:08:23.600 I wrote a book called "The Spiritually Vibrant Home" The Power of", get 135 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:28.500 ready for this, "Messy Prayers Loud Tables and Open Doors." In this 136 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:32.000 was the third book in the series taking the best of the research and 137 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.600 and helping just lay people, everyday people, receive 138 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:40.400 from the fruit of that. You mentioned you're embarrassing moments yet 139 00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:43.400 that that's a great lead-in to the hopeful neighborhood. 140 00:08:43.400 --> 00:08:51.300 Yeah. Tell us about your subdivision? Well it's interesting when we moved in, 12 years ago is longest I've 141 00:08:51.300 --> 00:08:51.900 lived anywhere. 142 00:08:51.900 --> 00:08:57.600 So I'm slowing down in my nomadic ways when we moved in my wife Wendy 143 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.800 and I you know, we've been campus pastors for a long time. 144 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:04.800 We did what was in our bones to do we just met everyone we met all our 145 00:09:04.800 --> 00:09:05.400 neighbors. 146 00:09:05.400 --> 00:09:06.700 We met the neighborhood kids. 147 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:09.600 We got to know people invited people over invited people to church. 148 00:09:10.900 --> 00:09:12.600 And then somewhere along the line 149 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:17.000 we just started disengaging with our neighborhood. 150 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:18.600 We didn't decide to do it. 151 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.100 We weren't even conscious that we were doing it. 152 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:23.100 But you know, we were busy with our church. 153 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:26.200 We are busy with our kids activities. 154 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:30.400 We have three children that we are busy with our friends and slowly 155 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:30.900 over time. 156 00:09:30.900 --> 00:09:36.500 We started and if the phrase I've heard used is living above place. 157 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.600 Where we're living life 158 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:44.600 but in a way that's really detached from the actual humans who live 159 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:45.300 right around us. 160 00:09:45.300 --> 00:09:50.300 We have rich relationships, but they're in different places. And so the 161 00:09:50.300 --> 00:09:51.100 research 162 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:59.100 kind of held up a mirror for me to think through am I okay with that? 163 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:03.900 And what's God's vision for how I as a Christian, we as a Christian 164 00:10:03.900 --> 00:10:04.300 household 165 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:09.100 would relate with the people in Piermont? In the Lutheran 166 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:10.100 Church-Missouri Synod 167 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:13.600 we have two auxiliaries many organizations, 168 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:20.100 but to only two auxiliaries the LLL Lutheran Hour Ministries and the 169 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.000 LWML. And over the years 170 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:24.200 they had a phrase "Bloom where you are planted". 171 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:27.800 Yes. And that's what the book is about. 172 00:10:27.800 --> 00:10:32.300 That's right. But what's happened over the last decades is we've been 173 00:10:32.300 --> 00:10:33.900 pulled up from where we're planted. 174 00:10:33.900 --> 00:10:43.400 We may be blooming a lot of places but not in. That's right since World War II which has been huge cultural shifts where 175 00:10:43.400 --> 00:10:46.300 people used to have rich relationships in the neighborhood. 176 00:10:46.300 --> 00:10:50.200 And if you were in need you could find help from your neighbors and 177 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:52.400 some of those social bonds are going away. 178 00:10:52.400 --> 00:10:57.400 And so what an opportunity for Christians, you know to see the 179 00:10:57.400 --> 00:11:01.600 research and open the scriptures and go God actually wants me to be a 180 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:01.800 blessing. 181 00:11:02.900 --> 00:11:04.000 Right where I'm planted. 182 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:10.900 So. Before we went on the air we were talking about this and we were 183 00:11:10.900 --> 00:11:16.300 talking about garage door openers. You pull into your home 184 00:11:17.300 --> 00:11:21.000 close the garage door and you're not in the front of the house 185 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:21.200 anymore. 186 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.000 Even if you do have a porch chances are he's going to be sitting in the back. 187 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:27.300 Yeah, it'll be in the back air conditioning. 188 00:11:27.300 --> 00:11:28.900 You don't need to go out. 189 00:11:28.900 --> 00:11:33.400 Yeah, and there's a you know people who have dogs to walk or at an 190 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:36.700 advantage actually meet more of their neighbors. 191 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:38.000 So it's interesting 192 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:43.400 how our built environment the technology that we use actually in a way 193 00:11:43.400 --> 00:11:48.900 we don't even always notice shapes are habits. And sometimes maybe 194 00:11:48.900 --> 00:11:53.000 shapes them more than our faith and our values and our priorities 195 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.400 should be shaping them. 196 00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:59.400 I'm sure the devil is in the details. That's right. He knows us better 197 00:11:59.400 --> 00:11:59.800 than we do. 198 00:11:59.800 --> 00:12:08.700 So you're book is an expose of how the devil works. That's right. You know, what what if we reclaimed what is actually 199 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:11.500 has a rich tradition not just in the scripture, but in church history 200 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:17.000 of Christians being a blessing right where they were planted. And 201 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:17.100 the 202 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.800 witness that that has allowed for over the years has been 203 00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:25.000 extraordinary. And I and I think has there been a better time in our 204 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:30.000 history for Christians to be making person-to-person face-to-face 205 00:12:31.900 --> 00:12:36.300 trust building relationships with people right around them. 206 00:12:36.300 --> 00:12:37.700 I think you're absolutely right. 207 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:41.200 One of the things that irritates me is is it was right here at 208 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:46.300 Concordia Seminary. So a little clue in how we do things. When new 209 00:12:46.300 --> 00:12:49.800 students come for 15 years 210 00:12:49.800 --> 00:12:51.400 they got a lecture from Oppa. 211 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:56.100 You will be friendly you will greet everybody you see and if you don't 212 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:59.100 show yourself to be friendly you're out of here. 213 00:12:59.100 --> 00:12:59.500 Okay. 214 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:02.500 It's interesting with a coronavirus. 215 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:08.200 We have more people walking through campus and and I'm talkin especially 216 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.300 about Washington University students. Sure. 217 00:13:10.300 --> 00:13:16.700 They don't acknowledge your presence they're in their ear world and that just irritates me. 218 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:23.500 And there's something you know, my wife and I haven't gone on so 219 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:26.300 many walks through the neighborhood as we have since the quarantine 220 00:13:26.300 --> 00:13:30.200 started cuz we're both there and you know, we're not heading out to 221 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:30.700 our normal activities. 222 00:13:32.100 --> 00:13:35.800 And there's something about just being present right, being a 223 00:13:35.800 --> 00:13:40.500 hopeful blessed kind gracious presence. 224 00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:46.100 That helps us gain a hearing for the gospel long-term. 225 00:13:46.100 --> 00:13:54.100 What do you mean by hopeful neighborhood talk about that for a moment? A hopeful neighborhood, I mean a lot of things by it, that's why I wrote the book. 226 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:58.600 But in a nutshell a hopeful neighborhood is where all the neighbors 227 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:03.400 and this is Christians and non-christians shoulder-to-shoulder are 228 00:14:03.400 --> 00:14:08.100 using whatever gifts God has given them to pursue the common good of 229 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:12.600 their neighborhood. And when that is happening that richness of 230 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.400 relationship that richness of purpose that creates real 231 00:14:16.400 --> 00:14:17.600 hope in a neighborhood. 232 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:20.100 The common good. 233 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:21.800 Can you talk more about that? 234 00:14:21.800 --> 00:14:29.900 Absolutely, so the common good is the flourishing or well-being of a 235 00:14:29.900 --> 00:14:35.600 place and everyone and everything in that place. This would be similar remember 236 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.200 Jeremiah's letter to the Israelite Exiles in Babylon. 29 chapter. 237 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.500 All they wanted to do is take off when I get out of here and God in 238 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:44.000 the letter. 239 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.200 He said to them I've got another idea 240 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.600 I want you to pursue the welfare of the city 241 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.800 I've sent you to. So that idea like pursue the welfare the overall 242 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:57.800 common good of the place where you are the lands of people the 243 00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:02.600 creatures at the business is everything in it pursue the common good 244 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.300 of that that that's what I'm talking about in that something that 245 00:15:05.300 --> 00:15:06.100 Christians and non-christians. 246 00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:10.700 Can do side-by-side we're all created by God, 247 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:15.500 we're all given gifts by God and he calls us to be a blessing in that 248 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:15.700 way. 249 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:17.400 You know, it's at the start. 250 00:15:17.400 --> 00:15:21.800 I said I quoted you do if you are tired of being isolated in a 251 00:15:21.800 --> 00:15:22.300 Christian 252 00:15:22.300 --> 00:15:29.100 Holy huddle, like the church cocoon interesting when people hear when 253 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:32.500 we church people here love your neighbor as yourself, we decide who 254 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:33.000 that neighbor. 255 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.300 Is it often times 256 00:15:34.300 --> 00:15:46.100 it's a fellow church member. That's right. It's not the neighbor on our street. So if your tired of being isolated in a Christian Holy huddle and find yourself hungry for more real relationships with 257 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:47.400 non-christians. 258 00:15:47.400 --> 00:15:48.800 Keep reading. 259 00:15:48.800 --> 00:15:54.200 Do you think church people are actually hungry for relationships with 260 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:55.200 non-christians? 261 00:15:55.900 --> 00:15:58.800 I think at their core they are and that's because they have the Holy 262 00:15:58.800 --> 00:15:59.800 Spirit inside of them. 263 00:15:59.800 --> 00:16:00.200 Right? 264 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:04.900 So it's so part of our birthright as Christians is this call to be 265 00:16:04.900 --> 00:16:08.200 witnesses and this call to be a blessing to love our neighbors. 266 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:12.400 All that stuff is that's that's the spirit inside of us longing for 267 00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:16.600 those things. But I would agree with you what I think you're getting 268 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:19.600 at is that for a lot of us were kind of happy with the Cocoon. 269 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:24.000 We're kind of satisfied hanging out with people who are like us people 270 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:27.000 who believe what we believe and we want to do evangelism. 271 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:31.600 We just don't want to hang out with people but the reality of these 272 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:36.900 days were there so little trust for the church for Christianity if we 273 00:16:36.900 --> 00:16:40.600 want to gain a hearing to someday be able to share the gospel with 274 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:41.000 someone. 275 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.100 We need to gain a hearing and we need to build trust with them and through 276 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:49.600 relationships and what better way to build relationships then to be 277 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:53.500 pursuing the common good of the place where we are. And the research 278 00:16:53.500 --> 00:16:54.500 tells us it's interesting. 279 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:58.500 The research tells us trust for Christian organizations churches, 280 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:00.700 etcetera not doing great. 281 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:04.700 No surprise there but their research told us that the trust for 282 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:07.500 someone who's a Community member someone who lives in your 283 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:13.590 neighborhood is high. And so in an age in an era when non-Christians 284 00:17:13.590 --> 00:17:17.590 are pretty skeptical about Christian organizations or churches. 285 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:23.500 They're actually ready to hear from neighbors and to interact with 286 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:24.000 neighbors. 287 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:29.400 And so it's a pretty ripe situation for Christians to say I'm going to 288 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:34.300 forsake the Huddle at least a little bit and I'm going to build some 289 00:17:34.300 --> 00:17:37.400 relationships with a guy I've lived by for 20 years and I don't even 290 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:40.200 know his name. Well why don't I go over and say it's weird that I don't 291 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:43.600 know your name. In my position, former position. 292 00:17:43.600 --> 00:17:44.000 Yeah. 293 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:50.700 I'm a has been I get letters every once in awhile from Pharisees 294 00:17:50.700 --> 00:17:56.800 who were super concerned about keeping the Lutheran Doctrine and we 295 00:17:56.800 --> 00:18:01.200 have to circle the wagons and protect that doctrine. And it seems to me 296 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.500 and this more than opinion because I can go back in at Lutheran 297 00:18:05.500 --> 00:18:11.200 theology when you're in the neighborhood with people and you're aware 298 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.900 of the common good and helping pursue that that actually is an 299 00:18:14.900 --> 00:18:19.300 incentive to the study of theology into your own spiritual life. Would you comment? 300 00:18:19.300 --> 00:18:20.600 Absolutely because 301 00:18:21.900 --> 00:18:25.300 when you're interacting with what I call normal people people who 302 00:18:25.300 --> 00:18:28.300 don't follow Jesus when you're acting with them interacting with them. 303 00:18:28.300 --> 00:18:29.400 They're going to ask you questions. 304 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:33.900 They're going to they're not looking for like pre-chewed answers that 305 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:35.300 you clearly memorized. 306 00:18:35.300 --> 00:18:38.100 They want to know what's going on inside you and what is your faith 307 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:39.400 have to say about these real things. 308 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.400 Well, that's going to push you to your library, right? 309 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:47.000 That's going to push us back to our doctrine and which is beautiful and 310 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:51.700 life giving is going to make us drink from that well more because we 311 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:53.300 don't just want to protect our theology. 312 00:18:53.300 --> 00:18:54.100 We want to give it away. 313 00:18:54.100 --> 00:18:58.700 We want to be sharing these things with other people and so there's 314 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:02.300 nothing that makes you a student of the gospel and of our rich 315 00:19:02.300 --> 00:19:06.400 heritage more than getting out of the huddle. These conversations 316 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.600 are energizing. 317 00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:12.000 We're going to take a short break and then we'll continue our 318 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.500 discussion with Reverend Everts. Please stay with us. 319 00:19:16.700 --> 00:19:18.200 Concordia Seminary St. 320 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:23.000 Louis provides continuing education resources for pastors and lay 321 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:28.100 people to discover all the Concordia Seminary has for you. Visit us on 322 00:19:28.100 --> 00:19:30.600 the web at CSL. 323 00:19:30.600 --> 00:19:31.400 EDU. 324 00:19:33.900 --> 00:19:37.300 Welcome back to Word and Work an Intersection. 325 00:19:37.300 --> 00:19:39.900 I'm your host Dale Meyer. Today 326 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:41.600 our guest is Reverend Don Everts. 327 00:19:41.600 --> 00:19:46.200 He's author of a new book from Lutheran Hour Ministries titled "The 328 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:48.100 Hopeful Neighborhood." 329 00:19:49.100 --> 00:19:51.000 Summer is drawing to a close. 330 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.600 When can we get your book? 331 00:19:53.600 --> 00:19:55.600 Yes, so the book will be out this fall. 332 00:19:55.600 --> 00:20:00.000 But what we are doing is we've developed an entire website with lots 333 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.400 of resources coming from the same research projects of people go to 334 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:05.400 Hopeful neighborhood. 335 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:05.700 Org. 336 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:07.800 So it's that simple hopeful neighborhood. 337 00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:09.800 Org they can read about this book. 338 00:20:09.800 --> 00:20:14.500 They can read about the monograph for leaders that we have are which is 339 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:17.600 out and a field guide that's coming soon. 340 00:20:17.600 --> 00:20:19.700 So we have a Blog there. 341 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:23.600 We have lots of interesting information about the book and other 342 00:20:23.600 --> 00:20:27.700 things coming from the same curiosity in the same research project. 343 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:37.600 And this is available now. Yes, the website is available right now. Website is available now. I'm telling you 344 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:42.200 I'm still teaching at Concordia Seminary and I want my students to 345 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.200 know about this book. Oh great. Because in teaching homiletics. 346 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.800 Wow sure that that's a this is a kind of information that they need to 347 00:20:49.800 --> 00:20:51.800 work into the presentation of the word of God. 348 00:20:51.800 --> 00:20:56.200 One of the things in the word of God is vocation. 349 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:56.500 Yes. 350 00:20:56.500 --> 00:21:01.500 I know 1st Peter 5 times talk about talks about to this you were called. 351 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:07.600 Talk about vocation. That's really important here, you know vocation, you know 352 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:12.500 from the Latin word for calling and I like how Luther approaches this, 353 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:16.700 Martin Luther, where he says we have different roles in our life and 354 00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:18.600 each of them represents a vocation. 355 00:21:18.600 --> 00:21:19.700 So I'm a husband. 356 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:20.400 I'm a father. 357 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:21.600 I'm a writer 358 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:26.200 I'm a neighbor and each of those different roles. 359 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:30.800 I have a calling in that are in that God calls me to be faithful and to 360 00:21:30.800 --> 00:21:35.100 live into that role as a father as a husband. And and and so that's 361 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:39.700 important because when we're pursuing the common good we're being 362 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:42.100 mindful of how am I using the gifts 363 00:21:42.100 --> 00:21:47.300 God has given me? How am I using the different vocations that I have? 364 00:21:47.300 --> 00:21:52.400 And it's helpful to invite people, especially those of us like me who 365 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:57.100 are tempted to live above place and not really function as a neighbor. 366 00:21:57.100 --> 00:22:01.500 To be mindful and attentive to my role as a neighbor. 367 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:03.700 And what is that calling? 368 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:10.100 And what does God say about being a neighbor and what of the hopes and 369 00:22:10.100 --> 00:22:13.600 possibilities that come from that particular vocation? 370 00:22:14.300 --> 00:22:18.800 We learn by antithesis by contrast 371 00:22:18.800 --> 00:22:20.900 Okay, and Dr. 372 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:25.800 Walther, the first president of the Seminary and the Synod, use to 373 00:22:25.800 --> 00:22:26.700 always have antitheses. 374 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:29.900 Let me bounce this off of you and get your comment. 375 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:36.000 When a lot of us grew up, we were in Christian America. The public 376 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.500 culture accepted the teachings of Christianity and the morality of 377 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:42.400 Christianity. 378 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.900 I'm not saying everybody believed Jesus was their Savior, but that was the 379 00:22:45.900 --> 00:22:46.800 lay of the land. 380 00:22:46.800 --> 00:22:53.700 So I as a Christian, you know, I really didn't have to practice Jesus 381 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:59.600 driven vocation in my neighborhood because I knew that the Methodists 382 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:02.800 on the left of our house and the Roman Catholics on the right they 383 00:23:02.800 --> 00:23:06.500 accepted that and so we kind of what you just didn't have to do it. 384 00:23:07.600 --> 00:23:11.800 It's totally different now and vocation really rises in this 385 00:23:11.800 --> 00:23:13.900 non-Christian post Church culture. 386 00:23:13.900 --> 00:23:15.900 Am I reading that right? 387 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.700 I completely agree with you. 388 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:22.300 There's, I don't mean this in a bad way, but we could be a little 389 00:23:22.300 --> 00:23:25.100 lazier in the era of Christendom. 390 00:23:25.100 --> 00:23:30.900 The culture itself was hauling a lot of water for us and the 391 00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:34.600 the church and people were more biblically literate and people were 392 00:23:34.600 --> 00:23:41.700 informed about things and so we didn't have to engage with a lot of 393 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:46.300 non-christians in building trust in raising awareness about the faith. 394 00:23:46.300 --> 00:23:50.500 We could use for example, really Christian words and people would 395 00:23:50.500 --> 00:23:51.200 understand them. 396 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:55.600 That's not the case now and so a couple things have changed our 397 00:23:55.600 --> 00:23:58.800 language has changed and so we need to learn how to take this 398 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:03.000 beautiful doctrine of ours and communicate it in everyday language that 399 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:04.500 normal people can understand. 400 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:10.700 We didn't have to do that before we do now. We need to translate and we 401 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:11.700 have to build trust. 402 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:16.000 I liken it introducing someone to Jesus today. 403 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.700 We're we're like you're going to love Jesus. 404 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:22.500 I liken it to someone trying to set up someone on a blind date with an 405 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:26.300 ex-spouse. I mean think about the emotional afraid of like no no. 406 00:24:26.300 --> 00:24:31.900 No, I'm not going on in there and a lot of people in our culture even 407 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:35.200 though they never really knew Jesus even though they've never really 408 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.700 understood Christianity or the church. 409 00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:43.100 They think they have and they're over it and they carry Church 410 00:24:43.100 --> 00:24:48.500 hurt with them. And maybe been hurt and so we have some work to do 411 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:52.100 before we can just say can I introduce you to my friend Jesus because 412 00:24:52.100 --> 00:24:56.400 of those wounds and because of that inexperience that they have and so 413 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:57.200 trust building. 414 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:04.400 Building relationship with people being a blessing presents where 415 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.500 we're gaining a hearing those are things we didn't have to do before and we do now. 416 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:12.200 A friend of mine who was the president of the American Bible Society. 417 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:13.300 Dr. 418 00:25:13.300 --> 00:25:18.000 Gene Habecker said don't tell me what a friend I have in Jesus until 419 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.400 I see what a friend I have in you. That's good. That's great. 420 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:26.000 And really that's the core I should have used that in the book because 421 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.300 the core of the book is. 422 00:25:28.300 --> 00:25:34.100 We do a lot of exploration of the early Church in the book and 423 00:25:34.100 --> 00:25:38.600 looking at how the the behavior of the early church. And what I mean by 424 00:25:38.600 --> 00:25:41.100 that is how they pursued the common good of their neighborhood. So talk about that. 425 00:25:41.100 --> 00:25:46.300 So they they they were a blessed presence. 426 00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:51.100 So in a culture where infanticide was accepted and if you had an 427 00:25:51.100 --> 00:25:54.200 unwanted baby, you would leave it on the trash heap outside of town 428 00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:58.200 that was accepted behavior that the the Roman leaders says it's a 429 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:01.300 normal thing to do. Christians would go and adopt those babies. 430 00:26:01.300 --> 00:26:06.000 There were two pandemics that hit the early church that that that were 431 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.500 devastating. As soon as one of them 432 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:09.200 would hit town 433 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:12.600 everyone would take off except the Christians and they would care for 434 00:26:12.600 --> 00:26:16.500 people and and and and bind up wounds and nurse people. 435 00:26:17.100 --> 00:26:21.000 The behavior of Christians was described by one of the early writers 436 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:26.700 at the time as eloquent their behavior how they pursued the common 437 00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:28.200 good of everyone around them. 438 00:26:29.300 --> 00:26:36.200 Convinced people to the veracity of their message. One of the contrast is Christians are a 439 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:37.700 majority in the United States. 440 00:26:37.700 --> 00:26:38.000 Yes. 441 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:42.900 They were a very small minority in the Roman Empire. And 442 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:46.800 their faith was illegal to varying degrees in those first two hundred 443 00:26:46.800 --> 00:26:53.100 years. And yet what we see is a church that grew like crazy and as 444 00:26:53.100 --> 00:26:55.800 Origin put it one of the early writers early historians. 445 00:26:55.800 --> 00:27:00.300 He said he said the entire world is a theater. 446 00:27:01.300 --> 00:27:04.600 Watching Christians to see how they behave. 447 00:27:05.900 --> 00:27:11.500 And he said our behavior is what is our apologetic. The early apologist 448 00:27:11.500 --> 00:27:15.400 didn't write convincing arguments about the Christian faith. 449 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:17.100 They wrote about Christian behavior. 450 00:27:17.100 --> 00:27:23.000 And one of the interesting things was that won the day. Christians 451 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.300 loving others stood out. 452 00:27:25.300 --> 00:27:29.800 It broke down stereotypes even people had stereotypes, right? 453 00:27:29.800 --> 00:27:33.100 They thought Christians, you know that they are there cannibals cuz 454 00:27:33.100 --> 00:27:35.600 there's something about eating blood and flesh during their worship 455 00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:35.800 services. 456 00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:38.500 There all these rumors. This is true. There's all these rumors that 457 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:41.500 people had about them. But it was very neighborly love 458 00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:46.700 that caught people's attention and that brought people into the 459 00:27:46.700 --> 00:27:47.000 church. 460 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:48.800 Now you use the word apologetics. 461 00:27:48.800 --> 00:27:51.400 Which means making a defense. 462 00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:52.900 That's right. For the faith. 463 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:57.000 Okay in the 20th century as we were coming out of the Age of Reason 464 00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:58.000 the enlightenment. 465 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:02.900 Yes. Apologetics meant I'm going to out reason you and I'm going to 466 00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:06.200 prove that there is a God that that Martin Luther had it right... 467 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:07.500 Reason. 468 00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:13.000 Yes. And then what I pick up and watching things at least in 469 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:13.700 our church 470 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:17.800 is that a lot of people still think of apologetics that way and it 471 00:28:17.800 --> 00:28:18.200 ain't going to work. 472 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.000 Yeah. 473 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.100 I look at it this way. 474 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:29.000 For years the church had neighbors who were saying does your gospel make 475 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:33.400 logical rational sense and our answer was yes, here's how it makes 476 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.500 logical rational sense. 477 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:35.100 That was the era 478 00:28:35.100 --> 00:28:36.300 we were in. That's right. 479 00:28:36.300 --> 00:28:41.700 Now our neighbors are asking does your gospel make any difference in 480 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:45.300 this broken world and sometimes our answer is still yes 481 00:28:45.300 --> 00:28:51.400 It makes logical rational sense. Which means we're not talking. We still need 482 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:55.300 to be able to defend the logic and rationality of the faith cuz 483 00:28:55.300 --> 00:28:58.000 they're still some people asking those questions. But for our 484 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.100 neighbors who are saying I don't care about all that you can you can 485 00:29:01.100 --> 00:29:02.200 argue anything you want. 486 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:06.500 Does it make a difference in your life? And that's where being a 487 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:12.200 hopeful neighbor and being someone who says I'm called to love my 488 00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:15.700 neighbors and to lay my life down and be a blessing and to do it 489 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:18.700 side-by-side with him and recognize the gifts that they have and how 490 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:20.900 our neighborhood needs them as well. 491 00:29:20.900 --> 00:29:26.000 The trust that builds that is eloquent behavior. 492 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:27.600 I appreciate what you said. 493 00:29:27.600 --> 00:29:34.000 We can make a rational presentation of the of the faith and in the 494 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:34.300 Bible. 495 00:29:34.300 --> 00:29:37.600 We can say, you know, this is correct doctrine no that's a wrong 496 00:29:37.600 --> 00:29:39.400 teaching so we can do that. 497 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:44.600 But first we've got to get in into that ballpark into that arena of 498 00:29:44.600 --> 00:29:49.300 of them talking about the Bible and and exploring it as an unknown book 499 00:29:49.300 --> 00:29:51.500 to so many people today including in the church. 500 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:55.400 Does the pursuing the common good. 501 00:29:57.500 --> 00:29:59.100 How does that bring glory to God? 502 00:30:01.300 --> 00:30:05.800 Historically we can say that it did so in the early church people 503 00:30:05.800 --> 00:30:09.700 streamed into the church in spite of the fact that the Christian faith 504 00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:10.300 was outlawed. 505 00:30:11.300 --> 00:30:15.800 Because of the neighborly love that they saw it and it shouldn't 506 00:30:15.800 --> 00:30:16.300 surprise us. 507 00:30:16.300 --> 00:30:21.600 It's a little surprising when you read the history of extraordinary in 508 00:30:21.600 --> 00:30:22.100 The Sermon on the Mount. 509 00:30:22.100 --> 00:30:26.200 Jesus said let your light shine when people see your good deeds 510 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:31.600 glory will go to your father. Peter said the same thing when he was 511 00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:35.000 writing to the exiles and Asia Minor and he said no one can hurt you 512 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:38.400 no one can hurt you for for being zealous for what is good like 513 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:43.600 pursue of the common good and then he said if you do that glory will 514 00:30:43.600 --> 00:30:46.100 go to your father in Heaven and in how does that work? 515 00:30:47.600 --> 00:30:50.300 It works indirectly because people recognize man. 516 00:30:50.300 --> 00:30:53.600 There's something about Christians but Peter recognized that something 517 00:30:53.600 --> 00:30:57.800 else happens. And this is why he said in the same letter always be 518 00:30:57.800 --> 00:31:02.100 prepared to give an answer when people say why are you so hopeful? 519 00:31:02.100 --> 00:31:03.200 Where is this 520 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:04.800 hope coming from inside of you? 521 00:31:04.800 --> 00:31:08.300 He said be prepared with an answer but do it with gentleness and 522 00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:10.100 respect. Chapter 3:15 523 00:31:10.100 --> 00:31:13.500 I know 1st Peter and 524 00:31:13.500 --> 00:31:18.800 this was a miniscule part of society and Roman religion in that day 525 00:31:18.800 --> 00:31:22.200 was not like religion today with doctrines and so on. So you got these 526 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:30.500 Christians who are not going to worship the emperor and the people in 527 00:31:30.500 --> 00:31:35.200 town thought that's going to subvert our culture we do this so that so 528 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:40.200 that the common welfare is preserved and you've got these Christians who believe 529 00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:42.900 this exclusive God Jesus. 530 00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:47.000 And so Peter rather than evangelism in the traditional sense, and 531 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:47.500 we've understood it. 532 00:31:47.600 --> 00:31:53.600 He said do exactly what you just described Don. And what we find in the 533 00:31:53.600 --> 00:31:56.900 research backs this up. Is when you build trust with someone. 534 00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:02.100 When you when you chat about life when you're when you're relating 535 00:32:02.100 --> 00:32:05.200 with other people, they're going to start to ask questions about you. 536 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:08.400 And what makes you tick and why and why are you so hopeful? 537 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:09.900 Why are you helping around the neighborhood? 538 00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:12.000 Why do you treat me with respect? 539 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:13.300 I'm not a Christian. 540 00:32:13.300 --> 00:32:16.000 I thought Christians were mean to non-Christian. 541 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:17.700 They're going to ask those questions. 542 00:32:17.700 --> 00:32:20.500 And then there's the door open for us to be able to say. 543 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:23.200 Well, here's the hope within me if we're prepared. 544 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:26.000 Like like Peter said you have to be prepared. 545 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:30.000 That's why we did a whole research topic on spiritual conversations 546 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.100 because not all of us are prepared to talk in a clear way about the 547 00:32:34.100 --> 00:32:35.600 hope that is inside of us. So there is work 548 00:32:35.600 --> 00:32:37.400 we need to do there to. Absolutely. 549 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:40.800 I am reminded of what Jesus said, he makes the sun to shine on the 550 00:32:40.800 --> 00:32:43.300 evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 551 00:32:43.300 --> 00:32:48.100 That's right. And so be like him. Yeah., exactly. 552 00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:55.300 Talk about networks. Yeah, when you start talking about the common good. 553 00:32:55.300 --> 00:32:58.400 This is where networks are really important. 554 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:00.500 In other words that it's interesting, 555 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:04.700 so Barnabas was an early Christian writer writing the end of the first 556 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:07.900 century and he wrote this fascinating thing. 557 00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:12.200 He said don't retreat unto yourselves. 558 00:33:13.700 --> 00:33:18.400 But gather together to seek the common good. And so there's two things 559 00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:19.000 there one 560 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.900 he says, it's Christians don't retreat don't be isolated, 561 00:33:21.900 --> 00:33:26.500 he said. But instead and it's important how he said this is really fascinating 562 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:27.600 and he said gather together. 563 00:33:29.100 --> 00:33:30.400 To seek the common good. 564 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:31.400 That's that's his language. 565 00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:34.900 That comes from the first century. If there's something about gathering 566 00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:38.400 together because our heart may be in the right place. 567 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:42.600 If we say I alone I'm going to be the Lone Ranger and I'm going to go 568 00:33:42.600 --> 00:33:47.400 do good deeds by myself our heart may be in a good place and people may 569 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:48.500 see that were well-intentioned. 570 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:51.600 But if we really want to make a difference we're going to need 571 00:33:51.600 --> 00:33:52.300 everyone's gifts. 572 00:33:52.300 --> 00:33:57.300 God has given the gift to to all people. And we don't completely 573 00:33:57.300 --> 00:33:59.600 understand our neighborhood there people in our neighborhood with 574 00:33:59.600 --> 00:34:01.000 different cultures different backgrounds. 575 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.300 And so if you're going to pursue the common good it puts a real value 576 00:34:06.300 --> 00:34:10.900 or kind of raises the priority of networking with others. Using the 577 00:34:10.900 --> 00:34:14.690 gifts other people have talking with others about what does what does 578 00:34:14.690 --> 00:34:15.500 our neighborhood need? 579 00:34:15.500 --> 00:34:18.600 What would be great to see in our neighborhood? And I don't know that 580 00:34:18.600 --> 00:34:22.100 and maybe the neighbor doesn't know that put getting together is going 581 00:34:22.100 --> 00:34:24.500 to identify what that is. 582 00:34:24.500 --> 00:34:24.800 That's right. 583 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.690 What are some of the possible common 584 00:34:29.100 --> 00:34:35.100 good's? Great, great question if there is a lot on the neighborhood. One 585 00:34:35.100 --> 00:34:39.000 of our emphases when you pursue the common good isn't just to fix 586 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:43.800 problems to not have a problem mindset that they have a possibility 587 00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:47.300 mindset. What are the gifts God has already put in our neighborhood? 588 00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:51.300 And and how do we pursue those and so if if you have a neighborhood and 589 00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:54.600 then we've been working and in interviewing people across the country. 590 00:34:54.600 --> 00:34:59.700 And so at one example was a believer a small group that they wanted to 591 00:34:59.700 --> 00:35:03.500 help their neighborhood in California and they were talking to a 592 00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:09.100 neighbor and he was down on his luck and he didn't he was homeless for 593 00:35:09.100 --> 00:35:12.200 a time and that's what you know, what what what what can we do? 594 00:35:12.200 --> 00:35:16.500 What would be helpful and he said I feel like if I had clean clothes 595 00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:18.700 people treat me like a human being. 596 00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.500 Okay, so they started helping him they got quarters and some and 597 00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:26.400 some laundry that and it started this whole movement of neighbors 598 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:29.100 helping people do their laundry called Laundry 599 00:35:29.100 --> 00:35:33.000 Love. It's Christian's all across the country a simple little thing like that. Matthew 25. 600 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:34.100 When did we see you naked? 601 00:35:34.100 --> 00:35:38.100 When do we see you with stinky clothes and we took you to the laundry. 602 00:35:38.100 --> 00:35:39.500 To help you get them clean. 603 00:35:39.500 --> 00:35:43.100 So for a month now Diane and I moved back to our old home in 604 00:35:43.100 --> 00:35:46.700 Collinsville and it and what I've noticed is I'm not pursuing the 605 00:35:46.700 --> 00:35:50.800 common good but I'm spending more time because I have less pressure 606 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:52.000 more time 607 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:53.700 just talking with people. 608 00:35:53.700 --> 00:36:00.400 Yeah, and that's the that's the soil out of which a lot of these 609 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:03.600 possibilities come from. And its in conversation with the other people 610 00:36:03.600 --> 00:36:07.600 around you find out oh well you I didn't know you were a teacher and 611 00:36:07.600 --> 00:36:11.000 did you know, there's a kid here who's falling behind in school maybe, 612 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:15.100 maybe you can go and and and help help tutor them and they can help 613 00:36:15.100 --> 00:36:18.200 you with your you can't do the lawn anymore. 614 00:36:18.200 --> 00:36:19.700 So it's through 615 00:36:19.700 --> 00:36:24.600 conversation through being a hopeful presence and thinking about how 616 00:36:24.600 --> 00:36:27.700 we can be a blessing and use our gifts that that's where it all comes 617 00:36:27.700 --> 00:36:31.300 from. Don you've been doing very very well so far. 618 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:35.500 We commend you for that but now you're in trouble you're looking at 619 00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:38.400 your last chapter is called "Join the Revolution." 620 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:44.800 What? Join the revolution, well it caught your attention and that was the point. Yeah, the 621 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:49.000 idea, Join the Revolution is this what if just like we saw in the 622 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:54.500 early church, then that it was Christians being faithful where they 623 00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:55.100 were planted. 624 00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:59.300 If you get enough Christians blooming in the neighborhoods where 625 00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:03.400 they're planted something starts to happen in the culture as a whole. 626 00:37:03.400 --> 00:37:08.900 And so what our research backs that up there that there's something 627 00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:13.200 about a network of people across the United States where you can share 628 00:37:13.200 --> 00:37:13.600 best practices. 629 00:37:13.600 --> 00:37:17.600 You can encourage each other or you can you can learn from others. 630 00:37:17.600 --> 00:37:18.400 Oh, that's how you did that. 631 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:20.200 That's what I want to do in my neighborhood. 632 00:37:20.200 --> 00:37:22.200 And so we're not just writing the book. 633 00:37:22.200 --> 00:37:28.100 The research has led us to realize there is a need for a national and 634 00:37:28.100 --> 00:37:32.300 even global network revolution if you will of Christians who are 635 00:37:32.300 --> 00:37:32.800 saying 636 00:37:33.700 --> 00:37:35.500 I'm not going to yell as much anymore. 637 00:37:35.500 --> 00:37:39.200 I'm going to try to pursue the common good in my neighborhood. And it's 638 00:37:39.200 --> 00:37:43.800 wonderful. Tell us about the website how to get the book when 639 00:37:43.800 --> 00:37:44.000 it's available. 640 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:45.000 Absolutely. 641 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:47.600 So the website is hopeful neighborhood.org (hopefulneighborhood.org). 642 00:37:47.600 --> 00:37:52.900 And what you find on there is is the fruit of the research which talks 643 00:37:52.900 --> 00:37:57.000 about the beauties of pursuing the common good and how you can do 644 00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:57.100 that. 645 00:37:57.100 --> 00:38:03.700 But we also have a research-based biblically-based process for how to 646 00:38:03.700 --> 00:38:07.000 do it. A three-step process of how you discover the gifts that are 647 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:08.300 there in your neighborhood. 648 00:38:08.300 --> 00:38:12.500 You imagine possibilities based on the gifts and then you pursue the 649 00:38:12.500 --> 00:38:15.400 common good with each other you skip any one of those steps and things 650 00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:16.000 can get weird. 651 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:19.700 And so we outline this process we have lots of tools that are going on 652 00:38:19.700 --> 00:38:24.600 there free online courses for people who want to do this and so all 653 00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:28.100 that information to help people begin. And then we're starting this 654 00:38:28.100 --> 00:38:31.500 nationwide network of people who are going to be connected into what 655 00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:33.300 we call the hopeful neighborhood project. 656 00:38:33.700 --> 00:38:36.600 And it's all biblically based. Biblically based 657 00:38:36.600 --> 00:38:41.000 it's all going through doctrinal review with a Lutheran with the LCMS 658 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:41.500 church. 659 00:38:41.500 --> 00:38:44.600 So it's it's the beautiful doctrine and how do we kind of get that out there. And on that 660 00:38:44.600 --> 00:38:48.400 website you can get information about how to get the book. Absolutely. 661 00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:49.800 On the front page of scroll down 662 00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:51.300 you'll see the pretty cover right there. 663 00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:54.000 All right. Reverend Everts thank you for joining us today. 664 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:57.300 And I want to thank you are audience for joining us as well. 665 00:38:57.300 --> 00:38:58.700 I'm Dale Meyer. 666 00:38:58.700 --> 00:39:04.300 And as always we pray the intersection of Word and Work will be busy 667 00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:05.900 in your neighborhood.