Dr. Gene Veith joins Zach for a rich and hope-filled conversation about vocation, ordinary life, and where God is really at work.
Gene Veith—author, longtime professor, and one of the most influential Lutheran thinkers of the last several decades—shares his journey from liberal mainline Christianity to Lutheran theology, shaped by C.S. Lewis, Scripture, and Martin Luther. Along the way, Gene unpacks one of the most freeing and overlooked doctrines in Lutheran theology: vocation.
Together, Zach and Gene explore how God works through ordinary people, why loving and serving your neighbor matters more than self-fulfillment, and how faith reshapes work, family, and daily life. They also discuss pastoral formation, the priesthood of all believers, authority as service, innovation versus conformity, and why Lutheran theology may be uniquely suited for this cultural moment—especially for Gen Z.
This conversation will help you see your everyday life not as a distraction from God’s work, but as one of His primary means of blessing the world.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Red Letter Living. We create resources to help the church produce greater disciples.
For so many Christians (and even churches), the discipleship process isn’t very clear.
They know they need to go to church, pray, not sin, and maybe attend a small group. While these are great things, they don’t outline a clear path leading people to live more like Jesus.
We’d love to introduce you to the 40-Day Red Letter Challenge.
When you and your church take the challenge, you’ll have a clear 40-day discipleship path that will help you master five key areas of discipleship.
You can learn more about the challenge here!
“Vocation is not about self-fulfillment—it’s about loving and serving your neighbor.” — Gene Veith
“God normally works through people—farmers, parents, doctors, bakers—to care for the world.” — Gene Veith
“Before God, all vocations are equal. What differs is who our neighbors are.” — Gene Veith
“Ordinary life is not a distraction from God’s work—it’s where God is most often at work.” — Gene Veith
“The way to true fulfillment is not self-focus, but self-giving.” — Gene Veith
In the middle of your ordinary life, pause and ask: “Who is my neighbor right now—and how might God be working through me for their good?”
Are you following Jesus?
Many want to be greater followers of Jesus but don’t know how. We extensively studied everything Jesus commanded of us and located five key targets to which Jesus invited His followers. The five targets are Being, Forgiving, Serving, Giving, and Going.
In partnership with LifeWay Research, we created a Red Letter Challenge Assessment that will measure you according to these five targets. And the best news of all: it’s free! You will get results back immediately and be presented with the next steps to help you become an even greater follower of Jesus.
You can take the FREE Red Letter Challenge Assessment here.
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