Go Therefore with The Rev. Joseph Yoo

Waiting for people to show up at church can feel polite, safe, and even faithful, but it may be the quickest way to lose real connection. 

In this episode, Bishop Rob Wright has a conversation with The Rev. Joseph Yoo, an Episcopal priest and creator known for talking about God with rare plainness, to explore what it looks like to take the Great Commission seriously as “come and see” and “go therefore” instead of “wait and welcome.”

Joseph shares his journey as a Korean immigrant kid raised in a family where ministry is almost a birthright, and how seminary forced him to sort out what belonged to his parents’ expectations versus what belonged to his own call. They get practical: Joseph explains why he started posting on TikTok and Instagram, why he wears a collar out in public to normalize faith, and what mainline churches can learn about speaking to people who are not already insiders. The grounded takeaway is simple and demanding: get local, learn names, show up, and bless someone today by helping them breathe easier, even for a moment. Listen in for the full conversation.

Joseph Yoo currently works as a Church Planter and Episcopalian priest at Mosaic Episcopal Church in Pearland, Texas. He has served as a member of the clergy in multiple states in the US, including Hawaii and California. Born in Korea in 1980, he immigrated to the United States in 1986 and has lived in multiple states throughout his childhood and adult life. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 2003 and his M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2006. He got his priesthood in 2021 from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He currently lives with his wife and family in Pearland. Learn more about Joseph: https://josephyoo.com/

Transcript

Go And See Not Wait

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 0:00

There's nothing in the Bible that says wait and come. It's come and see or go there for. Churches need to start looking outwards when we have church meetings about how to serve our neighborhood, and nobody from the neighborhood is present, or no one has talked to the neighborhood. So then what happens is we are treating our neighbor like a service project. You come here to do this thing, these people come here to do that to receive that thing, and you go home. And all that's left of that is we we serve Jesus today. And it's like, no, there's no connection.

Bishop Wright 0:40

Hi everyone, this is Bishop Rob Wright, and this is for people. Uh, we've got a special guest today. This is the Reverend Joseph Yu. Uh Joseph, welcome.

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 0:48

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Bishop Wright 0:50

Joseph is an Episcopal priest. Uh, he serves in the Mosaic Church in Pearl Land, Texas, just outside of Houston. He's married to Rahel, who is a chaplain at the Cancer Center. Uh, and they have a son, Nathaniel, and a tortoise, uh, whose name is Day Day. Is that right?

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 1:09

Yes, sir, Day Day.

Bishop Wright 1:11

I love it. I love it. Now, I'm I'm getting to talk to Joseph uh and wanted to talk to Joseph. Uh actually, my wife saw his content online. And uh, and when I started to take a look at your work, what I thought was really amazing is that you're able to talk about God conversationally. You know, so much gets lost sometimes, and just the way that we talk about God, the way we talk about the Christian life. So tell me a little bit about your journey and how you got to uh to this place where you're talking about God conversationally on uh on the internet.

Choosing Call Over Obligation

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 1:44

Yeah, um, I uh it seems like ministry is uh the family business. Um my dad, my dad is a uh retired United Methodist pastor. Um on my dad's side, uh my old his oldest brother is a pastor, and that uncle has three kids. Two of them are pastors, and one of them is married to a pastor. On my mom's side, my grandfather was a pastor, my uncle is a pastor, and my aunt is married to a pastor. So uh just between our uh family, my mom's uh my mom's side and my dad's side, and including me, we have nine pastors. Uh, my wife is an ordained deacon in the Methodist church, her father is a retired Methodist pastor, and then her extended family are full of pastors. So um I grew up in the church. I mean, um I I was um I uh my parents believed that I was gonna be a pastor from like the moment I was conceived, I think. And I was I was born in the 80s, so this was before uh you know you could have a sonogram to have a gender reveal or whatever. So when my mom was pregnant, uh she told me that uh the last trimester of her pregnancy, she went to the church every every morning and prayed that if God would give her a son, uh she will commit him into ministry, kind of the Hannah prayer. So I wonder if I had any chance uh to do anything else. Um uh at the age of four, uh, I told my dad or I asked my dad if I could be a pastor just like him. And from that point on, I think my dad thought that was prophecy in of itself. Yeah, um, he would tell every one of his friends that I was gonna be a pastor. He would mention in sermons that how his son's gonna be going to be a pastor when he grows up. Uh, when I was like from the ages of 10 to 13, uh he would call me the literal translation from Korean would be uh Little Reverend You. Like he wouldn't call me by my name, he'll call me Little Reverend You. Yeah, and and you know, that was cool. Up to the age of like 13, 14, 15, I wanted to be a pastor. I wanted to be like my dad. Who doesn't want to be like their dad? Yeah. Uh but then you know the teenage uh years hit, and nothing against my dad, but I saw the way people treated my dad. Um and I saw the way I saw the ugly side of and Koreans, we're we're we're very passionate people. We become very unique in the way that we torture one another. So um I saw all that and I was like, I'm not gonna be a pastor, but um I will I had no, I didn't know how to tell my parents because you know, the grandfather on my mom's side is praying and saying that, oh, one of your sons is destined to be is you know, like some kind of fortune telling. He placed his hands over us, prayed for us, my brother and I, and he will tell my parents, God has only selected one of your sons to be the pastor in the family. And you know, looking back, I'm like, Well, I gotta be me. Why couldn't it be my brother? Uh so I didn't know how to tell my parents that I wasn't gonna be a pastor. So uh what I was my plan was uh I went to the University of Hawaii, which sweater I'm wearing right now, um, my alma mater. And um at that time in the early 2000s, I'm not sure about now, but they had a pretty strong uh graduate program in psychology. And so I was gonna apply to the School of Psychology for grad school. If I got in, that's when I was gonna tell my parents, hey, uh I'm not saying no to ministry, but I want to pursue this first. And um I'm working on my application. I'm fixing to turn in my application. And on my 20, on the uh uh my dad calls me to come home and he tells me that uh in November there is this uh United Methodist uh uh conference called Exploration, and it's for people from kids from ages 15 to 25 who are interested in ministry. So uh this whole this three-day uh uh conference is dedicated to call to your to exploring your call in ministry. And it happened to fall upon like my 23rd birthday or something like that. And um dad's like, you're gonna go. And I'm like, but dad, it's my birthday weekend. He's like, Well, happy birthday, you're going. Um and you know, the funny thing is, um, when I tell my uh white friends the story, they're like, How why didn't you just say no? You were 23. And I'm like, you know, but when I tell my friends of color and immigrant stories, they're like, Oh yeah, no, you had to go. There was no way 23. Who I'm still under my parents' uh rule, like, you know, I'm 45 and I'm still living in fear of my parents. Um, and it was it was in that conference, uh, that conference where I realized that this was my next step, wasn't grad school in psychology, but seminary. And then uh part of my seminary uh career was uh you know deconstructing and and understanding that this call was indeed my own calling and not something that I'm doing out of family obligation, out of being the firstborn son in a Korean family and living up to expectations.

Bishop Wright 6:47

Well, stop right there, stop right there because because I I think you know, a lot of people are always wondering like, how do I differentiate? Right? So you've got this amazing family and it's sort of a family business, even on your wife's side. I can just imagine what Thanksgiving was like over there, uh, where everybody's just sitting around talking shop, talking about the work. But then you're on a journey, um, you've got some ideas about how you're gonna live your life, but then you end up at this intersection where you're trying to figure out what is actually for you, what's your voice, what's not your parents' voice. So, so talk a little bit about that. How did how did you land on uh I think that God is asking me to inviting me to do this?

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 7:30

 Yeah, um, I think seminary did uh a very big part in that. I went to a uh a liberal seminary, uh Wesley Theological Seminary in DC, uh, because I was still a Methodist back then. And um I shared this recently, but on my first day of class, uh first day of my first class of seminary, uh, Dr. Bruce Hopkins, uh Hebrew professor, um, said, uh he just, you know, no introduction. No, I'm Dr. Bruce Hopkins. This is gonna be Hebrew 101, whatever. He said, Um, if you believe that a grown man was swallowed by a fish, kept alive for three days, and then spat out in the place that he needed to be, if you believe that story is true, you're going to have a very difficult time in seminary. And so from that point on, I'm like, where am I? What is going on? On top of that, you know, like the uh the Korean, even though we were Methodists, the Korean side, you know, we were at the immigrant side was still very conservative. We were more evangelical in practice and even in theology than we were Methodists. So I grew up in a very traditional evangelical setting, and all of a sudden, um I'm surrounded by, you know, there's like a handful of queer students at seminary, and I'm my mind is blown like why gay people here becoming pastors? So all these things are happening all at once. And um, I told, you know, my my seminary I think people uh people who go to seminary and now who are deconstructing, uh, but I always tell kids who are going to seminary, you have three options. First is uh one, everyone, every professor and every student you have is gonna carry a hammer with them, and they're just gonna start smashing everything you believed in up to this point, especially if you're not like a cradle episcopalian or cradle methodist or whatever. And and it's and then you have three options. You can uh put it back just the way it was with stronger reinforcements, and I've seen that happen with my Korean colleagues. Uh they they come into uh uh as a conservative theologian, they see all the uh progressive and liberal things on it, and they come out even more conservative because they fully disagree with that. Uh, and then the other thing is I seen people just leave everything on the ground, like, okay, this wasn't for me, and walk away. And then I see people take like taking everything that they on the ground and piece it back together so that it becomes their new theology. And I finally discovered that this was my calling and my dad's when I realized that our theology is no longer uh both both my wife and I are the uh are the uh flaming liberal outliers of our families. Um everyone else is is we we might have a few people who are purple, uh, but for the most part, I don't think none of my family members vote because they speak Korean, but they they lean, you know, to like uh the issues of the the issue of uh uh same-sex marriage or inclusion. Um we're the only ones that my brother, my wife and I are the only ones who have been actively uh uh uh trying to create safe space for our LGBT siblings. Um so when when you're when you're uh it it was made easier just by how starkly different my ministry and theology um is compared to my dad's. But what strikes me as crazy is both of our approach to ministry has been similar. I've uh I was in the last time I got in trouble with a bishop, I was telling my dad, and he just started laughing and shaking his head, and it's like I did the same thing. And then I realized uh, while I have my mom's personality, I have my dad's temperament. Uh so yeah, I mean that's that was the easiest way to differentiate my faith and uh my duty as a faithful son, is that um we are completely opposite when it comes to how we see God.

Bishop Wright 11:18

So, so it sounds like so it sounds like, you know, uh you said this wonderful uh idea about disassembly. Um, you know, and that happens for people that are not like you and I who have uh theological training. I think it happens in lots of people who, whether they go to church or or or not, is that they're, you know, life sort of takes a sledgehammer to Sunday school reliefs, right? And what grieves me really uh as someone who does this work is that some people stop there. Um it's they they sort of have what I call humpy dumpty theology. Like they they fell off the wall, life kicked them off the wall, and the horses and you know, all the king's men couldn't put it back together again, but people stop there. And it's it's sad. They just they sort of wallow in the trauma of that, where I see that the people who end up um moving forward and and finding faith as a real resource and even a healing, um, figure out that um what they had was what they had. And then there's an invitation now into some new reassembly of their own identity and and and actually who God is. And you know, in some ways, it's a great thing when we outgrow some ideas. Um and uh at the very least, it's a great thing to be to do what so many people have done over the millennia, and that is to go on an adventure with these questions. Like, like that was the liberating thing for me, is when I realized that I didn't have to perform anything. I didn't have to, you know, do you know this performance of holiness, I didn't have to act any particular way. You could just let it all fall down, and you could just bring who you actually are and what your real questions are, and you could take that to scripture, you could take that uh to church history, um, you could take it to friends uh in the faith, and you could just let it be real because God is big enough for your real behaviors, your real warts, and your real questions.

When People Want Easy Certainty

Joseph Yoo 13:24

Yeah, but you know what's uh it's it's people are very interesting and very fickle.

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 13:31

Um, because for the longest time, you know, when I was a Methodist uh and with the Anglicans and Episcopalians, and I always believed that we had the right theology. Um, particularly in the early 2000s, uh uh when when President Obama was first running, um, I I was really, you know, as a Methodist, and I was like, we as the Methodist church that balance this uh social justice and and and personal piety, we have the best theology to to navigate the world. Uh, but most of our churches are always on decline. And so it's one what I but what I realized is uh I think some people, their their world is so unsteady and so unstable, things are constantly changing, uh, that um they're when it comes to God, they're they rather be told what to believe. And I say this happens more than one time. There's this there was this young lady that we met when I was in California, and she was a strong-headed, you know, very, very motivated, uh, was uh was working to be a laureate, and she was working her way up, and she was like gung ho. We have never seen someone that driven for her goal. And then uh one day she met her now husband, and uh they they left our church, it went to a different church, and and we kind of lost contact with them. And then a year later, she reached out to my wife and said, Do you think God really wants me to give up my career and just stay home and be a housemaker? Because that's what my pastor is telling us that we should stay home. And my wife was like, yo, like no, we know you. Go go get it. But uh uh she, you know, made the sacrifice and and I'm sure it worked out for them. Uh, and I don't I'm not placing any judgment, but I I what I'm starting to, what I started seeing then is everything is so confusing in the world. When the pastor tells me as a man I'm supposed to behave this way, and as a woman, that's it makes everything easier to just go. So it's like it's like we want people to think, but then and then people think that they want to think, but once you uh present a God that's not easily manageable or fits doesn't fit in that box, people don't know what to do with it. And then a lot of times we clergy uh add on to the harm because sometimes we let ego and pride get the best of us, and we don't we have a hard time saying, you know what, I don't know. So we try to you know solidify their uncertainty with the wrong certainty. And so it's it's a matter, uh it just uh it's it's people are just fickle. Like you you don't know what the uh what does the Paul what does Paul say? When I if I try to please people, you know, I'll never whatever. So it's almost like it's almost like, hey, let's focus on what's the best thing God is calling to do our with in our community, and let's go there and see where God's leading us. Because if you try to meet people's needs and expectations, we're gonna be maybe that's one of the reasons why our mainline churches are shrinking so much because we're spending too much time trying to meet the needs of one another instead of looking out towards our community.

Bishop Wright 17:16

Um you have decided uh to turn the camera on, put the headphones on, and speak to the world um, you know, with a degree of confidence, um, and um which is different than arrogance um uh about who this God is, uh as we know uh God through scripture and as we know God in the person of Jesus Christ. So where where do you get that? I mean, realizing that people are all over the place and uh people uh interpret uh highly interpret, you know, lots of things that people like you and I say. So where's that confidence come? I mean, what are you, what's the goal? Why are you doing this? I mean, I know it's in your family background, but I mean, what what what are you pushing towards? What is what is the goal that God has given you?

Outward-Facing Church And Real Connection

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 18:05

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that out, Bishop. I don't know why this happened to me. I don't know how it happened to me. Um uh the journey of my uh social media presence began during the uh a year uh during the pandemic when things were slowly opening up. Everyone, every one of people who were you know younger than me that would you know are under under 30s were talking about this TikTok thing. And so um I downloaded TikTok to see what it was about. And then within the hour, I was hooked. And then a couple days later, I ran in, I was scrolling and I saw a pastor, uh uh, a red-headed pastor who I became friends with, um, you know, talk about uh his faith. And I'm like, you can you can and he had a he had a big following. I was like, you can do that. So I just started making videos and see what happens. And then um I I right time, right place, uh things started to pick up. And um I I think I think one of the keys um that we mainline denominations are missing. Um I I wouldn't say that I'm confident. Uh uh, I um I just I I I'm I I know my lane. So um and if if anything, I'm uh I'm authentic to a fault. Like you uh for the most part, you get what you see. And and I guess somehow, some way that uh that translated over screen. Um I think part of it was the the biggest uh couple of videos that went viral uh didn't have to do with church per se. One of them was about my son, and one of them was um about a joke I made about my wife and a coffee cup. Um and that helped. But um one of the when I first became an Episcopalian and I realized that uh the Episcopal clergy are a different breed to any other type of Protestant clergy, um, I wanted to, I realized that oh, a lot of people have a lot of ideas of what comes with that collar, whether it's the Anglican or the Roman tap collar. Um so I decided that uh whenever I was in West Paraland, where the church is, uh so my mission field, um, that I would go around always collared up because I wanted people to see a priest doing normal things because we, you know, like I never see my uh caught the Catholic priest out in town uh doing random stuff with their collar on. So um part of my first goal was to just uh one, bring normalcy to it. Another thing was to remind myself to behave. Um, but uh I think part of it is uh we uh kind of what I alluded to earlier, like at some point uh in our churches that are declining and declining and declining, uh we've forgotten how to look outwards and everything we look towards inwards, and we don't know how to speak people to people who are not part of the church. Um and the way I see our our declining church, and this is not just the Episcopal church, this is for all mainline denominating churches. I think our biggest fault is that we always wait to peep for people to come to us, we wait for them to join in the conversation that we're having, and so the Great Commission no longer becomes their go therefore. It we we we you know translate into wait and welcome, yeah, wait till they'll come. And there's nothing in the Bible that says wait and come. It's come and see or go therefore. And so churches need to like start looking outwards. And my biggest pet peeve is when we have church meetings about how to serve our neighborhood, and nobody from the neighborhood is present or no one has talked to the neighborhood. So then what happens is we are treating our neighbor like a project, uh uh a project, a service project. And when you treat someone with a service project, there's not gonna be any connections because you both have an agenda. You come here to do this thing, these people come here to do that to receive that thing, and you go home. And all that's left of that is we we serve Jesus today. And it's like, no, there's no connection. So we have to like clergy. I know this is and uh for the old school pastors a rub, but like clergy need to stop spending all their time in the church office because no one comes to the church office except for people within your community.

Bishop Wright 22:20

Well, let me remind you, let me remind you that what you're saying is all over Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. One of the things that we don't want to we don't want to remember about Jesus is that Jesus actually didn't spend that much time in the temple. Jesus was actually in the neighborhood. You know, he was out actually walking. And, you know, there's always gaps between Jesus' movement and this organization that the church has become. And we know that, right? And we know that the work uh for lots of folks every day is to get up and to try to make this organization called the church uh look increasingly like the movement that Jesus started 2,000 years ago, right? And that involves uh, number one, you said, being normal, right? I mean, when you just look at Matthew, Martin, Luke, and John, it is amazing that Jesus was the kind of dude who could just sit down and talk to anybody, right? And I think some people want to say, well, he was Jesus and he had sort of this magic aura or the way that he shows up in you know Renaissance paintings, like he's got this sort of uh, you know, uh neon halo all the time. And I think it was really just his ability to be authentic with people, just to be fully himself. And that is always attractive to the world because I think a lot of people are really struggling with who am I, what is good, what is meaningful. Um, and and and you know, you don't have to have all the answers, but you can meet people um and uh and be with people in ways that restore their faith and authentic connection uh in authenticity. Um, you know, by being ourselves, we can give other people permission, uh, you know, without without words to be themselves. So when I see Jesus do all of that, it reminds me of exactly what you've said is that we've got to figure out how to be the kind of people who worship Jesus, who follow Jesus, uh that uh that's gotta turn into normalcy, right? It's gonna and not you said you said it pitch perfect, not try to treat the world as a service project. You know, for God loved the world. That's what it says.

People First Versus Church Rubrics

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 24:30

I mean, I ask my every time we go on a work team or whatever, I I the one thing I ask someone, the people to do is at least at least get to know somebody's name. Like, like don't just, you know, just take your time and and you know, don't just be like, here's your sandwich and go. Like just take your time and get to know their name and and possibly give them your name as well. Because, you know, that at least humanizes something. But back to the church thing, you know, like um, you know, we we have Peter and Paul, uh, Peter who stayed basically and and looked out for the church that was, and Paul going to the church that was, you know, you know, uh outside. And and uh there should, you know, we need both. Like, I'm not saying that one is better than we need both. However, um uh we have like in and and now that I'm seeing in the Episcopal Church, we have too many Peters uh that that are that are you know so parish focused and and they're parish-minded. But but that's that's okay. But also we have a way of punishing Paul's too, in the sense that uh the Episcopal Church, more than the Method Church, has a very uh form structured format of way to do things. And and what I'm what I'm bumping into now, uh there are only two or three families at my current church plant. Uh we have an ASA, maybe between somewhere to between 50 and 70. Only three of the three families are crater uh Episcopalians. A lot of them are former Methodists because they followed me, and then we have a few D church, unchurched, or a non-denom. Um they have never experienced anything like uh uh the liturgy of uh the Episcopal Church unless they were uh formerly Catholic. Um but when you try to when you try to meet the needs of people where they're at, I'm always hitting up against the rubrics and and I'm always wondering how much trouble am I going to get in if I don't follow certain ways. And I've have grown up uh always people first, institutions last. So um so you know there's little things that like uh that we get into and and a lot of my episcopal clergy are our colleagues are you know like straining, I believe straining gnats uh rather than swallowing camels. Instead of like, hey, what this person really needs is community. Who cares if they're not uh baptized and and you know, like like for instance, if if someone who came forth uh out of despair and was not baptized but wanted to receive communion, me turning them away because the rubrics or the church canon says so, uh I feel like will forever scar that person from ever trusting or trying to trust Jesus again. Um is and then I go back to is what is more important for me in that moment? This person's humanity or this book of prayers that that that's and I'm always gonna choose the person in front of me.

Bishop Wright 27:35

You know, I I appreciate you saying that because I think that uh we are finding ourselves in the world right now, we're finding ourselves in a place where things don't neatly fit into boxes, if they ever did. Right? Um, and so there are a lot more people out there who don't fit neatly into boxes. And I think that uh so what you're talking about is you have some sort of vision of the church that seeks to meet needs first, uh, and then the the rest falls in line. And I can realize why the tradition uh sometimes can seem um, you know, like a pair of shoes that's too tight. I mean, and if it's any consolation. Uh if if it's in a consolation, I would remind you that it was Jesus uh uh you know first who kept bumping into his tradition. Um kept trying to sort of round off curves.

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 28:27

Wait, wait, wait, wait, Bishop. Um, that is not a uh affirmation because look what happened to Jesus.

Immigration Justice And Daily Blessing

Bishop Wright 28:36

It is an affirmation. It absolutely is an affirmation. I mean, if if we're supposed to follow, we're supposed to follow all the way, right? Uh but but you know, I I uh I think that's a point that we have to that I hold up to the church for reflection. And that and that is that it was the church, I mean, at the time, and you can say this without any, without a hint of uh uh Semitism, it was Jesus' own religious tradition and the authorities of his own religious tradition that he kept bumping up against. I mean, that's fair to say. There's no anti-Semitism there. Sometimes people get really worried to say that because they think that it immediately implies anti-Semitism. I think that's wrong at all altogether. I think we're talking about a system. We're talking about Jesus in a system, his own system, his own tradition, and we're talking about the authorities there, and we're talking about a group of people who were oppressed and uh and who were a vassal state, basically, of the Roman Empire. So all these amazing dynamics, but then Jesus keeps trying to push, push, push, push, and he wants to do all these jazz riffs on his tradition. I mean, Jesus says, You have heard, but very truly I tell you that's a jazz riff. Um, you know, Jesus doesn't want to sort of play games. He, you know, he's thinking about people first, he's putting people first, he's talking to people he shouldn't talk to, he's stopping to touch people he shouldn't touch, et cetera, et cetera. So, no, I think we're in good company uh if we're pushing that. But I think what is important uh is for us to know our tradition so well that we can say back to our tradition, uh, we're missing the big picture here. And I think this is what the prophets do uh all through the Old Testament. I certainly I think this is what Jesus does, where they say you're out of step with covenant, right? To love God is to love neighbor, right? And so, well, let me that sort of brings me to sort of the last bit that I wanted to talk to you a little bit about. Because I think you have a unique perspective here. You know, if I'm reading your bio, right, uh your family comes to California when you're six, is that right?

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 30:40

Yes, sir. We moved to uh the United States when I was six years old from South Korea.

Bishop Wright 30:44

From South Korea. So so you're an immigrant, you're and your immigrants, uh family, and my wife is an immigrant uh and is uh naturalized, has come to this country, her from Jamaica, you from South Korea. Um, and and you're a person of faith, and you're even uh someone who's a leader in the faith community. How are we, how are you making sense of this moment we find ourselves in when the Bible is clear that uh that justice uh and what makes God smile is when we treat the immigrant and the stranger with hospitality. We make space for them, uh, we honor them. And that, according to the Bible, is what makes the community great and faithful. And yet we look around to our left and our right, and I'm not talking about vilifying any particular politicians, I'm just asking you about that climate and how do you do ministry in that climate?

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 31:39

Yeah, um uh I got asked this uh recently, and um the answer I gave felt like a cop-out because it probably is, but um there's only so much I can control. Uh and and you know, uh we're uh speaking of politicians, we're we're in the state of Texas where you know we have Governor Abbott and Ted Cruz, and uh uh and you know that I'm pretty sure is scare some uh potential call uh candidates away from the diocese of Texas. Um and I have no control over how the uh presidents uh or the administration what they do and whatnot. What I so for me to try to like uh uh change it on a that kind of level is useless because there's I really off genuinely feel there's nothing I can do on that level. I am in control of my actions, I am in control of me. I may not be in control of how something makes me feel, but if I you know do the counted 10, I am in control of how I respond to how something makes me feel. So so I've uh settled into um I want to be uh, you know, a religious professor in my undergrad said, you know, you might be the only Jesus someone may ever see. What would they walk away with? So I decided that I I I can I should focus on what I can control and what I can do is to be a blessing to someone each day. And and we at Mosaic, um, we I think I took it from Alan Hirsch, uh, but uh we define blessing as helping someone breathe easier even for a moment, so that we can actually like quantify it. And so, like, uh, you know, and that could be helping someone breathe easier, could be, you know, if you can pay someone's monthly rent for that month, great. But also, uh, I remember the the support I felt when someone just randomly texted me saying, thinking of you. Um so I've been trying to just be that uh one person at a time. If I encounter someone with my collar on, if they know I'm a priest or just anywhere, I just want them to leave our interaction feeling a little bit more hopeful than they did. And again, when I'm even as I'm talking, I that feels like I should be doing more. But uh when I, you know, take a realistic look to it, there's not much more I can do except for you know helping someone understand that God is love and that God mourns with us one person at a time.

Local Hope News Diet And Where To Follow

Bishop Wright 34:13

Yeah, yeah. No, I don't that doesn't sound like a cop-out at all to me. What I've reminded my folks, because it's really, it's really, I think, easy given the 24-hour, you know, seven-day a week news cycle, it's really easy to be overwhelmed and even be tempted to despair, right? Uh, like there's no hope and that the Goliath is just too big for David, and you know, there's no way uh we're ever gonna get out from under, you know, whatever we're whatever the dark cloud we're under. And then if you take yourself uh again to the ministry of Jesus, but there's really no reason we should know Jesus. Jesus was actually a local phenomenon. Uh he walked around his neighborhood, and and I love your definition of blessing, and he made some people breathe easier. Now, for another podcast, he also made some other people's heart rate go up. But that's a that's another conversation altogether. But he he made people, and this is uh Howard Thurman, he made people who had their back against the wall know that God was near. And and and and so I would I would I would add that uh to your uh to your wonderful definition. And so I tell people, look, uh put yourself on a news diet, uh, get what you need, be up on current events, uh, but it's not entertainment. Um, and then figure out locally, locally what you can do. Jesus walked around the neighborhood and was enigmatic. Um and so I always uh try to remind my people, you know, one, three, five, seven miles from where you're sitting right now, somebody's catching hell. Somebody's catching hell. And whether it's a handshake or a check uh or some food or, you know, uh to bring your education into service uh to their, you know, problems and conundrums, whatever it is, um, there are plenty of opportunities. And I think that, in my opinion, uh is uh one of the ways we can get started. And the people that I know, frankly, who've gone on to have statewide and even national uh sort of uh ministries, uh first got local right. They first were a resource locally. I mean, there's no reason why, we're still in January, it's no reason why we should know Martin Luther King's name. He was a pastor in a nowhere city in the South, Montgomery, at the time, he was a young pastor. He wasn't going to be there for very long, he was on his way somewhere. And because he got involved, enmeshed locally, right, with the bus boycott, which nobody else wanted to do. Uh it wasn't that he stood up there heroic. Everybody else stepped back. He didn't step forward. That's the only reason why we know his name. Uh, and so uh, like you, I think it's about being normal, it's about showing up, it's about helping some people breathe easier. Um, well, look, I it's obvious to me why people are are paying attention to you. Tell tell the folks where we can find your content.

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 37:08

Uh I think I think all in all Instagram and TikTok is joseph.u, uh, and you is spelled y-o-o. My first name dot my last name.

Bishop Wright 37:18

That's wonderful. Well, it's been great to have a chat with you briefly, and uh, we're gonna keep watching you. I'm watching you, and I think I think you're doing a marvelous job, Joseph. Keep doing it.

The Rev. Joseph Yoo 37:28

Thank you, Bishop.

Bishop Wright 37:29

All right, God bless you, man.