Episode 1573: Interview with Mark Gerson About His Book God Was Right: How Modern Social Science Proves the Torah is True

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining us on episode 1,573 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Mark Gerson: I'm Mark Gerson. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your gifts and your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to understand that the Bible is the most comprehensive guidebook ever written is key and one way to be inspired to do that.

Is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

Don't be intimidated by the Bible. Don't think you have to be a practicing this or that religion to learn from the Bible. The Bible is the greatest guidebook ever for everybody. So the Bible both simplifies and explains life. Like so many of the mistakes we make and the [00:01:00] complications we get into are all because we're making things more complicated than they are.

Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in your.

Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's podcast episode, I interview Mark Gerson. I asked Mark about his new book, God Was Right. Mark shares with you how ancient wisdom found in the Bible is validated by modern social science, and Mark also shares how calling and purpose are found in wisdom. I have a great book that's been out for a while now called Inspired Living.

Assemble the Puzzle of your [00:02:00] Calling by Mastering your Time, your Talent, and your Treasures. You can find out more about that book over@inspiredlivingbook.com. It'll take you to a page where there's information and you can sign up to get some mailings about it, as well as purchase a copy there. I'd love to see you.

Get a copy and share with me how it impacted your world. Mark Gerson is a New York based entrepreneur and philanthropist. He's the co-founder of Gerson Luhrman Group 31 members, the United Hassah of Israel and African Mission Healthcare, where he and his wife, rabbi Erica Gerson, made the largest gift ever to Christian Medical missionaries.

He's a graduate of Williams College in Yale Law School and Mark is the Arthur of the National bestseller. The Telling How Judaism's Essential Book reveals the Meaning of Life. Mark's articles and essays on subjects ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Biblical Jonah, to the Torah and [00:03:00] Science of Clothing have been published in The New Republic, the USA Today Commentary and Christian Broadcast Network.

Today we're talking about Mark's new book. God was Right. Welcome to the show, mark. Oh, thank you, Scott. Great to be here. Absolutely. I'm looking forward to talking to you today. So I shared a little bit of the intro and you've had quite a mission-driven life. You've done a lot of different things both in business and in mission work and philanthropy and various things.

But share a little bit with the listener about your journey and what's brought you to the point now where this is the message that you're sharing

Mark Gerson: with the world. Thank you for the question. I'm an entrepreneur, so I've started some companies. I started Gerson Laer Group, GLG Co-founded in 1998, and I co-founded and share three I members.

We started three I members around three and a half years ago. And I've also started some nonprofit organizations. A little over 20 years ago now. I [00:04:00] co-founded United Sala of Israel, which is the country's crowdsource system of volunteer first response. Our goal is to locate the closest trained and equipped first responder who we will have both trained and.

So that the first responder can be by the side of the person who calls 9 1 1 within 90 seconds or at least three minutes. And in 2010 I co-founded and still chair very actively African Mission Healthcare, where we partner with Christian missionary physicians at Christian hospitals in Africa to provide clinical care for the poor.

Build infrastructure and do training. So yeah, I started some companies and some nonprofits and and then I just came out with with the book, God was Right. So

Scott Maderer: where did the book come from, in, in your experience? Why was this the book that was on your heart to write?

Mark Gerson: So I've been studying the Bible what we call that, the Torah, which is from Genesis of Deuteronomy for about, [00:05:00] 20 years. And what I discovered in the process of this study is what kind of book the Bible is. The Bible is not a science book, a history book, or a cookbook. It's a guidebook. And as such, it makes thousands ofs, psychological claims, sociological claims, cultural claims, sometimes political claims all of which are completely relevant and totally applicable.

To our life in 2025, and that's what the Bible seeks to be. It seeks to be a guidebook to offer guidance to people in all times, all eras and in all places. And so what I wanted to assess was the same question that people have been asking for thousands of years, which is. Is the Bible true? And for thousands of years, we've only had two things to go by to make that assessment.

We've had faith and we've had experience. And now in the 21st century, an entirely new tool emerged and that was social science because social scientists whose works sometimes [00:06:00] populate bestseller lists and front pages of magazines and newspapers. They're asking many of the same questions that the Torah asks.

They don't know it. A lot of 'em are largely secular, but they, they rarely address God or the Torah or the Bible, but they're asking the same questions that are asked in the Torah. So I said, now we can assess with social scientific certitude for the first time. Is the Bible true? And God was right.

I, and I want to see is it true about everything? Because the Bible claims it's true about everything. So I wanna say, is it really. So when God was right, I address I think 33 different subjects, a very wide range. Everything from diversity to routine, from anti fragility to future orientation, to reframing things that are psychological, political, sociological, cultural clothing.

I mean everything. All. A whole wide variety of subjects. And what I found is that. The Bible offers very direct, very prescriptive and very relevant claims on really everything. And modern social science has validated [00:07:00] its correctness on every single thing. And this really astonished me because whether the subject is, what should I wear in the morning to how many times should I go out with the girl or the boy before I decide to marry him or her to, how should I think about diversity?

The Bible is very prescriptive. It offers real guidance, and now it's been proven totally right.

Scott Maderer: So talk a little bit take us back a little bit. You mentioned you've studied on the Torah for 35 years. You've been looking into this in different ways. Talk a little bit about your faith journey and how that has intersected with where you've ended up.

Now studying how God

Mark Gerson: was, right? Sure. I'm Jewish. I'm actually married to a rabbi and we're blessed with four kids and so we're a very Jewish household and so there's definitely that. But so that's of course how I was introduced to the Torah because the Torah is, is what [00:08:00] a philosopher 200 years ago called the Portable Homeland of the Jews. And for a Christian audience, when I say Torah, Christians might recognize it as the Old Testament. It's the same thing, just different names for the same book, but it's the same thing. And so in the course of studying the Torah or what Christians call the Old Testament I realized a few things.

One, like this is the most interesting book ever written. And like Leviticus, sometimes people skip over it 'cause it's a lot of laws. Leviticus is the most underrated. Book ever written? People know there are great stories in Genesis and all that. And of course the Exodus story, which is the most important story in American history, is the Exodus story.

The the so much of what happened in American history is based directly on the Exodus anyway, so the Torah is totally fasting, totally interesting. And then I really just wanted to to assess from a really almost secular point of view, a logical point of view, a rationalist point of view.

Is the Torah true? Is the Bible right? And if it's true, and if it's [00:09:00] right, then it's worthy, then it's earned our devotion, our study, and our followership, regardless of what faith we're in. So it's not a particular mode of religious worship that the Bible demands or even asks. 'cause the Bible is God's gift to all of us.

And yeah, there are certain things that Jews have to do that Gentiles don't but even putting that aside the Bible is a great guidebook for everybody. So I wanted to say is it true? And and I found it's true on an astonishing number of subjects.

Scott Maderer: So give us an example for you. What was one of the areas that you found where you were surprised or you were maybe found it and went okay, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have guessed that one was gonna come out.

What was one of the areas that, for you was the most, most shocking?

Mark Gerson: Oh I would say pretty much each of the 33 chapters is an answer to that. Great question, but let's just talk about one of 'em. Because I think this question is something that. Most, or maybe [00:10:00] even all of us have asked at one point, which is how do I know that he or she is the one, in other words, the one I should marry.

We've all either asked that or our children or friends. We've all heard that question probably many times, right? The Bible addresses it pretty directly. And how does it address it? So the happiest marriage in the Bible is between Isaac and Rebecca, which naturally leads us to ask how did they decide to marry each other?

In comes the Bible and says, let me tell you abraham sends his servant Eliezer on a mission, which is to find a wife for Isaac. So Eliezer accepts the mission and Abraham says just one thing, find her in Harran. So why Harran? Because Abraham had previously made souls in Harran. So was Abraham telling Eliezer?

He's telling Zer. Go to a good place to find a wife for Isaac. In other words, fish in a good pond. Look in a good place. They Ezer says, okay. So he goes to harran and he meets a woman. And he says, [00:11:00] the biblical text tells us she was very fair to look upon one. Two, this woman brings water for Ezer and all of his camels showing that she's extraordinarily generous.

So on the basis of these three and only three characteristics. She's from Huran, she's attractive, and she's extraordinarily generous. Eliezer says to her, and this is, it turns out to be Rebecca Ezer says to Rebecca, you're the woman from my man Isaac. Now, Rebecca is given the choice. Do I marry Isaac or not?

Now, people who say the Bible is sexist, they really don't know what they're talking about. This is just one of many examples. Rebecca, even in ancient times, is given the choice. Do I wanna marry this guy? So Rebecca knows only two things about Isaac. One that he's rich, so he's a good provider, and two, that he loves God on the basis of those two and only two characteristics, Rebecca says, yeah, I'll go with you and marry Isaac.

Okay, so what do we learn here? We learn that Rebecca and Isaac, LEAs are on behalf of Isaac. They know [00:12:00] only two or three things about the other person. Then they decide to get married. Now the modern ear might be ear might hear that and say that's rash. The Bible says, we'll just wait and see what happens.

And then we skip a little further to Genesis 24 67, which describes their union. And the order of this description is so important as is the order of things. Often in the Bible the text tells us he, Isaac, he married her, she became his wife and he loved her. The order there is so important.

Identify the two or three characteristics, which they did then get married. Then becoming a wife must be different than getting married 'cause it's separated. So what must it be to become a spouse? Probably iterative acts of giving and building and then love follows. So identify the characteristics, get married, start doing spouse like things and then love will follow.

Whereas in most modern cultures, we have the notion of falling in love, which is ridiculous. 'cause you don't, you might fall in the pool, you might fall in your face, you don't fall in love. What the Bible says is love is something you cultivate. The [00:13:00] Bible says that love follows commitment. Love does not proceed.

Commitment. So this is what the Bible gives us this formula. Identify the characteristics. Two or three. There aren't that many to choose from. Get married, do spouse like things and then you will experience love. And I looked at the data, is this right? And, the did I say it's with that a certain irony 'cause it's not real.

But the love marriages, those are the ones that don't follow this formula. The marital unhappiness rate is very high, perhaps approximately 70%. And that's if you take the divorce rate plus the rate of endless separation, which is the term given to the 20% of couples who've been separated for 10 years and have not gotten divorced.

And the chronically un unhappy. So the unhappiness rate is very high. Whereas those who practice what's called arranged marriage without coercion. And what would that be? It's I think you should meet this girl. I think you should meet this guy and meet him with intention. You don't have to marry him, but meet him.

Meet him with intention, meet him with seriousness. Their marital happiness rate is very high. [00:14:00] The data shows that the Isaac and Rebecca model works. And so what are the implications for each of us? If we're a young person dating, it says, just date with seriousness intention, and it doesn't take that much time.

You're just looking for two or three things and then get married. Then start doing spouse like things and then you'll experience a love which will likely deepen and continue forever. Likely, not definitely, but likely far better than the alternative. And that's just one of so many examples from the Bible where where this guidance is issued.

It may be countercultural in our times, but then we can test it against the data. And when we do that, it's revealed to be absolutely true and certainly worthy of following.

Scott Maderer: So one of the challenges I know and actually the story that you're just telling brings up part of this, and so that's why I wanted to ask about it.

I think a lot of times when folks read the Bible, they're reading it with the eyes of it's a story. It's about belief. It it's talking to our faith, [00:15:00] but it yet also has advice. We're supposed to put into action. How do you see that, that tension between how sometimes we see the Bible as a belief book as opposed to an

Mark Gerson: action book?

What a phenomenal question. Yeah I think that is the question, like what kind of book is the Bible? The Bible is an action book. It's a guide. It's it doesn't presuppose beliefs. This is my argument. God was right, is that the Bible doest presuppose beliefs Bible is ba basically saying, test me.

Now how do I know that? Because the central words of the Bible, the words that divide the first half from the second half are inquire insistently. So in its very center in the middle of Leviticus, it says, inquire I consistently. So as someone who takes the Bible very seriously, I say, okay, the Bible is telling me.

Its central words to inquire. I consistently I'm gonna do that 'cause the Bible's asking me to, it's not asking me to believe a certain thing, it's [00:16:00] telling me, inquire insistently. So when God was right, I said, okay, I'm gonna inquire insistently and I tested all the biblical claims that I could find against.

Modern social science and said, whoa, the Bible's right on Everything from dating to clothing to diversity, to anti fragility, to routine. No matter what the Bible addressed it turned out to be. And the middle words are Inquire incessently, which is also so interesting because there's an ancient debate about who wrote the Bible?

Was it God or was it man? And I would just say. No human being could a no human being could sit down and write a book that's gonna be totally applicable, relevant, and correct. 3000 years from now. Like I imagine if someone gave you that task, it'd be like crazy. And also, but what human being could just put in the middle, inquire.

I consistently you're writing the book and that's the middle and that's what the Bible is telling us to do Anyway, I think the Bible was written by everything in the Bible. After the creation story happens with God in partnership with man, everything [00:17:00] including perhaps especially the Exodus.

So I, I think the Bible was written by God in partnership with man, but anyway, they inquire insistently. I think it's a great example of that and it tells us how to approach the book. It says inquire insistently. It doesn't say you have to believe this. You have to believe that. It says you should inquire insistently.

That's all the Bible asks of us.

Scott Maderer: So if somebody has read this or sits down and reads. Your book what action would you hope that they would take after reading the book?

Mark Gerson: So each chapter is designed to be read independently. So it's a very long book, 8 850 pages. I presume that not a single reader will read the whole thing from start to finish uninterrupted, or it's just, that's not what it's designed for.

But there are discreet chapters, a chapter. Reframing, which helps people to understand, okay, I'm in an un, I'm in an unfortunate situation, I'm in a real challenge. How do I shape this situation so that it, so that I can grow from it so that it accrues to my benefit? The biblical Joseph invented the concept of reframing.

Someone might think about how [00:18:00] can I become wealthy? Wealthier than I am now. Question. Lots of people ask, and I would say just for that, open the chapter entitled, giving Leads to Wealth, which is all about the Bible's highly counterintuitive notion that if you give Deuteronomy 15, 10. If you give enthusiastically and generously to the poor, you will be blessed in all of your undertakings.

That's a material guarantee. Very interesting and been proven true by modern social science and by the logic of the modern social science. So I would say that everything is the everything in my book, yes. But everything in the Bible is meant to be acted upon and I think the way to read God was right is just to.

Pick a chapter that the reader thinks is interesting or speaks to them for whatever reason at the moment. If someone's feeling insecure about a position they have open to the chapter on imposter syndrome. The biblical Aaron had imposter syndrome, without a doubt. It's right there in the text.

The only thing it doesn't use is the word imposter syndrome. But the description is imposter syndrome. So [00:19:00] let's see, how did Aaron deal with it? And really, how did Moses, Aaron's brother help Aaron through his imposter? I was gonna say, but Moses, Aaron there. Yeah. I can think of, I can think of.

Scott Maderer: Two or three stories right off the top of my head

Mark Gerson: that have that

Scott Maderer: in

Mark Gerson: there.

Scott Maderer: Yeah.

Mark Gerson: Yeah, because Oh yeah. So the story is that so Aaron had failed at the golden calf. Because the golden calf, so Moses goes up to the mountain to God, yeah. For 40 days. And Aaron is left leading the people. And in Moses' absence, and importantly in Aaron's presence. The people create a golden calf, maybe have an orgy around it, maybe worship it.

They do no good around it. Put it that way. That's that's what we know.

Scott Maderer: Yeah. Whatever they're doing, it's not what they're supposed to be doing.

Mark Gerson: Yeah, exactly. It's totally forbidden. And and Aaron fails as a leader. And why is he fails as a leader Again, the Bible's so interesting and so good.

Why is he fails as a leader? He is probably too nice a guy. Okay. 'cause Aaron is known as the prince of Peace. He's probably two nights a guy and doesn't know how to handle that situation. Anyway, he fails as a leader. And then later, aaron is in the temple and Moses says to him, come near.

So why would Moses say to him [00:20:00] come near, like, why would the high priest, Aaron's a high priest, so why would the high priest be far right? And we know he is far. 'cause Moses says come near. If he was near, he wouldn't say come near. So he, Aaron would've been far because he must have been thinking, I am not qualified to be here.

I screwed up so bad at the golden cap that if only people knew. How bad I am as a leader, if only God knew. If only Moses realized he wasn't here, he was on the mountain. If only Moses realized they wouldn't be here. And what Moses is saying is, Aaron don't have imposter syndrome. Moses is saying is sometimes the reason why you think you're unqualified for the job is precisely the reason why you're qualified for the job.

Maybe you'll be better at the job because you failed in something similar before and you've learned your lesson or now are more qualified for it. So that's a chapter on imposter syndrome. That's the, that's a, Aaron definitely has imposter syndrome. The text shows us and explaining God was right, how Moses helps him conquer it.

And then I go through the science of it and the science of it and the experience of it is exactly that of the Bible. And so that's just one example. [00:21:00] So if someone's not feeling confident, read a chapter on imposter syndrome. If someone wants to say, I'm. I'm really busy with my job and with my family.

How should I structure my week? Read the chapter on the magical 55, which is the number of hours a week one should work. It's what the Bible says effectively. The Bible says six days you shall work and on the seventh you shall rest. How many hours a week does that mean one can work? I did the math.

It gets to about 55. 55 is the optimal number of hours a week? One should work as determined by studies of machinists in World War I and Twitter employees in 2018. So what, whatever someone's thinking about, just open to that chapter, read what the Bible says, how modern social science validates it. 'cause it does every time.

And and I think that's the experience I want readers to have with the book. So one

Scott Maderer: of the areas that I know a lot of folks struggle with and I've seen a lot of questions of a lot of different debates about, and you hear all of this advice around, is what we would call Finding Our Calling, finding Our Purpose, [00:22:00] whatever name you want to give it.

People struggle in that area. So what have you discovered about finding, calling and finding purpose that's in the Bible?

Mark Gerson: What a phenomenal question. So I have a chapter on culture and in the chapter on culture, I go through the three kinds of culture in, in the Bible and in modern day.

And the three kinds of culture, I think are the victim culture, the honor culture, and the dignity culture and the victim and the honor culture. So they sound they sound very different, but they're really very similar. And how are they similar? Because in Exodus, God defines himself. So how does God define himself?

He gives what we call the 13 attributes of God one of which is slow to anger. So in a victim culture, people are quick to anger and they complain. In an honor culture, people are quick to anger and they fight. In a dignity culture, people are like, God, they're slow to anger. Okay, so how does one become slow to anger?

Let's look at the example of Abraham when [00:23:00] Abraham has made his nephew lot wealthy and lot responds by Qualling with Abraham and having his herdsman quarrel with Abraham Herdsman. So lot is a man of Ratitude. And towards his Uncle Abraham who enabled him to be so wealthy and so successful.

All due to Abraham Lot does not acknowledge it. So if the Bible were the movie, the Godfather, Abraham would have offed his nephew lot. But the Bible is not the Godfather. So what does Abraham do? Abraham says, I'm not even gonna get angry with you. 'cause Abraham like God is slow to anger. He says, effectively, I'm not even getting angry with you.

He says, lot. We have to separate. 'cause sometimes in a relationship you have to separate. But you pick where you want to go, and I'll go the other way. So why does Abraham do that? Abraham does that because he's so focused on his mission and his purpose that he's not gonna let personal slights affect him.

Whereas people who are in victim and honor cultures let personal slights totally distract and deter them from their mission and their purpose. Whereas Abraham says, [00:24:00] I'm a man on a mission. Moses says, I'm a man on a mission, and whenever something comes to distract him, he stays focused. And and that I think is really the epitome of what it means to live in a dignity culture.

Scott Maderer: So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I ask those, what else from the book do you think is really important for everyone to hear before they pick up a copy?

Mark Gerson: I think the meta theme is important to hear, which is like. Don't be intimidated by the Bible. Don't think you have to be a practicing this or that religion to learn from the Bible.

Don't think even if you are, it's let's say a Jew or a Christian, don't think you have to. If you don't abide by all that dictates of the faith or whatever. Just the Bible's the greatest guidebook ever for everybody. So the Bible both simplifies and explains life. So many of the mistakes we make and the complications we get into are all because we're making things more complicated than they are.

And all we have [00:25:00] to do is follow the Bible. And it's, and regardless of what faith, I do not come to the Bible from a pious point of view. I come, I'm a rationalist and there's a rationalist there's a rationalist train in Judaism. I'm on it. Okay. Other people have different orientations.

By the way, in the chapter on diversity, I go through how diversity of approach is great. Like some people more musical or mystical or spiritual or intellectual, or. Whatever. It's all good. But I'm a rationalist. I do not come from the pist tradition. I come from the rationalist tradition. And so the rationalist tradition is open to seekers of all kinds.

Jews, Christians, people who are more secular, just people who seek the truth. And I think for seekers of all kinds, when they seek the truth, they will say, whoa, the Bible is true. The Bible is true about the Bible helps me decide what I should wear in the morning. The Bible helps me decide how many dates I should go on with a girl before I decide to marry her.

The Bible. It teaches me how to educate my children. The Bible, ev, whatever the subject is, the Bible is there to help. And that's what I really hope that God was right accomplishes is showing from a rationalist, [00:26:00] secular, and logical point of view how the Bible's right about, I discovered everything.

Scott Maderer: Absolutely. So my brand is inspired stewardship, and the name of the podcast is Inspired Stewardship. And yet stewardship is another one of those words that comes up a lot and different people struggle with. What does that mean? So for you, what does the word stewardship mean to you?

Mark Gerson: I think it's a really profound, not just word but concept and it has deep biblical roots and, when I think of stewardship, I think of the Torah's teaching. About the gifts that each of us have. And so there's a great there's a great teaching. It's actually not from the Torah, but derives from the Toch from the Torah. But very early on that probably 2000 years ago, which says that every Jew is a guarantor for every other Jew.

And certainly Christians can say the same thing about Christians or any group can say that about itself. Like we're all guar. So every Jews guarantor for [00:27:00] guarantor. For real, Jew. Alright, so what does that mean? So the great Rebi manum, she, he passed away in 19 94, 1 of the top five of all time.

He's the founder of the movement that a lot of people will know of as Habad. He said, and I love this 'cause he's, he, this is a totally rationalist. He said if every Jews' a guarantor for every other Jew. He said, if you guarantee something for somebody else, you have to be richer than that person in that thing.

So if Scott, you guarantee. An apartment for one of your children you better be wealthier than your child. Or else the landlord's not gonna take your guarantee, right? The landlord looks at you and goes, why are you signing? Exactly. You better be richer than the person you're the rabbis, he's a very rationalist.

So if everyone's a guarantor for somebody else that means that everyone has a great gift from God. Everyone has something that he's better than everyone else had. Everyone has such a gift from God. So then the question is, okay, I have this gift, and then you have to say it's my responsibility to steward it.

So I think people have to ask, what is this a great gift I have. And at [00:28:00] our Passover Seder, the Passover Seder is the most important and joyous and interesting night of the Jewish year. And at our Passover Seder I go around the table and I ask everyone say, okay cause there's a section in the Haga dha, which is the guidebook for the Seder.

About humility and false humility. So I say false humility is a sin because if you're falsely humble, then you're not acknowledging that God's given you to steward. So I would say everyone who's interested in the, I would say all important concept of stewardship has to first ask what does God want me to steward?

Sometimes it's money. In other words when God, we all have some money. And so when and actually I have this in the chapter on giving it's actually the. Even a recipient of charity, the first obligation he has is to become a giver. Because the Bible wants to make us a community of givers and there's dignity in giving.

So certainly everyone has money to steward and say I've been given this this gift of money. How can I steward this gift for God's purpose? And [00:29:00] then everyone has a gift of a skill. And I go through, in the chapter on diversity again, I go through all the different skills that God enumerates for the building of the tabernacle.

There are weavers and carpenters and all kinds of things. Why didn't God just. Moses just act like the client and say, build a tabernacle. And like you figure out no, but he says woodworkers and goldsmiths and all, because God is appreciating and acknowledging and honoring all the different skills.

So everyone has a skill. So I think everyone should say, what is my skill? What am I great at? What am I so great at? I might be great at this than anybody else. And then think, how can I steward it? Why did God give me this gift? And how can I contribute this gift to to, for God's glory or to. Prepare the world for the Messiah or how doesn't think about such religious terms.

So everyone thinks about it. How can I better the world with this gift that God's given me to steward? And I think what you said about false humility is important too, because I have seen a lot of people that push their giftings away because when others acknowledge it and say mark, you're so great at.

Scott Maderer: Whatever it [00:30:00] is and we do that. Oh no, I'm not really kind. We always try to push that gifting away instead of acknowledging the fact that maybe that is something I'm supposed to lean into and Yeah. Exactly. Live out. Exactly

Mark Gerson: Exactly. Imagine how much worse the world would be if Martin Luther King has said, yeah.

I'm just, I'm okay at speaking. Would the world be better or worse? Like far worse or, yeah. I'm not that great a leader. No. You're the best speaker ever and you're a great leader and we're all the better for it. Or if Michael Jordan has said, yeah, I'm pretty good at sports. But there are others too.

No. Yeah he presumably said something like, I had the ability to be the greatest and only when you can say that I, that can those gifts be realized and contributed. And I think, everyone. You don't have to be an all time great like one of the King or Michael Jordan. I think everyone should think about what great gift do I have?

Everybody has something and then how do I contribute it? Some people are great plumbers or great carpenters or great authors or EV people have, someone's great at [00:31:00] everything. And and and I think everyone should identify. I think it's a really useful educational technique. We do it the Seder, but people can do it anywhere.

Just ask the kids, what are you great? What are you great at? And if the kid recoils in false humility, it's a good opportunity to explain. No, don't be falsely humble. God gave you a great gift. Let's talk about that gift. Now you don't, it's, we, you're not gonna brag about the gift. What we're gonna do is we're gonna discuss how we're gonna use that gift.

To help mankind.

Scott Maderer: Right.

And it's not even about are you, quote, better or worse at it than somebody else. It's how are you going to use it? Exactly. Exactly. Exactly right. It's not a another, it's not a quality thing. It's a it's not qualitative. It's quantitative in a way.

It's almost how are you going to use it? How are you gonna multiply it? How are you gonna lean into it? So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everyone. Mark, imagine for a minute that I invented this magic machine, and with this machine, I could take you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years.

And through the power of this machine, you were able to look [00:32:00] back and see your entire life, see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind. What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

Mark Gerson: What a phenomenal, not only a phenomenal question, but a beautiful way to.

Look at the world. And I think it's a very biblical question because Moses the great hero of the Torah, when at the end of the Torah, Moses does not get to the promised land. Nope. And so then they'd say why in this story does Moses not get to the promised land? I think it's God's way of telling us that if we wanna be like Moses, which all of us should try to do, then we should set a goal for ourselves that we cannot accomplish in our lifetime.

And that we'll have advanced towards that goal, but will die not having accomplished it. Just like Moses advanced towards the goal of the people getting into the promised land, but he dies before. They can get there and that's why he can't get there. So I think that's the first thing. I think that my wife and I have been we're really blessed to have been [00:33:00] introduced to the philanthropic organizations that we've co-founded United Hudson Hall of Israel, which is Israel's crowdsource system of volunteer first response.

Ellie Beer, who's my partner, United Huah, he's, he's a great sodic, which means righteous or wise man. But, and he's also just the most the greatest entrepreneur and practical implementer. Ellie saw he was, he saw a problem, which is he was a young man volunteering on an ambulance, and he realized he got to a lot of dead bodies, but hasn't saved anyone's life because he always got there too late.

And he said there was an, there was one particular story of, he was on the ambulance, gets to the scene and a child had choked to death on a hotdog, and this is in Jerusalem. And the a neighbor came by and said, why didn't somebody call me? I'm a doctor. I could have come over and saved him.

And so Ellie took that story and that experience and said. When someone calls 9 1 1, they don't need an ambulance right away. They need a trained and equipped first responder right [00:34:00] away, and therefore, when the ambulance comes 10 minutes later, which it will do even in the most advanced cities, New York, Dallas, Tel Aviv, doesn't matter.

It's gonna take 10 minutes on average. Ellie said, and Eric and I were so blessed to be able to join 'em in this mission. It's the, an ambulance might come in 10 minutes, but a trained and equipped first responder who can be notified immediately, which can be done now, of course, due to GPS, can get there within 90 seconds and save a life.

So we certainly we're expanding that every day throughout Israel. And our dream is that this will be one of Israel's gifts to the world and expanded globally and also our work in Africa where it's a similar kind of thing in the sense that we've been really blessed to have discovered this opportunity to.

Partner with the best people we know, the best people in the world who are Christian missionary physicians who are devoting their entire lives to go serve. Those whom they'll quote this, the book of Matthew the least among us. And they devote their entire lives to living like Jesus would want them to.

And we as Jews so admire that. [00:35:00] And we're just so fortunate to be able to partner with these Christian missionaries, many of whom are our friends, all of whom we immensely admire to provide. Necessary and indispensable and often the only care to people in their region. And now we do, we help 'em do that, but we help 'em build and expand so that there's more and more care available to people in Africa now and certainly much more in the future.

I think there are philanthropic endeavors are when we look back, we wanna do everything we can to help build them and to help really, save lives, ameliorate pain and create opportunities for the poor, which these organizations certainly do.

Scott Maderer: So what's on the roadmap for you?

What's coming next as you continue on your journey?

Mark Gerson: I what's continuing certainly in, in our in our philanthropic lives, united, Salah, African Mission, healthcare, I mean doing more. The the more [00:36:00] volunteers that we can train, equip, and deploy United Salah means that the greater the chance there is that someone who calls the equivalent of the 9 1 1 is within 90 seconds of someone who can be there immediately and help the person help dislodge the item from someone's throat, help defibrillate the person having a heart attack, help rescue the person drowning, help stop the bleeding pursuant to an accident, whatever it is.

The more the more money we raise, the more volunteers we can deploy and the better the chance that anyone who calls 9 1 1 will have someone buy a side within 90 seconds at African Mission Healthcare. What's next? I'm just thinking about the work we do in maternal childcare in Uganda.

It's the best ROI return investment in the world for a little over $300. We're able to. Enable a woman to get a c-section who otherwise wouldn't to have a birth injury repaired that would otherwise devastate her for the rest of her life. And and so instead of of living in the devastating condition of having a birth injury for [00:37:00] just a little over $300 in the hands of, in, in this case, these these nuns, none, doctors in Uganda we're able to get those birth injuries fixed and enable the mother to return healthy.

To her children, and her husband and her community. And there's so much more we can do. So we just want to just have the ability to fund more and more of it because we know it works. It's like any kind of investment putting on my business hat from any kind of investment.

If you know the investment's working, you just wanna put more money into it and and that's how we feel about these philanthropic endeavors.

Scott Maderer: So you can find out more about Mark Gerson and his book, God Was right@godwasright.com. Of course, I'll have links to that over the show notes as well.

Mark, anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

Mark Gerson: Oh, first I just wanna say thank you Scott. 'cause what a wonderful conversation and I so appreciate being on, inspired [00:38:00] stewardship and and the concept of stewardship is so profound. And I just really want to thank you for bringing it to the world and for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Torah's notion of stewardship and how we all have gifts, both intellectual gifts, spiritual gifts, skill gifts and monetary gifts to to be God's steward.

No, I just wanted and thank you for your attention to God was Right and for the Bible, which you know, is the. Best ever in the sense that it's the most practical, applicable, and now proven true guidebook ever written. And it was just a real labor of love for me to spend three and a half years, not full-time, but I could write well for about two hours a day.

But three and a half years writing this book and just learning about the Bible and discovering the Bible's truths and now sharing it with everybody through God was right.

Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to [00:39:00] not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

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