Book Review of Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? by Eugene Cho
Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World? by Eugene Cho
(Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2014). 238 pages.
“Shut up. Listen. Pray. Act” (106). With this exhortation, Seattle pastor, social entrepreneur, and community activist Eugene Cho eloquently and incisively preaches truth to us about our good ideas, good intentions, and goodwill to change the world and the resulting transformations. Overrated is, in many ways, Cho’s spiritual memoir that is certainly not yet finished; it is a memoir in the form of a sermonic confession where he lays out his faithful attempts to carry out Christ’s call to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God while grappling with the real cost of discipleship for himself and his family. Dripping from the book’s pages is Cho’s honest struggle to walk the walk, not just talk the talk as he takes us through his prayer life, the tears that he and his wife Minhee shed trying to make ends meet through so many of life’s up and downs – pregnancy, raising a young child, being unemployed, working as a custodian for a local Barnes & Nobles bookstore, all the while clinging to the God-given vision to somehow start Quest Church and the nonprofit movement, One Day’s Wages.
Cho’s book gets to the heart of our hearts by asking: in our desire to change the world, are we seeking to be changed by God in the process? And in our desire to change the world, do we often cause more harm than good, bringing with our goods and services the privilege of our North American contexts that objectifies and commodifies people as recipients of our help, somehow doing works of justice out of a selfish desire to feel good and look good.
Rather, Cho calls us to act not on instinct when we hear about or read a news piece but rather, listen for what God may be calling you to do and pray. Prayer helps us to lean on the wisdom and guidance of God. Act but not without doing your homework. Know the issue first. If human trafficking or shortage of clean water or alleviating poverty are your passions and where God may be leading you to impact lives, do your homework about the context of communities; knowing the difference between relief, recovery, and development; cultivating relationships; collaborating with other organizations; and digging deep to know people as people not as objects of our help.
Cho frames his tenacity as a pastor-activist to his immigrant roots and the hard lessons he learned from his parents who left Korea in the 1970’s to establish a new life in the US with Eugene and his two brothers. As a Filipino American immigrant myself, Cho’s story is a powerful one where rootedness in one’s story and the story of your family and culture enables and inspires you to connect with the stories of others as fellow human beings created in the image of God. Cho sums it best: “Actions speak louder than words. The best way to become a better storyteller is to simply live a more honest, deep, and faithful life” (188).
Cho’s volume combines the personal with the anecdotal, exhortation with confession, all framed within the Gospel. Cho’s book moves you towards the Gospel, towards Jesus Christ; which is, as he rightly points out, the purpose of all justice work: to inspire and, as he says, “fascinate” people toward Christ and the Gospel.
Overrated is a must-read for any pastor, preacher, and teacher; in fact, it is for anyone who cares about changing the world (which, hopefully, is anyone in our congregations, seminaries/universities, denominational offices, non-profit organizations, mission agencies, communities, and families). It is an antidote to our privilege and our proclivity to a messiah-complex, and a much needed reminder to costly discipleship that changes the world and changes us.
