I received a copy of "Overrated: Are we more in love with the idea of changing the world than actually changing the world?" written by Eugene Cho, from Family Christian Stores for the purpose of generating a review. Italicized quotes are from the book. The opinions expressed here are my own.

And great news! Family Christian is also giving a copy of this book away to one of my readers. You can enter the giveaway below.

I like Eugene Cho. His social media posts are compelling and right on target. Still, I picked up his book rather nervously. I have vague recollections of reading the book “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream” by David Platt. A very good book but it convicted me again and again that I don’t give sacrificially. Not really. 

I didn’t know if I was ready to read another book like that.

“Overrated” surprised me. In almost every chapter, the author would offer a confession. This “giving until it hurts concept” doesn’t come naturally to him either. But he can’t shake this question he also poses to his readers:

“Is it possible that Christ might be challenging us to live life with loose hands?”

The book offers gripping statistics, as we would expect. Cho also breaks down Scripture passages to help us understand how God and Jesus felt about social justice.

For a Christian it’s inescapable.

Throughout the book, Cho shares his story of living out Micah 6:8:

“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

But he also challenges us. If God lays an idea on your heart, by all means pursue it. Know that it might take a lot longer and the process might look a lot different when it’s in God’s hands. And please, please, execute your idea responsibly. Be excellent in your execution.

“My wish is that Christians, the church, and all those who are reading this book would take more time to listen, pray, and allow the injustices of the world to break us in lasting ways, as opposed to wanting to immediately make an impact.”

This idea is the main takeaway from the book for me. Cho does a lot of research to share times people are successful in offering justice. And times when hearts were perhaps in the right place but execution led to more harm than good. 

 

“Doing good is beautiful, but let’s pray that doing good provokes, evokes, and fascinates people toward the gospel....”

 

The book was excellent. A thought-provoking read. I give you fair warning though. “Overrated” will likely change your outlook. Kind of like when we really take the time to study the Bible.... 

 

“There’s a cost to pursuing your dreams, visions, and convictions. And there’s a cost to following Jesus. This is discipleship.”

The giveaway is open to U.S. residents and will run through midnight on Saturday, October 25th. A winner is randomly selected. The winner will be contacted by email and will have forty-eight hours to claim the prize. If unclaimed, a new winner will be selected.