Author Conversation: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics
About the Episode
Eugene Cho and Dana Allin talk about Eugene’s newest book, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics. They discuss why Eugene chose to write the book and the audience he hoped to reach despite the controversial topic. Eugene and Dana also unpack some of the challenges Christian’s face in engaging politics and the importance of starting this conversation among leaders and members in the Church.
About Our Guest
Eugene Cho is a pastor, speaker, author, visionary and humanitarian. A son of Korean immigrants and a natural entrepreneur, Cho spends much of his time circling the globe speaking about the intersection of faith, justice, and leadership.
Cho is the founder of One Day’s Wages (ODW) – a grassroots movement to alleviate extreme global poverty. The vision of ODW ignited when Eugene was in Burma visiting at risk schools. He realized the tiny amounts of money needed to keep these children in school. From that visit, he and his wife Minhee launched a Facebook group, Fight Global Poverty, and agreed to give $1 for every member who joined, up to $100,000. Within months more than 1,000,000 individuals joined. As a result in 2009, he ended up giving his entire annual salary, $68,000, when the US economy was in a significant downturn. He and his family gave the remaining of the $100,000 in 2010. But it was through this he realized it was the small giving – one day’s wages – that could make the biggest difference. Since its launch in October 2009, ODW has raised over $8 million dollars for projects worldwide.
Cho is also the founder and former Senior Pastor of Quest Church – an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. After serving there for 18 years, Cho stepped aside at Quest in 2018. While at Quest Church, Cho was the founder and Executive Director of the Q Café, an innovative non-profit community café and music venue which closed in 2015 after 13 years in Seattle.
Cho and ODW has been featured in multiple news outlets including The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Christianity Today, The Guardian and numerous other media outlets. For his entrepreneurial work and spirit, Cho was honored as one of 50 Everyday American Heroes and a recipient of the Frederick Douglass 200—a list of 200 people around the world who best embody the spirit and work of Frederick Douglass, one of the most influential figures in history. A graduate of University of California, Davis and Princeton Theological Seminary, Cho was also the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Additional Resources
Buy the book on Amazon:
Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics