It dawned on me at that point that she had never heard about Archbishop Romero—who, by the way, was assassinated on March 24, 1980.
Please don't judge me. It sounded much more pastoral and kind when I said it. Really! I gave her a huge hug and encouraged her to keep pressing on, going deeper, caring well, leading well, listening well, and loving well.
You may or may not know about Óscar Romero, but I hope you learn about him, especially if you ever choose to serve the poor in Latin America. Romero spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. He was an outspoken advocate for the poor and vulnerable as security crumbled in El Salvador in the late 1970s.
He was celebrating mass at a hospital, lifting a chalice during the sacrament, when he was shot.
The assassination sparked an international uproar, coming one day after he preached a sermon that implored soldiers to act like Christians and stop carrying out the government's ongoing repression.
Óscar Romero has an important story to be heard. And there are many others, if you take the time to dig in and learn. To better understand issues of poverty, justice, and classism in Latin America, how can one not take the time to study and learn from theologians such as Dominican priest Gustavo Gutiérrez and the Jesuit priest Juan Luis Segundo?
How can we say we care about abolition and not know the story of William Wilberforce?
How can we say we care about the history of slavery and abolitionism in the United States and not know about Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass or Harriet Beecher Stowe or William Lloyd Garrison?
How can we say we care about women's equality in America and not know the likes of Susan B. Anthony (who also taught at a seminary), Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth?
How can we say we care about the civil rights movement and racial justice and not know the story of Emmett Till?
How can we say we care about Asian American context or ministry and not know the story of Vincent Chin?
Point being, you can't know everything about everything, but when you say that you care about something in particular, and feel called about it, this is where I say you have to dig deep, be deep. Take time to understand the issues, facts, complexities, and nuances.
Without knowing even the basic background of what you care about, you can hurt the people you are trying to help. This is an issue of respect.
All issues have their form in a community of history, context, and culture. If we miss these things, we simply are not doing our jobs well. We're not caring well, listening well, and not setting up ourselves well for mutual relationship.
Never stop learning. Study the Bible. Read the news. Devour books. Engage people. Ask questions. Be a critical thinker and active practitioner.
The above is an excerpt from my book, Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World than Actually Changing the World? (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2014), 158-161.
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Hey Pastor Eugene, do you know a missionary named Bronson Yi, who served in Asia?
As always, thank you. I gladly take the shovel from you and will join in digging deeper.
This idea is something that has challenged me since I heard you share at The Justice Conference in 2012. With so much news of injustice coming at us every day, it feels a little overwhelming because I want to learn about all of it.
I've come to a place where I feel okay with becoming *informed* about many issues going on around me, but I want to be an *expert* in that which I'm passionate about. Thank you for your challenge in this, for challenging me to see that posting something on Facebook is not the same as living justly. and reading some tweets does not make me informed.
Great thoughts from Eugene Cho which are taken from upcoming book Overrated. Check it out and go ahead and pre-order book!