Restoration Story: Why Jesus Matters in a Broken World by Robert Cheong
Nonfiction. 192 Pages. Stars
Synopsis:
What unanswered questions do you have about your life? Some of us struggle to find meaning, others wonder about identity, and all of us want to be loved. Your story—the events and relationships that define you—will guide how you answer those questions. But God has a story too. His story is about sending Jesus to this broken world to mend all that is broken. Author Robert Cheong, a pastor and counselor, helps readers connect their story to God’s story which will transform how they live and love.
We all have our own back story—our sometimes unconscious beliefs—that have been shaped by our families, relationships, and life experiences. Our stories shape the personal narratives we live out: “I am not loved.” “No one cares for me.” “I have to be better than everyone around me.” “How I look is the most important thing about me.” Our back story guides us in how we relate to God and others. But are these beliefs true? And how are they affecting our lives today? Cheong helps readers unpack their story and learn to live out of God’s new story. Readers will discover how to retell their story out of who God is, what he’s done, and the call to love him and others.
Learn how the dynamics of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation shape our present struggles, confirm our future hope, and ensure our ability to live in God’s power today. At the intersection of God’s story and your own, you’ll find that his love sustains you in your weariness, guides you in your confusion, and comforts you in your suffering. The story of his love will compel you to live for him.
My Review:
I’ve wavered between three and four stars for this, but I’m leaning toward four because I think the author truly cares. I could see the desire and heart behind the message and I appreciated that.
I really like the idea behind Restoration Story a lot. The framework for the chapters lays out a beautiful message, one that resonates with me. Learning to see our stories through the lens of God’s story is powerful and freeing. I truly did enjoy the heart behind this book.
But I didn’t love the execution.
First, this is such a little thing, but it makes such a huge difference–much of the book was written in giant blocks of text. Large paragraphs are difficult on the eyes and difficult to keep up with. It would be so helpful to break your paragraphs up and keep your points more concise and interconnected. Part of what contributed to this were the long strings of repetitive lists. (i.e. grace, faith, hope, love, encouragement, comfort, and confidence) These long lists popped up frequently. And so much of the material felt repetitive, in part, because of them. Sometimes short and to the point is more powerful.
I have mixed feelings about the narratives, but they’re mostly negative. I think this could have been a really effective tool and it’s a neat idea. But again, the execution just missed the mark for me. The book intermittently inserts tidbits of stories from four fictional people. The stories are designed to illustrate the author’s point, and in theory, that would work really nicely. But at many points the illustrations didn’t feel natural, which makes the point moot. If the characters and their stories don’t feel realistic, I’m not going to connect to them. I found myself irritated that they just “instantly” (I can’t count the number of times I read that) understood, had clarity, and were at peace with God’s word. That isn’t how it works in the real world. Sometimes it’s months of confusion, hurt, and emotional desert. That doesn’t mean God isn’t there. It just means we are in the middle of a storm. And, yes, we do have to choose to trust Him, and yes, He does give us comfort and peace in the most bizarre of situations. But personally, I’ve rarely experienced instantaneous understanding of His word and how to apply it to my life. The stories felt contrived and thus negated the effects they were meant to have.
An additional note about the stories: there were a few points that they sort of just shoved in there that also could really take someone by surprise. So, for content warning for others: one girl works through a rape in her past and another guy struggles with pornography. Neither of these are at all graphic or explicitly shown in the book, but they aren’t handled with the most sensitivity either. Both instances came out of the blue and could really take someone off guard since the rest of the book goes nowhere near any other sensitive topics. I’m not opposed to reading a book with these topics, but some people need a little warning. And furthermore, again, they felt thrown in just to give the people something traumatic and/or to struggle with. Real life examples are fine, good even, but this didn’t feel purposeful or well thought-out in my opinion.
The people didn’t really respond like people. They responded like the author needed them to, which just irritated me because they felt fake. And the tool could have allowed the reader to see themselves in the material, to see how it could apply, how they themselves faced struggles and brokenness, and how God’s hope and truth can see them through. But I think trying to follow so many different issues and storylines just muddied the waters. Fictional stories can be amazing for allowing readers to connect on a deeper level, but because this is a nonfiction book, I don’t think the author really took the time to pour into the fiction stories what would have made them work well.
In the nonfiction sections themselves, I liked a lot of what the author was trying to say. But it was difficult to parse through what he did say to get to the point. Lewis is challenging to read and takes time to digest. This wasn’t the same kind of challenging. (Additionally, I will admit, I wasn’t a fan of the use of the word “fantasy” throughout the book because I’m a fantasy writer myself, but I saw their point. I just wish it had been clarified what they meant, instead of assumed. I’d have chosen a more specific term, personally.)
Though there were headings, I often struggled to see how the narrative beneath the heading related to the heading, and thus, how it connected to the chapter and overall message of the book. There’s a lot of good pieces in here! But connecting them was difficult. It didn’t naturally flow very easily for me, which jarred me out of the book and made me stop and think, “What are we talking about again?” And why?
I’m not sure I’d read it again, but perhaps others would still benefit from it. The themes and overall message are good and worthwhile. But I’d love to see them revised and presented in a clearer, more concise, thoughtful, and engaging way.