Rise and Fall of Korean Christianity
Rise and Fall of Korean Christianity
- It’s remedy and globalization
- It’s remedy and globalization
31 : So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.
32 : But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." (Exodus 32:31,32)
Moses is a person who has entered the assembly of the Lord. If his name is blotted out of the book the Lord has written, he will go to hell. Now he is saying he will go to hell for his people. But God didn’t allow that. God is saying, “I will destroy everyone except you. You shall become another Abraham.”
Other people may say, “Yes, Lord. Let’s start all over again together.” But Moses persuaded the Lord, “No way my Lord. You glory will fall down to the ground.” After all, three millions of Israelites could avoid hell because of Moses. This is the relationship between nationalism and kingdom of heaven. The nationality and salvation are related each other.
1 : I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--
2 : I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 : For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race (Romans 9:1-3
The apostle Paul is praying he may be cut off from Jesus after cursed for his people, Israel. Where would he go if he were cut off from Jesus? He is saying he will go to hell. “If you would abandon Israel, let me go to hell.” It is Paul’s prayer.
God was impressed by two persons – one is Moses in the Old Testament, the other is Paul in the New Testament. Nationalism is proportional to Salvation. Nationalism is proportional to Evangelization.
If there comes one among us, who prays like Moses or Paul, God will not let our people destroyed. Many revelations say that God has abandoned Korea and wants to go to India or to Indonesia.
Indonesia - The population of Christian is forty five million. One thousand and one hundred abandon Islam and convert to Christianity every day. They have eight times more Christians than Korea. It is Indonesia where Christians keep their faith as they are beheaded by Muslims, where the dead jump out of the bed and where the miracle that water turns into wine happens every week for 40 years.
India – There are 60 global mission organizations, while there’s not even one in Korea.
It is said Korea ranks number two in the world mission; but number 6 actually. America is taking charge of more than 70% of global missions. A church in America, which has one hundred members, dispatched as many as three hundred missionaries. This is the power of American churches. 94% of Americans believe in Jesus and 70% go to church. America is a country Jesus is reigning over. The population of white people of the Baptist church is twenty million and that of black people is eight million.
Our country will be revived if we have leaders like Moses and Paul praying, “Please blot me out of the book you have written for the sake of my people.” “I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race.”
The history bears witness that ‘nationalism’ or ‘patriotism’ is directly proportional to ‘evangelization’ and ‘the revival of Christianity’. Now where are we? How can we save Korean churches which are dying now?
If we satisfy national aspirations by the Gospel, perceiving the relation between nationalism and Korean Christianity is that of direct proportion, then whole nation will come to Jesus.
I’d like to look at three things. “What national aspirations did we have in our history?”, “How did Christianity cope with them?”, and “How did it affect evangelization?”
National aspiration 1880 to 1910 : Enlightenment, Modernization
National aspiration 1880 to 1910 : Enlightenment, Modernization
The leading force of enlightenment was the disciples of Jesus including Jaepil Seo. An explosive revival of Christianity occurred at this time. When people see there’s no one who can save our people, our country will be Christianized.
National aspiration 1910 to 1945 : Liberation
National aspiration 1910 to 1945 : Liberation
The leading group of liberation was Christian. Among 33 representatives of our people at the March First Independence Movement in 1919, sixteens were Christians, one was Buddhist and the rest belonged to Cheondogyo, one of Korean religions. The national organization of the Movement was led by the Christian Council of Korea like CCC (Campus Crusade for Christ in Korea) today.
National aspiration 1945 to 1950 : Reconstruction
National aspiration 1945 to 1950 : Reconstruction
Dr. Seung-man Lee took the lead of the reconstruction. He was an elder. Pastor Si-young Lee opened the first National Assembly.
National aspiration 1950 to 1953 : The end of war
National aspiration 1950 to 1953 : The end of war
America, the nation of Jesus protected Korea. 144,000 were dead or injured among the US army, who engaged in the Korean War.
National aspiration 1953 to 1960 : Postwar recovery
National aspiration 1953 to 1960 : Postwar recovery
It was led by Christian forces.
National aspiration 1960 to 1980 : Economic development
National aspiration 1960 to 1980 : Economic development
83 % of the main group who led the ‘New Village Movement’ were Christians. Former President Chung-hee Park invited pastors and led the movement, saying “Pastors will save our people”. Persons like Dr. Tae-young Lyu and elder Yong-gi Kim led the Korean economy, joining hands with President Chung-hee Park. GNP rose sharply $170 to $3,000.
Christianity has prospered up to this time. Catholic was regarded as the anti-national forces by then. Catholic didn’t take part in the independence movement. Vatican told the Catholics in Korea to submit to the Japanese Empire. Catholic looked like an evil religion to our people. A Catholic, Whang Sa-young wrote a confidential letter to an bishop Gouvea who stayed in Beijing. He tried to subordinate the Joseon Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty; his attempt was found out.
To the people who didn’t believe in Jesus, Catholic was a wicked religion to annihilate our people. That’s why Catholic was not embraced by the general public. Catholic just sat in the back even in the period of economic revival of Korea. It is only Korea where the number of Catholics is smaller than that of Protestants. In US, the Catholic population is eighty million and the number of Catholic churches is nineteen thousands.
1980 to the present : Four National Aspirations
1980 to the present : Four National Aspirations
First – democratization
First – democratization
At the time of pro-democracy movement that broke out in Gwangju city in 1980, Korean Christianity (Protestantism) fell headlong down, while just looking on genocide and repression of military authorities. Whereas Catholic increased nearly threefold, two million to fifty five.
Protestants had been doing well for 100 years, but they came to focus on church growth, centered on individual churches. Whereas Catholic came to have the national leadership. Priests accepted the liberation theology of Latin America and participated in fight for democracy to become key forces of the popular movement. The young generation saw Catholic as the hope of our nation.
When Christianity looked upon demonstrators as devils and abandoned our nation, our nation deserted Christianity the other way round. A religion that abandons the national aspirations is also abandoned. Korean Christianity has been walking the road to collapse since 1980.
Second - Justice, the even distribution of wealth
Second - Justice, the even distribution of wealth
Only the top 1 to 2 % of Koreans is well off. The economic development in Korea was state-dominated, to which communistic development applied. The application was good.
But the problem was that resources and opportunities were not distributed equally because of the imbalance of economic development. Everyone should have been well off, but only a conglomerate was well fed. The church didn’t solve the problem of unfairness.
Even churches adopted a capitalistic type of church growth. Large churches stole the members of small churches by using large sized buses, which move around each religion. The polarization of wealth that came from asymmetric growth made the middle class collapse.
Third – Globalization
Third – Globalization
Fourth – Unification
Fourth – Unification
Christianity didn’t meet these two aspirations, either.
Democratization, even distribution of wealth, globalization, unification – Christianity didn’t match these four aspirations one after another; Korean churches abandoned our nation, and vice versa. Over two million (20%) of Christians don’t go to church now.
Unless Korean churches don’t solve these four problems, the population of Christian in Korea will become zero in 2050. After all, God will have to work by the medium of India and Indonesia.
God’s message given to us – “有備治世 : Be prepared to reign over the world”
God’s message given to us – “有備治世 : Be prepared to reign over the world”
This is the Kingdomization. What we are doing now is not about preventing collapse of Christianity, but about considering how the Korean people will reign over the world. Kingdomization has to reach the level where we can set up the presidents of 239 nations, while reigning over the whole world.
Then what is the reason we set up the presidents? As the scripture, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." the salvation the Bible says is collective, not individual. It’s not ‘you’ but ‘you and your household’ that will be saved.
If a king is saved, his people and country are saved. Thorough repentance of the king of Nineveh, millions of Ninevites were saved. The Emperor Constantine saved millions of Romans. Salvation in the World Missions is not about individual combat that defeats the enemy one by one.
That’s why Messianic Jews are wrong. The salvation of the Jews is collective salvation as it is written in the Bible, “And so all Israel will be saved.”(Romans 11:26) What Messianic Jews are doing is religious fraud in order to submit us to the Jews.
The Jews are one of twelve tribes of Dongi people. Ancient China used to call Eastern people Dongi, which means Eastern barbarians. Dongi people will close history in the future. We should make all the twelve tribes come back to Jesus.
Kingdomizer is striving to make Korea join the ten Great Powers and then seven. When North and South are reunited, we can enter the seven Great powers. In turn we can be one of the four. Kingdomizer’s unification strategy was adopted by the U.S. State Department.
While taking rank with America, China and Japan, we can enter the two Great Powers if we cooperate with the Jews, who are dominating 80% of the global economy, and with America, the only Super Power of the whole world.
Georgia and Korea were united into one already, and so were Washington and Seoul. We married Korea to America.
Let’s move forward with our vision, “有備治世 : Be prepared to reign over the world” in our hearts, anticipating Noah’s prophecy of five thousand years ago will be fulfilled in no distant future. : “May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem.”