#MotherlandtheBeautiful

7 min read

I confess that I used to have somewhat of a negative view of Korea as a country and as a culture when I was younger. Looking back, I realize that this negative attitude was based on two factors: (1) a feeling of entitlement when it comes to comfort and convenience and (2) western arrogance shaped by my upbringing in the US.

Back then, Korea just seemed like a dirty, third-world nation, and the Korean people seemed backwards, unsophisticated, and narrow-minded. Of course, my negative attitude about all things Korean required a lot of psychological gymnastics to deny my very Korean-ness. It wasn’t good.

As I grew and matured, I came to accept my ethnic heritage and even came to love and respect it. But I experienced something very surprising and powerful on my recent trip to #MotherlandtheBeautiful.

I found the ROK to be just as livable, comfortable, and cultured as the United States—and in many ways, even more so. I also found Korea to be a much safer place to live than the United State (no one worries about gun violence or about your car getting vandalized or stolen in Korea).

In fact, I found myself thinking (as I had during our mission trip this past summer to Korea) that I could actually live in Korea, even though I can barely speak one coherent sentence in Korean.

But as I was basking in the glow of my newly enhanced love for Korea, something else came to mind. Why is my attitude toward Korea now so positive? And I realized this positive attitude was based on two factors: (1) a feeling of entitlement when it comes to comfort and convenience and (2) western arrogance shaped by my upbringing in the US.

In other words, Korea has become in many ways just like the United States, and in some ways better. My deep-seated American, Western worldview was guiding my perspective and attitude toward Korea now even as it had before.

Well, what’s so wrong with that? Nothing really. But here’s the thing. Just as in the US, Korea has become a haven of nominal Christianity (Christians in name only). And just as in the US, the young people of South Korea are abandoning the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ en masse.

The IMB and other mission agencies now consider the young generation (15-30 ish) of South Korea to be an unreached people group as far as the gospel is concerned. What this means is that less than 2% of young people in Korea profess Jesus as Savior and Lord. Roughly speaking, that’s almost 9M souls who are lost.

What am I feeling so positive about? Should I feel proud that the food in Korea is better than the food in the US? Should I feel proud that there is high-speed internet pretty much wherever you go? Should I feel proud that you can order anything from anywhere in the country? Should I feel proud that the traffic in Seoul and Pusan is no worse than, say, LA? Should I feel proud that Korea is very environmentally conscientious and there is much less pollution than in the past? Should I be proud that there are beautiful museums and art and attractions everywhere you go? Should I be proud that it is not uncommon to hear people speaking English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, etc., wherever you go in Seoul and Busan?

Should I feel proud about all these things when 9M souls are going to hell?

Maybe my line of thinking is a little unfair. Maybe I should be proud of how far Korea has advanced even in the last ten years. After all, a study was conducted that shows how the countries that are more economically robust are those who have been evangelized by Protestant missionaries in the 1900s.

Maybe I should be proud of my motherland. However, I cannot escape the reality that the church overall in Korea has lost an entire generation to hell.

And what in the world can little ol’ me do to prevent this holocaust, anyway? Maybe not much at all. But I refuse to become discouraged and give up hope. I refuse to wallow in complacency and pride as I reflect on the wonderful comfort and convenience and culture that I enjoyed in my motherland.

Father, raise up Your church in South Korea, and save the multitudes of the lost, especially the young people there. In Jesus’s name. Amen.