The ROK

7 min read

41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”
— 1 Kings 8:41-43

God has done an amazing thing in the S. Korea. As small as this nation is, God has used the people of S. Korea to have a major impact for the gospel throughout the world. It still boggles my mind that S. Korea is third only behind the US and Brazil in the number of Christian missionaries that are sent out.

One study shows that as of 2020, S. Korea sent out about 35,000 missionaries, while the US sent out 135,000. Obviously, based on their respective populations (51.63M versus 333.3M), S. Korea sends out a lot more missionaries per capita than the US.

I don’t know why (I didn’t have anything to do with it), but somehow I am proud that God has used S. Korea in this way. God has blessed S. Korea because of their obedience. One secular researcher has pointed out that throughout history Christian countries have advanced much further than non-Christian countries. And anyone who has visited S. Korea recently can see that they are ahead of the US in many ways. I believe that there is a connection there.

But at the same time, I believe also that S. Korea is going to start declining drastically in their missionary activity over the next several year. And with that, S. Korea’s social and economic advancement may also decline. Unless another Christian revival is sparked in S. Korea.

What would such a revival look like? I’m no prophet, but my gut tells me that such a revival is still possible. But it will start from small churches and not start from the megachurches (small is the new mega), and it will start in the southern regions of S. Korea and not from Seoul—the land of megachurches.

Of course, I have nothing against megachurches, but only mature believers should be allowed to attend megachurches. No one can really be discipled to learn Christian love in a megachurch, unless that megachurch is built upon a very strong small group model, like our house churches.

Anyway, S. Korea is in a desperate state right now, spiritually speaking. When we visited the motherland, I was talking with my nephew. He is extremely bright, but also extremely lost. He is trying to start a grass-roots movement of young people who gather together simply to “build community” organically. Hmm. Sounds familiar.

And in fact, the only place that he could find that could provide a platform for such “organic community building” was a church building that was volunteered by the pastor of the church. And when I pointed out to him that this is one key factor of what church is all about, he simply said, very matter-of-fact like, that no young person wants to have anything to do with church.

So as I was talking with my extremely bright nephew, I was very much reminded of Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. Except my nephew has purposefully blinded himself from the kingdom of God—the only place where goodness and truth may be found. It was very frustrating.

With the Busan mission trip coming up, I hope and pray that this Canvas family can feel the lostness that is Korea right now and the implications that lostness will have on our lives in the upcoming generations. It won’t be good.

But what in the world can you or I do about any of that? You see, our lives must never be measured in expected outcomes, but merely in our obedience. God will take care of the outcomes.

When I come face to face with my Lord, I want to be able to say that whatever door that the Holy Spirit opened for us to share the gospel, we took it.

Father, stir up the hearts of this Canvas family and send us. Send me. In Jesus’s name. Amen.