Does anyone know about the spiritual condition of South Korea?

I have heard that there was a move of God in the past in South Korea, but I am living there right now and am struggling to find much signs of authenticity. There seems to be a great lack in the knowledge of the Lord. I do understand that my perspective is limited, so I would appreciate anyone with insight to reply.

I studied East Asian Studies in College, and have attended a Korean pastored church for the past 8 years. Right now I am serving as a missionary in Tokyo, Japan. In January I'll be attending graduate school at Wheaton college studying intercultural studies.

I'll try to give the history of Protestant Christianity in Korea in a nutshell.

In the 1880's and 1890's the first Protestant missionaries came to Korea. They were quick to establish churches, schools, hospitals, universities and other social institutions. Pyongyang quickly became the most protestant Christian city in East Asia, some people referred to it as the Jerusalem of the East. There was a definite move of the Holy Spirit as people turned away from animism, ancestor worship and Confucianism towards Jesus.

At the time when the Protestant missionaries came to Korea, less than 10% of the population was literate. In order to teach the bible, the missionaries taught the Koreans how to read and write an obscure Korean alphabet previously only used for court short-hand called hangul. They published the bible and Christian literature in hangul and began to teach people how to read using Christian resources -people were eager to learn to read and many responded to the message of the Gospel -today South Korea is one of the most literate countries in the world, due in large part to the efforts of Western Protestant missionaries.

In 1910 Japan annexed Korea as a colony. They began to assimilate the Korean people into the Japanese culture. They forced Koreans to learn Japanese, read and write Japanese, they made them take Japanese names and dress in Japanese cloths. They closed down mission schools and discouraged the promulgation of Korea culture and heritage. They forced Koreans, even Korean Christians to worship at Shinto Shrines, worshiping the Japanese emperor. The Japanese were forcibly trying to eradicate any Korean self identity.

Since Korea's colonizers were other Asians, they saw Western ideologies as their potential liberators. North Koreans were generally more favorable towards Christianity and Democracy, while South Koreans, where most of the factories in Korea were at the time, were more favored towards Communism, which offered a similar promise of freedom and liberation from the Japanese empire.

Many Koreans became Christians out of political or social motivation, because the Christian world view affirmed their cultural identity -there was a strong movement of Christian nationalism.

After World War II, Russia took the surrender of Japanese forces in the North of Korea, and the USA took the surrender in the South. Huge populations of Koreans moved either north or south depending on their ideological background. The Christians from Pyongyang mostly settled in Seoul, and South Korean communists mostly moved North. After the Korean war, it became impossible for any straggling North Korean Christians to head south, and they became terribly persecuted.

South Korean Christianity is a mixed bag. There are some very powerfully annointed South Korean believers in Christ. However there is also a lot of cultural Christianity.

Korean culture USED to be very conservative due to Confucianisms teachings. People who were traditionally conservative became Christians, and Confucianism got smuggled into Christianity. The strict social hierarchies of the Confucian world view were very similar to those within the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches, which is why these two churches represent the majority of Christians in Korea (if you consider Catholics to be genuine Christians or not is not part of this topic).

In addition to the smuggling of Confucianism into Christianity has also been the smuggling of some issues of Korean self-identity stemming from something they call 'Han.' Which means an inner-anger, or struggle. All Korean people have this 'Han,' which is actually just a ethnic/national victim complex. Sometimes the 'Han' can be perceived as good, such as when they were cheering for the world cup in Korea in 2002, sometimes it is used for bad, because frankly, Koreans can be some of the most racist people in the world.

Strict Confucian hierarchy and ethics translate into strict legalistic and cold churches that do not preach the grace of Christ, but instead conformity to community. Nationalistic Korean Christian converts translate into cultural Christians, who see church as a place to socialize and build community rather than worship God. Korean 'Han' translates into a victim complex, which makes Koreans more sympathetic to the Jewish people in the Old Testament than to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In addition to this, there are two other major factors at play in the church in Korea in the last 30 years. Cults and the Prosperity Gospel have been very influencial in the Korean Christianity in the past few decades. The Moonies, the Jesus Morning Star Cult, University Bible Fellowship... these cults and authoritarian churches don't just have a lot of direct control over Korean believers, but many other churches have unknowingly absorbed their teachings and tactics and are in turn abusing their congregations.

The Full Gospel Church of Yoido Island used to be the largest church in the world. They are a Pentecostal mega-church that preaches the Prosperity Gospel, they have a lot of influence on the current trends of Christianity in Korea.

Besides Cults and the Prosperity Gospel, there is also the tendency towards church splits in traditional mainline denominations, especially the Presbyterian church. There are over 1000 distinct Presbyterian denominations in Korea, and countless churches underneath them, and they are frantically cell-dividing. Partly it is because of he emphasis on Confucian hierarchy -everyone wants to be a leader, and no one wants to be under the leadership of anyone else, so when a disagreement happens, the church splits. It can split over anything, the color of the Pastor's suit, which songs to sing from the Hymnal, although usually over personality conflicts within the congregation... sometimes even over doctrine =)

Korean culture is changing, especially among the youth. Due in part to all of these factors, Christianity spread in Korea like a wildfire. But in the last several years there has been a distinct downturn in church growth. Protestant churches are shrinking! There are several reasons.

One reason is that young people hate all the Confucianism. They've grown up watching western TV shows which affirm an Individualistic, Post-Modern world view which doesn't jive with the traditional Korean conservative ethic. Young people are more interested in 'experiencing spirituality' than going to church -much like the youth in the United States. And with how bad the churches in Korea are, I can't blame them.

All the problems in the church, with cults, personality conflicts, lots and lots of legalism... the older generations are just fed up with it. People are tired of looking for a church that doesn't make them feel horrible on Sunday (not because they are sinners, like some American believers, but because the church is actually horrible). So older people are leaving the churches in droves as well.

Recently there was a big incident regarding the Short Term Korean missionaries captured in Afghanistan. This incident promulgated a lot of anti-Christian sentiment, and brought a lot of these long standing complaints to the surface. Just about everyone, including the media, got into Christian bashing -lets face it, Korean Christians are easy targets. For the most part, to be honest, Koreans are really bad missionaries too -they try to set up their own little kingdoms instead of building up the Kingdom of Christ.

It used to be said that when you flew over Seoul at night it used to look like a Neon grave-yard -because Korean churches used to all have red neon crosses on top. Unfortunately, it doesn't just look like a graveyard anymore, it is. Korean Christianity has some very serious ailments, it is sick at its core. Korea needs genuine revival. It needs to purge itself of all of the Confucianism, cultishness, prosperity gospel, Korean-nationalism/racism/victim-complex and cultural-Christianity and get back to real biblical Christianity!

Thats the nut-shell, I guess its more like a coconut!

Just thought you might find this article by Sproul interesting and, I hope, relevant.

Ecclesiastical Myopia
by R.C. Sproul

Perhaps the most remarkable statement I ever heard a man utter from the pulpit was: “He has a penurious epistemology, which tends to be myopic.” I was seated in the balcony of the church when that statement was made, and I could not restrain myself from laughing aloud. I nudged my wife Vesta and said, “I just might be the only person in the church who understood what that man said.” What is a penurious epistemology? A penurious epistemology is a theory of knowledge that is poverty-stricken or on the verge of bankruptcy. Such a view of knowledge, if it tends towards myopia, is simply suffering a bad case of near-sightedness. I’m afraid that the American church suffers from a similar sort of myopia.

Our vision tends to extend only to the borders of our own nation or at best across the Atlantic to western Europe. We tend to think that Christianity is fundamentally a Western religion. Such a view is penurious, indeed. The Bible, through the lips of Jesus, calls the church to extend the reach of the gospel to the corners of the earth — to every tribe, to every tongue, and to every nation. The whole world is the mission of the Christian faith. The strength of Christianity does not stand or fall with the strengths of the church in America or western Europe.

If in our ecclesiastical myopia we restricted our vision to the United States and Europe, it would be easy for us to become profoundly discouraged, particularly regarding Europe. The historians are saying that western Europe has now entered a post-Christian era where only a tiny fraction of the populace attends church regularly. The beautiful churches that dot the scene on the continent have become museums in many cases.

Though there still exists a vibrant Christianity in the United States, we have also seen serious decline in the substance of our faith and commitment. The discouragement that ensues from an evaluation of what’s happening in America and in Europe is unwarranted, however, when we evaluate the church from a global perspective.

Though the Christian faith may be on the wane in certain sections of the West, there is a burgeoning vitality found in Korea, in Africa, in Latin America, and even now in China. The excitement of the discovery of the Reformed tradition in the Ukraine, for example, is contagious throughout the eastern part of Europe and into Russia. Sociologists and historians have predicted that by the year 2050 the strongest center for Christianity will be in Africa and Latin America.

The good news is that the inroads of the faith in these areas of the globe have been profound. The bad news is that there has been a lack of substantive doctrine feeding the people of these lands — as is often the case with fresh revivals and awakenings to Christianity. So often a syncretism exists in which superstitious elements of animistic religion are mingled and blended with the Christian faith. However, as these churches mature, we can anticipate an increase of sound theology with a diminution of elements of pagan syncretism.

One of the strongest churches in the world is the church in Korea, which has enjoyed explosive growth over the last forty years. The contagion of that Asian form of Christianity is penetrating all parts of the world. It is not an unusual thing to now see missionaries being sent from the Third World countries into Europe and even into the United States, as the ebb and flow of Christian fervor moves from one geographical spot to another. Many times I have heard people lament the spiritual aridity of America’s New England. The irony is that no part of our nation has ever had a more powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit than New England enjoyed in the Great Awakening during the middle of the eighteenth century. That Great Awakening, however, gave way to unitarianism and secularism. One wonders that if God pours out a profound blessing on a particular geographical region and that blessing is neglected or repudiated, does a kind of ichabod ensue in which God removes His lampstand from their midst, along with His glory (1 Sam. 4:20–22; Rev. 2:5)? We should take heed in this country that the profound spiritual benefits and blessings that we have enjoyed in our brief history may be removed and passed to other nations that are more receptive to the truths of God.

Here in the West, we have become immunized or inoculated against the deep things of God, living our Christian lives on a superficial plain of churchiness and religiosity. This type of Christianity will not do. It would be no surprise to me if we, in a very short time, will be looking to Africa, to eastern Europe, to Asia, and to Latin America to discover the real power of the Christian gospel.

[url=http://www.ligonier.org/tabletalk/2008/11/1107_Ecclesiastical_Myopia]Source[/url]

I was reading a couple of months ago or saw on a God-tube video how the South Korean (westernized) church has forgotten about their persecuted brothers and sisters just miles away in North Korea.

Having said that, I do not know how true that is but if they have become westernized as America, then it sounds just about right.

Secondly, I am full gospel but sadly I must admit that if Krispy is right and the "pentecostal" type churches have rooted themselves there, then they probably have not been taught to study the word of God and they have been indoctrinated in the spirit teaching them and so there would be a lack of knowledge just as is here in America.

What I'm finding here in America is that Christians seem to be more satisfied knowing what their denominations doctrine says more than what their Bible says. If there is only one word of God but 1,000,000 denominations and off-shoots, no wonder we are in the shape we are in.

God bless you, perhaps you could start a Radical Bible believing church where you are!! :-D

Lysa

One of the strongest churches in the world is the church in Korea, which has enjoyed explosive growth over the last forty years. The contagion of that Asian form of Christianity is penetrating all parts of the world. It is not an unusual thing to now see missionaries being sent from the Third World countries into Europe and even into the United States, as the ebb and flow of Christian fervor moves from one geographical spot to another.

RC Sproul, like many other American Christians has bought into the notion that Korea is a vibrant Christian nation, but it just isn't true. Having been involved in Korean churches for the past 8 years, I have to say that I have become quite jaded.

There are genuine believers in South Korea, but not in the numbers or scope to which 'missions experts' and Western Christian teachers claim -for the most part they are just repeating what they have heard, and Korean Christians are more than willing to propagate this untruth.

There is a notion of 'saving face' in Korea, which is influenced by Confucian teachings. 'Saving face' means that for the good of the group, you shouldn't bring up anything that would bring dishonor to the 'face' of the group, or to the group's leaders, no matter how legitimate the problem is... this means that there are plenty of problems that are just covered over with a fresh coat of paint. People within Korean churches are perfectly aware of the problems, however the people on the outside are generally ignorant because of the subterfuge. American Christian leaders have been duped.

As for the Pastor of Yoido Island Full Gospel Church, you only need to look at what company he keeps to know what kind of teacher he is. *cough* Todd Bentley was one of the people he recently blessed and anointed. I believe Pastor Yonggi Choi went so far as stating that the Florida revival would continue until the coming of Jesus... I think this is grounds for labeling him a 'false prophet.'

Thank you all for your responses. They are appreciated. It's nice to have a little bit more clarity on what I am up against. Please feel free to send me any further information that you think might be helpful.

by iansmith on 2008/11/14 8:04:37

There is a notion of 'saving face' in Korea, which is influenced by Confucian teachings. 'Saving face' means that for the good of the group, you shouldn't bring up anything that would bring dishonor to the 'face' of the group, or to the group's leaders, no matter how legitimate the problem is... this means that there are plenty of problems that are just covered over with a fresh coat of paint. People within Korean churches are perfectly aware of the problems, however the people on the outside are generally ignorant because of the subterfuge. American Christian leaders have been duped.

Sad, but true of SE-Asian culture. I'm part of a network of churches that has it's roots in Thailand, and my local fellowship is home to people from Australia, Singapore, mainland China, Korea, South America and Africa. While I praise God for the diversity, the "saving face" issue is definately genuine to the point that a prominent leader within a church can preach complete liberal heresy, but in the interest of "honoring face", such a person unofficially earns diplomatic immunity from church discipline and authority which would often be applied to a less prominent memer with no qualms from the powers that be.

If anything, while God should be praised whenver someone from an Eastern religious background gets soundly saved, things can often be expected to go from bad to worse when such a person enters into a fellowship that is a syncretism of Christianity/Confucianism and after a while they get convicted of the "old paths."