"The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of Prosperity"

Aside the American involvement in Korean War, a few people in the world knew about South Korea.  Even the industrial revolution of 70s and 80s failed to introduce "South" Korea to the rest of the world because almost all exported merchandise was marked "Made in Korea", implying that there was only one Korea, the communist Korea.  Probably the dictatorial governments in both the nations for a long period of time made it difficult to separate one from the other.  A prominent Korean missiologist, Dr. Jun Ho Jin, often used to joke with us in our seminary days about the place of South Korea in the world.  In the early 1990s, he was invited to minister in Eastern Europe; his host came to receive him with a Hyundai car.  Excited to see a brand from his country, Dr. Jun excitedly complimented "You have a nice car!"  With great pleasure and excitement, the host replied, "Yes, Sir, the North Korean cars are great!  Do you know they have a car building company called Hyundai?" 

My own revelation of South Korea came only after the 88 Seoul Olympics.  Until then, I had the similar assumption that all the merchandise marked "Made in Korea" came from North because South was just a breakaway part waiting to be united with the rest.

Same thing can be said about the church in Korea; especially the presence of numerous mega-churches in South Korea clouds our vision of reality in such a way that we think anything from Korea is super spiritual because people like David Younggi Cho are born there--because a one time poor nation became an industrial miracle in a short span of 20 years.  Surely God was blessing the Korean people with material blessings in response to their spiritual hunger and the price they paid for believing in Jesus Christ.  The breakneck speed of industrial development under the strong dictatorial rule of President Park Chung Hee was so spiritualized that it was considered to be God's reward for the Christians' spiritual excellence and prayer.  The Tertullian proverb "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" was almost replaced in Korean psyche as "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of economic progress".  During that economic boom, millions of Koreans joined the church and in no time Korea became the second largest missionary sending nation in the world. 

Unfortunately after the Asian economic crisis the growth of the church went in the reverse gear; the protestant church has since experienced a steady decline and if the trend does not change, in 20 to 30 years, these mega-churches might look like the senior citizen's asylums.  In the mission fronts; Korea still has about 20 thousand missionaries around the world, but compared to their numbers, the positive impact is yet to be felt in many of these nations where they work.  Rather a disturbing fact concerning the relational difficulties with the native Christians continues to follow the Korean missionaries; particularly in the developing nations.  Interestingly, the Catholics on the other hand are doing very well; they have experienced steady growth after the economic crisis and the non-Christian Korean population is rather willing to give them the benefit of doubt.  Missionary like Father Lee Tae Seok who gave his heart for Sudan is revered by the Catholics and non-Catholic Koreans alike. 

The decline of Protestant church at home and the relatively spineless impact of Korean missionaries abroad signal to a symptomatic problem within the protestant communities.  And the crux of the matter might have to be with the Tertullian proverb.  "The blood of the martyrs" is surely the seed of the church; it cannot be the seed of economic development.  But in my estimation, the protestant church in Korea, subconsciously, has made a fatal mistake by believing that the economic progress was somehow God's reward for their spirituality.  The Christian martyrs who gave their lives in this nation stood to lift up the Cross of Christ and taught their fellow believers to carry the cross daily.  However, though the Korean landscape today is filled with the high-rise church steeples and crosses, if a martyr from the 19^th or 20^th century had to visit, he/she would be terribly disappointed to see them far removed from the everyday life of Korean Christians; in fact the currency has replaced the cross.  Churches have become like gigantic corporations and companies who only care about the number of people and amount of money collected on Sundays.  Fulfilling the founding/Senior Pastor's dream of becoming a mega-pastor by either expanding his mission work/television network/books or a building project becomes the primary objective of the local church's existence.  In a church like this, so many innocent Christians are used, abused and abandoned after their usefulness is exhausted and no wonder the church is declining; survival of these mega-churches is now depending on the death of the smaller churches.  There is a marketing strategy of self-help gospel preached from these mega-pulpits as bait by demonstrating how the senior pastor has succeeded by applying those principles.  The lure of the currency of comfort more than the cross of Christ attracts these members from the smaller churches.  Every month, hundreds of smaller churches are shutting their door for Sunday worship because the bigger church in the city functions like a modern mall. 

I am afraid that the Cross of Christ has ceased to be the moral and the spiritual compass for the Korean Christianity; the cross has been safely kept on top of the church building so that Christians don't have to carry it daily.  In the mission field; thousands of missionaries fly out of Korea every year with great ambitions but very few last in the mission field more than three years.  Those who remain in the mission field find their heart become increasingly negative towards the very people they thought were gong to offer their lives for.  The hierarchical and class mentality becomes their biggest obstacle in respecting the local people who are poorer and lower compared to the missionaries; Korean tradition, culture and language tell that you cannot respect a person who appears to be lower than you.  To make the matter more complicated, Korea's economic development becomes the starting point in sharing the gospel; and this raises the false hope in the hearts of the impoverished seekers.  Eventually through various ways, the local people hope in the missionary to meet their material needs rather than trusting God for their salvation from sin.  But for the number and success oriented missionary, it does not matter how the local people understand the gospel so long as they come and he has some good report to send back to his donors.  Thus, the protestant church in Korea and its missionaries are still trying to convince the world that the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of economic development". 

Nevertheless, the blood of the martyrs will not go in vain.  Even though the cross of Christ is now relegated to the roof tops, it will stand tall and continue to pierce the Korean hearts so that they will experience the true life in Christ; so that the church won't have to stop growing when some economic crises comes upon.  Every time I drive through the countryside and come across an empty village church with its cross on top, my heart simply breaks in knowing that at one time there were men and women, boys and girls, who made that ground holy by their steadfast faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by their willingness to carry their cross even to the point of being martyred for their faith.  There is so much holy blood of the saints spilled in this land and God will not allow the god of materialism silence that seed which Tertullian talked about.  I believe a new generation of Korean saints carrying the cross of Christ will rise up to dislodge the currency driven mega-churches and pastors.  I believe a new generations of Father Lee Tae Seok will rise up to re-define the Korean missions instead of allowing the donation hunting missionaries destroy Korea's image of a nation where so much holy blood had been spilled for the cross of Christ.  May be the Cross of Christ is left on the roof top for the time being, but even there, it will stand tall and God will draw his people to himself!