Korea seems to have become more glamorous than when I had visited before— I was amazed at its splendor. Please take this with a grain of salt, however, for my view is limited to a few areas I have visited in the last few days. Regardless, ‘wow’s constantly escaped from my mouth in those places. I could not hide the fact that I came from the countryside ^^.
I turned my eyes away from the glittering city, and reflected on my lost self. I decided that although my eyes were slipping toward other things, I should not lose heart. Then I thought about the disciples of Christ who shouted out the Gospel in front of the glamor of Rome. I felt great admiration and pride for those who shouted “I am a Christian”, “We walk by faith, not by sight”.
I thought I could not afford to meet others besides family; however, I was able to get together with old church friends from my youth. We brought up the memories of musical-like cultural activities that we, the youth group, had led. In those times, churches led many activities, all aimed at bringing goodness. Walking home after parting with my friends, I saw church buildings in the midst of the glamor of the city. The church buildings that had looked so big then now seemed to be small and shabby. On the other hand, I felt proud that they were able to stand firm in their place even when it did not seem so easy to do so.
I felt that now is the time for churches to engage in real fights with real swords. In the time we live in now, churches cannot lead everything. In fact, there is no necessity for it anymore. Following the examples from early churches, churches just need to show to the world what they are capable of showing. With the heart of submitting to the Bible’s instructions, the church has to display to the world things the world was not able to see before. We must be able to say out loud with confidence that “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Sometimes, however, I am fearful that we might have lost this confidence and faith: the real sword to show to the world. I hope that fear becomes prayer and that prayer becomes our strength. I pray that we can live like the apostle Peter who shouted out, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6). I ponder upon the word of God, not the glamor of the world.
Following the shepherd
Pastor Jiwon Choi