Church, Culture, Adoption, & Negligence: Reflections from Korea
In the three videos below, Francis and David talk about their interaction with followers of Christ in Korea. As with our own context, Korean Christians face hurdles to making disciples within their own church culture. Even still, there are encouraging signs among the church there. In the third video, Francis and David talk about their meeting with Korean megachurch pastors and the desire of these men to see their own congregations move away from a spectator mentality. Sound familiar?
One unexpected issue that arose during these interactions was adoption. Adoption is looked down upon in Korean culture, as identification with one’s biological bloodlines is extremely important. The issue of adoption comes up in both of the first two videos and it serves as a sad but helpful reminder of how easily we can accept unbiblical ways of thinking and acting based on cultural assumptions. We could list a number of such issues in our own culture. All of us need to be reminded that God’s Word is to set the agenda for what constitutes faithfulness to the Lord.
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Wow this is convicting! Thank you for encouraging me to step out and just DO rather than wait for a feeling. Feelings are fickle, and I know that from other experiences in my life, but applying it to walking with Christ is sometimes very hard. Great clip guys! Thank you for all the work you are doing!
I definitely agree that are hearts are prone to negligence. But I think mention needs to be given too, that sometimes, our life situations don’t allow us to just go out and adopt (or do other Biblical things). The importance of bloodline is an important issue in most countries, including America. Wealthy people all over the world spend tens of thousands of dollars on alternative treatments so that they can have their “own” biological children. Adoption is even more taboo in Japan, where we currently live, than in Korea. The number of children in orphanages and centers for kids with “unfit” parents (no foster care system here) is shocking. My heart’s been yearning to adopt for many years now, but as a Korean-American missionary family living in Japan, it’s not possible for us to adopt from Korea, America, Japan, or any other country at the moment. We are waiting for God’s timing, and praying that it comes sooner rather than later.
I’m so glad that more and more churches in Korea are taking such a proactive approach to lowering the taboo status of adoption in Korea and helping children to be adopted. One of the reasons why the church in Korea grew so much so quickly post WWII, was because Christians were reaching out to the poor and needy. Society saw and felt the sacrifice and love from their actions. (There was also the political side, but that’s another story…)
Like you said, it’s so much easier to be complacent to the point of being negligent. Thank you for the challenge.
GREAT thoughts! I need to set up a Vimeo account so I can save this. So true that we need to follow the Bible’s instructions unless we are lead by God specifically to hold back in an area. I do not understand why adoption is so expensive in America. I wonder if it is that way everywhere.