The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, Part two
This is part two of Keller’s book “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” report. Freedom is so precious like diamond. It cannot be easily obtained. It requires leap of faith. It defies human logic, common sense and fixed ideas.According to Keller, there are several signs when we do not have true freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.
First, those who react violently emotionally toward other’s different opinion do not have true freedom of self-forgetfulness. I confess that I am one of them in this regard. I suffered from heartburn and insomnia when I reacted violently emotionally toward other’s different opinions. Listen to what Keller said,
“The self-forgetful person would never be hurt particularly badly by criticism. It would not keep them up late, it would not bother them. Why? Because a person who is devastated by criticism is putting too much value on what other people think, on other people’s opinions.”
Second, those who are nursing their hurts and wounds too much do not have true freedom of self-forgetfulness. Again Keller said,
“It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. But our feelings cannot be hurt! It is ego that hurts—my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine. It is my ego that hurts.”
Especially in the western culture, individual human right is very very important. Nobody wants to be violated his or her human rights/ freedom even one inch. We all have our own various human standards and expectations from others; from parents, teachers, pastors and shepherds. When we are disappointed by them based our various human standards and expectations, we are deeply hurt and wounded.
Why does this happen? Bible tells us that God loves sinners but hates sin. The two entity “sinner” and “sin” should be detached. Many times we glue two entity “sinner” and “sin” together. In the worldly court they put them together. When we glue them together, naturally our reaction will be, “I hate him (her) because of his (her) terrible unforgivable sins” and react violently emotionally. Rather we should say I love him (her), but I hate the sin of pride in him (her). Then we can manage our hurt feeling better even though in reality it is not easy. I love S Lee, but I hate the sin of pride in him. Then am I better than him? I don’t think so. We have to bring Jesus in our equation for healing and restoration. If we glue the two entity together nobody, not even one can stand before the righteous Jesus. It is only by grace we can stand before him.
Henri Nouwen said we are disappointed with other people easily. But he also said their imperfect love is only signposts on the way to God. I believe Henri Nouwen experienced true freedom.
“How do we know about God’s love, God’s generosity, God’s kindness, God’s forgiveness? Through our parents, our friends, our teachers, our pastors, our spouses, our children … they all reveal God to us. But as we come to know them, we realize that each of them can reveal only a little bit of God. God’s love is greater than theirs; God’s goodness is greater than theirs; God’s beauty is greater than theirs.
At first we may be disappointed in these people in our lives. For a while we thought that they would be able to give us all the love, goodness, and beauty we needed. But gradually we discover that they were all signposts on the way to God.”
I do not mean we should neglect those who are hurt and wounded. Jesus took care of the hurt and the wounded most. I think we need proper understanding of what is the root problem and what is the real solution.
Third, self-righteousness does not lead us to true freedom of self-forgetfulness. Self-righteousness is the opposite of Self-Forgetfulness. With self-righteous thinking and judgment, the other party will feel oppressed, restrained. It is based on legalistic thinking, human requirements and performance, not based on the grace of Jesus. The secret is that the more we get to understand the gospel of grace, God himself would work in and among us and transform us gradually. This is what Keller said,
‘Paul is saying that in Christianity the “verdict” leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Or “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”’
Then what are the signs of true freedom?
First, True freedom of self-forgetfulness comes from knowing who I am. I am saved by God’s grace and His unconditional love for me. He set me free from all condemnations of the devil. Keller said,
“Paul is saying to the Christians that he does not care what they think about him. He does not care what anybody thinks about him. In fact, his identity owes nothing to what people say. It is as if he is saying, “I don’t care what you think. I don’t care what anybody thinks.” Paul’s self-worth, his self-regard, his identity is not tied in any way to their verdict and their evaluation of him.”
Keller did not say this in condescending way or trying to justify his wrongdoing or ignoring everybody’s opinion. He is saying that he only cares about what the Lord thinks. He lived before the eyes of God always.
King David who was an adulterer and murderer should have apologized to Bethsheba first more than anybody else. But he went to God and confessed his sins, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” His sin was against God. His realization of his grave sin against God made him, “a man after God’s own heart”.
Second, true freedom of self-forgetfulness comes from knowing who God is. Jesus accepted sinners unconditionally and poured out his grace when we do not deserve it at all. This great grace was not only to me, but also to all his children. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the reason why I have an obligation to love and respect others. We are not finished products. We are “work in progress”. We need to grow and mature together in the grace of Jesus.
Abraham Lincoln said a famous speech after the Civil War which devastated the whole nation with tens of thousands of casualties. He said “Malice toward none. With Charity for all.” America paid huge price on the way to true freedom. His speech healed the deep wounds of millions of people in this great nation America. As I said before, true freedom is not cheap. It can be obtained only through deep understanding of the grace of Jesus. True freedom defies human logic.
James, based on what you have read in Keller’s book, is there anything you plan to do differently in your role in ubf?
good to tell Wounded: Heal!
even better to tell Wounder: Stop!
Brian, I learned from Keller’s book the true/ deeper understanding of the gospel gives us true freedom and healing for all of us. Through this website I want to hear more articles that helps us for deeper understanding of the gospel.
I would like to encourage more person to person dialogue if possible. I am glad to hear that Alan’s visiting Pen State.
So James, you are not going to do anything differently as a result of reading Keller’s book? All you learned was a justification for you to keep doing more of the same? Haven’t you always wanted to hear more articles about the gospel? Haven’t you always wanted more person to person dialogue? What is different?
In regard to meeting in person, you and I met in person in Chicago recently. I think you owe me and our worldwide audience here an explanation of something. I met you in person and looked “eye to eye” for 2 hours. And I was greatly disturbed by something you said.
You said that you can’t tell if this action is wrong: Is it wrong for a ubf missionary to demand a young missionary couple to have an abortion as a requirement to being sent out into the mission field? Is it wrong for training the couple to have an abortion in order to be more “mission centered” and less “family centered”?
You said you can’t tell. You said the gospel is about loyalty and you would need to know who was loyal to whom and who was loyal to ubf in such a hypothetical situation. Can you explain why the president of ubf who have lived in America for over 30 years can’t tell the difference between justice and loyalty?
Regardless of anyone’s views on abortion, no Christ-follower in any century would say it is right to demand an abortion for the sake of God’s glory and to be a mission-centered missionary!
That is not Christ, that is Confucius. And don’t even begin to tell me to “stop reacting so emotionally”. I will always react emotionally to such things. We are not talking about “differences in opinions”. We are talking about the essentials of the gospel.
So yes, let’s talk more about the gospel. What is the gospel? How is authority, obedience and loyalty related to the gospel?
Platitudes are beautiful things but Politics interfere; at risk of sounding disrespectful, I don’t think the gospel is all that complicated:
Hear the Good News! Jesus Saves thru Faith!
What’s complicated is learning to simply accept/share the Great News that I don’t have to achieve my own righteousness, I don’t have to build a human kingdom.
My life is more than half over. I searched a long time to even begin to find Christ’s better ways in spite of myself & religions. But now I advocate for our adult children/the next generation. I’ve made mistakes as a father, yet I’ll fight for kids to go beyond us, not repeat our mistakes..
“I don’t think the gospel is all that complicated: Hear the Good News! Jesus Saves thru Faith!”
Amen Mark! It’s not “so hard” and it doesn’t take “5 more decades”! Surrender to grace. Submit to the Holy Spirit. Stand up for justice. Follow Jesus with your own conscience.
Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Mark, thank you for your recent comments. They are so encouraging to me!
visiting is a beautiful thing; if delivering words of acknowledgement/reconciliation it’s even more beautiful; if expressing unity of Godly principles/practices it’s most beautiful
Dear James, thank you for this. But may I just say that I can’t get past the first paragraph before getting angry again. The issues being discussed on this website cannot be called merely “a difference of opinion”. We are discussing issues of ongoing sin and abuse of authority. We are discussing real damage to the hearts and minds of UBF members. We are discussing assaults against justice. These things should make us angry. If they do not, there is something lacking in us.
You cannot get to self-forgetfulness and peace with God without making peace with others through meeting heart to heart with painful honesty and exposure.
I realize that you are attempting to do this. But it still seems like you are staying in the realm of principles and ideals, rather than coming into the real world of broken relationships where you must be vulnerable and share in the lives of others. There can be no rebuilding of trust in the realm of principles and ideals. Things need to get more personal and real.
James, thank you for coming back and writing again in a forum where you know that you will be challenged.
You wrote, “I love S Lee, but I hate the sin of pride in him.” I’m glad you are willing to go that far.
After viewing John A’s leadership lectures and reading about Christian leadership from non-ubf sources, this is what I’ve concluded. SL was a capable leader in the sense that he was able to keep people in line and get things done. Many of his methods, I believe, were fundamentally wrong and inconsistent with the gospel, as I have written elsewhere. He dealt with dissent very poorly. But he was a capable leader in the utilitarian sense.
However, I believe that SL utterly failed to raise leaders. He merely raised followers. He did not delegate decisionmaking in any real way. If he assigned tasks to people, he did not give them the freedom to manage the tasks as they saw fit. Rather, they were consumed with the thought “What will SL think? Am I doing this as he would have done it?” Under his rule, people were not allowed to express their own thoughts except in a very limited way. Anyone who started to show signs of independent mindedness was trained and rebuked and forced to either submit or leave. Over time, the “leaders” who remained around him no longer even knew their own thoughts. (I say “they” but I actually mean “we,” because I was a good example of this.) At the beginning of 2001, SL delivered a lecture on Psalm 2 in which he repeatedly decried “fallen man’s mentality,” which included speaking your own mind and knowing your own thoughts and making your own decisions. The theology expressed in that lecture was very poor and subChristian. Yet we all swallowed it as if it were God’s truth.
The reason that I’m writing this is that I’ve been repeatedly frustrated by those who have been placed in leadership positions in ubf and who still act like followers. Under SL, they would never express their own opinions until they knew that SL would approve. Today, they will not express opinions unless they know what the consensus will be. Building a consensus around certain things will be impossible. Short of a miracle, the family of SL and hardcore traditionalists in Korea, Canada, Germany and elsewhere will never want to take a hard look at ubf shepherding practices because they don’t want anything to tarnish the SL legacy. What they don’t realize is that the young people that ubf is supposedly trying to evangelize and disciple don’t give a hoot about SL and his legacy, nor should they. They care about love and truth and grace and justice and righteousness. The elders and GD have some very hard choices to make, and there is no getting around this.
Your description of the Apostle Paul is a good one. We need leaders like the Apostle Paul who are no longer looking for the retrospective approval of SL or the approval of anyone but looking straight at Jesus and following him and letting the chips fall where they may.
Hallelujah!
This is a great lead for the book. The discussion of ideas is great, but I have to agree with Sharon and Brian.
At the risk of sounding….how to say…like a shepherd or maybe director after a testimony meeting…where is your personal application? Discussing ideas and theology is great, but we can of course do that over coffee or even in the lecture hall. It is important not only to get something out of such a book, but also to make it real.
As far as you can see:
How can this book be applied in UBF ministry to aid all the abuses that are being discussed?
(as Brian asked) How can you impart it in your own ministry?
Your article has been written for UBFriends, but might UBF chapter directors and leaders study this book at a workshop/seminar? What could be the practical outcome?
I am rather encouraged to read the book, but others may ask more and more questions of relevancy since you left the article incomplete. We have the ideas (or what some may call navel gazing). What we need is the application as some may give you more and more questions as I have only drummed up a couple.
I am afraid that it is becoming more and more important for any voice from within UBF to begin making feedback and comments more personal in nature. If bridge building is what is desired from within then we have to get personal. You cannot just consider this blog as an intellectual exercise. The members on this blog will look at each word you are writing (as I have already found out). Be clear and concise, otherwise engaging in discussion will bear no fruit.
What do UBFers who engage here want? Do they want the megook movement to stop? (I am using sarcasm.) UBF may never re-gain the members that it once lost, but it is possible to have diplomacy when discussion of sin and abuse are dignified. The recurring abuses must be stopped and the sins of the past must clearly be stated. We cannot just simply forget about them. The more UBF participants avoid the issues being discussed on a personal level the viability of believing anything said becomes zero. Getting personal involves risks – but you must humble yourself before everyone if you want people to listen with seriousness and trust. Speaking at the pulpit will not get listeners and neither will speaking as a lecturer at a university.
Now, I may be a megook and not even an old timer, but I am willing to take the risk. I was just told the other day to leave the ministry because I allowed my personal experience to colour my writing.
Dear UBFriends readers, please take note of what gc said:
“I was just told the other day to leave the ministry because I allowed my personal experience to colour my writing.”
“I was just told the other day to leave the ministry because I allowed my personal experience to colour my writing.”
And after 2 years of being away from the ministry and a 9 month Christian cohort group, I can finally say “I am free to be myself. I feel like a human being again. My emotions are growing back. I am even developing a conscience again (to my surprise because I was afraid conscience wouldn’t come back, but it does, just much more slowly than emotions).
There are numerous odd ironies in what you say, gc. In the 80’s I was always told: “Apply the bible to yourself. Where is your personal application? What does this mean to you personally?” It is odd that now a ubfer would tell you to leave because of being to colored by personal experience.
if the ship (<) is righted (V) who knows, maybe even someone return;
if ship not righted, many may drown (^)
who has right to tell you to leave? sounds like someone thinks they own something..
thank God for personal experience & colorful writing
Joe, you said, “Today, they will not express opinions unless they know what the consensus will be. Building a consensus around certain things will be impossible. Short of a miracle,” This is not perfect system. But this is better than top down one man leadership. Yes we need God’s miracle because this is very complicated problem. I don’t know how long will it take. We can be very impatient for not seeing concrete resolution of the problems. But we cannot go ahead of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is not a lame excuse for not doing anything. We need to seek God’s wisdom and do God’s way. I know I need God’s wisdom. In my opinion, our dialogue with love and respect is not in vain even though it may take many years. If you have concrete things we should do, please let us know. I would appreciate.
Brian, yes I agree with you that we have disagreement for some issues. I cannot help it. I respect your opinion but we can agree to disagree respectfully.
“If you have concrete things we should do, please let us know. I would appreciate.”
Search this website. Look at my open letter. Go visit any former member. Go ask the 50% of leaders who left Toledo ubf. We have many concrete things for you to do. Most notably, begin the ministry of reconciliation.
Two concrete things to do in ubf in regard to the “crisis” of leaders leaving
Demand #1 – Admit abuse.
Publicly and internally end the denial and admit the reality, facing the fact that UBF shepherding has created an environment that has led to many instances of abuse, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, spiritual abuse and emotional abuse.
Demand #2 – Release the bonds.
Publicly and internally announce that all UBF shepherd/sheep relationships are now dissolved– any remaining study relationships are now voluntary, not required of every member, no longer binding for life, secondary to the Holy Spirit’s work, and at the discretion and choice of the “sheep”.
“We can be very impatient for not seeing concrete resolution of the problems.”
James, I don’t believe that we have been impatient.
There are seasons when nothing is possible and one must wait. But God also provides windows of opportunity when decisive action is possible and necessary. Those windows were opened and now, due to a failure of leadership, appear to be rapidly closing.
“You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:3
James: “I cannot help it. I respect your opinion but we can agree to disagree respectfully.”
And THAT is precisely why my family LEFT ubf in protest. The ministry of reconciliation is not “shut up and go away”. It is not “silently keep your opinions to yourself”. It is not “Eat kimchee and agree to disagree on the most fundamental elements of Christian essentials.”
For the protection and benefit of some, others are thrown under the bus. This is the way of the world.
“agree to disagree on the most fundamental elements of Christian essentials.”
Exactly, that’s the point Brian. We can agree on a lot of things, but there are essentials of Christian faith and ethical norms rooted in our Christian faith which are indefeasible.
@James Kim: When I do not get an answer from you to my question whether the listed things practiced and taught by Samuel Lee were unbiblical and should be condemned, I wonder whether you do not answer because you do not want to “offend” other oldtimers who still idolize Samuel Lee, or whether you do not answer because you actually believe these things were tolerable, based on flawed Christian ethics. So I still insist on getting an answer to understand your position. Without a clear answer, we cannot get any step forward.
So far, we haven’t even got an official statement from UBF whether it is ok for UBF leaders to order or suggest an abortion to subordinate members. When I talked with a Korean UBF missionary, he seemed to indicate that it was “not a big deal” since the Bible does not mention abortions. Now it sounds like even the UBF president doesn’t have a clear opinion about this.
I say it again: We cannot proceed if you do not reveal your fundamental ethical norms and your stance concerning the problematic practices and teachings that were introduced into UBF by Samuel Lee, as listed in an earlier article. You don’t need to assess the person Samuel Lee, it’s just about the things he did and established as the norm through his position as a role model. If you don’t reveal your position, then we have already “come to an end” as the title of an early posting said. Likewise, if your position is incompatible with the essentials of Christian faith and ethical behavior, we have also come to an end. At least concerning me. My wife is already tellign me I’m only wasting my time and rebukes me when she sees me writing here. When I ask her to also write some comments here,
she responds that every minute talking or thinking about UBF is wasted life time. And seeing how this all develops I start to understand her.
ubf leaders and even “presidents” don’t know what to do.
In a Christian article I read that in difficult situations we can tend to pray that God may bring some change in the situation. But maybe it is better to pray for wisdom from God to understand how He wants us to go through the situation.
ubfriends in and out can pray for some change in ubf, can want leaders to do something, at least to response somehow. ubfriends may desire God’s work in the situation and even God’s miracle. But is it possible that God has already answered and is answering the prayers of ubfriends through such “replies” of ubfers? Is not the Spirit leading those who hasn’t left ubf yet to leave at last and to apply “the self-forgetfulness” to ubf and live with Jesus in freedom?
If I haven’t left ubf until now I would surely leave it now after the “great” articles and comments from ubf leaders.
Vitaly, I understand (Martin Luther left the monastery to Reform the Church). On the other hand, St Francis had stayed but lived the simple pure gospel of Christ (the enthroned Pope felt unable to do so but gladly encouraged Francis);
I think it depends on your situation. Maybe I’m a thorn in the side, maybe I’m stubborn to prove that God, not man, will Rule (I left Catholic & joined UBF ~’87 but been in/out couple times for various reasons including having relatives in)
honestly I think some things have gotten better in recent times (hopefully sincerely, maybe out of necessity); maybe I’m a hopeless idealist; maybe I’m in to help reform to the bitter end:)
Brian, thank you for your suggestion. The first demand,”Admit abuse”. I agree with that. Chicago elders are praying about it and seeking God’s wisdom how to do it. Acknowledging is the only first step. After acknowledgment if we keep doing it, we do not please God. We need more long term fundamental solution; that is transformation of each individuals and leaders by admitting sincerely our sins before God like King David. Transformation only happens by God’s grace and His miraculous work. Another thing that we should do is praying the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive OUR (not their) sins as we have forgiven our debtors”.
James:
“Brian, thank you for your suggestion.”
> Those are not suggestions. They are demands.
“The first demand,”Admit abuse”. I agree with that.”
> Good.
“Chicago elders are praying about it and seeking God’s wisdom how to do it.”
> Ah yes, the “being more prayerful” trick. I’ve heard that before. And I used that delay tactic in my own defense of ubf in the past. In other words, what you are really saying is that the elders are trying to find a way to admit abuse in the least damaging way to the ubf heritage. You are trying to figure out some carefully crafted way to say just the right words to appease the natives without offending the hardliners too much. This was Pilate’s attitude, and at best ubf might be remembered by history as a Pilate ministry.
“Acknowledging is the only first step. After acknowledgment if we keep doing it, we do not please God.”
> Agreed. See demand #2.
“We need more long term fundamental solution; that is transformation of each individuals and leaders by admitting sincerely our sins before God like King David.”
> Oh come on! Get off your high horse. Stop comparing yourselves to biblical greats like King David, who btw knew more about repentance than all the Chicago elders combined. ubf elders act more like Balaam than David. David blatantly revealed his sins. And despite what you might think, it was not “just before God only”. And do you really want to follow David’s example? His sons were horrendously misguided.
“Transformation only happens by God’s grace and His miraculous work.”
> No! Transformation happens through the Holy Spirit! And grace-driven sanctification requires our repentance. We don’t just sit around for a miracle to happen. Ah but that is what the elders also want. Because if we sit around long enough, maybe, just maybe all the rebels will die off or give into self-forgetfullness or some ubf defender will finally find a way to defend ubf so that no corporate repentance is needed or maybe you’ll find another Armstrong figure to be a stamp of approval.
“Another thing that we should do is praying the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive OUR (not their) sins as we have forgiven our debtors”.”
> Don’t turn the tables here! It is your sin that is on the table. We’ve put up with figure-head, yes-men “elders” long enough.
James, what you’ve said here is encouraging. Since you are looking for suggestions, here’s my two cents’ worth.
Apology is going to be very helpful provided that (a) the elders have a clear understanding on what the problems and mistakes are that require apology, and (b) the apology reflects the sentiment of many in the congregation and most of the leadership. (Notice that I said “most”, not “all”. If you require a consensus, nothing will happen.) Based on what I have seen, neither (a) nor (b) is here yet, and to issue an apology before the conditions arrive will do more harm than good.
So my suggestion is this. Throw all your effort into creating the environment for (a) and (b) to happen. Do it as the highest priority. Don’t think of it as something to do in your spare time after fishing and 1:1 and group Bible study and testimony writing and disciplemaking.
The only way that I know of to create the environment is to set aside time for leaders and members of the congregation and past members to openly share what they have experienced in the presence of the whole group. The incredibly sad stories like the one just posted by David (http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/05/09/john-armstrong-on-knowing-when-to-stop/#comment-7103) need to be told to the community. People need to hear these things without dismissing them, without becoming defensive, without immediately saying things like “Well, there are multiple sides to every story” (duh!) and “Well, no church is perfect” (double duh!). These stories need to be heard over and over until they are absorbed into the group’s dominant self narrative. UBF members have a dominant narrative, a story about the ministry, that they tell themselves over and over. I wrote about this narrative in a previous article (http://www.ubfriends.org/2012/07/23/my-letter-to-joe-2005/). That narrative needs to be rewritten to include the tales of abuse and hurt and betrayal experienced by David and many others like him. And the culture of control that existed under SL and which has persisted in various degrees and various ways. Until UBF can tell a coherent story about itself that includes these things as an essential part of the story, an apology will be premature.
Basically, what I’m recommending is that you engage in the practice of ethnographic listening. It is described in this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Ethnography-As-Pastoral-Practice-Introduction/dp/0829817743
Sharon urged the leaders in headquarters to pursue this at the recent North American staff conference, but her plea was ignored. The others on the staff conference planning committee didn’t take her suggestion seriously and as far as I can tell they didn’t even understand what she was talking about and didn’t bother to try to understand. There are people in ubf (or who were in ubf) who have the training and know-how to conduct ethnographic research and facilitate sessions like this. It is not something that one can do lightly or on the fly. It requires professional knowledge and experience.
Perhaps the elders can find a qualified facilitator and go down to UIC and meet with the entire West Loop congregation for a whole day and listen as the facilitator interacts with the individuals there and allows them to tell their stories. That would be an excellent start.
Joe, you are right, this is not a secondary task: It is Emergency of first priority (God is providing opportunity for Transformation; if taken, we can be good example in believer world; if missed, we can be Pharisees travelling world for convert only to make twice son of hell as self)
“Apology is going to be very helpful provided that (a) the elders have a clear understanding on what the problems and mistakes are that require apology, and (b) the apology reflects the sentiment of many in the congregation and most of the leadership. (Notice that I said “most”, not “all”. If you require a consensus, nothing will happen.) Based on what I have seen, neither (a) nor (b) is here yet, and to issue an apology before the conditions arrive will do more harm than good. So my suggestion is this. Throw all your effort into creating the environment for (a) and (b) to happen.”
I want to repeat this request, because it is so important. But I also want to point out that another precondition for apology is that the issues have been openly admitted. You can’t apologize for something if you don’t clearly speak out what was wrong in the first place.
So creating an environment for (a) and (b) to happen means that the concrete examples of spiritual abuse that we listed here are admitted and acknowledged as abusive behavior. But how can this happen if nobody makes the first step? As the “president” you are a leader, and people expect you to be a leader whether you want it or not. A leader must set a good example for others to follow. When it comes to admitting the issues, somebody must make the first step. And that somebody should be ideally you or the GD. Why is the story of the emperor’s new clothes so hilarious? Because all of the ministers and leaders would not admit the inconvenient, but obvious truth. Don’t act like the issues of UBF were invisible or a matter of opinion. They are real and everybody knows about them already, since decades. Even a child can see them. Don’t wait until a majority of UBF officials will finally admit the obvious. Go ahead and lead. Or step back as “president”. I would say the same to the “general director” if he would show up here.
Some may think what I am saying is the same as point (a) – having a clear understanding of the problems. I see it a bit differently: The problems are in fact very deep. Coming to a clear understanding of the full depth and spiritual and psychological seriousness and nature of the issues may in fact require several years. However, the outward symptoms like the concrete cases of abuse of Samuel Lee, are pretty obvious. Everybody should understand, for instance, that something must be wrong with a “Christian” leader ordering or suggesting an abortion. Everybody should understand that a church that collects with millions of dollars of offering money should have proper accounting. And in fact, in recent years, UBF has started to change that. So they understand that the old ways were wrong. But they haven’t yet openly admitted what they already understand. In my view, this is not a matter of understanding, but of admitting the obvious. Or, maybe, they don’t even see and understand obvious things and their mindset and ethics is really so different from ours? But how can we know if we get no answers, if leaders evade our request to reveal their personal opinion?
James, basically I’m saying this. You need to create an environment where, at a Friday fellowship meeting, or even at a conference, where people can openly share testimonies of what they actually experienced in UBF, including painful stories of abuse, and where the response throughout the room is not laughter but tears of repentance. When that happens on a regular basis, I would say that you are ready to issue an apology. Before that, at best you can issue an interim statement or preliminary apology that tells the world you are getting serious about reforming the organization and the process is just starting, asking everyone’s help and prayers and participatio
God is providing International Summer Bible Conference; could include communal gathering at foot of cross of for Repentance/Reconciliation; could ignite Holy Spirit Revival
Thank you everyone for the comments. I want to say “yes” and “exactly” to each one! But I will say just this: my family received an official apology from UBF. I don’t know if this was the first of its kind or not. We were glad and surprised by the formal letter and apology we received from the abuse we endured. And there was an acknowledgment of that abuse. So for that we were thankful. Unfortunately, we were also so so disappointed because the writers of the letter failed to take any action against the perpetrators of the abuse. It was as if they were saying, “we’re sorry this happened to you, but we’re not going to do anything about it.” To be clear: WE DO NOT WANT REVENGE on those who hurt us. But as far as we know, nothing of real consequence happened. This makes the apology feel insincere or not real. When a company that sells merchandise gets a complaint they issue and apology and tell the customer how they are going to fix the problem and make it right because they value the consumer. How much more such a church value it’s members (former members) ? So apology without action is not meaningful and will not be accepted as a real apology. That’s just reality and UBF is going to have to accept it. If not I hope that more people will shake off the fog, open their eyes, listen to their conscious and find real freedom in Christ outside of UBF.
Well said
@Joe. @James. I seriously and earnestly still look forward with joyful anticipation to the day that SOMEONE, ANYONE would come and address what went on at West Loop UBF. I have already shared my sad and happy story: http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/05/03/telling-the-truth-how-west-loop-ubf-began/ Other Loopers have their own stories as well if anyone would truly care to hear it.
Joe, thank you for your many good practical and constructive advice. Your concern about how to apologize timely, about David B’s grievances, reading the book (I placed an order) and listen to WL coworkers are all legitimate issues. We have to work on those issues. I am glad to hear that GD directly talked to David and also communicated with his chapter director. I hope and pray that many good things would happen gradually.
But James, I think you missed Joe’s point. Addressing a long list of various issues one at a time is not going to end the abuse, but would provide another five decades of it.
Joe said: “James, basically I’m saying this. You need to create an environment where, at a Friday fellowship meeting, or even at a conference, where people can openly share testimonies of what they actually experienced in UBF, including painful stories of abuse, and where the response throughout the room is not laughter but tears of repentance. When that happens on a regular basis, I would say that you are ready to issue an apology.”
In other words, until your weekly self-praise festivals become H.O.T., you haven’t addressed the elephant in the room. (btw, that elephant is more like a woolly mammoth by now…)
Brian, you touched on core issue of “self-praise”; believers/especially leaders would do well to avoid it, giving all the praise & glory to God. Otherwise it becomes spiritual leprosy leading to questionable attitude/behavior.
@Chris. “Wrong” in an Asian context permeated with Confucianism is confusing, confounding and complicated at best. When an Asian/Korean church leader makes a unilateral decision without consulting fellow elders/leaders, it will be perceived as authoritarian and abusive in a western context. But in an Asian context such as UBF, it is simply “business as usual.” In fact at all 3 levels it is “acceptable”:
1) The leader thinks it is their God given absolute right to make unilateral top/down decisions in the church.
2) Other older fellow leaders/elders give him that right, which may be why James and other elders proceed quite gingerly in order not to offend or disrespect senior staff leaders who often do not welcome nor expect to be questioned or challenged.
3) Juniors who are affected by the leader’s decision, also acquiesce to the leader’s authority and “chalk it up” as God’s sovereignty.
I do not agree with the mantra of “it will take a long time.” Yet it has been 4 decades since 1976 when the first reform attempt happened. So it is sad to keep hearing that “it will take a long time.” I am not saying this, but I am hearing often that change will happen only when certain leaders die. I should take this as funny.
“I am not saying this, but I am hearing often that change will happen only when certain leaders die.”
And why are these whispers arising? It is because the hardliners have taken the ubf “missionary pledge” and have vowed to “bury their bones” in America, in Russia, in China, and all around the world.
And there is a HUGE ecclesiological mistake woven into the ubf fabric. They teach that Romans 11:29 means you are bound for life to ubf ministry. Such twisting of Scripture would be a good start to facing ubf problems. Teach the bible without the twists and turns and without binding the text to ubf ideology would go a long way to solving ubf’s problems.
change has nothing to do with anyone dying; that was the mantra before Samuel Lee died: just bear with it out of respect for him, then it can change;
but nothing will change until God is respected more than people (until His right ways are pursued regardless of organizational/leadership considerations)
Hi Ben, thank you for your comment.
“Wrong” in an Asian context permeated with Confucianism is confusing, confounding and complicated at best. When an Asian/Korean church leader makes a unilateral decision without consulting fellow elders/leaders, it will be perceived as authoritarian and abusive in a western context. But in an Asian context such as UBF, it is simply “business as usual.”
It is true and it is reality. That’s why the cross-cultural ministry is so difficult. 90 % of American churches are same color because it is much easier and comfortable to get along with same colors. We are living in a multicultural world and we have tremendous challenges because of the diversity of different cultures. Only the gospel that broke the walls between the Jews and the Gentiles can break the walls of misunderstanding and hostility of both side.
Korean missionaries should overcome this blind spots and come to this realization and learn, repent and grow spiritually.
I absolutely abhor this idea that the problems in UBF are mainly rooted in the Asian context and the “difficulty” of multicultural mission. This is merely a smokescreen and excuse and has very little basis in reality. There are numerous churches in Canada, USA, and abroad that are very multicultural, my own current church being a prime example. The problem is rather an authoritative, prideful, unrepentant spirit and an idolatry of mission and heritage, placing these things and works-righteousness above the place of God, the Bible, and love for other people. While we do not deny that different cultural norms do have a minor role, it is merely a secondary or probably tertiary one in the problems that UBF suffers.
And let’s call a spade a spade, UBF is not as multicultural as we give ourselves credit.
“I absolutely abhor this idea that the problems in UBF are mainly rooted in the Asian context and the “difficulty” of multicultural mission”
> Agreed. The Korean cultural issues are only one small layer to the multitude of layers of problems with the ubf worldview/wishdream/shadow mission.
“UBF is not as multicultural as we give ourselves credit.”
> I’m glad you pointed this out. Our current church in Detroit is truly multi-cultural. But the issues of control and Confucian philosophy are non-existent. Kimchee is not a primary problem; excessive control that ignores personal boundaries and fox-like manipulation in the name of Christ are primary problems.
I share your abhorence & feel sorry if people hide behind culture, because it enslaves them to “Human Greatness” seeking. I know I’ve felt the emotional bondage before of that spirit you mention.
Reminds me of recent daily bread-1Samuel where King Saul allows people to “pounce” on Amalekite plunder. God specifically commanded “utter destruction” in divine judgement in that instance. Saul proceeded to set up a monument in his own honor & Samuel heard the bleating of sheep. As leader Saul arrogantly rebelled against God (not against man-Samuel). So whether King or Prophet, leader must not badly influence many followers by setting up monument to self instead of God.
I submit this with good intent to honor the good, but sift the concerns only to seek God’s betterment (spiritual/mental/emotional health) of all
heard good sermon today on Jesus changing water to wine, but felt some caution in my spirit; here are good points, BUT my added concern:
obey Jesus (God) since He is perfect/right, BUT be careful of obeying man since he is prone to error
obey God sitting in God’s seat, BUT be careful of obeying man sitting in God’s seat
all must obey God, BUT leaders must lead the way in doing so (not exempt)
we must pray/wait on God for answer to prayers, BUT leaders must excell in this
we must seek/trust God to change ourselves & others, BUT leaders must be open to this in themselves & wait on God for others
all things are possible with God, BUT it must be consistent with His will & character
we must accept Jesus as Messiah, BUT avoid “Messiah Complex” ourselves
The spoken message was mainly good, the undertones of possible interpretation/application were my concern (the feeling that a follower must heed, not the “managers” & feeling like special men will sneak into the “director of heeding” role in the place of God. If managers seek Holy Spirit help/growth in these areas, all would benefit greatly.
I don’t like what I am going to say here, but this is what I think is the only option left for ubf.
With the kind of moral and ethical standard held by ubf “president” (above comments), I do not think anymore that consensus building is going to help. I do not see even a single leader in ubf whose conscience is left to do what is right and just. Even if some may claim that in their personal life they do what is right in the sight of God, their silence to the numerous abuses pointed out by present and former members here and elsewhere is a reflection of a seared conscience. Jesus and the Scriptures hold those who tolerate evil accountable for their action (I believe that includes keeping silence and the mentality of minding one’s own business). What consensus is these elders whose ethical and moral standard are seriously questionable going to build? They do not have the ability to know what is right and wrong anymore. And since they dismiss any negative issues raised by current and former members, the only option left is to seek professional help from a neutral agency. In fact ubf should not only have allowed its financial statements to be accessed and investigated by outside agency, but it also should have allowed its ethical and moral practices to be examined by other Christian organization / agencies. To apply an example that ubf leaders often cite to their followers, gold must be refined under fire to bring forth its true glory.
The next stage, after these charges are proved to be true by outsiders, every leader (past or present) be it a GD, president, national director, chapter director or anybody who holds/held a position of authority that he/she abused must immediately resign and relinquish all privileges and further leave his mission field (the country) he/she served (or enjoyed position and privileges?) and either go back to his/her native country or to a less privileged place to bear the fruit of repentance.
The unity (or consensus?) of the vast majority of the ubf leaders toward defending its corrupt practices and moving ahead business-as-usual reminds of building the Tower of Babel. God viewed such unholy unity as evil, dangerous and took action against it to stop. For so long, the unholy unity (consenus?) of leaders have trampled truth, righteousness and justice in the name of bringing souls to God. Was God pleased with the attempt to access spirit realm through human unity? Can God be pleased with our unity to trample truth and justice in the name of mission and bringing souls to God? When I see all kinds of conferences and meetings having the same purpose to magnify the ubf heritage I remember the Golden Calf worshipping by God’s own people. Anyone with his sound mind comes to this conclusion that the ubf heritage is faulty and has become idol for many ubfers. We are not judging the motif but the fruit of such a system and what it has produced is divisions, hurts, wounds and abuses in so many lives that it was supposed to bless.
Do we go on building the Tower of Babel and worshipping the Golden Calf? Some said in this site that ubf is still breathing, my opinion is time has come for ubf to CEASE to breathe, and the physical aspect (the hierarchy, the core values, heritage) should cease to exist. However, the spirit of ubf (evangelization) should find a revival (resurrection?). Already there are examples of this happening in Westloop ubf, Penn State and I believe few other places including my own small community. We do not need ubf’s harmful structure and heritage, but we are committed to evangelizing the unsaved (not just the college students). I also see the evidence of this in the success of the Well. Anybody who spent some time in ubf and found God’s calling to serve the unsaved already knows what he/she should do and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be able to carry out his task without the banner and heritage of ubf. We are closer to the end of the age where Jesus is raising up a Holy Universal church where exclusive and elite mentalities and faulty heritage have no place and are destined to cease. Dear brothers and sisters, let ubf as an organization die and go, for the spirit of ubf (evangelization and raising up disciples who would listen and follow the Holy Spirit’s voice) to live on for the ultimate glory and purpose of God!
@James Kim: Dear friend and brother in Christ, I was very grieved to hear your view about a crucial issue such as abortion. I love and respect you, and for this reason request you to resign from the position of “ubf president” and distance yourself from the Tower of Babel and the Golden Calf, i.e. ubf system and heritage. Do you also need to build consensus about the incest of a missionary as to whether it was a sin or not? I once wanted to make such a request to Sarah Barry to resign and distance herself from ubf, but realized it was of no use. I believe your resigning and taking a clear stand on the foundation of truth and justice at this crucial juncture may save some more “blind guides”.
AbNial, God bless you for your strong words and unwavering stance on the side of truth, justice, and righteousness.
I call on all UBFers to pay heed to Ab’s words. What good is it to gain the approval of your human shepherds if it means standing before the Holy God in judgment because of how you colluded with them in the treatment of Christ’s little ones? I pray that the bounds placed on my brothers and sisters hearts and consciences may be broken with the truth and freedom of Jesus Christ. I pray that idolatry (Golden Calf and Tower of Babel Ab is referring to) may be smashed and the high places (conferences) may become places of weeping, repentance, and turning back to the Lord with a pure heart.
@AbNail: amen.
@joshua: amen.
as a member, I heard long ago something about an abortion but thought it was a distraught mother unable to parent, I never imagined it was the leader imposing his will for his purpose:
such controlling behavior can only be explained as evil spirit possession or deranged psyche; other similarly vengeful retaliatory acts (like stealing possessions/withdrawing support/hitting w wood) show consumed by/addicted to human agenda & glory (unable to handle failure, thereby creating image of success; maybe borderline personality disorder w extreme ups/downs)
the Catholic church has wasted donations on lawsuits due to priest abuse, but has the hierarchy addressed issues of power & control which incite such?
for example atheism has developed among French youth/schools due to politics consuming Catholicism; yet an inspiring French couple plans to return to France to evangelize w true gospel hope;
a small medical hospital I used to work at had a president/owner who increased profits thru questionable practices for many years; recently the FBI flooded in there & took him & a few doctors to jail; God is patient but not forever
we stand at the edge of eternity; all can do right & be blessed, or wrong & risk hellfire; more importantly all can repent of power/profit/etc & truly grow in Christ, blessing many lives w true Holy Spirit influence/fruit or can hide behind political walls of benefit pretending to do ministry
“such controlling behavior can only be explained as evil spirit possession or deranged psyche”
Not necessarily. In Korea (and probably most of Asia) people have a different attitude to abortion (e.g. http://smudgem.blogspot.de/2012/11/attitudes-to-abortion-in-korea.html). Western culture has been formed by Christianity, but Eastern culture not. In Eastern culture, it is more about maintaining face. When UBF always emphasises “absolute obedience” and “absolute attitude”, they only mean you need to be absolute obedient to people. Absoluteness is not enforced towards abstract principles or the truth, not even to Christian or Biblical principles. In reality, everything is relative in UBF. I believe the explanation for the abortions in UBF is flawed and missing ethics, and the motive was a mixture of the prevailing “image is everything” mindset and the wish to control people. Samuel Lee told members when to have children and how they should be named, he arranged marriages, he ordered eyelid surgery or ordered men to get perms or even circumcision, he even “healed” people with injections of salt walter. He was used to interfere into the private life of people without limits. Under such circumstances, and with the mindset that abortion is not a big issue, it was not a big step for him to tell people to have an abortion. Even more shocking, not only Samuel Lee ordered abortions, but I remember an open letter written by a member of the Korean Nam-San UBF chapter in 2002 who complained that his wife was told to have an abortion twice. To my knowledge, the top UBF leadership never stated its position towards this issue.
obviously absolute human obedience is dangerous if not unconscionable; the military is now dealing w rape committed against female officers, covered up by code of silence
I aslo think that inviting third party agency (like this one – http://netgrace.org/index.asp?str_string=Home~none~none) can be really helpful.
I pray that the bounds placed on my brothers and sisters hearts and consciences may be broken with the truth and freedom of Jesus Christ. Amen!
joshua, I could not have described the problem and the solution better than you. I fully agree that “bounds” or a stronghold has been placed on our brothers and sisters hearts and consciences. We cannot explain it away as philosophical (Confucianism) or social (multi-cultural issues) or behavioral(simple indifference), because it is spiritual. We need to understand that spiritual forces are behind most of the challenges faced by the Church today, both locally and globally. Words are not enough for such time and situation. We need power through the gifts of the Spirit. And therefore such bounds and strongholds can only be brought down by involving God in the battle through faith and much prayer, even fasting.
may God release us all from any bonds by Holy Spirit destroying spiritual strongholds in our midst; May God Alone be Praised Forevermore! Amen
AbNial +1
Joshua +1
“…and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. Mathew 18:18
He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.” mark 9:29
” We need power through the gifts of the Spirit. And therefore such bounds and strongholds can only be brought down by involving God in the battle through faith and much prayer, even fasting”.
I fully agree. And may it be done!! God have mercy and not delay any longer.!!!
@AbNial, thank you for your comment. I receive your rebuke as if it comes from God himself. It was like a bitter pill to swallow. But it revealed the aspect of the holy righteous God of Justice. Recently I studies John 1:29, “The Lamb of God” and John 1:26,27 about John the Baptist’s confession, “–the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
This was what I wrote:
“When we first received the gospel of Jesus we were pure and humble. But gradually we were contaminated with many human elements like human pride, authoritarian leadership, impure motives, performance-oriented work, unhealthy competition, human glory seeking etc. We sometimes unknowingly put ourselves above Jesus. May God have mercy on us and help us to come to the foot of the cross and receive the grace of forgiveness newly. John the Baptist said, “Jesus must increase and I must decrease”. Yes, we must decrease and Jesus must increase more and more among us.”
John the Baptist exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The Incarnate Jesus is infinitely superior to us. Jesus is so magnificent. Jesus is so high above to all of us in every regard. We should be condemned to death because of our sins. But Jesus the Lamb of God suffered and died in our place. Praise Jesus!
I agree with Joe that it is encouraging to see a leader who accepts rebuke. I hope this opens the door for you to be more open and courageous and answer the serious questions that have been raised, even if it is inconvenient.
One thing that you wrote should be reflected more properly: “But gradually we were contaminated with many human elements like human pride, authoritarian leadership, …” When do you think did this happen? What time period are talking about? Personally, I believe UBF was contaminated with a motivation of pride from its very beginnings. When I read the testimonies of missionaries, reporting from the early days of Korea UBF, I find how they had been already filled with pride to be “shepherds” or “missionaries” and the wish to “conquer the world with the gospel”, with a slogan of “Bible Korea worldmission”. How they believed they needed, of all people and nations, preach to elite students in the superpower nation of the USA. Likewise, to me it is obvious that “authoritarian leadership” did not develop “gradually”, but it was there from the very beginning. Actually, isn’t it rather the opposite, that authoritarian leadership style decreased after every reform attempt and public scandal? That it was even worse in Korea in 1976? That it improved somewhat after Samuel Lee came to the US? That things became substantially better after the time of Samuel Lee? You make it sound as if the “UBF heritage” actually had been pure, but then had been contaminated. But isn’t the problem that the “UBF heritage” was the very thing that had contaminated the pure hearts of UBF members and leaders who wanted to server God from the beginnings? That the “UBF heritage” as a set of practices and the underlying beliefs of personal shepherding which are incompatible with the Bible inevitably would corrupt both members and leaders create the effects we are seeing? Just as history has shown in all other shepherding/discipling movements?
@James: I echo the sentiment of thanks for your honest comments, yet again. I see signs of the effects of godly sorrow in your words, something rarely seen among ubf directors. I do consider you my brother in Christ.
I feel compelled to share just two things.
First, the way forward does indeed involve a kind of death. Jesus’ way is the way of the cross, for both sides. But this death is not to be confused with actual, literal “death”. As someone said here recently, no one has to die. I point this out because I know most ubf missionaries have taken vows “unto death” and there is no reason for this to get morbid. There are reported cases from Korea (not related to ubf) where the han syndrome does turn suicidal. I have been praying this does not happen. I pray that we don’t see hwabyeoung.
Second, I want to share 2 Corinthians 7:8-10. The Message version speaks rather clearly to both AbNial’s comments and your response. I see no condemnation in AbNails’ comment above. But I do see the results of his godly sorrow, and for the first time, I see such godly sorrow in your words:
8-9 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.
10 Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
James, I thank you for your openmindedness and willingness to learn from others. It is very encouraging to see. Despite our occasional differences of opinion, I regard you as a friend and I am praying for you and the rest of the elders to have courage and wisdom and conviction and leadership during these trying times. God be with you.
Ditto
I echo Joe’s sentiment. Thanks, James, for engaging in dialogue in a public forum. Here’s a noteworthy quote from Brian: “There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.”
@James Kim
One of the good ‘UBF heritage’ is ‘real repentance’. Sometimes it was radical. ‘True repentance’ was taught and encouraged quite often in ubf. Many people were attracted by such a open confession, repentance and the beautiful fruits of repentance. I believe this practice of repentance in ubf is also somewhat contaminated though.
As you mentioned, we need to repent “human pride, authoritarian leadership, impure motives, performance-oriented work, unhealthy competition, and human glory seeking”. Those sins has destroyed ubf and many members’ lives. To repent those sins, UBF leaders probably needs to stop all activities and pray and fast to deal these sins. UBF needs to spend quite a long time to reflect all the area of sins in detail through the lens of the Bible. Probably, ubf will need more time to repent in praying and fasting after realizing those sins in ubf. After this process, there should be public confession, public rebukes on some leaders, attempts of reconciliation, a lot of changes in the church structure, leadership structure, and correction of abusive practices. I believe this will be fundamental process to meet everyone under the cross. There will be true healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, freedom and joy under that cross. God will pour his spirit and blessing once again. I really want to see that happen soon.
Those sins are the very reason for this process impossible now.
‘Human glory seeking and impure motives’ covers ‘authoritarian leadership and performance-oriented work’ and let them grow in the church all together. The more those sins grow, the harder to see Jesus in UBF. The longer delay this issue, the harder to fix it.
I really appreciate our first generation members of UBF. I am really thankful for them to carry God’s mission with their sacrifice and passion. I won’t be here writing about God’s work or Jesus if you, first generation didn’t pay the prices. I know you did all these because of the gospel and you decided to die with Jesus. Maybe I am asking you to die once again with Jesus. This time would be harder than the first time. Finishing well is harder than starting. Maybe I am asking more radical obedience to the words of God than your earlier obedience to follow Jesus. I know many first generation missionaries and shepherds gave up money, fame, personal dreams, and even own family to follow Jesus. Maybe it’s time to give up UBF monuments they had built so they can follow Jesus more closely.
“I really appreciate our first generation members of UBF. I am really thankful for them to carry God’s mission with their sacrifice and passion. I won’t be here writing about God’s work or Jesus if you, first generation didn’t pay the prices. I know you did all these because of the gospel and you decided to die with Jesus. Maybe I am asking you to die once again with Jesus. This time would be harder than the first time. Finishing well is harder than starting. Maybe I am asking more radical obedience to the words of God than your earlier obedience to follow Jesus. I know many first generation missionaries and shepherds gave up money, fame, personal dreams, and even own family to follow Jesus. Maybe it’s time to give up UBF monuments they had built so they can follow Jesus more closely.”
I think these words are so correct.
@vmi: amen.
“I really appreciate our first generation members of UBF. I am really thankful for them to carry God’s mission with their sacrifice and passion. I won’t be here writing about God’s work or Jesus if you, first generation didn’t pay the prices.” vmi, I agree with all you say, but I want to recognize this first part. I also deeply appreciate all that my Bible teacher and UBF missionaries and shepherds sacrificed all along my journey of faith. But as the unhealthiness of the whole thing becomes clearer and clearer and we are now finally able to speak freely (post-SL), I believe that there needs to be some hard adjustments. Like it or not, churches do have a corporate model. One thing I learned from the Leadership Summit last year was the need to make adjustments along the way, if you are going to be relevant to those you serve. And this is what we are calling for. We are not saying everything in the past was bad. Who can say that Bible study is bad or 1:1 or testimony writing. It is what they became that needs to be adjusted. I saw it in my own approach to 1:1 to the point that I have had to back off, and recognize that I don’t know what healthy 1:1 is! It is those things that James Kim points out that need adjusting “human pride, authoritarian leadership, impure motives, performance-oriented work, unhealthy competition, and human glory seeking”. These adjustments need to be made if we are truly going to practice love. I have a hard time considering the theme of the conference “So Loved, So Love.” What does that look like, especially the “So Love” part. Love others. How will this be expressed at the conference. Would it not begin with repentance and reconciliation? How else can we begin to love without this beginning piece. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Yes, some difficult repentance will be needed to lay pride at the alter, even our identity that is unhealthily meshed with UBF. But the fruit will be real and felt more than we can imagine.
@Mark: “One thing I learned from the Leadership Summit last year was the need to make adjustments along the way, if you are going to be relevant to those you serve. And this is what we are calling for.”
Yes the Leadership Summit is awesome, from what I’ve read. Our church is a satellite sponsor for the event. I would love to go, but I have intentionally avoided it. Why? Because I have no outlet for the awesome things I would expect to learn. As it is, I am SO filled up now, with only blogging really as my outlet. I am reaching the point where I need to start looking for some sort of service in the Lord, otherwise, the good fruit growing in me may simply melt away. But I suppose I should be focusing on our own family first.
“We are not saying everything in the past was bad. Who can say that Bible study is bad or 1:1 or testimony writing. It is what they became that needs to be adjusted.”
Yes I agree. There is no need to through out things like personal mentoring or reflection writing or morning devotions. Yet there are indeed many things that need adjusted. It is the manner in which such things were done, and the need to submit to the Spirit’s direction that need to be adjusted.
And speaking of adjusting things, I’m learning that following Jesus requires that we pay attention to the seasons of my personal life, the seaons of my family and the season of my communities/church contexts.
Brian wrote:
“I would love to go, but I have intentionally avoided it. Why? Because I have no outlet for the awesome things I would expect to learn.”
Yes. That’s the real tragedy here.
There are so many awesome things that we could learn and already have learned that would greatly benefit ubf. Last year, for example, Sharon and I went through JA’s first missional cohort along with some other ubf people and learned a great deal. But it couldn’t be used in the ubf context because of the community’s defensiveness. Any serious attempt to rethink the gospel and mission and spirituality or any of the fundamentals of the faith gets stymied or shut down pretty quickly because of the fear that it won’t validate the ubf heritage and ubf story as much as senior leaders would like. And anything that would potentially segway into a discussion of the scandals and dark side of ubf gets shut down as well. I would have loved to engage in lively discussions about the gospel fundamentals with ubf leaders. But the community hasn’t been able to go there because of the unresolved scandals and problems associated with SL leadership. It is not an overstatement to say that the community has literally been frozen in time because of the unresolved trauma that people experienced under SL. The best way, and the only way, for the community to go forward is for the elders to go back and acknowledge the messes that SL left behind and do what they can to clean things up. It’s very sad.
Joe you wrote recently “Scot McKnight contends (and I agree) that the origins of the gospel are not in the Fall (Genesis 3), nor in creation (Genesis 1-2), but in “perichoresis” — the dynamic relationship among the Father, Son and Spirit stretching back to eternity and forward to eternity.”
I agree and am starting to see this so clearly. The OT is not merely useful for exposing our sin, but is highly needed to understand the gospel more comprehensively.
The starting point is interesting. I attended a John Piper seminar in which he explained TULIP. He started with the “I” – irresistable grace. That was a huge help to me, to realize we are not required to start with sin when we articulate the gospel. In fact, starting and endnig with grace is a good idea.
I definitely want to watch the Boyd sermon. But again, as you pionted out well Joe, I am frustrated lately that I have little or no outlet for such things. My guess is that I would say “Amen!” to 95% of what Boyd says. But so what? I already have so much peace and grace and joy; I can’t hold anymore :)
And your point about being frozen in time is right-on. That is why SL and the past history of ubf is relevant. Until we see such history through an objective perspective and treat such history with grace and justice, part of each of us is indeed frozen in time.
As long as most ubfers are nostalgic hagiographers, we will remain frozen, as if we need fire to melt us.
Perhaps we are getting into the batpism of fire John the Baptist spoke of in regard to Jesus? Luke 3:16
@James Kim
Thank you for hearing my views. Most ubf leaders have either rejected such views out rightly as that of coming from a junior ungrateful guy. Although I am now older than Zechariah the prophet who returned from Babylon as a teenager with his grandfather and made some amazing contribution to the rebuilding of God’s temple:). Most other ubf leaders would also have gone for indefinite silent mode, but you came back to us for dialogue, and that is truly encouraging.
I also thank the Holy Spirit for speaking to you through John 1:26,27,29 & John 3:30. In my opinion, there are certain aspects of the gospel which have never been clearly understood such as the gospel of the kingdom (Jesus’ leadership, his governance, his burning desire for justice, his judgment etc) that John the Baptist was trying to highlight in the early chapters of John’s gospel. Perhaps I will submit an article to UBFriends on how these understanding changed my life.
I know that my views are extreme and I also said I didn’t like them. But since you received as having elements of truth in it, my request is to go ahead and do what is right. To repeat Brian’s lovely quote: “There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.” I am with you in prayer and I will be more than willing to help you resolve any issues. God be with you.
@AbNial: All I can say is hallelujah! Yes I am a dreaded “hallelujah Christian”. I am so excited to hear you mention the gospel of the kingdom! I am certain my entire life could be spent delving into the understanding of the explicit gospel messages in Scripture. The kingdom is one of them. Yes Jesus is Lord.
I learned about the gospel message of the kingdom when Martin Sanders preached a series at our church. His favorite phrase is: “It’s all about the kingdom!” I’ll never forget his deep, booming voice. As Christ-followers, we are called to be kingdom people. If any ubf chapter wants to identify what’s wrong and find ways to move forward, I highly recommend reaching out to Dr. Sanders. His discernment and submission to the Holy Spirit is just incredible.
“In my opinion, there are certain aspects of the gospel which have never been clearly understood such as the gospel of the kingdom (Jesus’ leadership, his governance, his burning desire for justice, his judgment etc) that John the Baptist was trying to highlight in the early chapters of John’s gospel. Perhaps I will submit an article to UBFriends on how these understanding changed my life.”
Yes! I so long to discuss the gospel Jesus preached. Jesus said it in fact, in Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” I would welcome a gospel series. I’m putting together a small book based on the explicit “gospel of” messages found in Scripture: kingdom, grace, peace, life/salvation and glory of Christ.
Asking “What is the gospel?” was one of the topics I wanted to discuss in 2011 while still a member of ubf. That question was dismissed as irrelevant to the “crisis” going on. I contend that misunderstanding and incompletely understanding the gospel is at the heart of the crisis.
Thank you again for sharing here AbNial. You are an inspiration to me and I hear the Spirit speaking brilliantly through you. Thanks for being a friend.
Thank you for all your positive comments and encouragements.
A few years ago, I read a book by Peter Scarzerro, “Emotionally healthy spirituality”. Through this book, I learned the well-disciplined lifestyle of the Benedictin monks. The typical daily schedule of the monks was to spend 5 hours in a manual labor and 3 hours in spiritual reading and study and 3 hours in individual and communal prayer. In this way they contributed to the survival of the western Monasticism for the last 1500 years.
When I read this book, I wondered whether this kind of life style was possible in this busy busy modern age. UBF survived for the last 50 years by God’s grace, but nobody knows what would happen in the next 50 years. In my opinion the key for survival of is to spend enough time to spiritual study and prayer and contemplation, and to develop healthy spirituality and character building. In the present climate of work and performance, character building has been neglected. But without character building all our efforts can be in vain.
AbNial, please do share your thoughts on gospel and kingdom.
I know from my own experience how difficult it is to write theologically-oriented articles for UBFriends. There is so much that I want to express, so much that I want to say, that it’s really hard to write down in a clear and concise way. When I have written about such things, very few people seem to read or comment about it. They don’t seem to care unless we are directly speaking about issues of UBF. But when we do speak about UBF, people complain that we are not writing about other things. Honestly, some of the reactions of UBF members and leaders toward this website are surreal.
Nevertheless, please do contribute something if you can. Whether or not people understand it at the present time, I believe that all of the problems that we have experienced are rooted in superficial understandings and downright misunderstandings of the gospel.
It continually amazes me that, although we have four books in the New Testament that are named as gospels, our explanations of what “the gospel” entails essentially skip over the gospels and jump to Paul’s writings in Romans and Galatians. We equate “the gospel” with a doctrinal statement of justification by faith, and in doing so, we fail to grasp so many aspects of the gospel that Jesus preached, and we fail to frame the message as Jesus framed it.
The implications of this for how we do ministry are profound.
How could I think that harsh and manipulative training practices in the name of discipleship were okay? I didn’t understand the gospel.
How could I think that the top priority of the Christian life, what God wanted from me most, was not simply to love him and to love others, but to double the size of the ministry? I didn’t understand the gospel.
How could I think that the right way to deal with abusive practices and scandalous behavior in the church was to hide it from others and even from myself, to keep silent and cover it up, to act as though it was none of my business (even though I was being called a leader), and to stand by while those who called out the sins were marginalized and pushed out? I didn’t understand the gospel.
I could go on and on.
Last night, I watched a fantastic sermon by Greg Boyd called “Love: It’s All About the Cross.”
http://whchurch.org/blog/7859/love-its-all-about-the-cross
In 42 minutes, Dr. Boyd explained how the love of God as revealed through the cross must shape our Trinitarian understanding of God, our understanding of ourselves, and our understanding of the entire cosmos. He covered so much ground, touching on so many fundamental topics, with clarity and enthusiasm and humor. His presentation was was breathtaking. I wondered where he got such understanding. He got it, of course, by casting a wide net over many centuries of Christian tradition and applying the full faculties of his mind and engaging in vigorous discussions and disagreements about the gospel with other Christian leaders of our times. As I watched this sermon and learned so very much from it, I felt once again a great sadness about the state of my own church. I thought about how year after year I sat through a simplistic performance-based rehashing of SL’s message on the Samaritan woman from John chapter 4 and then pretended that once again I had learned something new and deep about Jesus and the gospel when in fact I hadn’t learned anything at all, at best I was only reminded of something I learned many years earlier. I wondered, what will it take to renew the understanding of the gospel in ubf? I don’t know what it will take. But I hope that UBFriends will play a vital role in that process. I believe it already has.
Joe, “When I have written about such things, very few people seem to read or comment about it. They don’t seem to care unless we are directly speaking about issues of UBF. But when we do speak about UBF, people complain that we are not writing about other things.”
Indeed, I’ve noticed this too. I think that speaks to what is on people’s minds in this season. I’m certain ubfriends has played a role in preaching the gospel into the ubf fabric.
Another reason for the odd reaction to this website I think is the circular logic embedded into the ubf mindset. I remember cycling through a couple thoughts on a daily basis while in ubf. The cycle was a desire to find justification for my ubf lifestyle. I rarely found such justification but I was convinced it had to exist in the bible.
This community called ubfriends has gone through at least to major cycles, where we came full circle and began re-hashing the same topics (i.e. beating a dead horse). That’s moving in the right direction though. 2 cycles in 3 years is much more healthy than the daily or weekly cycle I was on. That is one value of this community: slowing down the hamster wheel so that the gospel may permeate our minds.
“our explanations of what “the gospel” entails essentially skip over the gospels and jump to Paul’s writings in Romans and Galatians”
Well, we read the 4 gospels a lot, but the passages were always explained in the same way that was in line with UBF theology. Some passages and verses were emphasized, like John 4 (from which SL and my chapter director even derived the strange application that human rights and dignity could be ignored), some passages like Mt 23 were reframed or covered only quickly. And the pieces of the gospel were never put together. Concerning Gal, we did not read it a single time in my 10 years in UBF, probably because Gal is pretty incompatible with UBF doctrine. So actually I wished Gal would even be taught properly in UBF.
“and then pretended that once again I had learned something new and deep”
This reminds me of another UBF experience. In a 1:1 BS session, my Korean “shepherd” once asked me “what did you learn from that verse” in such a commanding tone and then looked at me with such a provocative look that I became angry. Particularly since this was a verse that just stated something obvious, at least to me. So I answered truthfully “I haven’t learned anything new from that verse”. At that moment, he lost it completely. He yelled at me that he did not want to see my face again and I should never come to the center any more. So I had been kicked out of UBF by him. I asked for an explanation, but did not get one. For several months, I did not visit UBF after that, until the chapter director re-invited me. But even then, neither he nor the missionary apologized. And this was at a time were I had serious personal problems and depression and actually had needed help. Nice. On another occasion, a member was asked by my chapter leader how he liked the lecture given by the national director. The member answered it was ok but criticized the German pronunciation. Boy, was he rebuked for being unspiritual! On another occasion, a young member was asked by the director for feedback how she liked the conference. She said the testimonies from the missionaries were boring because they were all the same. Again, she was bawled out by the director. What do we learn from that? In UBF, never speak honestly from your heart. Always pretend your learned some deep truth and “received much grace” from the passage or the lecture of the dear leader.
The good thing about UBFriends is that we can finally speak honestly how we really feel and what we really think.
Chris,
Even though I could share hundreds of stories that “ditto” everything you just said, as could every one of us, we need to keep hearing these things.
“On another occasion, a member was asked by my chapter leader how he liked the lecture given by the national director.”
Yea, one of the first lessons I learned PDQ in ubf was this: Find the right answer to the question “What did you think?” In the ubf mindset, that question is not what it seams. The question is never meant for you to share honestly and openly and NEVER means share what you feel :/
The question “What do you think?” is a loaded ubf question which really means: “Did you accept the teaching you just heard?” and also “Are you going to obey ubf mission?”.
As a fellowship leader, I had the mundane task of asking that question after every Sunday message and every fellowship meeting. We all had to share what we learned, but of course we ALL had to say the SAME thing.
I was stunned once when my wife’s parents attended Sunday service. My father-in-law answered with a bizarre (to me) and completely opposite answer as everyone else. I nervously kept going and ignored the response. He told us just recently that he did that intentionally. Why? Because he said he was so astonished that EVERYONE gave the SAME answer.
That group-think mentality is Borg-like slavery and has nothing to do with the gospel Jesus proclaimed.
Chris, your account is distressing but all too familiar.
Many UBF chapters in North America have studied Galatians within the last 2 or 3 years. Based on the messages that I have seen, no one made a serious attempt to evaluate the community’s culture and practices in light of Paul’s teaching. The historical conflict between Paul and the Judaizers was described, but in every case that I know of, it was just assumed that ubf leaders and members stand squarely on the side of Paul and have no real tendency to impose extra-biblical legal requirements on anyone.
Here’s how one person described it to me. “After going through the whole book of Galatians, the bottom-line application that my pastor drew out of it was, ‘Come to more fellowship meetings.'”
Once again, rather than delving into the meaning of the gospel, it was assumed that we’ve got that covered, and now we just have to commit ourselves to ubf more and do more preaching of the gospel.
The few sentences in Gal 2:11-14 refute the whole Confucianist thought construct of saving face and not criticizing leaders that has been found to be so corruptive to UBF. And the one sentence in Gal 5:1 seems to be the most striking answer and rebuttal to UBF legalism and authoritarianism. But I have no doubt that the art of UBF Bible-interpretation has become so sophisticated over the four decades that they now can even twist Galatians to confirm UBF mindset instead of seeing how it is one big rebuttal of everything UBF. One UBF oldtimer told me that in the beginnings of UBF in Korea, in the first decade, they only read Genesis and old testimony books, because they couldn’t do anything with the gospel. Members wouldn’t even know the difference between John the disciple with John the baptist. Only later, Samuel Lee started to (ab)use the message of the cross to break people and make them even more submissive and thankful for salvation in UBF. One of the missionaries in my chapter told me that even after that, for the first ten years in my chapter in Germany, they never read any of the epistles. Later, while I was there, we read some of the epistles, mostly Romans, but we never read Galatians. We didn’t read Corinthians either, except 1Cor15 which was read every year. 1Cor12 and many other chapters also contradict UBF strikingly. But I’m sure, nowadays, they can even read Galatians and Corinthians without turning pink.
Chris, a complete set of material on Galatians was produced by UBF headquarters in 2011. It includes messages on Galatians 2 and 5. If you get a chance, please let us know your reaction to the exposition of Gal 2:11-14 and Gal 5:1.
http://chicagoubf.org/messages/text_biblestudy.php?book=Galatians&year=2011
Joe, I really don’t want to read that stuff. I had a glance on the Gal 2:11 passage which mainly elaborated about SL’s heroic faith of eating 1 hamburger a day and drinking 1 coke for 8 years. He doesn’t make any application of what rebuking higher ranking people could mean in practice for the listeners. The passage on Gal 5:1 defines legalism a “living a good moral life, performing religious rituals, being a good person, being “spiritual,” giving to charity” and then goes on to praise God for being free from doing all these things, like being good persons and giving to charity. They either twist the passages or hop over serious contradictions as if they do not exist, because they know that the repetitive teaching with words and behavior is much stronger than quickly going over one such passage which doesn’t seem to fit into the picture.
By the way, Gal 5 does not only preach in verse 1 against being burdened again by a yoke of slavery, like 1:1, testimony sharing, conferences, meetings, absolute obedience towards leaders, arranged marriages etc. but in verse 22 it also vitiates the UBF theology that defines “fruit” as the number of shepherds you were able to “raise”. The problem is, even though the message on Gal 5 does not talk about fruit as visible fruit in terms of raising shepherds, when he comes to Gal 6, he has already forgotten what Gal 5 taught and starts to speak about “visible fruit” and ends the message on Galatians thus: “… God will bless our act of sowing by producing abundant spiritual fruits. The result of these fruits is the growth of a beautiful spiritual community, which has a good influence on neighbors, and renders glory to God. Let’s keep on doing good until God raises a generation of priests and missionaries for his world mission purpose.” The good fruit as described in Gal 5 has not a value in itself, it is only a means to the end of producing the “real” fruit, more commited members of UBF. If you read a special message by Abraham Kim at http://ubf.org/node/783 you will find this: “What is the fruit that will last? … First, the image of Christ in us; second, people we lead to Christ; and third, what we have given to God. For these three, God will reward us with eternal glory and honor.” A bit different from the exaplanation in Gal 5:22. UBFers have the ability to read Bible passages and then to totally ignore them and forget about them, because it is overriden with the much stronger UBF theology.
Chris, “dear leader” makes me think of North Korea..:)
@James: I’m glad to see you write this: “But without character building all our efforts can be in vain.” And for the record, I agreed with you fully when you told me the solution to the crisis must be rooted in the gospel.
@Joe: This deserves more attention: “We equate “the gospel” with a doctrinal statement of justification by faith, and in doing so, we fail to grasp so many aspects of the gospel that Jesus preached, and we fail to frame the message as Jesus framed it.” I too quickly define the gospel as atonement only. There is truth in the atonement theories but Jesus’ framing of the gospel is so much more. Jesus and His gospel must have primacy in our thought and behaviors. And if we open our eyes we can begin to see that the gospel was preached throughout the OT times, especially in the Garden and through Cain and Abel.
More gospel words from Jesus are rest, freedom, fulfillment and forgiveness. Such things are NOT beyond our comprehension. Such things do NOT require years and years of discipline to understand, though certainly are deep and wide enough to consume a lifetime of learning.
Brian, the word “atonement” is a relatively recent addition to the English language. It was specifically coined as a theological term to explain something about the gospel. The word actually means “at-one-ment.” It’s a relational concept. Through the cross, we are brought into fellowship with the Triune God and healed of our estrangement from ourselves, from one another, and from the created world. Unfortunately, when people hear the word atonement today, they tend to think primarily about penal substitution — Jesus paying a penalty for our sins. Penal substitution is just one of the many useful metaphors appearing in Scripture to describe what happened at the cross. If we limit ourselves to just this one metaphor, thinking that “penal substitution = gospel,” and try to fit all of Jesus’ teachings into that framework, it is an unnatural force-fit that leaves little or no room for the grand narrative of the kingdom.
I want to rehabilitate that word “atonement” and restore its relational richness.
Brian, if you get a chance, please watch the sermon by Greg Boyd at http://whchurch.org/blog/7859/love-its-all-about-the-cross . It does help to explain atonement, even though I don’t recall him using that word.
Brian, it’s interesting that you mentioned the Garden and Cain and Abel. Yes, many aspects of the gospel are found in the OT and Genesis. The standard evangelical presentations of the gospel usually begin with sin and Genesis 3. Scot McKnight contends (and I agree) that the origins of the gospel are not in the Fall (Genesis 3), nor in creation (Genesis 1-2), but in “perichoresis” — the dynamic relationship among the Father, Son and Spirit stretching back to eternity and forward to eternity.
Yes many words need “rehabilitated” actually. Not only the ubf-speak, but the Christendom language that has developed in recent decades, at least in the American contexts.
Thanks @James for stating this clearly: http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/05/11/the-freedom-of-self-forgetfulness-part-two/#comment-7168 “we (UBF) were contaminated with many human elements like human pride, authoritarian leadership, impure motives, performance-oriented work, unhealthy competition, human glory seeking etc.”
Thanks @vmi: http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/05/11/the-freedom-of-self-forgetfulness-part-two/#comment-7176 “I am asking you to die once again with Jesus. This time would be harder than the first time. Finishing well is harder than starting. Maybe I am asking more radical obedience to the words of God than your earlier obedience to follow Jesus. I know many first generation missionaries and shepherds gave up money, fame, personal dreams, and even own family to follow Jesus. Maybe it’s time to give up UBF monuments they had built so they can follow Jesus more closely.”
@Joe. The “defensiveness” of UBF is very very troubling. It is clearly a refection of UBF idolatry in the name of loyalty and “being positive and encouraging.” Highly predictable triggers to such immature idolatrous defensiveness are “UBF bashing,” “addressing/critiquing negative/unhealthy/abusive aspects of UBF,” untouchable authoritarian leaders, etc. btw, ubfriends pushes all the triggers of super-sensitive ubf loyalists.
Will there come a day when such ugly, immature, childish defensiveness and self-righteousness evaporate because of the glory and beauty of the gospel?
Thanks, Brian and Joe, for encouraging me to write. I know my thoughts are messy, and to borrow from Ben’s expression, “on the fly”, and even somewhat controversial. Btw, I love my former director freely advertising me as a cult-group follower/leader, to this day.:) That’s why I was careful to write I would share how understanding of some truths changed my life. It is easier to talk about what I believe and give a testimony than to talk about why I believe. Nevertheless, I will attempt and try to submit an article on gospel of the kingdom.
I too am aware of the not-so-excited responses to theology oriented articles on ubfrieds. But my favorite articles here have been mostly theology oriented, such as Joe’s 12 part series on Word, Spirit, Gospel and Mission and The Holy Spirit: Does what we know about Him matter?