2000 Annual Council

Devotional Message

October 1 , 2000, Afternoon.

The devotional message entitled "The Word of God and Unity in Diversity" was presented by Jong-Keun Lee, Th.D., of Sahmyook University, Seoul, Korea

Text: "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream" (Am 5:24); "After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor." (Rev 18:1)

(All Scripture texts are taken from the New Revised Standard Version).

Introduction

Unity in diversity is the principle of God's creation. We can see that everywhere in nature. Everywhere we turn there is beauty, harmony and symmetry, balance and rhythm. In every flower there are many different and harmonious colors, all united to make a beautiful flower.

It is not only in nature that we see this, but also in the providence of God in history. I would like to illustrate this from ancient Israel. However we could expand this concept to find supporting illustrations in every nation or even in the church itself. What is true in the Bible also applies to the church today. God's plan for ancient Israel was a model for us.

Unity in diversity means unity in diverse identity. I will begin with that perspective first. I invite you to review its concept in the development of ancient Israel. I believe such a review will help illuminate issues of unity and diversity in our church today. I will demonstrate that relevance in relation to some pressing issues in our Korean context.

States in the Ancient Near East

Israelite origin is from Mesopotamian and Egyptian backgrounds. The Israelite ideas concerning government were influenced by both civilizations. In ancient Mesopotamia, kingship was despotic. Kings controlled the land, the people and religion. Governments were despotic, centralized and bureaucratic, and all the kingdoms in the Ancient Near East followed this Mesopotamian model. Each king endeavored to expand the boundaries of his nation, conquering and exploiting other lands. But kings didn't modify their governments.

In Egypt, kingship was divine. The kings were gods, sons of gods, and representatives of both the gods and the nation. These claims were ideological royal propaganda used to control the land and monopolize wealth and power. Through these claims the king had ownership, authority and responsibility over his land, people, wealth, and power. The States in the Ancient Near East, where ancient Israel was formed, were against the principle of divine order.

The essence of ancient Near Eastern religion was unity in conformity, power-struggling and control and government. This example was followed by ancient world powers for millennia and has been followed by most power groups even until today.

Other nations pursued unity in conformity, not allowing any diversity at all. Israel was surrounded by Levantine states like Philistine, Phoenician, Aram Syria, Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Outside them Israel was the buffer zone among Mesopotamia, Egypt and Europe. The Israelite tribes and monarchy were to be a continual reform movement for unity in diversity among the ancient world, demonstrating God's way of government and God's new way of life.

Tribal Israel

The Exodus was a multi-level reform movement accomplished by divine power. God's purpose was to create an ideal nation in the world where wealth, land, and power was to be divided among tribes of people. It was a nation that distributed land to landless people. The whole of Canaan was divided into areas controlled by twelve different tribes. The land was not controlled by any monarchy. So it was an anti-Egyptian governing system. It is unique in human history.

It was a system of checks and balances for power, land and wealth. They were to develop a sense of strong identity among the twelve tribes to defend the nation. Pre-monarchic Israel was egalitarian in government, religion and land rites. Politics and religion were separated from each other. Kings were not divine as in Egypt. They were not allowed to interfere in temple rites. Priests and Levities had prerogatives in cultic matters.

The unity of the tribes was their common faith in Yahweh, their traditions, and their salvation history. However, the tribal Israel weakened its identity by neglecting its YHWH faith and covenant of God. They were not able to defend the nation and to maintain unity in diversity as the people of God. They turned into a monarchy to defend the nation.

United Kingdom

The seeds for the breakup of the united kingdom were sown in the time of David and Solomon. The causes of schism were unbelief, disobedience to God's commandments, oppression of the people and the leaders' moral delinquency. The fundamental issues of unity within a nation are a common bond, or a common origin and a common religio-socio-political status. Maintaining such unity allows a nation to keep its bond of nationhood. The united kingdom was divided under Solomon's misbehavior and under the poor leadership of Rehoboam, his son.

Solomon wreaked havoc on the national identity by dividing tribal boundaries for his own military and political purpose, and by marrying foreign women. These were fatal blows to the common bond that had existed in the diversity that was Israel. Solomon's policies regarding taxation caused widespread complaint among the people. Northern tribes broke their common bonds with the southern tribes decisively. Solomon's policies weakened the identity of the nation, even though he strengthened its diversity through increased interaction with other nations. And so the kingdom was divided; the division of the two states was complete, never to be united again.

The change to royal monarchy became a fatal blow to the identity of the Hebrew faith instead of enhancing unity in diversity. It opened the way for the inroads of idolatry, and resulted in oppression and dictatorship. Though it increased diversity through increased interaction with foreign nations, but it also contributed to the collapse of the nation. It was against the fundamental principle of unity in diversity, and was turning back to unity in conformity from which they were called to reform.

Divided Kingdoms

So the kingdom was divided, northern Israel and southern Judah. Identity and diversity were central issues for both kingdoms. They were both enjoined to keep Hebrew faith and to live a holy life for God among the surrounding heathen people. They were to be sensitive to the power struggles in their times. They were to be adaptive and flexible in dealing with the foreign powers impacting them. They continued to need to balance the identity of their Hebrew faith with flexibility in appropriate response to the diverse situations affecting them. Both kingdoms were threatened by foreign powers from Mesopotamia, Canaan and Egypt. They were not able to withstand any of them by their own power, and were helpless to cope with seemingly impossible situations. In spite of these problems, prophets gave them messages of both hope and doom. Messages of encouragement and hope were tempered with warnings of doom if they did not obey God's commandments. Let me illustrate some examples of imbalance on this issue.

First, in Isaiah's time. In the face of the westward expansion of the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser, the Canaanite states of northern Israel, Aram Syria and other states tried to form an alliance. They threatened Ahaz, king of Judah to join their alliance. God gave a divine oracle warning the people to look to God for security, and not to depend on any other nations. They were warned that they were not to join in any alliance against Assyria, or to seek any alliance with Assyria. It was a time when alliances seemed necessary. There were no dominant powers at that time. However the Assyrians were aspiring to restore their former dominance and glory. Ahaz did not obey God's word, and made an alliance with Assyria. That alliance included the introduction of Assyrian gods and idolatry. For national security, in the face of imminent invasion by neighboring nations, he sought alliance. Through this he did much harm to both the identity and diversity of the Hebrew faith (Isa 7:1-2, 14-16; 2Kings 15:29; 16:6; 2 Chr 28:10-27).

Northern Israel had adopted idolatry from the beginning, and they had corrupted their identity as God's people from that time. They tried to expand their diversity by association with foreign cultures. But they ended up destabilizing themselves spiritually and nationally. In the end the Assyrians annihilated them in 722 BC.

Then in Jeremiah's time, the Judean dynasty was in its final phase. Assyria was declining in influence, and New Babylon was the rising world power on the horizon. Jeremiah advised the king and the people to make peace with Babylon. But the ruling groups and the people were preoccupied with the Davidic covenant. According to the Davidic covenant, God dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. So they were convinced that God would protect the city and the nation and the throne of David, just as surely as he kept the sun and moon in the heavens. Nobody listened to the messages of the prophet. Instead they turned to Egypt for help and revolted against Babylon again and again.

Jeremiah struggled to correct the misconceptions concerning the divine promise for the protection of the city and the nation. Israel had reduced God to ƒa box of nationalism,' and thereby reduced their faith to a kind of idolatry. But punishment and exile was inevitable if they failed to live up to God's plan for them. The divine promises for their protection were conditional. They were based upon conditions of time and circumstance and place. The promises were given to meet their needs as God's distinct people. And so it came about that the Babylonians came and terminated the Judean dynasty in 586. They had clung to their identity as a nation in terms of Davidic covenant, but had ignored the diversity they should have maintained from foreign situations at that time(Jer 27; 29:4-9; 35; 52:4-30). During the divided kingdom, both kingdoms did not balance between unity and diversity based on the Hebrew identity. Northen Israel stressed the diversity with Canaanite states which were not based on the Hebrew identity. Judah clung to misguided concept of identity and ignored the diversity they should have maintained from foreign situations at that time. They collapsed due to imbalance of identity and diversity.

Justice and Righteousness

When there were injustice and oppression, prophets stood up to warn the ruling classes. Prophets constantly lifted up the vision of the unity of both kingdoms. They proclaim the messages in terms of justice and righteousness during the monarchy. Hebrew identity was based on justice and righteousness to maintain unity in diversity. Prophets gave stern messages to promote consensus among the people, and fearlessly pointed out the causes of division in the nation. They identified oppression, injustice, immorality, and spiritual decline in society as the causes for division. The main burden of the prophetic messages in ancient Israel was the reestablishment of justice and righteousness in the community of faith (Gen 18:19; Isa 1:27; 9:4; 16:5; Hos 2:21; Amos 5:24). If they did not practice the principles of justice and righteousness, they would be weak in Hebrew identity and would be unable to defend the nation.

Through the Jubilee, the Sabbatical Year and through the Sabbath, through tithes and many other ways, the Israelites were reminded and trained to care for the disadvantaged in their society. They were to share their harvests with the landless and homeless among them. Then they were to be united one, equal and fair in God.

Unity in diversity could only be achieved on the basis of their identity as the chosen people of God, which in it self enlarged and deepened their character and mission as a nation. As this identity was eroded, through mixing with other people, following those neighbors' customs, and forgetting God and His will, they destroyed themselves individually and collectively. They were to cling to God and to remember the salvation history of their nation. On such foundation of Hebrew identity, of the Hebrew entity, they were able to increase their differences with, their diversity from, other nations, and be a light in the world. It is only with such identity and diversity of nationhood, then a vision of mission and prosperity persist.

New Testament

This same principle is expressed in terms of love in Jesus affirmation that love for God and man is the greatest commandment. All the law and the prophets are focused on this ultimate love for God and ultimate fairness to fellow human beings (Matt 22:40). It was to keep Yahweh faith and to uphold the marginals so that all were to be united as the children of God.

As the exodus was a new start of nationhood based on unity in diversity, the cross of Calvary is the start of a new spiritual community, the church. Jesus took away all barriers of division. He made all people united through the cross. Jesus has made all one and equal in God. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). He restored humanity to the original status.

Paul exhorts Christians to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:13). Christians should live at peace with each other and to preserve the oneness that the Spirit imparts to all who are baptized into the body of Christ like Godhead. As the many parts compose one body in the man, so Christians are one body in Christ. Each part of the body should be strong and well functioned so that the body is in good condition. The Spirit unites and encourages the whole community of believers into one body of the church. The unity of the Christian church implies the mutual dependence of its members (3BC, 918; 6BC,135,618,679, 1014-16,1021-1022, 1024). The Spirit dispels the divisions and disharmonies in the church. Disunity is a certain sign that the Holy Spirit is absent. Oneness of purpose and of action would characterize the new Israel of God just as Godhead.

Today

How about ourselves and our church today? Unity in diversity presupposes the strength, power and efficiency of a local church for the great commission. It is not only to emphasize the unity of the whole church, but also to encourage the individual church to be rooted deeply in the cultural settings for the gospel. It is a call to invite the Spirit to guide in our individual lives, so that the unity of the same Spirit rules in all lives. This will result in the development of individual potentials and in boldness to utilize our various opportunities to the best of our abilities for the glory of God. It intensifies the identity of individuals, while maintaining the diversity of the whole. It always encourages creative thinking and boldness to challenge the situation through individual church and it discourages the numbing unity in conformity.

How can we restore the identity of Seventh-day Adventists in each distinct country and nation? How can we maximize the gospel commission in the present world? How can the Adventist church fulfill the divine commission to preach the gospel? The lessons on unity in diversity in the Bible are relevant to us today. Unity is to be based on diverse identity of the church, i.e., local and individual church should be strong. If we are to be a light on a hill as was the intention for ancient Israel, our church must be built on the same principles. Let me illustrate this with a few examples from Korea.

A Bad Name

Traditionally we Korean Adventists have believed in the principle of separation of church and state. We tended to focus on the last day events, and neglected our current responsibility for the people and the nation. For decades, we have been regarded as a sect or heresy in our country because we were so different from other Christians and from ordinary people. The reasons seems to be partly due to the oppression of other Christian majority, or partly that we SDA have not tried to set the things strait on this matter. Or some say that Adventists were the first to capitulate to the imperial Japan and the first to worship the emperor as god. It simply is not true.

There may be some truth in their criticism. We Adventists have often avoided and ignored national issues. While some people have noted and complemented us on our contributions to health, we have still been branded as antinationalist or anti-social, and scorned as extreme eschatologists, which simply are not true also. Whatever judgment we wish to make about those groups, the result of our being branded as an anti-nationalistic cult is that it has become very difficult for us to get a hearing in Korea. And if we can't get a hearing how can we do the mission work we have been commissioned to do in our own country? This general misperception of our church is a hindrance to our mission, though our Korean church is strong because of dedication of leadership and members.

The Story of Elder Lim, Ki Pan

Elder Lim Ki Pan was one of two founders of Korean Adventist church. In 1904 when he returned to Korea after serving Korean laborers in the sugar cane fields in Hawaii, he received Adventist messages and started the Adventist church in Korea. He was among the top national leaders of the country. He was a close associate of Mr. An, Chang Ho, who has been regarded as one of the architects of modern nationalist Korea. He did much to build the nation from 1880 through 1930, during the last days of the Lee Dynasty and under the Imperial Japanese occupation.

After almost a century of neglect, with my students I began to piece together his contribution. From the royal archives in Hawaii we got his name on a ship passenger list between Nagasaki in Japan to Honolulu in the States in 1903. We scoured records that had been kept by the Japanese police and colonial court up to the 1920s, and made many invaluable evidences of his contributions. We then applied to the appropriate authorities for consideration of Lim Ki Pan as a national patriot.

Just last August our government had recognized him as a national patriot. At a ceremony to posthumously honor him, Elder Lim's grandson received his medal and the certificate by the president of Korea. Many national newspapers featured his story, noting that he was one of the founders of the Korean Seventh-day Adventist church and of our university.

We had a glorious beginning. One of the recognized national leaders of our country started our church and schools with other members of the church. He helped to build the nation. I have many more stories to release about Lim Ki Pan.

A Church that Keeps the Faith and Promotes Religious Freedom

In the course of my research I have also found that the Adventist Church was the only one to keep the Christian faith and to promote religious freedom as groups during the imperial Japanese occupation.

During the Pacific War between Japan and America, from December 1941, all missionaries were forced to evacuate our country. During the ensuing years many of our young people were forced into the service of the imperial forces as human shields at battlefield fronts. And many of our young girls were forced to serve as comfort women for the army. All churches were forced to close and all Koreans were forced to change their names to Japanese names, and our nation was made to bow down and worship ancestors of the emperor of another country in their Shinto shrine worship. It is not my intention to revive any anti-Japanese sentiment at all. Many unspeakable things have been committed in many places in times of the reduced accountability that accompanies war. There are many heroes of faith and mercy among the Japanese also. However it is necessary to faithfully portray the situation in order to appreciate how brightly another Adventist national patriot shone-- like a star. Because our church started in such backgrounds and we have been misunderstood as a sect, partly from this period, we have a task to uphold justice on our name.

The Story of Elder Chai, Tae Hyun

After the removal of the foreign missionary leaders, Elder Chai, Tae Hyun was appointed as the president of the Union and chairman of the Board of Directors of Sahmyook college(now Sahmyook University). In the face of Japanese orders, he refused to disband the Adventist church or to bow down to in shrine worship. He was put into prison and became the first martyr for the Christian faith as the president of the union and chairman of the college in Korea. He did this as the Adventist leader. He has now been posthumously honored as a national hero and patriot.

We did the research that turned up the evidence of his heroism and his role. And we have had a significant part in bringing his role to the attention of our government and to the notice of the public. You will be able to read his story in detail in the Review some time in a future. I just want to point out that this is the result of a conscious intention we have to clear the accusations against our church. We have ensured that the story of this Adventist hero of spiritual faith and patriotism have been published in major national newspapers, and have produced a movie drama on his life. Adventists have retained the identity of their faith and yet remained responsible in their social environments.

The Story of the Jukmokri Community of Faith

Again I have done some archaeological and anthropological work on the site of Jukmokri, 60 miles northeast of Seoul, where our members fled to preserve their Adventist faith during the Imperial Japanese occupation. We are the only church in the whole country that organized flight to safety as groups. We are the only church to risk the lives of our members to keep our Christian faith and our religious freedom in the deep mountains as groups. Adventists gathered in groups of 20 or 30, or up to 70 members and fled to remote valleys in the mountains throughout the country. There they were able to praise God and keep the Sabbath, even sallying forth to do some evangelism for the church just like the Waldensian people in the Piedmont Valley in the Alps.

The members of these hidden communities of faith had little or no food, no protection from the elements and no replacement clothing in the mountains. Living on roots and herbs, living under crude shelters, they survived for two years in isolation. In the end they became so emaciated and hungry that some were not able to move around. Can you imagine living in the deep mountainside without food, house or clothes, under threat of capture and torture by the police or military? Can you imagine it through the rigors of a Korean winter, with temperatures of 14 degree Fahrenheit (minus 10 Celsius)? Yet in this place, under these conditions, they prayed without ceasing for the church and the nation in spite of their hard situation. We had a memorial gathering of all surviving members at Jukmokri, October, in 1998.

I have been able to prove that they were clear that their suffering was for freedom of faith and for freedom from national oppression. I have requested to the local government that they should recognize the place where our members fled to keep the Adventist faith and religious freedom as one of the historic sites of the Adventist faith. And now, eventually, it has been recognized, and Jukmokri has been designated as such. We are planning to buy a piece of land where our members suffered, and build a replica of their makeshift ƒchurch,' and memorial halls and others. We want this story told, and we want our nation to be enriched by the example of these faithful ones.

I have been searching for, and have identified other historic sites at other deep mountains: Mt. Jiri, Mt. Taebek, and Mt. Sulak in the south part of the country. There are others more in the Northern part, which is a task which we have to wait. We will continue to reconstruct and publicize the stories of those heroes also. I could tell you many more stories of Adventist bravery and faithfulness, but the time does not allow any more. I hope you will get to read them from time to time. And I hope that this telling will inspire some of you to publicize the dignity of your heroes of faith also.

Why I Tell These Stories

I tell you these stories to show how we are trying to restore the image and identity of our Korean Adventist as a faithful caring church for God and our nation. I want the other Christians to know that when all our people were forced to bow down before Imperial Japanese power, many of us didn't. Some of our church suffered much for their Adventist faith for the nation, while most of our nation were silent. Our members were bold to proclaim that God was the supreme ruler in the world and that Lord was coming soon, when to say such words was to risk their lives.

I want to set the story straight about our church: to restore the identity of SDA as an honorable and faithful church. I hope for a new beginning for our church in a future. I am determined to reclaim our dignity, achieved through the dedication of patriots and won with the blood of martyrs. I plan to expand the diversity of the church wider and wider.

Recently many newspapers and journals have featured our church in a positive perspective for the first time in a century. With all barriers and prejudice broken down, I believe the doors will open for our witness. I don't know what mission is needed in your place, in your situation. What department is responsible for this kind of project, I don't know. However I believe the recovery of honor is one of the critical tasks of the Korean church. And God has provided the way to do that through the wonderful lives of our pioneers. We do have a common mission in this end-time. But if we slavishly follow central super plans too closely, or mimic each other too much, we will neglect the mission that is present truth for our own church in our place at this time.

Some Issues for the Church Today

Unity in diversity is the optimal state of identity; strong enough to be overcome all difficulties and hardship encountered in seeking to fulfill divine commission to diverse peoples. It is a call for reform addressed to our church leaders in the first instance, and then to our lay members. Because we Adventist church has been built upon protestantism, we have to reform all the time. We are to reinterpret the Adventist truth into our present contexts for the 21st century. We need to be sensitive to the diverse needs of our diverse situations. Then we may spread ourselves among our people like salt and associate with them.

Unity is intrinsic nature of the Spirit and the church. Diversity in color, race, and nationality are superficial. We humans are all of one origin as we see in the blood types, eating and sleeping and so on. We are to be united in the Spirit and overcome power struggles and racial politics in the church.

Unity in diversity is a call to distribute the authority, the power, the budgets and the privileges of the church hierarchy to the diverse segments of the church, i.e., the lower organizational levels, the local churches and the church members. It is a call for efficiency in fulfilling our gospel commission. It has to include all people and all places for the witness. He has died for each one of us and for each group of us.

Unity in diversity mandates against both kingly centralization of the center and any minority group seceding from the world church. All parts must remain in unity of faith and life, and be prepared to responsibly support those functions carried by the central organizations, with cooperation, loyalty and financial support.

Jesus tells us "to go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you" (Mark 5:19). He wants us to go to our kindred, our native people and tell them what the Lord has done for us and for our nation. In our case we badly need to win a reevaluation that will get us a hearing in our society. We have so many things to tell our society about Adventist sacrifice to retain qualities of life essential to the well being of our nation.

Usually we think of a prism as splitting light into its many colors. If we put together all natural colors, they turn to be one single color of light. I believe this is the way the General Conference should work. All believers, including all races, colors, genders, cultures, and nationalities should be united through the church and General Conference to show one true light, Jesus Christ. Even if the prism is made of inferior glass, is badly cut and is chipped and stained, that is not a sufficient reason for any group or individual to refuse to shine through it. Even if the church or its leaders are defective, that is not sufficient reason to pull out of the world church. Each group or individual should be united into this world church, even though there are defects in higher organizations either in systems or individuals. When the nation of Israel divided it accelerated its own collapse. We will not achieve anything by disunity. Ellen G. White commented: "The church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which He bestows His supreme regard" (TM, 15,49).

Appeal for Glorious Destiny!

I believe in the Gospel commission in Revelation 18:1, "After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor." (Rev 18:1) According to this prophecy, the gospel work is destined to advance speedily and it will cover the whole earth just as the sun shines all over the earth. I hope our leaders to have a prophetic vision. This suggests that all peoples and all the places in the world are included in the gospel. _I saw jets of light shining from cities and villages, and from the high places and the low places of the earth. God's word was obeyed, and as a result were memorials for Him in every cities and villages (9T, 28-29).

My version of the basic premise for this glorious destiny is unity in diversity. The essence for this is to let God work among our members, doing creative missions for God. It means we have to enhance local church, local individual visions and dreams: to uphold their identity as God-given human beings to work for God either individually or collectively. We should not try to control our members or manipulate to obey according to human plans. We should not to set ideas just like ancient Judean ideology to put God in the box of their interpretation to protect their territory, their turf, their department, their country, while they were ignoring the principles of His government.

We need to be open to diversity of opinions, views and practices. It doesn't mean liberalism at all. I want you, the world leaders, to listen to the diverse voices of our church, and to be sensitive to their diverse needs. We need to build the identity of many Adventisms among many nations and peoples, as well as we need to emphasize the spiritual unity of whole church worldwide.

The biblical messages were geared toward unity in diversity, and culminated in the ideal of justice and righteousness in the community of faith. We need to promote and nurture identity in diverse identity. May God bless our General Conference abundantly to lead our world church in the way of unity in diversity.

Thank you.