The Asian church, as exemplified in Korea, is akin to bodily ligaments unified in Christ with prayerful resilience but stretching in diverse directions in the face of hardships in its development.
This according to Dr. Eun Ah Cho, who is Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Dean of the Gordon-Conwell Institute (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) with its main campus in Hamilton, MA, in the U.S. Raised in Canada, Cho's family is originally from Korea. She is described by the college as a “seasoned missionary,” church planter and a “scholar and creative leader, but also a poet” famous in Korea for the hymn, “Hananimui Eunhye: Grace of God.”
Cho spoke during a plenary session entitled “God’s Mission to the Ends of the Earth Through the Dynamic Missions Movement from the Majority World” on Saturday (Sept. 28) at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Incheon, Korea.
The discussion revolved around an understanding that the history of mission for Asia, particularly Korea, had been divided into three stages: firstly, the arrival of western missionaries; secondly the contextualizing of the gospel into indigenous culture; and thirdly a self-missionization process whereby the indigenous church evangelized to others, outside its usual cultural and geographical domain.
Cho warned that the Korean church did not in itself fully represent the complexity of the wider Asian church and to be cautious of oversimplifying this faith demographic with varying “religious diversity, cultural polarity and socioeconomic realities.”
Even so, Cho said there were distinctive and exceptional features of the Korean church, helpful for missional experts evaluating the growth of Christianity. These are the effects of Korean language Bible translation and also Korean-originated initiatives for gospel witness in the country itself and beyond to other countries.
On the first historic point, a powerful impact was felt by Koreans who had lived overseas bringing the gospel into the country and they carried with them Bibles newly translated into the Korean language.
“These individuals had partnered with missionaries working on Bible translations outside Korea,” explained Cho. “Also, the Korean Bible translation deliberately used the language closer to that of the ordinary past, and this choice had a profound impact. It helped many Koreans become literate through personal and corporate Bible reading and fostered a grassroots foundation for church planting.”
Secondly, Korean Christians were motivated for mission in the early stages of conversion, birthing churches across the country. Cho called it a “central civil orientation” and pointed to Korean missionaries being sent further afield, such as to Russa, in 1908, and to China in 1913.
“Such an early missionary zeal should be attributed to the strategic priority given by early protestant missionaries to the development of Korean leadership,” said Cho.
She referred to the foundation of Pyongyang Theological Seminary as a fruit of these efforts. Her own grandfather, whom she never met, was an alumni. Born in 1905, he became a pastor and then martyred at the age of 45 during the Korean War, 1950-1953.
“His life epitomizes a life marked by itinerant ministry and ardent love for Christ,” recalled Cho, paying tribute, “and this reverberated in the songs that my grandmother loved to sing. One of her favorite hits was called ‘The Trusting Heart to Jesus.’”
Cho elaborated that her grandmother told this hymn to her mother, and it was about walking with the Lord despite the paths of suffering.
“My grandmother said, ‘If I were to put a thin piece of paper with the word ‘endurance’ written on it and put it in a big kimchi jar every time I had to endure hardships, by now the big kimchi jar must be overflowing with these papers.’”
For Cho, this simple illustration is helpful in explaining the suffering of the Asian church as it has stood up for Jesus Christ.
“This image of a big kimchi jar overflowing with white papers echoes prominent features shared within the Asian church.”
The Asian church has shown “prayerful resilience” in the face of suffering, and Cho wanted to avoid oversimplifying the situation. However, she retained confidence that a common thread running through the Asian church is that of enduring various hardships.
“While the metaphorical jar may defer across cultures, the Asian church has undoubtedly embraced numerous jars of clay, overflowing with tears,” added Cho.
Despite these difficulties Cho remained convinced that the Asian church had a powerful message to share with the wider global church.
“This message is one of unswerving faith that nothing can impede the power of the gospel,” she said. She related the suffering of the Asian church to what is described in Psalm 22: 14-15: ‘I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”
“Yet the gospel perseveres,” asserted Cho.
A further illustration of Asian church growth, given by Cho, referred to Ephesians 4:16: “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” She called it one of the apostle Paul’s “most complicated statements” but felt particularly fascinated by the notion of the ligaments involved giving support to the whole framework of the body.
“It feels itself out above, as each part does its work,” she explained. “This metaphor provides a powerful lens through which we can understand the role that Asian churches call to play in the wider body of Christ.”
Cho believed a clear parallel between ligaments and the role of Asia in God’s mission. She outlined three key points of comparison.
Firstly, both the Asian church and ligaments are “numerous and widespread.” In fact, there are 900 ligaments in the body, according to Cho, which are distributed throughout its structure. She said that Asia is the world’s largest continent with 60 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of the global land mass.
Secondly, both exhibit diversity. Cho expounded that ligaments vary in shape, size, orientation and location. Asia is similarly diverse, “a land of stark contrasts” with some of the world’s fastest growing economies juxtaposed with being home to two thirds of the global poor.
“It hosts the world's most populous atheistic state while also being home to vast numbers of Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians,” Cho explained, guiding her analysis. “Furthermore, the diversity of Asia is continually evolving through various forms of movement such as urbanization and migration, and the formation of diaspora communities who serve manyfold functions.”
Ligaments fulfill different roles in our bodies such as supporting, protecting and connecting, according to Cho. Similarly, the role of Asia and global Christianity has grown, she opined.
“Once a primarily missionary-receiving continent, many Asians now send out missionaries abroad having identified parallels between the ligaments in our physical body and the Asian church in the body of Christ.”
Cho highlighted a specific role of safeguarding for the Asian church, which she believed came from God, to protect itself “against the dangers of triumphalism and imperialism.”
With that goal of protection, however, the Asian church must recognise its own limits to effectively serve in that role of safeguarding within the wider body of Christ.
“And if I were to pinpoint only one limitation that the Asian churches should not overlook, what would that be?” asked Cho rhetorically. “It is a recognition that none of us can create unity. This power belongs solely to the Holy Spirit.
“Our calling is not to create unity, but rather to preserve and nurture it. Unity is a consequence, not something that we can manufacture.”
In concluding her thoughts, Cho said the Asian church’s contribution to global Christianity extended beyond strength in numbers or missionary efforts.
“Its greatest offering may be its demonstrated ability, given by the grace of God, to thrive in diverse and often challenging contexts, coupled with its powerful reminder of the importance of unity,” said Cho.
“As we advance in God's mission, let us draw inspiration from the Asian church's example of prayerful resilience and unwavering commitment to Spirit-created unity, working together as one body to declare and display Christ’s name in our diverse world.”
