How to Not Be a Goat on Judgment Day

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Editor

To watch other Voice of the Martyrs videos, visit the Voice of the Martyrs Video Page!

 

Matthew 25:31-46

In Matthew 23, Jesus isn’t just frustrated with the Pharisees; he’s frustrated with religious people as a whole (see this blog for a better explanation). Instead of rebuking the Pharisees for being ignorant of the law, or for not following it, Jesus calls them hypocrites and rebukes them for “[washing] the outside of [their] cups and dishes, but leaving the inside with nothing but greed and selfishness” (Matthew 23:25).

In other words, Jesus is frustrated that the Pharisees know and follow the law but refuse to allow their hearts to be changed by it.

We, too, fall victim to this sin when we reduce Christianity to a mere checklist of Christ’s commands. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:2, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Christianity is not about perfecting one’s own actions, but about allowing God to shape one’s own heart in the way he sees fit.

The Nicene Creed tells us that God is “the Creator of Heaven and Earth,” and the scripture tells us that in the beginning, God created mankind—with his own hands and breath—in his own image. However, we should note that God’s idea of creation is very different from our own.

When human beings create, we (1) often toss aside creations-in-progress that we feel are “irredeemable,” and (2) gradually lose interest in creations after they are completed. Even the best foods are eventually forgotten, and the newest cell phones are eventually tossed aside in favor of new and improved models.  Furniture and clothes are disposed of when old or even “unfashionable.”

Creation, to God, however, is a continuous process. He does not create human beings as wind-up toys, content to wind them up once and watch as they walk about until their energy dissipates.  Rather, as Paul says in Acts 17:28, “in him, we live and move and have our being.” Our every heartbeat is proof that God’s hands—the hands of the potter (Isaiah 64:8)—are still shaping us. If God removed his hands from us—for even a moment—we would cease to exist.

Human potters spend their days hunched over hunks of dead clay. This clay lifelessly submits to the direction of the potter’s hands. If the resulting pottery is marred, the fault lies squarely on the potter’s shoulders: dead clay cannot sculpt itself.

God, however, is a potter who lovingly sculpts living clay. Unlike the human potter, God has imbued his medium with the freedom to choose whether it will submit to his direction or not. When his fingers attempt to carve pieces of us away, for example, we, unlike the dead clay, are able to resist his instruction. When God’s hands press on us, we can submit, or we can choose to join our cry with Satan’s, claiming that we are no man’s servant; that we will be shaped by no hands but our own.

Whatever we choose, we will always be clay—and clay cannot shape itself.

Whether we are a saint, a devil, or anyone in between, we need to realize that all we are is clay. We can choose, like the saint, to submit to God’s hands. Or, like the devil, we can choose to resist. Resisting, however, does not make us independent—our every breath reveals that God is continuing to support us despite our rebellion.

Whether we accept God’s guiding hand or not, our finished form will always reflect our father: Depending on our choices, we will look like our father, God, or our father, the Devil.

However, in the meantime, “what we will be has not yet been made known” (1 John 3:2). It’s never too late to do the right thing. Even if we’ve made a mess of our lives, God can sculpt us into something beautiful—regardless of how little time remains.

Since every single one of us is clay in the hands of a potter, and we can all choose to bend (or object) to the potter’s whims, God expects us to treat one another in a certain way. As Christians, we must see other people as unbelievably valuable because they are not only created in the image of God but are constantly being created by him.

There is a reason why Victor Hugo once said, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

However, even God’s creation process is not infinite.

There will come a day when we are no longer able to choose between submission and rebellion. On this day, we will be judged, and (as our scripture this week, Matthew 25:31-46, says) we will be given the inheritance of the father we chose. God’s children are given his kingdom, but the devil’s children inherit nothing but “the eternal fire.”

How, then, are we judged?

Jesus does not say that people are judged according to their good deeds. There are no scales of justice (Egyptian mythology) or scale of deeds (Islam) in Christianity by which Jesus judges our heart according to the amount of good we did versus the bad. However, Jesus also does not say that we are saved solely by our belief in him. In fact, in Matthew 7:22, Jesus tells us that many people who believe in him—and who even prophesied in his name!—will face the same punishment and those who do.

What we are judged by, however, is our heart.

It is interesting to note the goats’ response to Jesus in this chapter. Not only do they not repent of their sin, but they demand that the Lord tell them when they neglected to minister to him. Almost as if they had been feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting people in prison and fulfilling any number of Christ’s own commands. One can almost see the Pharisees in this group, insisting that they fulfilled every one of God’s 613 commandments.

Simply feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting prisoners is not enough to warrant sheep status. Doing these things is “washing” only the outside of our hearts and it’s the inside that we need to wash most.

God puts in us a new heart for anyone willing to receive Christ—but how do we know that we have received this heart? If we look at the hungry, the naked, and the prisoner and see not a pitiable or contemptable person, but someone who is in the process of being created, then we know we have taken our first steps into receiving this heart.

No matter how useless, how horrid, or even how evil someone else seems, our new heart will see the very face of Christ.

When we see Christ in the face of others, it’s impossible to remain indifferent. To the hungry, we’ll give food; to the naked, we’ll give clothing; to the prisoners, we’ll give our time and love—even if we don’t know anything about them. We’ll do this not because we’re good people or because we’re kind, but simply because, no matter how broken they are, we can see the image of God shining through them.

Instead of cursing and judging others, we realize the truth of what Paul said in Romans 14:4: “Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who decides whether they succeed or fail.”

God judges us according to how we judge other people. If we judge harshly, God’s judgement of us will be harsh, too.

The sheep are not the people who did everything right. They aren’t the people who dedicated the most time their church. They’re not even the people who knew the most about the Bible. The sheep are simply the people who, because of the new heart put in them by Christ, looked at the “foolish,” “worthless,” and “irredeemable” people of the world and found their hearts filled with love.

When they fed the hungry, they fed Christ. When they clothed the naked, they clothed Christ. When they visited the prisoner, they visited Christ.

The goats, however, may have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and visited the prisoner, but they never did any of these things to Christ.

If we simply feed the hungry because we are commanded to (or even simply because we pity them), our help will not be effective. We will pass a can of beans to a homeless man who is too poor to afford a can opener, we will fill food banks with nutrition-less foods, or we will refuse to form deep relationships with any of the homeless people at the homeless shelter we volunteer at every week.

The person who sees Christ in those who are hungry, however, sees a friend in need. They will provide not just a meal, but a relationship. They will take the hungry man to a sit-down restaurant instead of passing him a can of beans; they will cook meals for the poor family that lives nearby, and they will form relationships with the men and women at the homeless shelter at which they volunteer.

And they will never consider this action to be “enough.” In fact, people who see Christ in others almost always think that they have not done enough. After all, Christ died for them while they were still Christ’s enemy! How could something as small as taking Christ to a restaurant begin to covering everything that he’s done for us!

What frustrated Jesus about the Pharisees wasn’t their adherence to the law; it was the fact that they were using the law to escape God’s guiding hand. Feeding the hungry is easy; seeing Christ in the hungry, and supporting God’s creative hand in their lives, is the surprising criterion of judgement, according to the words of Christ.

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Do North Koreans Actually Believe in the Official North Korean Ideology?

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Pastor Foley

More and more news reports and human rights organizations these days assert that more and more North Koreans are having doubts about the Juche ideology. (Juche is North Korea’s official belief system that is also sometimes referred to in the West as Kim Il Sung-ism, since the Juche ideology centers around the teaching of and about Kim Il Sung.) Are North Koreans losing the faith in the Kims?

It is worth noting that comparatively few Christian organizations make the claim that North Koreans are doubting Juche. The majority of claims come from secular organizations, typically ones whose work involves getting information into North Korea, i.e., balloon launchers, radio broadcasters, and those distributing Korean dramas and KPOP songs via DVD, USB, and SD card. Usually the claims from secular organizations go like this:

  • Our information is getting into North Korea.
  • Our information is changing the minds of people in North Korea.
  • We need more money to get more information into North Korea.
  • When people in North Korea have more information, North Korea will change.

It’s that third point that ought to prompt us to take a closer look at the claim. In other words, it’s not a disinterested claim. It’s a claim in support of a cause.

That doesn’t mean the claim is false, of course. We should always be looking for the most effective ways to do our work, and when we find ways that work, we should consider whether more of the same might yield an even bigger benefit. If outside information is the key to breaking the stronghold of Juche, then perhaps more outside information can crumble the castle completely.

As an organization that does balloons, radio, and distribution of DVD/USB/SD cards, clearly we at VOM Korea believe these are helpful tools. But as a Christian organization, we don’t make the claim that Juche is losing its grip on North Korea. Why?

Short answer: Because no matter what people may tell you, no amount of information can change the human heart.  

I completely and categorically reject the claim that distributing Korean dramas, KPOP songs, Western movies, and political news weakens North Korea’s Juche ideology. That such information awakens something inside a North Korean person is beyond dispute. The question is: What awakens?

Short answer: Desire. And not for anything good.

The case of the North Korean soldier who recently crossed the DMZ (nearly at the cost of his life) provides a helpful illustration. Floating in and out of consciousness, clinging to life amidst surgery after surgery, the soldier reportedly professed his desire for Choco Pies, KPop tunes, and American movies. A man risking his life for such things certainly shows that new desires have been awakened in him. Does it show, however, that the stronghold of Juche has been broken?

Short answer: No, it shows that Juche is confirmed.

Juche is not an ideology of self-denial and repudiation of desire. It is, in fact, an ideology of the supremacy of human desire. It is an ideology that claims that the key to the fulfillment of desire is absolute submission to the Kim family. If we submit to the Kim family, says the Juche ideology, then we will have a life of fulfilled desire that the South Korean running dogs can only dream of.

One only need follow Kim Jong Un on his inspection tours to see that Juche has plenty of room to embrace the most South Korean and American of desires. If you suggest that freedom is a South Korean and American desire that is not embraced by Juche, I will suggest to you that the freedom that South Koreans and Americans covet–freedom of choice–is exactly what Kim Jong Un embraces. Kim Jong Un is building bowling alleys, shopping centers, consumer electronics, and ski resorts. The message is clear: Stick with me and we’ll go places.

Consider also the small but growing number of North Koreans who are re-defecting back to North Korea, or trying to. People assume that re-defectors and re-defector wanna-be’s are either mentally ill, under pressure from North Korean spies or blackmailers, or otherwise in a state of such incapacity that they have to be stopped from doing the very thing they want to do: return to North Korea. But we can learn a lot from even a basic review of their claims, which go like this:

  • I was deceived into leaving North Korea because I was told life would be better in South Korea.
  • My life in South Korea is worse than my life in North Korea. Plus I miss my family.
  • Therefore, I would like to return to North Korea.

The second point makes us dismiss the claims out of hand. “How could any life in South Korea be worse than any life in North Korea?”, we sputter.

But that is only because we think in stereotypes. The truth is, life in South Korea is harder for some North Koreans. They actually did have better lives in North Korea, at least according to measurements like comparative material prosperity and time with family.

My point, however, is not to debate the sanity of their claims nor to suggest that re-defectors go on to peaceful and prosperous lives when they return to North Korea. My point is that we should be humbled by how little change information actually makes when it comes to breaking ideological strongholds. 

The belief that information breaks ideological strongholds is actually an ancient idea that the church declared to be a heresy: Gnosticism. The belief that strongholds are broken when people risk their lives for the chance at unfettered access to Choco Pies, KPop tunes, and American movies is also an ancient idea. It goes all the way back to Genesis 3. It is called sin. 

Sin is the state of seeking ultimate satisfaction in anything other than God. Juche declares that ultimate satisfaction–which is material satisfaction–can only be found in serving the Kim family. South Korea (and America, and other “free” countries, which are increasingly defining freedom as freedom of choice, rather than freedom to participate in the good, which is the classical definition of freedom) declares that ultimate satisfaction–which is also understood to be material satisfaction–can be found in Choco Pies, KPop tunes, and movies and dramas. The North and South Korean visions are not competing visions. These are two sides of the same coin, and they both exchange spiritual freedom for material slavery (and, more and more these days, slavery to exactly the same things). In both systems, we are slaves to our desires, and the only question is who presently can best satisfy them. (That word “presently” is key because, as the case of re-defectors demonstrates, allegiances readily shift depending upon whom we believe can supply the goods this year/month/moment.)

Juche is a difficult term to translate, and its meaning is notoriously shifty even in North Korean use. The North Korean government defines Juche like this:

The Juche idea means, in a nutshell, that the masters of the revolution and construction are the masses of the people and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and construction.

The same could be said for the “idea” of life in South Korea or America. So-called “information wars”, where balloons, radio signals, and DVDs traverse the border, do not question Juche but rather question how Juche is best achieved–or, rather, who can best achieve it for you.

So the answer to the question “Do North Koreans actually believe in the official North Korean ideology?” is, at the most basic level: Yes. Even the ones who leave North Korea continue to believe. Their belief is what motivates them to leave.

In other words, just because North Koreans defect does not mean they have rejected Juche. As in the case of the North Korean soldier who recently risked his life to cross the border, it can be said that he defected from North Korea not because he rejected Juche but rather because he believed in it so passionately; the only thing that changed was his belief in who could help him achieve it.

All of this may sound like so much philosophy to you, but actually now we have arrived exactly at the point that I want to make, namely:

The sign that North Koreans have rejected Juche is not that they reject North Korea and head south for Choco Pies. The sign that North Koreans have rejected Juche is that they stay in North Korea rather than leaving it, but they stay as changed people.

This is why Christian organizations like Voice of the Martyrs Korea don’t equate defection with rejection of Juche. Most defectors we meet are still ardent Juche-ists. They still believe that life is exactly like the North Korean government says it is: an exercise in self as the master of the revolution. Defectors are simply exercising their “rights” as masters of the revolution to change sides, motivated by Choco Pies, KPop, and Korean drama. That is hardly praiseworthy, and it should certainly not be touted as either a great victory, a psychological transformation, a rejection of the essence of North Korean ideology, or a sign that regime change is imminent. This side-switching is easily reversed, as will become even more apparent in the future as re-defections continue to mount, as the chance for North Koreans to get rich in North Korea begins to exceed that same possibility in South Korea.

By contrast, when North Koreans become Christian, it is important to note that by and large, they reverse their plans to leave North Korea. They stay in the country, or they return to it if they were attempting to flee it. Perhaps stranger still, they pray for their leaders to experience the same transformation they have. They reject Juche precisely by accepting their leaders. 

“Yes, but I don’t think you understand my question,” you may be thinking. “I am asking whether North Koreans really believe what Kim Jong Un is saying, or whether they stay there simply because they believe they have no other choice.” To which I respond, “Yes, actually I understand the sense of your question. But I am seeking to drive you to a deeper one: Do you really think that those who leave North Korea do so because they don’t believe the Kim family? Or is it possible that they leave exactly because they do?

For most North Koreans, you can take the North Korean out of North Korea, but you can’t take the North Korea out of the North Korean. No amount of Choco Pies can accomplish that. Because it turns out both Kim Jong Un and South Korea promise a lifetime supply of Choco Pies; the only question is who you believe is better equipped to deliver on that promise. The rejection of Juche is not the rejection of the Kim family. It is the rejection of the belief that any government or leader or political system can save you or make your life worth living; only God can do that. Once God does that, well, you find that you are designed to bloom exactly where you are planted.

This is the meaning of the verse of scripture from the Apostle Paul that has troubled so many, 1 Corinthians 7:20 (BSB):

Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.

Or, even more controversially, as he says in 1 Corinthians 7:21 (NIV), ” Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you.” It’s just not, assures Paul, the essential issue. The essential issue is whether we are willing to belong to the Lord wherever he calls us.

And that is not revealed by what we say, or what we think, or what we know, or what we say about what we think we know. Rather, it is determined solely by the orientation of our heart. One cannot reject Juche by exchanging Kim Jong Un for Choco Pies. One can only reject Juche by rejecting every expression of human mastery and instead becoming, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:22, Christ’s slave, which makes us the servant of all for Christ’s sake. That doesn’t happen–it cannot happen–through information wars, balloons, radio broadcasts, or USBs. It can happen only through the word of God.

The ultimate question, then, is not whether North Koreans believe in Juche, but, dear friend, whether you do.

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What does it mean to ‘put on’ Christ?

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Editor

To watch other Voice of the Martyrs videos, visit the Voice of the Martyrs Video Page!

 

[Hebrews 12:1] & [Romans 13:14]

Christians frequently compare the long, winding divide between North and South Korea to a divide between “good” and “evil.” South of the border, we think, lies good; to the north, lies evil.

In the North, people are forced not only to obey the Kim family but also to bear the image of the Kim family. North Koreans must obey strict rules regarding hair and clothing. A Kim Il-Sung pin must be affixed to their shirt. Policies force them to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of their government.

When we stand on the South Korean side of the border and peek into the North, our hearts are moved by pity.

“How terrible it must be to live in such an idolatrous nation!” We cry.

And yet, the north has no monopoly on idolatry.

Why? To figure out the answer, we’ll need to examine two scriptures.

First, let’s look at Hebrews 12:1. In this scripture, Paul instructs us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” Like any good athletes, Christians are told to remove anything that “hinders” them from “running the good race” (2 Timothy 4:7). Before an event, for example, a professional swimmer will often shave and don a sleek swimsuit—anything to reduce their swim time. Just as a swimmer would never dream of swimming an event while wearing a t-shirt, a Christian should never dream of clinging to sin, as it will hinder our performance.

Our second scripture, however, reminds us that it isn’t just what we take off that is important. A professional swimmer knows this as well. To the professional, not all swimsuits are the same: A good swimsuit can make the difference between a gold medal and an empty hand. Companies compete to take NASA technology and apply it to swimsuits in an attempt to reduce drag. The lower a swimmer’s drag, the lower their swim time can become, and so professional swimmers are willing to fork over large sums of money for the right swimsuit. In the same way, the identity we put on can dramatically alter our performance in “the good race.” This is why Romans 13:14 commands us to “put on Jesus Christ.”

Of course, Jesus Christ is not the only identity that we can put on. North Korea, for example, forces its citizens to “take off” all foreign influence and to “put on” Kim Il-Sung. Islamic countries instruct citizens to “take off” immorality and “put on” Islam. People always become a slave to the identity they choose to “put on”—Christians can easily recognize this tendency in North Koreans and Islamic citizens. What we have a difficult time recognizing, however, is that the free world also enslaves us to an identity—and that identity isn’t Christ.

Freedom in the free world is the permission to be anyone or do anything that one wants. Any limit to this freedom is considered to be oppressive and unjust. Human beings, this ideology claims, are clay to be molded by their own hands. We should feel free to change our appearance with plastic surgery, to sleep with whomever we wish (without bothering to marry them), or to seek pleasure in whatever form we desire.

One of the troubles with putting on this “freedom” is that we will never be satisfied with the identity we take on. Companies in the free world try to keep us dissatisfied with our appearance and identities. Dentists will never be satisfied by the color or position of our teeth. Plastic surgeons will always have a new trend to suggest. Our clothes can only be in style for so long. Movies and television will always introduce us to new fashions, restaurants, lifestyles, and hairstyles that we wish to adopt. We will fall out of love with our lovers and our hearts will always be seeking someone to make us whole. Our identity, like our desires, will constantly be in flux.

Furthermore, we may feel a need to prove our identity to others. If our identity hinges on our intelligence, for example, our well-being may be tied up with our ability to maintain positive grades. On the other hand, an individual who bases their identity in their abilities may risk ill health by sacrificing rest and self-care for long hours and low pay. Shaping our own identity means that we must bear the full weight of that identity—an arduous and wearisome task.

While this freedom is certainly a coherent identity, it is not the garment which Christians have been commanded to put on.

Paul tells us that we are to “put on” Jesus Christ. Just like with any identity, once we do this, we will become slaves to him. However, Jesus is the only master who can give freedom to his servants.

“Come to me,” Jesus commands, “all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Although Christ’s freedom looks nothing like the world’s freedom, his commands do not change. He does not demand whiter teeth or thinner cheekbones. Nor does he command us to be perfect. Instead, he asks only that we come to him in humility, knowing that only he can fix what is broken in us. Rather than demanding obedience, he asks us to stay with him regardless of how many times we fall.

Whatever identity we are currently wearing, Christ does not condemn us. All he asks is for us to be honest with him. If we are not wearing him, he invites us, in humility, to take off the identity which hinders us and try him on.

This is a request which is open to the South Korean peeking over the border and the North Korean looking back at him. It is a request which is open to all at any time.

It is never too late to “take off” your identity and “put on” Christ.

Are you weary? Are you laboring under a heavy load? Come to Christ. For his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

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