Rev. Myoungsang Kim
Pastor of Samki First Church, Iksan City, South Korea
I grew up at Presbyterian church, and also studied for Presbyterian theology, and then became the Presbyterian pastor. Now I am doing pastoral work in the Presbyterian church at countryside in South Korea.
From this point of view, it is said that our church is a Reformed Church. It is a reformed church that has gone biblically from the old church’s framework. As you know, started with Luther’s religious reform, then Calvin set the framework for the Presbyterian Reformed Church. So now the old church and the new church (reformed church) are taking different doctrines from different positions. Isn’t the Reform Church even referring to the Old Church as a religion, not a Christian? And even now, the Reform Church is calling for continued reformation. So what has been reformed and what should be reformed?
And who should be the subject of reform? With what do you reform, and what content should be reformed? I think it is a matter for pastors and laypeople who serve the church today. Moreover, they should have a new interpreter from the biblical point of view, not according to the changes of the times. Why has the revival of the church stopped? Why is the church not giving light to society? Why is the credibility of pastors falling in society and church? By asking countless questions, we feel that we are in a situation where we must achieve a second religious reform and are convinced that it is God’s clear voice.
If the Protestant Church still stands in an old-fashioned position and builds a church, it is clear that it is not a reform church. If the truth of salvation does not change, the church should have a Bible view that does not change even for church coffins.
If the theory of salvation was reformed by Luther, the church that is still not reformed, the truth of the civil service, and the Bible, should be transferred from the old church to the Protestant church. Luther advocated the principal of “Priesthood of all believers” as he launched the movement for religious reform. All the people are like king priests and must continue. But if you look at the churches today, that’s not true. Pastors serve as priests and laypeople serve as Christian strangers. The minister is a ruler and the laypeoplesee himself as a submissive. Even when I see a realistic church with pastors who run the church, I can’t help but worry about it, making a non-gospel, law-abiding argument that pastors are priests, and do not have to offer sacrifices that deserve God.
On the other hand, I myself was a pastor and a representative of layperson (self-proclaimed) in many conflicts with the elders, and it is obvious that much of the conflict in modern churches falls under this.
