Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Christianity

the 21st century north american church (part 1)

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When reflecting on the magnificent vision that John had regarding the Church in Revelation 7:9-10, I cannot help but wonder if contemporary twenty-first century North American churches are embracing this future eschatological revelation.

If God gathers individuals “from every nation, tribe, people and language,” (Rev. 7:9) into his Kingdom, then why are mono-ethnic churches increasingly prevalent in a North America that is progressively becoming multi-ethnic?  Why does segregation, violence, and hate amongst people of different ethnicities, races, and cultures exist?  If it is truly the People of God being described in this biblical passage, then why is there not more harmony and reconciliation amongst the People of God here in North America?

Do mono-ethnic churches, perhaps, add to the existing disunity amongst the People of God, or are they merely indifferent to this biblical vision?  Maybe multi-ethnic churches are the answer to fulfilling this biblical vision in twenty-first century North America, but what exactly does a multi-ethnic church look like?

maturity and independence – mutually exclusive?

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…a boy who puts shaving cream on his face…
…a girl who puts on lipstick and tries on her mom’s heels…
…a teenager who demands complete freedom, while still living at home and being dependent on his/her parents…

I am sure all of us can imagine some point in our life where any one of these scenarios (or like ones) were true. In fact, in the West, we all have this obsession with wanting to grow up and mature. don’t we? This obsession has actually led us to believe that “maturity = independence.”

However, is this notion that “maturity=independence” a hindrance to our maturing as human beings? If “maturity=independence” then, in order to reach maturity, doesn’t logic dictate that we should strive to become as independent as we can? Does independence really lead to maturity though? Real, deep, true, lasting, and holistic maturity? Or does independence actually lead us elsewhere?

Is our obsession with independence a reason why there seems to be a lack of deep maturity in adults today?

What if true maturity does not equal independence?

“We do not discover who we are, we do not reach true humanness, in a solitary state; we discover it through mutual dependency, in weakness, in learning through belonging.”
Jean Vanier – Becoming Human

prayer in the morning

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Visit any traditional Korean church on a weekday morning between 6:00 – 7:00 am. You will most likely find people there praying and worshiping God. It’s called – Seh Byuk Gi Do.

Why is this such a phenomenon and why do we see this mainly in Korean Churches and not in Western Churches? Does this fervency and disciplined morning prayer attribute to the rapid growth of Christianity in Korea and amongst Koreans? Or are there too many variables that have attributed to the growth of the Korean Church? What can the Church in the Western World learn from this spiritual discipline of corporate morning prayer?

3 weeks ago, I went to a prayer meeting at my church and I honestly had a difficult time entering into prayer and worshipping God. It got to the point where I actually just wanted to leave because the time felt useless. However, I didn’t end up leaving – I don’t know if that’s just because that would make me “look bad” as a pastor (whatever that means) or if the Spirit of God was holding me back – but in the end, I didn’t leave. About 10 minutes after that internal battle, I felt the Holy Spirit doing something in my heart and all of a sudden I felt raw passion and began to fervently pray for the church in the 3rd world and individuals in Montreal, Quebec, and Canada. After that, I just sensed that God was calling our community of faith to gather more frequently to pray and worship. I didn’t know what it would look like, but I sensed that it would be okay and that God just wanted me to go ahead with it.

As a result, after 3 weeks and 5 early morning prayer and worship times, here I am writing this post and reflecting. I really wonder what kind of impact the early morning prayer and worship times made. I personally enjoyed them and loved connecting with God and with other followers of Christ, but I just wonder what kind of impact this made on others? Number wise, we consistently got about 5-6 people every time, but that’s hardly the issue. It’s not about numbers, it’s about transformation and impact.

“God…I obeyed and held those early morning prayer and worship times, but what do you want for the future? What are you calling our community of faith to? Please lead us and reveal your way to us. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”