“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.”
Today’s Text: Amos 5:7-17 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
It’s hard not to be proud to be Korean these days. I met a nephew in Seoul, and we were marveling at how advanced the ROK had become even in the last 10 years. In terms of infrastructure, economy, and social welfare, the ROK seems to be at the top of its game.
And of course, the global popularity of ROK culture is impossible to miss. CNN even produced the documentary series “K-Everything,” hosted by Daniel Dae Kim, exploring behind-the-scenes production of K-pop, K-film, K-food, and K-beauty.
I heard that Seoul is now the most visited city in the world. I don’t doubt it. As CJ and I were sitting (luckily) at a Krispy Kreme section of a very crowded Lotte Department Store, we struck up a conversation with a tourist from Hong Kong. Seoul, Pusan, Yangsan, and other cities are now bona-fide international cities.
But my nephew noticed something else about the new ROK. In the international spotlight, the younger South Koreans are starting to lose their core “Korean-ness.” It’s hard to describe, but you can taste it in how a lot kimchi today in the ROK (and the US) is becoming sweeter. He doesn’t like the “new” kimchi too much, and neither do I!
We came to the conclusion that South Korean society is at something of a crossroads. Or maybe a better way to think of it is that South Korean society has reached the peak of a mountain in a mountain range, and it has to determine where to go next.
And as my nephew and I were discussing this, I couldn’t help but compare the trajectory of ROK society with that of the American society. Of course, the scale is totally different. The US is huge. The ROK is small (which makes its meteoric rise all the more astounding).
Anyway, I couldn’t help but think biblically about the trajectory of the ROK society compared to that of the US society. After all, God is sovereign, and God’s fingerprints have been all over the rise of the US. And they are all over the rise of the ROK, too.
And the thought that came to my mind, thinking biblically, is that the ROK, standing at this crossroads on this mountain range of history, has the opportunity to avoid the mistakes that US has made, and perhaps is continuing to make.
Now, I am not only Korean, but also an American, and an American veteran. I do love the US. But here’s where I believe that the US society (that is, the US people as a whole, the US government at all levels, the US institutions at all levels, etc) has gone astray.
At some crossroads, the US society has forgotten to seek good and hate evil. In particular, the US society has lost its concern for the poor, the downtrodden, the weak, the unfortunate.
Today, it’s more likely that the US society will blame the poor, the downtrodden, the weak, and the unfortunate—not only for their own bleak condition—but also for the general problems of our society. There may be some truth that the misfortune of some is their own fault—at least some of the time, but here’s the thing. To not care about their suffering and to make les misérables the villains is to seek evil and not love good … biblically speaking.
I mean, that’s what this passage is talking about with respect to Israel.
In the Air Force, when my friends and I observed that someone was in trouble, they would sometimes say, “So-and-so is in some deep kimchi!” They were just throwing me some love in that way.
Anyway, the US is in some deep kimchi. And it might be sweeter. But it’s certainly not better. The ROK should stick to the Korean salty-spicy-fishy kimchi.
Father, You are good, and You hate evil. Who am I to cast judgment on anyone or anything. Sometimes I just feel so powerless over the injustice of this world. But am I helping to perpetuate it? Do I love evil. By the power of Your Spirit, make me to love good and hate evil. Make is so for this whole US society. Make it so for the ROK. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
