Rev. Chongho Kim 김정호 목사
There is a prayer I regularly offer for our children during our early morning prayer services: “Lord, help our children live with independence, initiative, creativity, and happiness.” I pray this because I have seen many people who, despite having great wealth, marrying someone of high social standing, or achieving worldly success, still live diminished and unhappy lives, trapped by shallow values.
I want our children to live with dignity and confidence, never bowing before wealth or power, but taking responsibility for their own lives and enjoying the dignity and freedom God has given them. This is my heartfelt prayer not only for our children but also for our church and its members.
Our church is a Korean immigrant church. It is only natural that we worship, conduct meetings, and practice our faith in Korean, within our own language and culture. Yet something strange happens when an English-speaking person in a position of authority visits. Suddenly, people who normally conduct meetings comfortably in Korean struggle to speak in English, even when they cannot express themselves adequately.
I do not consider this genuine respect or consideration. If we truly respect others, we should show the same respect to those who have less power. What we must overcome is the tendency to be submissive toward the powerful while treating the less powerful with disrespect. I believe this attitude is a lingering legacy of colonialism.
Many years ago, when I was serving as president of the Korean American United Methodist Church Association, I attended a gathering of Korean American church leaders and denominational leaders. During the meeting, I deliberately spoke in Korean and requested an interpreter. Everyone knew that I was capable of speaking English, so my request created an awkward silence.
What surprised me, however, was the response of the Council of Bishop’s president. He said:
“Today, I experienced an unexpected sense of discomfort. But through that discomfort, I gained an important insight: things that people in privileged positions like myself take for granted should never simply be assumed to be normal or right. Thank you.”
That is what true leadership looks like—leadership marked by humility and honest self-reflection.
What matters is not simply which denomination we belong to, but what kind of church we choose to be within that denomination.
And so, I offer for our church the same prayer I offer for our children:
“Lord, help our church become a community that is independent, forward-looking, and creative. May we never bow submissively before anyone, nor look down upon anyone. Teach us to stand with dignity before others and with humility before Jesus Christ alone.”