In 1 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul spoke of his goal for the organic unity of the Christian church.  He compared it to a human body, which has many different organ systems functioning to sustain the whole.  To make the “body of Christ” work effectively, the differences among church members should be engaged to work together harmoniously.  In America today we see two kinds of differences that need this kind of harmonizing: ethnic and generational.

When I was in college I belonged to a small Korean-speaking Adventist congregation. Because I was the oldest of the “youth,”  I was delegated to become their “leader.”

Feeling desperately inadequate, I reluctantly came to church every Sabbath with a loosely defined program that emphasized discussions among the youth group rather than any solid presentations.  I recall appealing to the kids to just come to church.  Even then, I sensed the increasing apathy the youth were feeling towards it.  It seemed to me that one of the best ways to keep youth in the church is to have enough of them there so they will feel they have friends who share their religious  background.

Spiritually limited though that approach was, I felt I could offer no other incentive since my own theological understanding was so underdeveloped.  Today, after much research and earnest discussion with dozens of youth pastors, I am coming to realize that this is a growing and dominating issue among the young people of the church. We are being torn between a world of religiously dogmatic parents and a world of rapidly increasing moderationism and naturalistic applicationism.  We are also probing into the depth and meaning of our personal spirituality and realizing that we are sadly short of divine intellectual blessings.

In a Korean church, this rift is exacerbated by the language barrier that creates an even larger obstacle to understanding.  There are many young people who can communicate with their parents only minimally, so spiritual dialogue is severely limited.  Consequently, parents resort to the easier language of legalism to define religious piety for their children.  Today, young adults are becoming aware that their religious consciousness is quite superficial and sometimes goes no further than a list of do’s and don’ts.  As a result they often leave the church, feeling that its doctrines are antiquated and one-dimensional.  

According to Pastor Mike Kim of the Loma Linda Korean Church, the survival of Korean churches is seriously in question.  Immigration from Korea is rapidly decreasing, and the young second-generation adults are leaving the mother church in droves.  Pastor Kim expressed to me his sense that young adults don’t find religion exciting within the  current structure.  He feels that they desire a less rigid, more welcome dialogue and fellowship, unlike what they find in the traditional forms of worship.  However, they are not even attending the English-speaking non-Korean churches and are rather opting to skip out on church altogether.  Despite their integration into American society generally, their mind-sets are so culturally based they find it difficult to adapt to American churches.

And what of their parents, first-generation Adventist immigrants?  They tend to become isolated from the dynamics in the rest of the church, somewhat as though their culture was a tourniquet restricting their communication.

My father came from Korea more than 30 years ago as an Adventist.   I found his input extremely insightful.  He wrote to me in a letter,  “Why does a young Korean leave his parents’ church?  And furthermore, why would a young person want to go to an ethnic church?  A.  Perhaps he does not have the same conceptions of faith, life and value systems that his parents feel.  Somehow it was not passed down to him.  B.  Being born in this country, he might find himself in an identity crisis and perceive himself to be absolutely American.  He speaks English without any accent, yet the people around him will never see him as such.  C.  There is not enough support for him in the Korean Adventist churches.  He needs role models within the church.  However, the first- generation parents have already established their niche, they have created a better life here in American than they could have in Korea.  These young people, then, are disenfranchised and are left to compete with the general society without their church to support them.”  

In all these speculations, I hear my father echoing the desire of the first-generation church to reach out to their youth, but being unable to relate to them.  Nevertheless, my father also contributed honest and realistic reasons for why the young people have neglected their cultural churches.  Both my parents have often expressed their frustration at the communication gap between young people and the older generation in our church.  

What can we do to resolve this separation, when it stems from something as formidable as language and culture barriers?  And most importantly, what can we do to halt this deadening of the spirit of the young adults who are so rapidly leaving the Adventist churches?

The good news is that there is a quickening of the pulse, an awakening, occurring in many of us whose connections with the church were becoming very attenuated.

One day recently I discovered a new church in Los Angeles called the Upper Room Fellowship.  Suddenly, I found myself at the door of individuals who were not afraid to question the condition of the church, and still more individuals who dared observe that our Korean churches are in dire need of repair.  With these people that God has placed into my life, I have shared critique after harsh critique of the people of our church, only to love them more for their value to make the church a better place. It is a swiftly developing church full of young people who are no longer unicultural nor simply comprised of one generation of worshippers.  

In a conversation with Pastor Sung Um of this Upper Room Fellowship, I found myself entirely rejuvenated with hope for the fate of our Korean churches.  We were frank and honest in our assessments of the clash in religious perceptions between first-generation Koreans and second-generation Korean-Americans.  According to Pastor Um, the indoctrination of the dogma of the church was applied too strongly upon the children of these Korean churches.  Thus, there is an equally strong reaction against this limited application of our religion.  However, unlike the typical frustrated skeptic who “throws up his hands,” Pastor Um suggested that we rekindle in our young people a keen and understanding appreciation for the Bible.  Throw out the Adventist dogma that our parents crammed down our throats—for a second—and help them rediscover the novelty and ubiquitous truth in the dusty depths of the Bible itself.  Pastor Um declared that the veracity of the Adventist message will ultimately shine through biblical literature if it is indeed the truth.  He apparently trusts profoundly that this message will break through.

Pastor Um approaches the jaded skepticism of the young adults with complete candor and sometimes humor when discussing the shortcomings of our parents’ religious indoctrination.  He tells his discouraged young people, “If you’re just sick of dogmatic religious rules and want to leave the church, good!”  There is reason for that feeling, he continues to explain, because that is not what the gospel is all about.  It’s utterly the opposite.  The gospel is full of joy and constant probing and questioning and praying and inspiration.  He strives to redefine everything the young adult philosophically and theologically perceives about the Adventist church.  “I am not interested in promoting “Adventism,” not because I don’t believe in it, but because I do believe in the real Adventism,” he stated.

I think this approach can apply to all Adventists.  We must strive to free ourselves from the self-inflicted bonds of doubt, criticism and condemnation and open ourselves to listening and inquiring of our Creator for his boundless wisdom.

Ethnic churches within the Adventist fold tend to be secluded from the others, largely because of linguistic and other cultural barriers. If only we could find a way to overcome them it could intensely enhance each of our spiritual journey of all of us.

There is much speculation on the future of ethnic churches in America.  I firmly believe that if Christians can do more to share their spiritual experiences with one another, in and out of their familiar settings, they will benefit in personal growth and maturation.  It is always exciting for me to learn about cultures and experiences entirely different from my own. However much immigration may ebb and flow, linguistic diversity will always exist.  Therefore, my suggestion is that Adventist churches engage in more occasions for exchange among one another. I’ve observed in a few Adventist communities that churches tend to hold monthly picnics or yearly family sports days on the weekends or camping trips open to all.  Perhaps this could become a more common practice amongst the entire gamut of cultural churches, whether they be Hispanic, Japanese, White-American or Black-American.  

There can be big rewards for such increased communication and involvement among Adventist churches.  Jesus said, “Love one another.  If there is this love among you, then all will know that you are my disciples.”   And the unchurched and lonely will want to join in that fellowship.