Evangelism Without the Gospel

I have been following recent events in Korea with mounting concern. After reading through stacks of reports and documentation from many varied sources, I was confronted with the gravity of the situation brought about by the repressive policies of the U.S.-supported regime of President Park Chung Hee.

Christian churches and groups have continued to provide vital information and news in the face of complete government censorship of the press. Along with the work of the foreign press, this communication from Korean and other Asian Christians has helped to focus world attention on the Korean situation. Christianity has a long and honored tradition in Korea and has been marked by a strong strain of dissent to oppression. Christian groups played an important role in resistance to Japanese colonialism in Korea from 1910 to 1945.

Now, the Christian resistance is directed toward the regime of President Park, who proclaimed martial law in October of 1972, jettisoned the Constitution, placed his opponents under arrest, suspended political activities, and ended freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The next month, Park imposed a new Constitution which gave him unlimited powers and lifetime tenure of office. He justified these extraordinary measures by claiming a threat of communism from North Korea and stating that economic progress requires the sacrifice of civil rights.

Not everyone agreed. In October 1973, student demonstrations broke out in the Korean universities. Protest also came from Christian leaders in both the Catholic and Protestant communities demanding an end to police-state tactics and a restoration of democratic procedures.

On January 8, 1974, President Park responded with an “emergency” decree forbidding criticism of his martial law Constitution, authorizing 15-year prison terms for anyone petitioning to change or revise it. He specifically forbade any discussion of the matter in the press. Another “emergency” decree, issued on April 3, outlawed political protest under penalty of death, life imprisonment, or prison terms of not less than five years.

Many arrests followed and hundreds were convicted in secret, closed, military court-martials and imprisoned. Among those convicted were prominent Christian leaders and clergy, students, intellectuals, and former public officials.

Christians still refused to acquiesce to pressure and threats as many, who had previously been silent, now voiced public dissent. The emergency decrees were rescinded though nothing else was changed and the Christian protest has continued with pastors, priests, nuns, bishops, and thousands of Christians becoming involved. All this protest has been met with severe government opposition and coercion through the huge military and police forces built up by the Park regime with U.S. tax dollars and American training and expertise. The use of widespread surveillance, intimidation, mass arrests, torture and mistreatment of political prisoners, and the suspension of regular judicial and legal process is all well documented.

The protest of these Christians has credibility because of the demonstrated concern for social justice shown by Korean Christians in the post-war period. Christians have been active on behalf of the poor and have established ministries and projects in the slums of Korea. They have worked to improve working conditions and helped to organize trade unions. They have sought to persuade Korean authorities to be more just in the distribution of wealth and established an impressive infrastructure of Christian social-service institutions throughout South Korea, including primary and secondary schools, medical clinics and hospitals, colleges, and orphanages. These visible works of concern along with their resistance to Japanese oppression give these Christians a right and responsibility to speak out now.

The evidence of abusive political power in Korea should not be surprising to biblical people. Our theology predicts such abuse of political and economic power and history records the consequences of governmental authority assigning itself absolute value and power. What is alarming is when Christians do not raise their voice in protest of oppression or, worse, when they give tacit approval to injustice by providing religious support to such abusive power.

This was the role played by Campus Crusade for Christ in their Explo 74, held in Seoul, Korea, this past summer. In an attempt to undermine the growing Christian opposition, the South Korean government has backed religious groups and events which are supportive of the Seoul Regime. The Park government gave its support to Campus Crusade for Christ’s “Explo 74” this past August. The budget for the Crusade extravaganza was an estimated $1.5 million and many Koreans suspect there was financial support from the Park regime. Campus Crusade for Christ derived much of its income from a 10-story building in central Seoul built on land donated by the government after squatters were violently removed.

The Crusade effort fit well with the government’s campaign to “Christianize” the army and population with a religion that supports the political status quo and is rendered harmless to those in power. This is an obvious move to counter the growing anti-government feeling among Korean Christians, especially among the church’s leaders. While other Christians faced arrest, imprisonment, torture, and even death, Campus Crusade for Christ enjoyed the blessing of the Park regime.

Dr. Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ, asserted that President Park was justified in putting Korean Christians in prison for opposing him politically. He said, “There is no religious repression here. It is only political, and I believe it is for a good cause.” In an interview with newsmen he stated, “those in prison are involved in things they shouldn’t be involved in.” He said, however, that he had not discussed the matter with the Korean Christian leaders involved. Bright went on to claim that Christians had more religious freedom in South Korea than in any other country, including the United States (New York Times). In the same weeks the government had jailed a Catholic bishop, several prominent pastors and theologians, and an unknown number of Christian lay people and students for opposing Park’s assumption of absolute power.

There is a long and tragic history of repressive political rulers supporting religious concern which serves their interests while suppressing religious conviction which threatens their regime. The former is blessed and even covertly funded by the government while the latter is put down for “meddling in political affairs.” Political dictatorships will often give “religious freedom” to church leaders and evangelists who are willing to strip the gospel of its ethical demands and to preach an individualistic message which is no threat to injustice and oppression and is rendered prophetically impotent. Such evangelism is biblically irresponsible and implicitly endorses a low view of Christ by suggesting his gospel is not relevant to the wider issues of human life and society.

Evangelism in the biblical sense, to proclaim and demonstrate the whole gospel of Jesus Christ with the power to make disciples, is urgently needed in our broken world. However, evangelism without the gospel is no evangelism at all.

Jim Wallis is editor-in-chief of Sojourners.