Steven L. Shields has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977.
Idolatry and Protestant churches
By Steven L. Shields
Protestants in Korea (as in many other places) have long decried Catholicism and Buddhism as idol-worshiping groups. They've been zealous in their campaign to force their members to give up Korean culture and discard ancestor tablets and, thus, cease honoring their forbears.
At the same time, however, they fail to see their own idolatrous behavior. Protestant churches may not have statues in their halls, but they do have plenty of other idols. The Bible has become a Protestant idol.
Modern Protestants have gone far beyond the cry of the reformers who argued that the Bible should be the sole authority in the church. They were contending with an over-powerful Rome-based church that imposed its will by force on governments and the people.
It was a church that forbade ordinary people from understanding what was being said in the church by its mysterious use of Latin, centuries after nobody spoke it anymore.
Few could argue with or question priests, bishops and popes since most people did not have access to the information contained in the Bible. This unusually powerful church committed incredible atrocities and human rights violations.
Over time, though, the call of “sola scriptura” (Latin for, “only scripture”) has created an idolizing of the Bible. Some Protestants will only accept specific translations of the book. Several versions go beyond translation. Editors insert modern phrases and culture-based terms that do not exist in the ancient Hebrew and Greek texts.
For many Protestants, the very ink and paper of the Bible have become sacrosanct. About 25 years ago, when I took my pastorate in Seoul, I began to clean out cupboards and bookshelves to make room for much-needed reference books and file storage. In the moldy depths of one closet, I found several dozen worn-out Bibles.
Bindings were broken, covers were missing, pages were torn and marked up. I put them in the trash. One sister went ballistic. She argued that one could not throw away a worn-out Bible. She said they needed to be kept forever.
I argued that leather, paper and the ink used to convey the words are not holy. The term “holy” does not mean sacrosanct. Such a misunderstanding and worshiping of the book is idolatry.
Another idolatrous tradition of many churches is the worship service. Perhaps, I should say services ― since many churches have early morning services, Wednesday evening, Friday evening and all day Sunday.
Most take a roll to see which members are not present, sometimes for legitimate follow-up, but mostly to shame members for not attending. These same churches often publish individual members' offering amount, seemingly to shame them into giving more.
The resistance against canceling worship services during the national health crisis is testimony to the worship service's idolatrous nature. I worry that cash flow won out over common-sense community spirit.
Third, I contend that in many churches, the pastor has become an idol. Well-liked pastors become beloved and can command lifetime jobs that often extend far beyond average retirement age.
Judging from the many aunties I meet on the street peddling their beliefs, they are more interested in how wonderful their pastor is than how wonderful it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've heard countless times well-meaning Christians argue, “But my pastor says...”
There are so many collections of sermons by pastor so-and-so, the Christian booksellers are doing quite well financially. Many readers spend more time with the pastor's old sermons than they do learning the lessons taught in the Bible, believing their beloved pastor is the final word on Bible interpretation.
Presbyterian elders are no longer the managers of the congregation, but a team of the pastor's biggest donors. They seemingly have no power to hire and fire a pastor who needs to move on to a new ministry.
Each pastor, each minister, has particular giftedness. No single pastor should be running the same congregation for decades. He, or she, needs to let others' gifts be expressed and to be given the opportunity of moving on to a church that needs what they can bring.
However, regardless of how sincere we pastors try to be, the ego is a powerful force. It is hard to give up the adulation of adoring parishioners.
Before any of us Protestants complain about so-called idol worshiping groups, we need to look in the mirror.
Steven L. Shields (slshields@gmail.com) has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. He served as copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. He is a retired clergyman and vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea.