Project Arctos Contributor - Scott Yi
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Favorite hymn/worship song:
“Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?” by Delirious? is an oldie but a goodie. I’ve noticed that in our individualistic times, the themes for worship music tend toward introspection and self-abasement. My favorite songs are the ones that compel us to stop looking at ourselves and instead celebrate and rejoice—especially in times like these where it seems like there’s not enough things to rejoice in. That’s what we need church for, to remind us that there’s a joy in Christ that can confront the pains of this world and even redeem it one day.
Type of church context:
I grew up in the Korean Presbyterian Church. There weren’t enough attendees to have a separate English service, so because of my limited language skills I often sat in service twiddling my thumbs and offhandedly scrolling through the Bible. The liturgy was very formal and repetitive. Despite my gripes with the hierarchies and traditionalism that is so prevalent in East Asian cultures, one thing I’m thankful for is the experience of having everyone stay after church for the community meal. It felt like a more authentic gathering of believers to have literally everyone who was in the service sit down to break bread together—whereas what you have in some American churches are people rushing out the door to retreat into their own enclaves as fast as possible. It’s good to force ourselves to be around people we don’t know that well, whereas the natural human instinct is to stick to our own bubbles.
Commune:
My wife and I saw a funny t-shirt the other day that read: “Jesus loves you… but I don’t.” Even though we had a good laugh about it, it also struck me as deeply theological. What spurred my attraction to God was this almost insane idea that there was someone out there who loved everyone. In my pre-Christian mentality, if there weren’t people out there that I actively hated, the best feelings of humanitarianism I could possibly muster was a bland gesture of tolerance toward other human beings. This passive tolerance is also the best that secular humanism has to offer. But the Gospel says there’s this guy who has seen all the terrible things I’ve ever done, and yet He still wants to go to me and be with me, to eat with me, to fight for me. That’s someone I want to be like.
For my daily spiritual life, I think it’s important to connect the spiritual to the tangible. Anyone can spend five minutes a day looking through Scripture, but it’s harder to give away 10% of your income when the car needs to be repaired or the heating bill goes up. Every Christian says they care about having community, but it’s harder to actually walk down the street and try to get to know your neighbor. I try to work on things like that (but not always successfully).
Create:
Christians should create more things, because our God is a creative God and I believe that being a “new creation in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) means letting God lead us into new initiatives, new adventures, and new challenges. In 2015, I started a nonprofit that trained urban teenagers in entrepreneurial skills. In 2017, I applied to be the lead pastor of an Asian-American church. During the pandemic I created a Christian podcast with my friends. These days, I’m taking on creation care opportunities I never would have considered in the past—things like becoming a licensed tree keeper, making my own compost, and going carless. If you’re really a Christian, then the Holy Spirit is lighting new ideas and new passions inside of you all the time—the only thing that can stop you is other people, or yourself.
Connect:
I see the present challenge of Christian community being one of globalism vs. tribalism. I think believers could be so much more impactful if we rallied around the things we really cared for, especially the young folks who have the talent and the energy to accomplish more. I know so many brothers and sisters who want to do more for the education system, for Black Lives Matter, for the poor, for reversing climate change. But oftentimes these global desires are kept suppressed under the present needs of the local congregation: maintaining small group schedules, volunteering for kids ministry, playing on the worship band, things like that. I wish there was a bridge to bring these two concerns together because there’s only so many hours we can sacrifice and every year church attendance goes down. So we need to decide: what is the best way to improve the witness of the church? What is the best way that we can love this world and spread the Good News at the same time? It’s a conversation every church should be having.
Articles written by Scott: