Flight to Korea

   Recently I was on flight with more than 400 other passengers from Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea with a duration of more than 13 hours of nonstop flight. I was seated on the back of the airplane with group of people that I can only describe as the philosophers. It did not take long before an interesting conversation was started among the philosophers. I was the only non-Korean sitting in this section of the plane. The conversation was about how superior the Koreans were to Americans in just about everything. Their culture, their economy, their educational systems, their family structure and so and so on. I just listened as they spoke among themselves.

    I decided to get my Bible and notebook down from the overhead storage to make some notes. This is when things became very interesting to say the least. At this point, one gentleman stated that even the Korean Evangelical Churches were superior to the American churches. The Korean airports and buildings were superior, cleaner and very well maintained. Finally, my silence must have bothered this same man who had made it a point to speak toward me. He could take it no longer and asked me if I was listening to the conversation and what did I have say in response. 

    I told him as well as the other philosophers that I had to agree with them. To please accept my apologies for not engaging in the conversation with them. It was quite obvious that they felt safe and superior in numbers. That was all I had to say. It became apparent to me that they were trying to provoke me into a circular conversation that would go nowhere for the next 13 plus hours.

    These endless commentaries continued, and I did my best to continue to read and make my notes. Once again, my silence was disturbing to them. They made it a point to mentioned that they believed that the President of the United States would be indicted for federal crimes and sent to prison. They went on to mention a litany of things about the American political system and how corrupt it was. The same man who had previously addressed himself to me once again, inquired what I thought. As previously stated, I told him that much of what he and the others had to say was very true. It was all that I had to say.

    My response was not sufficient nor was it satisfactory to them. They decided to press the issue a bit further. I was asked if I was not embarrassed by the seemingly barbaric nature of the American culture. I told them that I was. That was the end of my remarks. Once again, it was not enough. They continued to provoke on every level possible. I continued to ignore them. Finally, the same man asked how I could possibly defend anything of what they had said and that I had agreed to.

    I told them, gentlemen, what is man? Every day as I look around me as well as the daily news I find my heart is not much at rest. That’s because what I see in the headlines and daily news reminds me of a deep-rooted reality: there is something wrong with our world, and even with us as human beings. But what is it?

    People have given different answers to that question. Some say the problems are primarily economic, others that they’re social, and still others that they’re psychological. Certainly, these answers may give some insight into some of the symptoms of our travail, but the Bible teaches that the disease is something far deeper and more profound. In a word, the problem is sin; rebellion against the God who created us.

    I believe that sin knows no boundaries that are linguistic, cultural or national. The only difference between the Korean and American cultures is that as Koreans you are much more refine and cultured on how you sin. We as Americans are much more barbaric in our practice. However, we all have come short, (fallen) of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. Jesus, dying as our substitute, absorbed into Himself all the wrath of God against the real moral guilt of His people!

    The flight attendant came over and asked if I would like to be moved to another section of the airplane. I told her no thank you. I was pleased to stay exactly where I was. I asked if that would be a problem. She said, no. Two flight attendants for the remainder of the flight were very vigilant to say the least.

   Upon deplaning the flight, a couple that sat behind me spoke with me and apologized for what had happened during the course of the flight. I told them I had appreciated their kind words but that I did not personalize the issue. When light enters the darkness, it is the darkness that gets upset. They told me that they were Christians living in Orange County, California returning to South Korea for their retirement. They told me that they were praying for God’s grace to take over the conversations.

   I expressed my gratitude and had a quick word of prayer with them as departed from each other’s company. Please remember that sin is the problem that we must all wrestle with, but Jesus is the solution!