In Korea for some years, the composite word 'face/first' has first been used to designate a person with a handsome and beautiful face. The writer recently during a retreat heard the word addressed to him. It was welcomed even though he doesn't believe it to be the reality but would like it to be so even though for him it is of no great importance.
However in the competitive society in which we live this reality has great meaning. In the world of appearances, the best specs (specification) is a beautiful face. A teacher is quoted as saying: if one doesn't have a beautiful face you have to study and if you don't study you have to have a beautiful face. These are the golden words of this generation. Efforts to spend time and money to undergo plastic surgery are not different from the efforts made to study. Korea is not only a strong country for education but a reason why it is a plastic surgery powerhouse.
A world where looks are of great value is not limited only to the face. Wealth, social status, relationships, credit rating, everything that can be seen externally is more important than what is hidden inside. What can be seen and touched are more important than love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance (Gal. 5:22). So rather than looking inside and changing, people only look at the outside. Is this not why people spend so much time on their appearance?
In this kind of world, honesty and faithfulness have no place to stand. It's a make-believe life, a lack of reality, just full of images like the white-washed tombs (Matt. 23:27) a life full of lies.
The problem is this world of 'Appearance-ism', is one with the information world and has gone beyond the individual and entered all aspects of society.
Information is generally spread by the mass media, SNS, etc. by the written word or video; here also we have the 'Appearance-ism' problem arising. Suggestive, sensationalistic stories and pictures, not too concerned about the truth: only externals of the situation that become embedded in the heads of the hearers and viewers.
Recently a composite word formed from the word journalist and trash (기레기) to signify that the world is being overcome with false news from the mass media is often heard.
Preaching the gospel of Jesus in such a world can be done by confronting superficiality. However, the gospel that reveals the precious work of the kingdom of God must be proclaimed as reality, not as an image, and must be proven by life and not appearances. Only then can the world understand.
What the church needs to hear is not the church is beautiful but it is different. In the past, many have gone to the cathedral in Seoul not because of the beauty of the location and church but because of the memories of the tear gas and the police clubs that persons were seeking refuge from. Appearance cannot hide the essence, and words cannot surpass life. This has to be shown in our lives.
