It has been said that when the 16th-century reformers looked out across Europe, they did not see a lack of church spires but rather they saw churches that in word and practice obscured the gospel.

 

The first generation reformers saw a need to recover the ancient truths of Scripture concerning the simple regulated worship of God and the proper understanding of the gospel; they saw a need to recover the ancient biblical understanding of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as well as church government. Despite all the churches and outward religious observance, the reformers saw a great multitude of unreached people. In the Spirit of Christ and in the language of Scripture, they saw sheep without shepherds, and they had compassion on them and began to teach them many things (Matthew 9:35-36; Mark 6:30-34). This is what we see today when we look out across South Korea.

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The past success of Christianity on the Korean peninsula is well known, but what is often less well known is the present state of theology and practice in the local churches of South Korea. When we look out across South Korea, we see a great multitude of unreached people, and in a great number of the pastures, we see sheep without shepherds. We see a great need for a recovery of the ancient biblical understanding of the simple worship of God, the law and the gospel, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and church government. We are convinced that the recovery of these ancient truths in theology and in practice are exactly what modern Koreans need for the sake of their souls.