A Sacrifice Worth Paying

A Sacrifice Worth Paying
Alice Smith

I’m amazed at the Christian men and women who through the ages were capable of soaring above their suffering to bring maximum glory to God. Such is the case with the Rev. Ki-ch’ol Chu from P’yongyang, South Korea. The name K-ch’ol Chu has become a symbol of martyrdom in Korea. Rev. Chu lived faithful to Jesus during the darkest hours of Korean history by adamant resistance to commands to worship the Shinto sun goddess of Japan. He knew he couldn’t serve two gods, so Rev. Chu refused Japanese pressure, nor to compromise his godly principles. After five torturous imprisonments, Rev. Chu died in prison.
Most Korean Christians are familiar with this martyr. And possibly his commitment, and those of other martyrs like Rev. Chu, today many Korean Christians live on the cutting edge of sacrificial missionary service and fervent intercessory prayer worldwide. They are militant for God; both those who live in South Korea, as well as those who live here in the U.S. and throughout the regions of the world.
Interestingly, the last words Rev. Chu shared with his members of the Sanjonghyon Church were:
“If I avoid the hardships I suffer for my Lord, what will I
say to Him when He asks me on that day: ‘You have
enjoyed my name, my peace and my joy. What did you do
with my cup of suffering?’ If I avoid the cross my Lord has
given me, the cross I have to carry for my Lord, how can
I bear to look at His face when He asks me on that day,
What did you do with the cross I gave you?’” Kwang-jo Chu,
More Than Conquerors, www.daesung.com

Question: Are you this determined to sell out to Jesus? Discussed in the book, Bibliography: The Korean War: “Korea had for years been dominated by the Chinese and Japanese government. By 1876 Korea was forced to accept a lopsided trade treaty with Japan, with similar treaties signed with the U.S., France, Briton, Russia, and Germany. The result of victory from the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 left Japan as the only major power, free to fully exploit Korea in a mad quest for imperial glory.
Even though Christianity had been introduced and received by the Koreans as early as the late 1800s, by 1905 Japan had assumed administration over Korea, which technically remained a separate country (although pretty much in name only). By 1910 even that farce was eliminated with the formal annexation of Korea by Japan, thus giving the new expansionist country its first colony. All government functions (police, fire, roads, etc.), as well as all industries, were taken over by Japanese, and Korea's economy was re-geared towards providing Japan with food and material for the expanding imperialistic efforts. Japanese became the official language, and Shintoism became the official religion. Usage of the Korean language (in print at first) was banned, and local religions were persecuted.
Such exploitation expanded in 1937, when Korea became the strategic base for operations in the Japan invasion of China. Korean men were conscripted to fight in the army, and Korean women were conscripted for use as sex slaves for Japanese troops. All use of the Korean language was banned outright, and all Koreans were forced to adopt new Japanese names. Punishment was severe, as evidenced with the good will gesture of the Japanese in the 1990's to return all of the cremated noses of hundreds of Korean women, which were cut off during this early period of Korean history. All forms of torture were used to keep the populace under control, and the country was laid waste by the oppression and exploitation of Japan. The situation was to last up to the end of the Second World War, when Korea was finally liberated by the Soviets and Americans.” [Author’s note: For brevity's sake, and my own sanity, I've kept the invective set on low. However, I can't emphasize enough the sheer amount and depth of Japanese cruelty of the time. Several museums in Korea go into this with more detail. But if you need modern events for perspective, just imagine the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, lasting for 40 years.] Source: Adapted from the Bibliography: The Korean war; Hastings, Max; 1987, USA, Romadata Ltd. South Korea, A Country Study; Savada, Andrea Matles; Shaw, William; 1992.
I'm inspired by testimonies such as Rev. Chu. So right now let’s adopt a “Korean mindset” that is willing to lose all to gain Christ, for afterall, this kind of sacrifice is one worth paying.