동경 한달살이를 끝내고, 일본에게 빼앗겼던 주권을 되찾아 해방된 것을 기념하는 제 79회 광복절(光復節)을 대한민국 경기도 고양에서 보내게 되어서 감사합니다. 하나님께서 우리 민족을 복주셔서 빛을 회복시켜주신 것을 감사합니다. 역사교육이라는 이름으로 옛 과거에 사로잡혀서, 현재를 희생시키지 않았으면 하는 마음입니다. 두 나라의 새로운 세대는 서로에 대한 관점이 이전 세대와는 판이하게 다릅니다. 옛 일본인은 우리 부모 세대를 식민지 사람으로 비하했지만 지금 일본의 젊은이들은 우리를 부러워합니다. 동경에서 만난 일본 젊은이들은 ‘한국말을 잘한다’든지 ‘한국사람을 닮았다’고 말하면 얼굴이 확 밝아지면서 기뻐합니다. 이제는 과거를 곱씹는 대신 현실을 직시하면서 한국과 일본과의 관계를 새롭게 만들어야 할 아주 좋은 기회가 왔다고 생각합니다.
대한민국 고양에서, 이제 자랑스런 대한민국인으로서 다시 한 번 동경한달살이를 정리하고 싶습니다. 부러웠던 것은 건강한 직업문화 건강한 결혼문화였습니다. 우리나라의 최고의 종교는 불교, 기독교, 천주교가 아닌 대학교라는 것을 알고 계십니까? 저는 옛날 8년간의 해외생활을 마치고 귀국해서 바로 파악했습니다. 불교든 기독교든 천주교든 이런 종교는 단지 대학교를 섬기는 하위종교였습니다. 많은 신앙인들에게는 자기들이 소속된 종교는 대학교를 섬기는 수단일 뿐이라는 것을 직감했습니다. 장승배기와, 정릉에서 도합 약 10년간 두 개척교회 목사로서 뼈아프게 절감했던 사실입니다. 제게 양복도 구두도 기꺼이 선물할 수 있지만, 교육에 대해서는 언급하지 말아달라고 미소를 띄면서 다가왔습니다. “고 3 부모 되어보지 못하셨지요?” 네, 그때 저는, 아들 둘 다 초등학생의 학부모였을 뿐입니다.
대학교가 우상이 되어있는 대한민국에서는 볼 수 없는 세상을 동경에서 보고 왔습니다. 고등학교는 남여 모두 95%이상이 진학하지만 대학에 진학하는 경우는 여자는 51%, 남자는 57.7%라는 최근 어느해 통계를 보면 거기는 우리처럼 학벌지상주의 세상은 아닌가 봅니다. 무조건 대학에 보내야 한다는 부모들의 못말리는 열심이 판을 치지는 않았습니다. 게다가 옛날 한 때는 모두 법대를, 공대를, 지금은 의대를 보내야 한다고 설치지는 않는다는 말씀입니다. 이제는 세상이 달라졌습니다. 자녀의 개성을 존중하는 부모들이 나와야 할 것 같습니다. 게다가 성도들이라면 아이를 향한 하늘 아버지의 부름에 민감해져야 세상이 바꾸어집니다. 학벌지상주의의 배경에는 물질지상주의가 자리하고 있습니다. 하지만 좋은 직장, 빵빵한 연봉, 안정된 노후대책이 우리의 삶에 행복을 가져다 주지 않습니다. 이 사실을 인정해야 OECD 나라 가운데 자살률 최고라는 비극적 자리에서 벗어날 수 있습니다. 청소년 자살은 말할 것도 없고, 심지어 9살짜리도 자살을 하고, 실패하면 연령과 지위를 막론하고 자살로 끝을 맺는 비극이 사라질 것입니다.
또 하나 부러웠던 것은 그들의 결혼문화입니다. 어느 주일에 비바체교회를 찾아온 분이 있었습니다. 1987년 여름 학생신앙운동 덕유산 대회에서 강사인 저를 처음 만났고, 아마도 1995년 경에 두 번째로 우리 교회를 다녀가셨다는 기억 때문에, 저를 만나려고 비바체 교회를 오셨습니다. 일본대학에 교수로 계신 분이십니다. 1년 여 전에 따님을 결혼시킨 이야기를 들려주면서 공짜로 시집을 보냈다고 좋아하셨는데 그것은 일본의 결혼문화 때문입니다. 보통 일본 청년들은 부모로부터 아무 것도 기대하지 않습니다, 다만 한국 출신에다가 외동딸만 둔 부모로서 먼저 제안을 해도 사양하고, 자기들의 힘으로 새 출발을 했다고 싱글벙글하셨습니다. 청년 두 사람이 벌면 한국돈으로 4~5백만을 벌어서 세금내고 150만원 정도를 집세로 내면서, 앞뒤로 바스켓이 달린 자전거만 있으면 된다고 생각하는 모양입니다. 지하철이 가까이 있기도 하고 승용차를 사용하려면 주차공간이 있어야 구입할 수 있고 주차비도 만만치 않기 때문입니다. 그래서 자전거 앞뒤에 아이들을 싣고 다니는 모습은 흔한 풍경입니다. 세계적으로 보면 일본과 한국 다 같이 세속주의 사회의 선두 주자인데 비해서, 이처럼 건전한 면도 있다니 참 놀랍기도 하고, 다른 한편 기독교 신자로서 부끄럽기도 합니다. 일본보다 훨씬 많은 그리스도인이 있지만, 신사가 편의점보다 더 많다는 일본보다도 세속주의에 매몰되어 있기 때문입니다. 너희가 하나님과 재물을 겸하여 섬기지 못하느니라 (마 6:24).
Having completed my month-long stay in Tokyo, I am grateful to spend the 79th National Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol)—commemorating the recovery of sovereignty once lost to Japan—in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. I thank God for blessing our people and restoring light to our nation. At the same time, my earnest hope is that we do not sacrifice our present by remaining trapped in the past under the banner of historical education. The younger generations in both countries view one another quite differently compared to past generations. While Japanese of old looked down on our parents' generation as colonial subjects, young people in Japan today look at us with genuine admiration. When young Japanese I met in Tokyo were told, "Your Korean is so good," or "You look Korean," their faces would immediately light up with joy. I believe an opportune moment has arrived for us to face reality rather than brooding over the past, forging a renewed relationship between Korea and Japan.
Now, back in Goyang, as a proud citizen of the Republic of Korea, I would like to reflect once more upon my month in Tokyo. What I truly envied was their healthy vocational culture and healthy marriage culture. Did you know that the supreme religion in our country is neither Buddhism, Christianity, nor Catholicism, but "University"? I realized this immediately after returning home from living abroad for eight years long ago. Whether Buddhism, Christianity, or Catholicism, all these religions served merely as subordinate faiths ministering to the god of "University." I instinctively sensed that for many believers, the religious community they belonged to was simply a means to serve their university ambitions. This was a truth I painfully came to realize during my roughly ten years serving as a church-planting pastor at two churches in Jangseungbaegi and Jeongneung. People were more than happy to present me with suits or shoes, yet they would approach me with a smile and politely hint, "Pastor, please don't preach about education. You've never been the parent of a high school senior preparing for college entrance exams, have you?" Indeed, back then, both of my sons were only elementary school students.
In Tokyo, I witnessed a world unseen in South Korea, where universities have become idols. While high school enrollment is well over 95% for both men and women, recent annual statistics show that only about 51% of women and 57.7% of men advance to university. It seems their society is not consumed by academic elitism like ours. The uncontrollable obsession of parents insisting that their children must enter university at any cost was nowhere to be found. Furthermore, there was no frantic frenzy where everyone once rushed to study law and engineering, and now medicine. The times have truly changed. We need parents who respect the unique individuality of their children. Moreover, Christian believers must become sensitive to the Heavenly Father's specific calling upon each child if our world is ever to be transformed. Beneath academic elitism lies materialism. Yet, an elite job, a high-paying salary, and a secure retirement plan do not bring true happiness to our lives. Only when we honestly acknowledge this can we break free from the tragic reality of having the highest suicide rate among OECD nations. Only then will the tragedies subside—not only adolescent suicides, but heartbreaking incidents where even nine-year-olds take their own lives, or where people, regardless of age and status, end their lives after facing worldly failure.
Another aspect I deeply envied was their culture surrounding marriage. One Sunday, someone came to visit Vivace Church. He remembered first meeting me in the summer of 1987 when I was a speaker at the Student Christian Movement (SFC) Deogyusan conference, and visiting our church a second time around 1995. Driven by those memories, he came to Vivace Church to see me. He is currently a professor at a university in Japan. Sharing the story of his daughter's wedding about a year ago, he beamed with joy, remarking that he had married off his daughter "for free"—a blessing made possible by Japanese wedding culture. Typically, young people in Japan expect nothing from their parents. Even when this father, who is of Korean heritage and has an only daughter, offered to help financially, the young couple politely declined and happily started their new home through their own means. If the couple together earns around four to five million Korean won, pay their taxes, and spend about 1.5 million won on rent, they seem content so long as they have a bicycle with baskets in the front and back. The subway is nearby, and owning a car requires proof of a designated parking space, not to mention the steep parking fees. Thus, seeing parents cycling with children nestled in the front and rear baskets is a common and charming sight. Globally, both Japan and Korea stand at the forefront of secularized societies, yet seeing such healthy and sensible simplicity was truly surprising—and, from a Christian standpoint, deeply humbling. For though we have vastly more Christians than Japan, we are far more deeply submerged in secularism than a country where Shinto shrines outnumber convenience stores. "You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24).
Nadat ek my maandlange verblyf in Tokio voltooi het, is ek dankbaar om die 79ste Nasionale Bevrydingsdag (Gwangbokjeol)—wat die herstel herdenk van die soewereiniteit wat eens aan Japan verloor is—in Goyang, Gyeonggi-provinsie, Suid-Korea deur te bring. Ek dank God dat Hy ons volk geseën en die lig herstel het. Terselfdertyd is my hartewens dat ons nie in die naam van historiese onderwys in die verlede vasgevang bly en sodoende die hede opoffer nie. Die nuwe geslagte van albei lande kyk heeltemal anders na mekaar as die voriges. Terwyl die Japanese van ouds ons ouers se geslag as koloniale onderdane geminag het, kyk die jongmense van Japan vandag met groot bewondering na ons. Wanneer jong Japanese wat ek in Tokio ontmoet het, hoor dat hulle "goed Koreaans praat" of "soos 'n Koreaan lyk", helder hul gesigte dadelik op van blydskap. Ek glo dat 'n wonderlike geleentheid aangebreek het om die werklikheid nugter in die oë te kyk in plaas daarvan om oor die verlede te tob, en om 'n nuwe verhouding tussen Korea en Japan te bou.
Hier in Goyang, as 'n trotse burger van die Republiek van Korea, wil ek graag my maand in Tokio weer in oënskou neem. Wat ek werklik beny het, was hul gesonde beroepskultuur en gesonde huwelikskultuur. Weet u dat die vernaamste godsdiens in ons land nie Boeddhisme, die Christendom of Katolisisme is nie, maar "Die Universiteit"? Ek het dit dadelik besef toe ek jare gelede ná agt jaar se verblyf in die buiteland na Korea teruggekeer het. Hetsy Boeddhisme, die Christendom of Katolisisme—al hierdie gelowe was bloot ondergeskikte godsdienste wat die afgod van "Die Universiteit" moes dien. Ek het instinktief aangevoel dat vir baie gelowiges hul eie godsdiens bloot 'n middel tot die doel was om universiteitstoelating te verseker. Dit was 'n pynlike werklikheid wat ek oor sowat tien jaar as leraar van twee nuutgestigte gemeentes in Jangseungbaegi en Jeongneung intens beleef het. Mense sou my met graagte 'n pak klere of skoene skenk, maar met 'n glimlag het hulle my subtiel gemaan: "Dominee, moet asseblief net nie oor onderwys praat nie. U was sekerlik nog nooit die ouer van 'n matrikulant wat vir universiteit voorberei nie, nè?" Ja, destyds was albei my seuns nog net laerskoolkinders.
In Tokio het ek 'n wêreld gesien wat 'n mens nie maklik in Suid-Korea teëkom nie, waar universiteite tot afgode verhef is. Hoewel meer as 95% van sowel seuns as dogters hoërskool toe gaan, toon onlangse jaarlikse statistieke dat slegs sowat 51% van die vroue en 57,7% van die mans universiteit toe gaan. Dit wil voorkom asof hulle samelewing nie soos ons s'n deur akademiese elitisme oorheers word nie. Daardie ontembare ywer van ouers wat aandring dat hul kinders ten alle koste universiteit toe moet gaan, was nêrens te bespeur nie. Daarbenewens was daar geen histeriese stormloop waar almal eers regte of ingenieurswese, en deesdae medisyne, moet studeer nie. Die tye het verander. Ons het ouers nodig wat die unieke individualiteit van hul kinders respekteer. Bowendien moet gelowiges fyn ingestel wees op die hemelse Vader se besondere roeping vir elke kind as ons die wêreld wil verander. Agter akademiese prestasiedrang skuil materialisme. Tog bring 'n deftige werk, 'n allemintige salaris en 'n veilige pensioen nie ware lewensgeluk nie. Eers wanneer ons hierdie waarheid erken, kan ons losbreek uit die tragiese posisie van die hoogste selfmoordsyfer onder OESO-lande. Eers dan sal die hartseer verdwyn—nie net tiener-selfmoorde nie, maar selfs gevalle waar negejariges hul eie lewe neem, of waar mense, ongeag ouderdom of aansien, weens aardse mislukking hul lewe beëindig.
Nog iets wat ek baie beny het, was hul huwelikskultuur. Een Sondag het iemand Vivace Gemeente besoek. Hy het onthou dat hy my vir die eerste keer in die somer van 1987 ontmoet het toe ek 'n spreker by die Studente-Geloofsbeweging (SFC) se Deogyusan-konferensie was, en dat hy ons gemeente omstreeks 1995 vir 'n tweede keer besoek het. Uit daardie herinneringe het hy na Vivace Gemeente gekom om my te groet. Hy is tans 'n professor aan 'n Japannese universiteit. Toe hy vertel van sy dogter se troue sowat 'n jaar gelede, het hy met 'n breë glimlag gesê dat hy sy dogter "verniet" laat trou het—danksy Japan se huwelikskultuur. Gewoonlik verwag Japannese jongmense niks van hul ouers nie. Selfs toe hierdie pa, wat van Koreaanse afkoms is en net een dogter het, aangebied het om finansieel by te dra, het die jongpaar dit hoflik van die hand gewys en op eie krag 'n nuwe begin gemaak. As die twee jongmense saam sowat vier tot vyf miljoen Koreaanse won verdien, hul belasting betaal en ongeveer 1,5 miljoen won aan huur bestee, voel hulle heeltemal tevrede mits hulle net 'n fiets met mandjies voor en agter het. Die moltrein is immers naby, en om 'n motor te besit, vereis 'n bewys van 'n eie parkeerplek, om van die duur parkeerkoste nie eens te praat nie. Daarom is die gesig van ouers wat hul kinders voor en agter op die fiets rondry, 'n alledaagse en pragtige toneel. Wêreldwyd gesproke is Japan en Korea albei aan die voorpunt van gesekulariseerde samelewings, maar om so 'n gesonde, nugter leefwyse te sien, was werklik verrassend—en as Christen terselfdertyd 'n bietjie beskamend. Want hoewel ons veel meer Christene as Japan het, is ons baie dieper in sekularisme vasgevang as 'n land waar daar meer Sjinto-heiligdomme as geriefswinkels is. "Julle kan nie God én Mammon dien nie" (Matt. 6:24).