Exactly. And also, are they able to understand that it is their duty and an act of love to rebuke other leaders which they have known for 40-45 years? If they are not able to follow the Bible in this point, I fear this proves that their life as leaders in a ministry that teaches the Bible and trains disciples was a hypocrisy. And are they able to understand that this is an urgent matter, not something that should be dragged for even more years and decades: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

But yes, Chris, I do agree with you that if James is asked a direct question, he should answer directly. But you surely do understand that that is not part of his cultural upbringing and experience either in UBF or in Korea.

Let me give an example from the Bible. The church of Pergamum had some members or leaders who followed the school of the Nicolaitans. We don’t know exactly who the Nicolaitans were and what they taught and practiced. I have found this opinion: “The word nikos is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue. The word laos is the Greek word for the people. It is also where we get the word laity. When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people. It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people.” If it was like that, then the problems of the Nicolaitans may have been similar to those we experienced in UBF.

But anyway, maybe the problem of the Nicolaitans was something different, like propagating a hedonistic lifestyle or practicing unchristian rituals. The point is that Christ told the church to take a clear stance against the Nicolaitans. Do you think He would have accepted the answer “we don’t care about them, may future historians assess this issue”? No, He told them they should repent because they did not clearly distance themselves from the Nicolaitans. On the other hand, Christ praised the church of Ephesus for taking such a clear stance: “But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” As you see, it is important that a church and particularly the church officials (like the “president”) take a clear position towards wrong practices that have crept in and were propagated by certain people in the church.

I completely agree with what you wrote in the last part of your comment about detaching the entities “sinner” and “sin”. The example above shows this also very clearly: The church member did not hate the Nicolaitans, but they hated their practices, which is something different. In the same way, I agree we should not hate Samuel Lee or think we are somehow “better”. Maybe, if we had been raised up under the same circumstances, and were tempted by people flattering and honoring us too much and giving us too much power and control and money, we would have become corrupted too (power and money spoils people). So we should not condemn him as a person. But I think it is important to take a clear stance towards his practices. I really hate and condemn many of these practices, and so should you. It is important that UBF officials clearly express that they hate, or at least disapprove and reject certain teachings and practices that have been brought into the church by Samuel Lee. This is all I want to see from you and other “oldtimers”. And this is what is necessary for UBF from a spiritual and Biblical point of view, as the examples from the book of revelation show.

Chris, I am not in a position to answer to your specific question. I would rather refer this to the future historians. Please respect my opinion. But I want to answer indirectly about your question. I wrote part 2 of “The freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” that I am waiting it to be on this website soon. This is part of the essay.

‘Bible tells us that God loves sinners but hates sin. The two
entity “sinner” and “sin” should be detached. Many times we glue two entity “sinner” and “sin” together. In the worldly court they put them together. When we glue them together, naturally our reaction will be, “I hate him (her) because of his (her) terrible unforgivable sins” and react violently emotionally. Rather we should say I love him (her), but I hate the sin of pride in him (her). Then we can manage our hurt feeling better even though in reality it is not easy. I love S Lee, but I hate the sin of pride in him. Then am I better than him? I don’t think so. We have to bring Jesus in our equation for healing and restoration. If we glue the two entity together nobody, not even one can stand before the righteous Jesus. It is only by grace we can stand before him.’

It’s a bit ironic that you quote Alexander Strauch to me, because it was one of the first books I read after leaving UBF and recommended in all discussions with UBF members from then on.

I hope you are aware that “Biblical Eldership” as explained by Strauch is fundamentally different from what has been established by the founder and practiced in UBF so far. The shared/collective type of leadership is not only opposed to the one-man-leadership by the chapter directors locally and by the General director globally as exercised by Samuel Lee, it is also opposed to the idea of personal shepherding according to the shepherding/discipling movement that has been employed in UBF so far. As Strauch clearly explains, an “elder” in the Bible is actually the same as a “shepherd”; the words are used synonymously. That means there should not be fixed one-to-one shepherding relationships, but the group of elders works as shepherds for all the members of the church. Maybe one elder could “mentor” a new believer for some time, but he should not be considered “his” shepherd, and he should not rule and control and regulate the believer like UBF shepherds do.

So, I hope you see and agree this is a completely new and different paradigm from what UBF has been teaching and practicing so far. You said you think this paradigm is healthy and Biblical. That’s really good to hear from you. However, I had asked a bit more: If this paradigm is the healthy and Biblical model of leadership and shepherding, would you also agree that what UBF has been taught and practiced so far was unhealthy and unbiblical? I think you should be so consequent to do so, the more so as the bad fruit of this leadership style – the abuse and hurt and divisions of which we have many examples – clearly proves that the authoritarian leadership style is not only unbiblical in theory, but produces devastating results in practice.

So, I want to repeat and reformulate my questions: Do you agree that the authoritarian, hierarchical one-man leadership style that has been established and exemplified by Samuel Lee, and the idea of personal shepherding/discipling and disciple training order by personal shepherds are both unbiblical and unhealthy? I really hope you will not evade this question again, but give a clear answer. It is important for me and many others that you give a clear and straight answer, even if you claim your opinion as UBF president doesn’t matter.

My other questions are: If you are convinced that the previous leadership and shepherding style was unbiblical, which consequences should that have? Shouldn’ t there be an official apology and repentance for promoting unbiblical teachings and practices before? If there is such a big and important paradigm shift, shouldn’t this be explained and communicated in UBF conferences and workshops and “continuous missionary education” to members and missionaries? Shouldn’t it be mentioned on the website? Also (you didn’t answer this question) shouldn’t certain offices such as “general director”, “president” and “chapter directors” be abolished? Why do they exist? How can you have true collective leadership if you still have somebody who is the “director” or “president”? How can you show that you want a paradigm shift if you still use the same offices and titles?

You said that in UBF “oldtimers” are made elders or presidents. Usually, this is a good idea, as elders should be chosen based on qualification, and the older members are usually those who are most qualified. Hence the name “elder.” However, in UBF, the oldtimers are those who learned and followed and tolerated unhealthy teachings and practices over decades and caused the division with the reformers. Also, the oldtimers show a remarkable inability and/or unwillingness to communicate openly, to repent and admit mistakes, which is a necessary qualification for an elder. Most of the oldtimers are hardliners following the old style that has been proven to be problematic and wrong. So unfortunately UBF most of the oldtimers are the least qualified to be elders (I see you as an exception since you communicate which I appreciate).

* Pastoral Leadership
According to the New Testament concept of eldership, elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick and pray and judge doctrinal issues. (Titus 1:9)

(Management skills) The eldership must clarify direction and beliefs for the flock. It must set goals, make decisions, give direction, correct failures and motivate people. It must evaluate, plan and govern. Elders must be problem solvers, managers of people, planners and thinkers.
Like the apostles, the church elders must remember that although they are involved in ministering to practical care needs, their priorities must always be “prayer and the ministry of the word.” (Act 6:4)

* Shared Leadership
(A council of Equals) By definition, the elder structure of government is a collective form of leadership on which each elders shares equally the position, authority, and responsibility of the office. In contemporary terms it is referred to as multiple church leadership, shared leadership or team leadership.

Collective leadership can provide a church leader with critically needed recognition of and balance for his faults and deficiencies. We all have our blind spots, eccentricities and deficiencies. — We can see these fatal flaws so clearly in others, but not in ourselves.

Shared pastoral leadership also helps to lighten a very heavy work load. —Many overworked pastors are alone and isolated.

Human leaders are sinners and they only accomplish God’s will imperfectly. Multiple leaders, therefore, will serve as a “check and balance” on each other and serve as a safeguard against the very human tendency to play God over other people.

The orientation of shared leadership requires a great deal of patience, persevering prayer, wisdom, self-control, humility, trust, love and genuine respect for the gifts and perspective of others in the body of Christ.

Elders need to work closely together as a united team, building trust and growing together. The elders meeting, therefore, are an extremely important time for ministering to one another as well as for doing business. One of the secrets to a successful eldership is regular, effective meetings that include a major portion of time devoted to laboring together in prayer. (Act 6:4)

I also wonder why, if UBF now allegedly has “team leadership”, they still have positions like “General Director” or “President”. What are they good for, then? Why can developments like “The Well” simply be shut down by the leadership if you now have team leadership and seek consensus?

@James, can you answer this question? What is the duty of a “UBF President”. If you personal opinion “doesn’t mean much”, what is that office good for? Also you say “We are no longer operated by one man, top down style.” Can you explain when this shift happened? And why? Did you communicate this shift to the membership, and did you communicate the reasons for this shift? Did you make this shift because you reconized that one-man-leadership is unbiblical in principle, or did this shift simply “happen”, just because there is no strong, ruthlessly authoritarian charismatic leadership figure like Samuel Lee available and everybody is struggling to keep his position of power internally? If such a strong leader would raise again, would you allow him to gain power? Many questions, but I hope to get some answers.

If I were to pick one among the many disturbing attributes Joe lists rather succinctly, I would pick this: “An organization that conducts no serious evaluation of itself.” Socrates said, “Know thyself.” Both Augustine and Calvin stressed the utmost importance of having correct self-assessment in order to know God truly and vice versa. Until one has a true accurate objective assessment of self (of organization/church), there is no way to proceed to change and improve in a meaningful way.

So far any attempt to evaluate UBF has been met with resistance. These days a common one is, “It’s negative.” Then there is “UBF bashing.” Then it is, “that’s discouraging.” Then there is silence and non-response. Then there’s “what’s wrong with him/her?” It is just an endless array of ad hominems because UBF does not want to assess herself with HOT.

For years and years, we were urged to follow the direction of “one man” (a.k.a. “God’s servant,” emphasis on the singular) with absolute obedience.

And through countless Bible studies and messages, we were taught that “one man” — a heroic figure like Moses, Samuel, John the Baptist — could stand up with courage and conviction to teach the word of God to everyone, and the whole nation would repent and turn to God. We were urged to become that “one man.”

Now that the organization is truly in crisis, we are suddenly hearing the need for consensus. Consensus means that we now need the agreement of everyone, and any major decision can be killed off by a small group of people or even one person who is afraid or unwilling to change.

Why the sudden shift?

Sorry, when I said “collective wisdom and experience” I meant the sum of their individual wisdom and experience. With “intense dialogue” we can better leverage all of that and improve on the overall organizational decisions.

Organizational psychologists ask the question, “How is it possible to have an organization whose leaders may individually have IQs of 120, 130 or more, but collectively acts as though it has an IQ of 70?”

There are many reasons for this. Group dynamics can make it impossible for the organization to benefit from the talents and efforts of its members.

Patrick Lencioni wrote about this in The Advantage. A healthy organization may not have superior human resources, but it knows how to draw upon the resources that it has. What I’ve seen in UBF — and believe me, I’ve seen a lot — is an organization that has wasted huge amounts of human capital. An organization that will not learn from its mistakes but repeats them again and again. An organization that rewards and blesses and promotes activities that are proven to be unfruitful. An organization that squanders the good will of those whom God sends to it. An organization that conducts no serious evaluation of itself. An organization whose idea of strategic planning is “What passages will we study at the next conference?” An organization that continually and vehemently drives away the people whom it needs most. An organization that takes people who are a major cause of its problems and puts them in charge again and again.

aw, what you have said may be true for some individuals. But the organization is much more — or in this case, much less — than the sum of its parts.

The reason why I said, “in my opinion it will take a long time” was because we now have team leadership and it is operated through building up consensus. My personal opinion does not mean much. We are no longer operated by one man, top down style. We need to build up consensus among senior staff, elders and members and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, only God can help us to overcome mistrust. But we have to be willing to accept his help in the tangible ways that he offers here and now. It appears to me, even in this last comment, that you are unwilling to directly discuss what is actually happening here.

Why is it that I feel you are never looking directly at me, never speaking directly to me, but only looking into the distance and speaking past me? Why is it that I feel you never want to answer a direct question, but always retreat into talking about pie-in-the-sky principles apart from the actual context of here and now?

I want the church to be a launch pad, not a spiritual destination, or terminal point for learning, worship and service.”

We once asked one of our pastors when was the last time you abused your authority? He answered, “About 6 hours ago. And I went and appologized to that person today.” He often prays before sermons, “Lord, help me to get out of the way. Let us hear your words, not mine.”

You mentinoed an important point to discuss further: “In an effort to make us more spiritual, they often actually make us self-centered and unspiritual.” It is a paradox indeed, and an unhealthy paradox at that. What you describe, and what all spiritual discipines degenerate into, is a “me” focus. We start out doing disciplines and working hard in hopes of pleasing God. And that is a normal, human response. But unless we begin to dwell in the love of our Father, our good works meant to please our God become Cain’s offering to appease our God.

I’m learning that we must let go of many things and hold onto others. Not letting go leads to holding onto something that is dead. But practicing “letting go” routinely leads to a much healthier life. One problem with ubf people is that we find a good thing and we don’t let it go. We seek conclusion, but don’t find it. So we wait endlessly for our final conclusion in Heaven.

But the kingdom of Heaven is now. We are not only returning to the Kingdom one day in the future– we are citizens of that Kingdom now, and it is high time we start acting like it.

A refreshing bible study for me at our church has been James MacDonalds’ “Have the Funeral”. We talk a lot abuot forgiveness and moving on in this forum. But without conclusion, i.e. a funeral, there is no forgiveness to speak of.

I am realizing what you say Joe, faith hope and love are eternal. Those are what we hold onto, and those won’t die. But all our programs and spiritual disciplines and even our very lives will die. I’m learning that it is far more healthy to let go and ride the tide of the seasons of life that to get stuck in my wishdream of the past, no matter how good it was.

But what have I learned about who God is and what God is like? What have I learned about myself?
Going fishing, attending meetings, etc, wer ekind of like a drug to me. They gave me a shot of well-being and even euphoria. I used to think that I was closest to Jesus when I was inviting people to Bible study, and when my life was organized around this one purpose and mission. Then God showed me that I was falling so far short of really loving people. I found out how much God loves me, not because I am doing these things, but when I am in real fellowship with Him over the deepest struggles in my heart…. struggling with Him honestly, rather than keeping busy. Taking time to listen to neighbors, friends, my community, and to ask hard questions drew me closer to Him. Life has become very exciting.

What unique calling or purpose is God prompting me to follow?

I found out how much I love to ask God hard questions and listen for answers. I found out how much I love to see God at work outside the usual channels of Bible study(not saying that we don’t need to stay rooted in the Bible). I see how amazing and creative people are…how they reflect an amazing and creative God. I know God wants me to see what he is doing in my community and join in.

It reminds me again of Bonhoeffer’s chapter on Community in Life Together. (I just keep going back to this book!)

Bonhoeffer was very wary of community that fixes on an ideal and seeks to perpetuate it. Throughout this chapter he distinguishes between genuine spiritual community and “psycho-emotional” community.

“…purely spiritual life in community is not only dangerous, it is not normal. Whenever physical-familial community, the community formed among those engaged in serious work(not spiritual), or everyday life with all its demands on working people is not introduced into the spiritual community, extraordinary vigilance and clear thinking are called for. That is why it is precisely on short retreats that, as experience has shown, self-centeredness(psycho-emotional community) develops most easily. Nothing is easier than to stimulate the euphoria of community in a few days together; and nothing is more fatal to the healthy, sober, everyday life of community of Christians.”

His words are hard to follow sometimes, but what he is saying is simply that our attachment to “spiritual” community and our efforts to maintain it through meetings, conferences, retreats, etc are actually fatal to real Christian community.

Our lifelong schedule of mandatory meetings, conferences etc in UBF have become a barrier to real spiritual community. In an effort to make us more spiritual, they often actually make us self-centered and unspiritual. When I allowed family and the demands of everyday life…ie life as a member of my town, school district, etc…all the ordinary stuff of life to catch my attention again, I began to experience the life of Jesus newly, especially his love for others. It’s a paradox.

@Wesley, in my opinion this is why people get tired and unenthusiastic about UBF. Our love grows cold because we true community cannot develop under the weight of UBF’s “spiritual” environment making.

And the quote from Greaenleaf: “The world I live in, with its beauty and tragedy, with its creatures of all forms and shapes, is constantly offering me messages about who I am and who God is.”

For many years, God and certain people were gently trying to open my eyes to see myself more clearly. But I rejected what they were trying to teach me. I preferred to see an imaginary version of myself that I and my church had created. And when some Christians told me, “Don’t think about yourself. Just serve God and others. Thinking about yourself will make you self-centered,” I believed them. But that is simply not true. Without knowing ourselves, we cannot distinguish the voice of God from our own wish dreams.

Admitting some painful truths about myself was the starting point of my spiritual reawakening. That process is still happening.

“It must come to an end.” How true. Every season of this life comes to an end, whether we accept it or not. Holding on to the wish dreams of the past is a recipe for ruin. Letting go of the things that are dying is really, really hard but so necessary.

Yet some things really are eternal. According to Paul, those things are faith, hope, and love. Especially love.