dpngDeconstructing your belief system is a difficult, painful task. It is however one of the healthiest and most beneficial tasks anyone can do. Are my beliefs able to stand up to criticism? That’s what I ask at the end of my book.

“UBF shepherds are taught that they must feed sheep because it is God’s calling for their life. At the same time, they are taught to consider sheep a burden in their life. This dichotomy of serving sheep being both God’s mission and a burden results in dysfunctional miserable shepherds. Sheep are considered burdens because they do not obey absolutely, they are not immediately committed to UBF, and because shepherds must work hard to raise the sheep from a terrible, selfish person to a UBF shepherd. Jesus’ call for the disciples to feed his sheep does not include considering sheep as terrible burdens. It is God’s grace that we are saved from our sins and have an opportunity to preach to others about Christ. The problem is that UBF shepherds are taught that they must do some great work to raise disciples. In reality, no one can raise disciples. Jesus said that unless compelled by the Holy Spirit, no one can come to Christ. UBF shepherds are asked to do what only God can do.”

–Anonymous, former Akron UBF member

The theology taught by UBF could be called a bring-your-own-gospel theology of sacrifice. The gospel of Jesus described in the Bible may be talked about, but the theology assumes you already know the gospel. In fact, the theology does not care what gospel message you believe, as long as you keep sacrificing to perpetuate the system and pass it on to the next generation.

In another sense, the theology taught at UBF is nebulous. Some former members have said that documenting UBF theology is like nailing jelly to the wall. How can you document a theology that is always changing and yet never changes? Writing this chapter feels like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic. No matter how I assemble the UBF theology, I can hear the missionaries refuting my thoughts. They can easily claim “We don’t teach that anymore!” because they continually rewire the insider language, adjusting to use whatever language the ex-UBF members use to criticize the group.

As an American with no knowledge of the Korean language, I will never know the actual theology that has been developed in UBF Korea. I have seen the UBF TV videos created to teach the Korean missionaries about theology. In spite of these  challenges, I am convinced that what follows in this chapter is the actual theology taught by the leaders in the group. It is what I was taught and it is what continues to be taught. I use the public record of UBF’s own self-published, publicly available Sunday lectures as my proof.

Creative Theology: A New God

Why do things change so much at UBF and yet never change? This conundrum baffles most people. UBF leaders are quick to point out all the good things they have changed in the ministry. Indeed, some of these changes are for the better. Still, members feel as if nothing changes. The dark cloud of oppression remains no matter what changes are made by the leadership. This is because the first precept of the theology held by UBF is absoluteness. The thought is that God does not change. Therefore, our theology must have a never-changing component. The absolutism nature of UBF theology can be easily identified in dozens of Sunday lectures.

Here are three prime examples from recent lectures: absolute faith, absolute being and absolute meaning (emphasis mine).

2/22/2015, Lecture on Mark 10:17-31.

“We must simply accept God’s message and messenger, Jesus, rather than justifying our sins through complicated excuses. God blesses those who have an absolute faith in him as a match maker. Jesus blesses all who come to him like a child, accepting Jesus’ teaching with eager desire of learning mind, pure-heart, simple and absolute faith.” [http://dupage-ubf.org/?p=6447]

2/21/2010, Lecture on Genesis 1:27-28.

“In lesson 1, we came to know and believe that God self-existed in eternity, he is the Lord of creation who created the universe and everything in it including man. God is the sovereign Lord who is to be praised and honoured. We also renewed our faith that I was created as an absolute being according to God’s good will.”

[http://www.yorkubf.org/XE/Message/468?ckattempt=1]

Unknown date, Lecture on Ephesians 1:1-23.

“By the will of God I became a man of mission. Of course, God sent [my shepherd] to find me when I was lost. When we view our life from God’s will, it gives us absolute meaning of our life. Paul did not waver in spite of imprisonment and many hardships because he had a strong conviction that his calling was not his personal decision, but it was the will of God. He did not despair or complain but believed the absolute sovereignty and providence of God for his life. We can overcome fatalistic and adverse human situation and trials of many kinds because God called us for campus mission. It is God who sent us to the mission field. We can have absolute meaning of our mission life in spite of many rejections and hardships.”

[http://washingtonubf.org/BibleMaterials/Ephesians/Ephesians1_msg.html]

The philosophic underpinnings of UBF theology are binary or dualistic in nature. This results in many contradictions. One of the most blatant contradictions caused by this on/off or black/white type of thinking is the teaching about the Holy Spirit. Christians view the Holy Spirit as God, and strive to discern the Spirit’s direction and work. This causes a contradiction at UBF because they teach that the UBF shepherds have such authority. There is a conflict in authority and in power. Who is doing the ministry work? Is it God, the Holy Spirit, or the shepherds? This is confusing and contradictory. In the end, the resolution is usually the ambition of the shepherd that gets the glory.

Consider this quote from a lecture given on 8/30/2013. The first paragraph sounds like a typical Christian teaching. But notice the very next paragraph that contradicts what was just written:

“There are many people who are so fascinated at the idea of being empowered by the Holy Spirit; they dream about performing great miracles in front of so many people such as healing the sick or driving out demons or even raising the dead. Sorry! They totally miss the point. The Holy Spirit comes and empowers Jesus’ disciples not to enjoy some fantastic and miraculous things, but to do the work of God very powerfully and effectively. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus’ disciples in a way that they can do God’s work effectively in any given situation.

 

For example, in Africa where still so many people are under the power of darkness and demons, the Holy Spirit empowers our missionaries to drive out demons. As a result, great spiritual battle is going on in Africa. In Islam world where Christianity is heavily persecuted, the Holy Spirit enables our missionaries to perform many miraculous healings; when this undeniable power of God revealed to them, many people turn to God in Jesus, even if it means for them to lose their social status or even their life.”

[http://dupage-ubf.org/?p=4981]

In the first paragraph, the lecturer teaches that people who seek great miracles from the Holy Spirit, such as great healings, “totally miss the point”. In the second paragraph, the lecturer teaches that the Holy Spirit “enables our missionaries to perform many miraculous healings”. So which teaching is correct? And more importantly, when will the people hearing these lectures Sunday after Sunday wake up and identify these contradictory teachings? The reality is that most Sunday services at UBF chapters bore people to tears and lull them into a stupor. All they want to do is to put in their time and avoid getting rebuked for not attending Sunday services. So no one points out these contradictions.

What does UBF theology say about the Holy Spirit? The answer is that in UBF theology, the Holy Spirit gets almost no credit and no glory. The ambition of the group members is what is praised. UBF theology is a Spirit-less theology bound up in the dualistic idea that God is merely Father and Son. This fits nicely with the Confucian ideas most Koreans grow up with. God is the Supreme Parent. When the Koreans adopt Christianity, they see no reason to question the binary thinking of a dualistic concept of God.

—Identity Snatchers: Exposing a Korean Campus Bible Cult, pg. 124-128