Pastor Chris' Feb. 18th Column from KoreaTimes

Knocking down a wall of separation
February 18, 2006 / Number 175.

A few Sundays ago I had the opportunity to preach a message to a group of Korean young people. The message was about the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well. I was explaining the four walls of separation that Jesus demolished with his simple request “give me a drink.” The first wall that Jesus knocked down was gender – He spoke to a woman. The second wall was religion – he spoke to woman who worshiped on a mountaintop. The third wall was status – he spoke to an outcast, a woman living outside of marriage.

The fourth wall of separation was race. Jesus spoke to a mixed-race woman. The Jews despised the Samaritans more than any other group because of their mixed blood. The proud people of Judea could trace their ancestry back to Jacob, but the people of Samaria could not. About five hundred years before the time of Christ, conquering Assyrians forcibly mixed the people of Israel with inhabitants of neighboring nations.

As I was explaining this situation to teenagers, I reached back into my Korean vocabulary and found a word that I hadn’t spoken in a long time – the word was “twegi” [Half-breed]. Many of the young people were uncomfortable at this word and squirmed in their seats. Samaria was nation of “twegis” and was therefore scorned by pure-blooded Jews.

After the church service, the EM pastor apologized to me about the low attendance for my service. He reminded me that it was Super Bowl Sunday. Many regular church attendees, especially boys, were absent in order to join Super Bowl parties. I understood the situation replying that my own son was watching the big game with his friends.

The next morning, I picked up the Korean Times and couldn’t miss the banner headlines of the Super Bowl. I thought to myself, “This is unusual. American football does not typically warrant so much attention”. As I read more closely, I discovered that the Most Valuable Player of this game was identified as a “Korean”. I called to my son and said, “Did you know that Hines Ward was Korean?”. He was surprised and said, “You’re kidding. I didn’t know that”. My mixed-race son thought that he was Black with some unusual ancestry.


As I read more in the Korea Times, it became apparent that all this attention did not concern American football at all but was all about Korean pride. (If Willie Parker had won MVP, would Koreans have cared?) Just as Hwang Woo-suk was overthrown as a point of national pride, Hines Ward was being haled as “the first Korean to win a football MVP”. What is it in the Korean psyche that worships individuals who are “most valuable” on an international stage?

I was in Korea about the time Hines Ward was born. In 1976 there were many newborns in Korea that looked like this future MVP. Most of these Black mixed-race children were openly despised and many put up for adoption to the West. They were not claimed as “Korean” but insulted as “twegi”. Thirty years later, is this adoration of Hines Ward just another case of Korean hero worship? Or is Korea finally attaining the attitude of Christ, where mixed-race is not a barrier to full inclusion? It is probably just another case of hero worship, but I pray that Hines Ward is at the front of a long parade that includes all mixed-race Koreans and not just those who win impressive awards.