말보다 말씀! 빚보다 빛!

This interview is about how the doctrine of the Trinity is taught and applied in our Church. The interviewer is Nikki Moracci, a young adult director of Austin Woori Baptist Church, and the interviewee is  Hyung Joong  Kim, a senior pastor of Austin Woori Baptist Church.

Q: How is the doctrine of the Trinity communicated in our Church?

A: I mainly communicate with my church members through sermons and Bible studies on the Trinity. I preach the Trinity every December. I preach God the Father in the first week of December, Jesus the Son in the second week, and the Holy Spirit in the third week. The book that has helped me the most about the Trinity Sermon is "The Drama of Doctrine by Kevin Vanhoozer." In this book, God the Father is the original creator of the entire redemptive story, and the Son Jesus is the culmination of the unfolding of that story. And the Holy Spirit is the general director of the salvation drama.

Moreover, I mainly teach the core Christian truths for 20 weeks after the Bible study for the new church members. Then, I teach about the Trinity in that Bible study. I use the textbook Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem and Elliot Grudem."

Q: Do you ever cite the Creeds?

A: Traditionally, baptists are not close friends with creeds. I rarely mention creeds in the Church.

Q: How does the belief in the Trinity influence our ministry?

A: The doctrine of the Trinity has significantly impacted my ministry. First, the Trinity influenced the name of our Church. The name of the Church is "Austin Woori Baptist Church." Here, Korean "Woori" has several implications, among which there is also the meaning of English "We." Here "we" is an insight from the Trinity. This is based on  Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." When the three of them fellowship as one, we become one to fellowship and love each other. This is the core value of our Church.

And the Trinity is influencing our church worship. My definition of worship makes this clearer. "Worship is to celebrate God's Glory by having fellowship with Him thankfully due to God's grace, Jesus' sacrificial love, and the help of the Holy Spirit."

The benediction also refers to the Triune God. It is based on 2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

The Trinity is also affecting our prayer life. Romans 8:26 says, "The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Although our prayers are insufficient, through the supplications of the Holy Spirit, we are lifted into the loving relationship of the Triune God. When the Holy Spirit prays in us and for us, we experience God the Father as "Abba" Father, not as an abstract Creator or terrible judge, and ultimately share the glory of the Son.

Finally, I recommend Andrei Rublev's painting, Icons of the Trinity, to understand the Trinity better. Henri Nouwen commented on his painting: "we come to experience a gentle invitation to participate in the intimate conversation that is taking place among the three angels and to join them around the table. The movement from the Father towards the Son and the movement of both Son and Spirit towards the Father becomes the movement in which the one who prays is lifted and held secure."

Q: Is there a lack of Trinitarian theology and practice in the Church? Why might that be?

A: The teaching and practice of the Trinity in the Church seem to be lacking. This is because the Trinity is difficult to understand by the intellect, and the term Trinity is not found in the Bible. But we must keep this in mind because it is blasphemy to call Jesus Christ the Savior if He is not God, and worshiping Jesus becomes idolatry. Therefore, in my opinion, as Augustine mentioned, church leaders should teach and share the Trinity from a loving relationship rather than an intellectual standpoint. The Church can then share in abundance the profound meaning and mystery of the Trinity.

Copyrightⓒ 2022 by Hyung Joong Kim