Final Update from Tokyo

I cannot believe my time in Tokyo is almost over. It was one of the shortest summers that I have spent (being busy with setting up our ministry and spending time with key people) and simultaneously one of the longest ones (being away from my wife, Amy). Let me give you a final update before I leave Tokyo this coming Sunday.

Two Sundays ago, I spoke from Romans 12, addressing how God builds His Body. The first verse encourages believers to present their bodies (plural) as a living sacrifice (singular), holy and acceptable to God, which is our most reasonable and spiritual response to God’s saving grace. Paul’s emphasis is not “doing” something for God but rather “being” something for God. According to Paul, what God considers to be holy and acceptable is not individuals independently dedicating their lives to God. While our personal dedication to God is good, this passage does not teach that concept. Rather, it teaches that we are to be a collective offering – believers coming together and being built up as one sacrifice offered to God.

But how can we become a collective living sacrifice when that is not natural to our regular way to thinking? Paul says God never intended us to do it with our own effort. If we rely on our own effort, the best we can do is to allow the world to change us. The biblical answer is to let God do the job of transforming us by renewing our collective mind. If we try to accomplish God’s supernatural work with our own effort, we cease to be holy, or set apart, from the world. But God’s transforming grace allows the body of Christ to be able to discern and approve God’s will. This chapter teaches that God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will is for us to live a connected life to the Body of Christ, using our gifts to increase its effectiveness, and to demonstrate our unity by practicing unconditional love and acceptance toward all men, being committed to one another for the long haul. Again, in this passage, the idea of “being” the church is emphasized, not simply “doing” it.

Last week I spoke from Colossians 3. In this chapter, Paul teaches about what it looks like to have a Heaven-focused community life based on Christ’s accomplishments. Skipping to v. 12 and the following, Paul encourages his readers to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and Christ-like forgiveness. Some might notice that these virtues do not need to be shown to God but only to other people who are imperfect. Paul caps this by saying, “And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (vv. 14-15). Paul does not teach that our goal is to be one body. He says we were called in one body in order to experience the ruling peace of Christ within the Body. In order to achieve this peace and unity in spite of our diversity, we must recognize that our ultimate motivation must be love, which is the only virtue mentioned in this section that can be shown both to God and men.

But how can we demonstrate these virtues and allow Christ’s peace to rule in our hearts? Once again, it can happen by allowing God to do it for us. Paul previously prayed for the Colossians to “be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might,” so that they may have “all endurance and patience with joy” in spite of the mess that people may cause within the Body (Col 1:11).

I have been very thrilled and satisfied as many of the members at our church are positively responding to these truths, wanting to be changed to make a difference collectively in Tokyo.

Besides preaching, I have been spending at least three days a week meeting with key people in the church and outside of the church to solidify our commitment to be a value-driven church that can effectively and attractively reach the people in the city. I have also been sharing the Gospel with three different unsaved individuals. While each case started out with casual conversations, we ended up spending hours talking about the cross and the worldview that the Bible teaches. One of them, Mr. Sato, asked me to spend another evening with him to share more about the Gospel.

They are being stirred by the truths they heard from the Bible, and I promised to continue our conversations when Amy and I return to Tokyo (hopefully very soon). The more I share the Gospel with Japanese people, the more I understand how to do it more effectively. Maybe I will share some of my thoughts on how do it in one of my future posts, but for now it is encouraging to know that I am speaking their “language,” which is something many missionaries and pastors have not been able to figure out yet.

I have also attended different cultural centers and events, trying to see how to be the church to those who live in Tokyo. For example, I attended a huge block party in the Shibuya district last week, where I enjoyed meeting new unsaved people (most of them being somewhere between the age of 18-40) and thinking how to reach them effectively with the Gospel of Christ. I have also spent a lot of time with internationally accomplished artists that are committed believers, asking them to partner with us in our future ministries. Instead of waiting for people to come to church, I am going out to where the lost people are and actively seeking forms that would be relevant. I’ll share more about these ideas later.

Additionally, I have been prayerfully approaching several members in the church asking them to consider being discipled by me for the next 7 years. I am committed to impart everything that I was entrusted with by those who discipled me to these capable young men. I would also train them to be able to take spiritual leadership within the church so that eventually we can start multiple sister churches in the city as God permits.

Please continue to pray for us. We are very passionate about sharing the Gospel with the lost in Tokyo and providing them with excellently made resources to help them grow in the city. Also, we covet your prayers for my mother, who is moving to the final stage of her battle with cancer. Now her pain prevents her from walking to the closest grocery store. It causes us great pain as we see her health deteriorate rapidly before our eyes, especially because we remember her as someone who tirelessly served the Lord over the years. She is still spiritually focused and constantly looking for new ways for us to raise our full support. We thank God for His work in her life, and we would like to be back in Tokyo with full support before she passes away.

After spending this summer here, I can finally visualize how Amy and I may be able to realistically impact the city with the Gospel of Christ. It has given us a clear understanding on what needs to be done in order to keep the movement of Jesus alive for the next 20 years (reminder: the average age of pastors in Japan today is 70).

Therefore, partner with us through regular giving today and be part of this great ministry that is changing people’s lives daily. Please pray to God and ask Him to give you a renewed passion for the lost. If you are personally incapable to partner with us financially, let’s be creative and share about us to your friends or small group that might be able to assist us. We need additional $4,000 monthly commitment before we can return to Japan. Our target date is sometime during the second week of November, which is also the time my visa runs out to be in the US. Over 600 people visit our website weekly. If each person can contribute $7 per month towards this cause starting this month, we can be in Tokyo before November. One person cannot do everything. But everybody can do something, and that small something can change the world we live in. Our next update will most likely be from the state of Ohio. If you are in the area, please let us know. Thanks again for reading.