But just as I felt uneasy when my mother suddenly bought me a toy, the human relationships I formed out of necessity often made me feel uneasy.
Perhaps it was because those born of necessity knew that when "need" disappeared, so too did their very reason for "existence." They were always anxious and sensitive to people's judgments and gazes.
I understood the gospel of grace with my head and confessed it with my mouth, but I did not believe it with my heart.
Being useful was the only way to feel secure.

While continuing to stand in the position of a worship leader at the worship site, like Adam and Eve who covered themselves with leaves, I tried to cover up my fundamental shame through my ministry.
I used to feel a sense of relief when I hid behind the guitar.
I didn't know it then, but I later realized that the place of worship could become a place of utter self-deception.
The attention, gaze, interest, and recognition I received while leading the praise drew me closer to that place.
My greatest fear was becoming useless to God and people.
Such a being was as good as dead.
I was often overcome by the fear that everyone would abandon me if they found out who I was.
It wasn't until I got married and became a father that I was able to gradually let go of that thought.

…
God, who exists as a perfect community, has no shortcomings whatsoever.
Therefore, he does not need my help.
Yet, he desires the worship of his people toward him.
It's not because he's a low-self-esteem king who's hungry for praise.
Worship is not a tool to fill God's shortcomings.
God is not humbled by our ignorance, nor is He exalted by our praise.

Worship is a natural and proper act toward a beautiful God.
So we confess that God is worthy to be praised.
Just as all the beautiful things in the world are met with praise, so too is the grateful worship of God the natural response of all creatures.
It is we who truly need worship.
We can live only by worshipping God.

God did not create man because he lacked or needed anything.
The greater Us (US), who said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), made the lesser Us (us) in His own image.
God wants us and our worship.
That desire still creates various needs.
At the end of every need that God creates is His will.
That desire, like a powerful magnet, is pulling us into the eternal community of love, even at this very moment.

---From "01 Wants and Needs"

I have led worship services at international Christian events attended by church leaders from many countries.
There was a dancer on the same team, but the organizers decided that it was inappropriate for a female dancer to dance in front of the male leaders sitting on stage, so she ended up performing from below the stage.
Even today, it is like this. How would the people there have viewed the woman wiping Jesus' feet with her hair?
Even by today's cultural standards, this deeply inappropriate behavior must have seemed to the Pharisees present at the time. This incident would have been enough to provide fodder for the religious leaders, who were already eager to find fault with Jesus.
Jesus silences the crowd's commotion by saying that he accepted the woman's tears and kisses as "hospitality" and the perfume as "worship."

What would Jesus, who accepted this woman's inappropriate expression as a welcome worship, say to those today who rashly condemn their worship as biblical and others as syncretistic? If Jesus were to visit our town today, wouldn't he enjoy the dancing of African churches, the lengthy representative prayers of Karen churches, the sumptuous feasts of Arab churches, the liturgies of traditional churches, and the Korean church's prayer service and welcome to new believers?
All worship is biblical and at the same time clothed in the cultural garb of its time and place.
Even if you feel uncomfortable, what if you withhold judgment and approach unfamiliar worship with an open mind and a willingness to learn? Perhaps you'll hear Jesus' voice saying, "I like their worship!"

---From "02 Worship, It Was Really Good!"

Perhaps our worship has become like watching a concert in a concert hall. We laugh and cry while watching scenes like those sitting next to us, but once the performance is over and we step outside, we become strangers and go back to our own lives.
Why do we worship together but fail to experience a deeper connection with one another? Why are our hearts and bodies no longer connected?
---From "20 Distance of the Body, Distance of the Heart"

In America, an individualistic culture, the person I am talking to is important.
So, I don't usually stop conversations.
Because I consider it rude to the person in front of me.
However, those who grew up in a collectivist culture will stop what they are doing and welcome everyone when someone comes in.
It is a natural hospitality for them.
Across cultures, people generally welcome others.
It is a cosmic and universal phenomenon.
Hospitality is a way of life for people to live together, a tradition that dates back to ancient societies when there was no social welfare system.
And it was a universal welfare for those who had nowhere to lean on.
Hospitality is evangelical.
Hospitality embodies God's unconditional acceptance.
However, the boundaries of hospitality vary across cultures, making hospitality essential but complex in its delivery.
As we practice hospitality, it is natural to encounter and ponder the many complex aspects of hospitality.

Hospitality also carries risks.
In Genesis 19, Lot welcomes two angels into his home.
As Hebrews 13:2 says, Lot unknowingly entertained angels through his hospitality.
But this causes a group of evil men from Sodom to invade the house, and Lot gets into trouble.
If we had not practiced hospitality, we might not have encountered these difficulties.

Just when you think you've become accustomed to the practice of hospitality, there comes a time when it feels unfamiliar again.
None of us have all the answers when it comes to hospitality.
You only learn as much as you go, and even then, there are situations where you have to revise it.
Moreover, practicing hospitality across cultures can be quite challenging.
Because what is considered hospitality in one culture may be considered rude in another.

---From "24 Hospitality Requires Courage"