by Richard Shin

Pastor Patrick graciously allowed me to invite myself over to his place. As we sat in his living room, he talked very honestly about his thoughts on his ordination, the mutual love between him and the church, and his future role as Senior Pastor of Lighthouse Bible Church. The text does not do justice to the amount of personality he showed during the interview. I hope that, as you read it, you would imagine Pastor Patrick saying these things. And through it all, I really hope you will come to understand him more as he assumes a greater responsibility in the coming months. At the same time, I hope you also come to understand that we worship the much gracious and loving God who grants him that responsibility.

Can you tell us who you are, and what your role is?

My name is Patrick Cho. I am currently an Associate Pastor at Lighthouse Bible Church, but this summer when the San Jose church plant team leaves with Pastor John, I will be stepping in as Senior Pastor.

How do you feel? Are you scared?

People ask me this a lot. My response is almost always the same. I don’t think “scared” is the best word. I’m not scared because obviously I know God is in control. And actually given the situation, it actually breeds a lot more confidence. The church was planted ten years ago, and we’re still here. And just to have seen God’s faithfulness in the past ten years, it makes you wonder, “Is He just going to abandon us now? Did He bring us this far just to leave us?” No. It’s hard for me to accept that. As God has walked with us, we trust that He will continue to walk with us. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy; I’m sure it’s going to be challenging. I’m sure I don’t even know half of what I’ll experience, even in the near future. But I’m not scared. No. I think more than anything, I just recognize that I need to be dependent. And I think that’s one very important perspective.

What are some fears you have to trust God with?

Well, there are all sorts of unknowns. For instance, when the church plant leaves, what if the San Diego church dwindles down to like ten people? You can’t really get caught up with the what-ifs because all sorts of stuff could happen. A storm could come through, and a tree could fall on our church building. Or I die (chuckle). All sorts of different things could happen. Again, I just look at the pattern of ministry that we’ve had the past ten years. Even though there’s a good group of people leaving for San Jose, the majority of the church is still staying. And I think the spiritual atmosphere has been pretty consistent over the years. We’ve had a lot of members who just love the Lord and want to grow in His Word and want to serve and help. Personally, I think we have one of the most generous congregations in the world. Because of that, I don’t get too worried about all the crazy what-ifs. Like I said, I’m just confident that God has led us this far, and He will continue to lead us. Personally I’m a firm believer that God stands for those who stand for Him. Deciding to go plant the church in San Jose is not the “easier” road. We’re taking the more difficult road. Because of that, I think God will bless it.

Throughout the ordination process, and just your overall ministry at church, you and your family had to go through a lot, I’m sure. What has been a significant concern or challenge so far? And significant blessing, if different?

Over the past ten years, John and I have spent so much time together. It really has come to the point where I can finish his sentences. And we have a good sense of how we feel and what we’re going through and what’s bothering us; we have a good read for each other. I’ve just been so thankful for all the training I’ve received on the way. I think one of the things that Christine and I talked about is that once John leaves for the church plant, Angela’s going to be leaving too. That’s been something we’ve been wondering what it’ll be like. She does so much to help the ladies of the church. Christine and Ange, although they do spend a lot of time together, it’s nowhere near the time John and I spend together. And I think that will be challenging. For both of us, we’ll have big shoes to fill. One thing I’m thankful for is that it’s not our job to live up to them. Our job is to do our best with what God has given us and how God has gifted us. I’m not John Kim and Christine’s not Angela Kim. And hopefully we won’t be expected to be. I’m sure in some ways when John leaves, certain things will change. We’re different people with different styles and different focuses, different drives, different passions. It’s not going to be the “same as always”.

To answer that question, some things are going to change and people typically don’t like change. That’s why we’ve been warning the church to brace itself. It’s going to be a changing year. There’s going to be a lot of change coming this year. That’s what happens when thirty people up and leave with two-thirds of the pastoral staff. That’s just the way it’s going to be.

One blessing is, while I always knew ordination was kind of there, and I always knew at some point I would have to go through it, but I was hoping to go through life being able to avoid it. Maybe Jesus would come back or something. It’s kind of like graduating seminary. When I graduated seminary, I thought, “Wow, how did I just do that?” That’s crazy. What an accomplishment, not for myself, but to see God lead me through that. I remember feeling so much joy. He didn’t have to, you know? He didn’t need me. And to have graduated with a bit of success too is really reassuring for me. And the same thing with ordination; I told John, I don’t want to just pass. If I’m going to study for it, I’m going to do well. It actually puts a little bit more pressure on me. I don’t want to just get by. I want to put my best effort into it. When it was all over, I just remember thinking, “Wow, He did it again!” God helped me through it again. I mean… I really have no reason to doubt. I have no reason to think God’s going to just leave us. He’s just been so amazingly faithful and gracious to us. It’s been great.

What doctrine or particular passage from the Bible has been encouraging you the most in your endeavor to be ordained and eventually lead Lighthouse?

Sure, sure… Actually, this one’s kind of easy. I’ve always drawn the analogy of Moses and Joshua and John and myself. Not to say that we’re of that spiritual caliber, but the circumstances are very similar. Kind of like what I shared during the ordination service. Both are of significant change, a transition of leadership, tremendous responsibility. There are a lot of parallels between the two. And if you look at Joshua and his character, he had sometimes an imbalanced sense of loyalty for Moses, and sometimes I think just the fact that I’m young, that comes across too. I’ll speak before I should, and I’ll come to John’s defense, like “how dare anyone say anything bad about John?” kind of thing. I see a lot of that parallel just to see how Moses trained up Joshua and trusted him with leadership and all of that.

And a significant chapter is Joshua 1 where the Lord tells Joshua, (paraphrasing) “be strong and courageous as I have been with my servant Moses, so I’ll be with you.” John has been such a big source of comfort to me. John and I serve the same God who shows the same faithfulness, who provided for John all these years for all that he went through. The same God that carried Him through all of that is the same God who keeps me. And I told him that there will probably be times when I’m very tempted to call him and get all the answers from him. But there’s a side of me that wants to just trust and wait and see how God will teach me through particular circumstances too, in the same way that He taught John. And who knows? Maybe He will teach me some completely different lessons through very similar circumstances. But I’m excited to see what that will be. I’m glad to have a lifeline; I really am. I’m sure I’ll make use of it. It probably won’t be the case where I’m calling him every day asking, “What do I do now? What do I do now? What do I do now?” There’s a sense where I just need to trust in God who leads me, the same Spirit indwells us, and the same Christ saved us. It’s just amazing to think it really does help build a lot of confidence. That’s why I said, I’m not scared. Even though it is a formidable task, I’m not scared.

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned serving under Pastor John (whether it be through his actions or his speech)?

Yea… In a word, it’s “ministry.” I’ve said this often, and that’s that John has taught me everything I know about ministry. I mean, seminary taught me a lot of principles and theology, but John helped me bridge theology to life. And not only has he taught me that, he has shown me. Just having seen him go through the trials that he has gone through, just seeing him lead his family, just seeing how he’s committed to the church. There are days when he comes before I do, and he stays way later than anybody else. Just the self-sacrifice he puts into the ministry is a huge example for me. So often I would go to our pastoral staff meeting, and they would ask, “how has your week been?” and I would say, “Man, it was tough.” And then he’ll come over the top and I’ll think, “Man, I have no reason to complain. My life is easy in comparison.”

I’ve really appreciated John’s scope and lens, his listening ear. He still treats you like you’re the most important person. He just has this way… that is one huge lesson I’ve learned from him: how to relate to people. That is his strength; that is his forte. Relating to people, helping them, and challenging them to live according to Biblical standards, according to Biblical principles. For me, I love teaching the Word. While I do consider myself a people person, I just don’t have that wealth of experience that John has, counseling people and all of that. I’ve learned so much along the way.

There would be times I would sit through counseling sessions, and I’m thinking, “He’s going to tear this person apart!” And then he’s totally gracious. And there are other times I think he’s going to say one thing, and then he goes a completely different direction. I mean, he’s not perfect. But I would say as often as I’ve seen him, the direction he has steered counseling sessions have been the wise directions. Where I might react too quickly with anger, he has shown patience and forbearance. And where I might have shown too much leniency in certain cases, he has been direct. And I’ve been really thankful having seen that over the years. I don’t have all the discernment yet to be able to distinguish between the two [situations], but he has really taught me many of the signs to look for, just really helped me in terms of what passages to turn to… oh, there’s so much more…

What would you like to see LBCSD work on? What practical steps do you want us to take as a body?

It’s kind of the same as it has been: a commitment to the MVP and a commitment to the Peacemaker Pledge. I think so long as we’re committed to that, we’ll be okay. It has been that way since day one. If anything were to be a significant threat to the church, it’s going to be the members’ unwillingness to resolve things in a God-glorifying way.

I would like to see a greater commitment to that one-body principle. I would love to see at church on Sunday where no one feels left out, where no one feels like an outsider. And that’s something that everybody needs to work on. It means not gravitating towards people you’re comfortable with. It’s reaching out and (God-forbid!) talking to new visitors. Not leaving it for the New Visitor Team to do it. It’s something I’ve told the college group too, “You all are the New Visitor Team”. We actually have a team to help facilitate things, but the entire group is the NVT. And all of us need to be making an effort to continue to do that.

And I’m not saying that we don’t. Honestly, I’m really happy with the way things have gone the past ten years. We have a wonderful congregation. And the testimony of those who have come supports that. I’m not just trying to toot our horn or whatever, but people have come and said, “This is one of the most welcoming churches I’ve been to. This is the most loving church I’ve been to.” And that’s funny because we’re so often tagged with being so committed to truth that we don’t love. And I would really challenge anyone who has that opinion to come and visit, and spend a day with our members and tell me we don’t love. Our members are loving. But I think it could be an excel-still-more kind of thing. It’s one of those things that you could always do more. And in ten years from now, if we were still doing that, how awesome would that be.

A thing I would like to see more of at our church is a deliberate outreach mentality. Again, I don’t think we don’t have that. But again, it’s one of those excel-still-more kinds of things where we could do better.

But, you know, it’s all ideal. It would be great to send out a missions team and every member from the greatest to the least of them are on board. And when we come back, and we do our missions report night, every member is there because they felt like they were part of the team. They weren’t just giving a donation, but they were actually part of the sending team, and they’re passionate about what they’re supporting. I’m not sure we’re quite there yet. I think that’s the case for some people, but I’m not sure it’s the case from the greatest to the least of them.

And lastly, we still have a number of members who aren’t doing much. There are members, but they’re kind of the “invisible” members. They’re not serving in any ministry; they’re not serving in any capacity. And I would like to help challenge those members be part of the body, help us function together, help us grow together, as it says in Ephesians 2 to “grow into the holy temple of the Lord.” That would be good. There aren’t a lot of them though. And that’s the thing I’ve been really thankful for, the members at our church. I have only reason to be thankful. I think many pastors would be very envious of our church in San Diego. Not to say we have the perfect church, but we have a lot of reasons to be thankful.

(to be concluded next week with part 2)