Full transcript
0:01[music]
0:06>> Welcome to AEU fall
0:102026. When life feels unlivable,
0:13theology, despair, and pastoral
0:15response. Let's start with prayer.
0:17Father, we thank you
0:18as we continue on with this uh series.
0:22Teach us, guide us, speak to us that we
0:24may actually learn from you, Lord.
0:27Thank you in Jesus' name.
0:30Amen. I really, really pray that
0:34Buck Soo
0:35something great will happen to you today
0:38as we learn.
0:39Boy, it's been a wonderful journey for
0:42me to actually prepare these lectures.
0:44Matter of fact, I really believe
0:48that this lecture mhm this particular
0:50lecture uh I wrote few books already,
0:53but
0:54the whole thing will become another
0:55book.
0:56>> [laughter]
0:57>> Maybe I could incorporate your uh
0:59testimonies or your
1:01reflection [snorts] paper and finals
1:03into that. So,
1:06just uh my uh
1:09>> [clears throat]
1:10>> as I'm recording this, uh
1:12my wife and I uh we are part of the
1:15Christianity daily or Christian
1:18Christian daily uh newspaper uh YouTuber
1:22YouTube um
1:24and we share about stay one more day,
1:28one more conversation.
1:31I pray that uh this will be watched by
1:33those who really need to watch.
1:36Like going back to I think it was
1:38lecture three,
1:39I start talking about this man, uh
1:42Professor
1:43uh
1:44Kim Jeong Hoon. He is one of my favorite
1:46author, and I read most most of the
1:49books he wrote, I read. But, he just
1:52published a book May uh 11, 2026.
1:57And I talked about and he actually did
1:59the whole teaching on that in Korean
2:02and talking about how to
2:05communicate without talking.
2:08He gives in this wonderful example.
2:11An example of contextual thinking. How
2:14happy do you think you are? Well, just
2:16do a test. No,
2:19you know, scale of 1 to 10.
2:24Second question. How many times did you
2:26go on dates last month?
2:29So, what you just answer that. Well, for
2:31me, I'm very happy. Maybe once
2:35last month. Yeah, maybe once. Worse
2:38worse
2:39Jenny and I were so busy.
2:43So, that was my
2:45But then the the
2:47question was reversed.
2:49So, this is the contextual thinking,
2:51right? How many times did you go on
2:53dates last month?
2:55How happy do you think you are?
2:59I only went once.
3:01I don't think I'm happy today.
3:03>> [laughter]
3:04>> What's going on? What is going on,
3:07right?
3:08The reversing the question made a great
3:11difference.
3:12>> [snorts]
3:12>> Just reversing the question. Nothing
3:14changed,
3:16right? That's why when you do a PhD work
3:20and
3:21the interview question,
3:23you have to actually learn how to
3:26put in order so that you get objective
3:29answer.
3:30This is very critical. Very simple, very
3:32critical.
3:34So, what's the teaching point?
3:36Reversing the question made great
3:38difference. How happy do you
3:40do you think you are? How many times did
3:42you go on dates last month?
3:44When you reverse it, because context was
3:46first number
3:48of dates, people respond and their
3:50happiness
3:51fluctuated by number of dates they had.
3:54So, he said, "Oh, [snorts] yeah, I had a
3:55five.
3:56Oh, then I think I must be happy."
4:00So, how you feel always betray you
4:03in the context.
4:06So, this contextual thinking and
4:08smartphone revolution, why 2012 changed
4:10adolescents and everybody else,
4:13actually, but adolescence was much more
4:15sharp. The one of the clearest example
4:17of contextual thinking is the rise of
4:20smartphone and social media around 2012.
4:23The lives of teenagers did not suddenly
4:25become objectively worse overnight.
4:26Instead, the context in which they
4:29evaluate their lives fundamentally
4:32changed. Remember?
4:342012 marks Facebook entering NASDAQ as
4:38IPO. 12 2012, kids start owning
4:41smartphone in US over 50%.
4:45In Korea, it's worse. Maybe that's why
4:46they
4:49Why are young people compare? Because
4:51they do not have their own interest or
4:53identity. Who they don't know who they
4:54are. Which leads to depression.
4:57Before smartphone, most adolescents
4:59compared themselves with relatively
5:01small world around them, family,
5:02classmate, neighbors, local friends. A
5:05farm boy living in rural Kansas compared
5:07himself other farm boys.
5:09Teenager growing up in downtown Chicago
5:11compared self with classmate in her
5:13neighborhood. Their expectation and
5:15sense of happiness was largely shaped by
5:18immediate community in which they lived.
5:21The smartphone changed that context
5:23forever.
5:25Now, a teenager no longer compare
5:26themselves with 20 classmates. He
5:28compare himself with millions of
5:30carefully edited lives displayed
5:33everyday in Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat,
5:35Facebook. Happiness is no longer
5:38measured against one's actual
5:39circumstance, but against an endless
5:42streams of idealized
5:45images, or should I say, fake images.
5:51Before smartphone, compare with the
5:53world around you, life is good. After
5:56smartphone, wow, the same life can feel
6:00completely different
6:02when the context
6:04has changed.
6:06Wow, everybody else seems to be
6:08Hawaii, New York, uh Kuala Lumpur, uh
6:12wow, Mediterranean, Paris.
6:15Wow, man, I'm just I'm just a farm boy
6:18in Kansas.
6:20It's I'm no longer happy.
6:24The opposite can be also happen. The
6:26teenage living in crowded apartment in
6:28New York or Seoul may have a never
6:30considered country life attractiveness,
6:32but after scrolling through endless
6:34videos of mountain cabins, peaceful
6:36lakes, open fields, families living in
6:38simple lives, begin to feel trapped. Her
6:41apartment seemed too small, city feels
6:43noisy, her daily commute becomes
6:45oppressive.
6:47Again, her circumstance remain the same,
6:49but the context through which she
6:51interpret them has shifted.
6:54Wow, city life is exciting. I like it
6:56here. Right? Before 2012,
7:0014 years ago.
7:01And then what happened?
7:04Wow, look at this. Wow, peace and quiet.
7:07Look at the nature.
7:09I feel trapped. Everyone seems
7:11living a better life.
7:17This illustrates the profound power of
7:19contextual thinking.
7:21Reality did not change. The frame of
7:24comparison changed.
7:29So, psychologist describe this as a
7:31social comparison, but Kierkegaard would
7:33like to push the discussion even deeper.
7:35The self becomes anxious because it is
7:38no longer stands before God. Instead, it
7:40continually stands before the opinions,
7:43lifestyle, and appearance of countless
7:45strangers, the mass. Identity becomes
7:48extremely defined rather than inwardly
7:50appropriated, subjective appropriation.
7:54The lesson is profound. People are not
7:56always happy because their lives become
7:58worse. Sometimes they become unhappy
8:00because the context through which they
8:02evaluate their lives changes. Am I
8:06speaking too fast? You need to put in
8:08your your country or your language.
8:12Oh, I need to slow down.
8:14>> [laughter]
8:15>> So, what's the result?
8:18Wow.
8:202012
8:22The self-esteem, use of drug, major
8:25depression, suicide behavior, especially
8:28depression episode, suicide behavior
8:31skyrocket.
8:33Check this out. 2012 to 2018. Wow, what
8:37would look like 2026?
8:39Right? This is only after 6
8:43years.
8:48For the Stay Movement, the insight
8:51carries an important implication.
8:54Suicide prevention is not only about
8:56changing circumstances. It's also about
8:58helping people reframe way they see
9:01themselves and their lives. The goal is
9:03not merely positive thinking, but might
9:05be called subjective appropriation
9:08framing existence. I I came up with
9:10that. It's called SAFE, subjective
9:12appropriation framing existence.
9:15Helping individual interpret their
9:17existence not through the distorted lens
9:20of endless comparison, but through the
9:22truth of their identity before God. When
9:24the frame changes, the same life can
9:27be experienced with renewed hope,
9:29gratitude, and purpose. Let me grab a
9:31book.
9:44>> Yeah, this book just came to me a few
9:46days ago.
9:47Uh it's called subjective appropriation.
9:51I think I'm going to give it to you as
9:53uh
9:54uh recommended reading. It is It is
9:56thick book uh [snorts]
9:58about 300 pages.
10:01It's in Korean and English, that's why
10:02600 pages book, but
10:05So, self-appropriation is a huge thing
10:07that I'm working on. I'm I'll be writing
10:10a book on self- So, I'm going to write a
10:12book called SAFE, subjective
10:15appropriation framing existence.
10:18Um
10:24The goal is not merely positive
10:26thinking. It helping individual
10:28interpret the existence not through the
10:30distorted lenses of endless comparison,
10:32but through truth of their identity
10:35before God. When the frame changes, the
10:37same life can be experienced with
10:39renewed hope and gratitude and purpose.
10:42Let me open the window, it's getting
10:43stuffy.
10:52Sorry for all these interruptions.
10:55So, SAFE
10:57is process by which objective realities
11:00inwardly interpreted before God,
11:03allowing truth to be personally
11:05appropriated, existentially meaningful,
11:08and life-transforming. Rather than
11:10merely changing circumstances, it
11:13changes the self who encounters those
11:16circumstances. That is the heart of
11:17Kierkegaard's philosophy.
11:19And it is one of the foundational ideas
11:21of state movement, helping people
11:23discover new way of seeing before asking
11:25them to find a new way of living.
11:28Circumstance will not change.
11:30And you as a helper cannot their
11:32circumstances.
11:34But you could help them change
11:35themselves.
11:36So, how does self learn to see reality
11:38before God? Kierkegaard frameworks for
11:41understanding hope, identity, and the
11:44state movement. Kierkegaard philosophy
11:45is not merely about changing one's
11:47thoughts. It is about changing the way
11:50the self appropriates reality before
11:52God. Objective circumstance may remain
11:55exactly the same, and yet new
11:57existential frame can transform how
12:00those circumstances are understood,
12:01embraced, and lived. I call it
12:04subjective appropriation framing
12:06existence safe.
12:11You like that?
12:13And that's the logo I came up with.
12:16Changing the interpretive framework
12:17through which the self inwardly
12:19appropriate objective reality before
12:21God. The external world may remain
12:24unchanged, but the inward relation to
12:27that reality is transformed. This is not
12:29positive thinking or psychological
12:32optimism. It is an existential
12:34reorientation in which truth becomes
12:37personally lived rather than merely
12:39intellectually known.
12:42Wow.
12:433-minute meditation.
12:48And and write anything that comes to
12:50your mind. How's that in your context?
12:53How's the suicide thing? What about in
12:55your context? How's the suicide rate
12:57among your people, your country, your
12:59people, your church, your movement, your
13:01community, your family?
13:04And
13:09So, I'm eating away 6 minutes of your
13:11video.
13:13So, we're reaching 20 minutes.
13:15And write all these questions.
13:28Okay. Remember this?
13:31Yeah, so here you need to stop.
13:34Give yourself and write.
13:37So, if someone says, "Oh, I didn't have
13:39time to write the paper, Professor, that
13:41two-page paper."
13:44I'm giving you time right now to write,
13:46okay?
13:47That's just not an excuse.
13:51Or let me put it positively. You have
13:53plenty of time to write that two-page
13:55which you can write.
13:58Remember that the lesson about Chinese
14:00gooseberry? When the same company,
14:03Turners & Growers, called it Chinese
14:05gooseberry, no one bought it.
14:06The moment they called it kiwi,
14:099.7 billion per year sales.
14:13How is it?
14:14What about in case of change of name?
14:16Chinese gooseberry, oh, sounds strange,
14:18unfamiliar, China, ooh.
14:20Hard to pronounce. Kiwi, easy to say,
14:23friendly, appealing, makes you want to
14:25buy it.
14:25The same thing can happen seen
14:27differently just by changing name.
14:30It's called context shapes perception.
14:34Right?
14:34>> [clears throat]
14:34>> It's not
14:36framework, but it context shapes the
14:39reshapes the perception.
14:42Changing name, a lesson in SAFE. How
14:44does it apply in our
14:46subjective appropriation framing ex-
14:49experience existence?
14:52The transformation of the Chinese
14:54gooseberry
14:55into kiwi is more than a clever
14:57marketing story. It's a powerful
14:59illustration of SAFE.
15:01The fruit itself did not change. It
15:03taste, nutrition value, color, and
15:05texture remain exactly the same. What
15:08changed was the interpretive frame
15:10through which consumers encounter it.
15:12Simple change of name reshapes
15:15perception, increasing curiosity,
15:17reduced psychological resistance, and
15:19ultimately transformed purchasing
15:22behavior. I want kiwi, not Chinese
15:24gooseberry. You're saying the same
15:26thing, dude.
15:28Save
15:29explains this phenomena well. Human
15:31beings do not merely respond to
15:33objective reality. They respond to the
15:35meaning they assign to reality. Names,
15:38context, symbols, and narratives
15:41influence how reality subjectively
15:44appropriated. The kiwi story
15:46demonstrates that changing the frame
15:48often changes the response even when
15:51objective itself remain unchanged.
15:54Do you agree?
15:57So, what does it teach about the
15:58perception
15:59before reality does? The fruit did not
16:01become sweeter,
16:03healthier when the name changed. Yet,
16:05consumer perceive it differently because
16:07the frame changed. It's called frame of
16:09reference.
16:10Save reminds us that people live
16:12according to the meanings they
16:14appropriate, not merely according to the
16:17objective facts. That's why Kierkegaard
16:19said, "All truth is objective."
16:21The new name, kiwi, sounded simple,
16:24memorable, and friendly. Consumer
16:27approached the same fruit with greater
16:29openness because the existential frame
16:31has shifted.
16:33Reality remained constant. Nothing
16:36changed.
16:37But, subjective appropriation changed.
16:42The same principle explains why saying
16:45stay often reaches people more
16:47effectively than saying suicide
16:50prevention. The object objective mission
16:52is identical, but existential framing
16:55invites
16:56hope instead of fear.
17:07So, I could have called my and and I
17:09did. Actually, I called uh
17:11not only suicide prevention, but killing
17:14suicide movement or something so scary.
17:18I could I Initially, I wanted to call it
17:20killing suicide movement.
17:22It didn't really work well.
17:25And and everybody consulted me and said,
17:29"Don't do that."
17:30Right? So, I came up with stay. One more
17:33day, one more conversation. Much, much
17:35safer.
17:38Safe What What is a safe principle?
17:41The same reality can produce entirely
17:43different response depending on how it
17:45is subjectively appropriated.
17:48Chinese gooseberry to kiwi.
17:50Despair into opportunity for
17:52self-discovery. Cross as salvation.
17:55Suicide prevention to stay.
17:59In every case, objective reality may
18:01remain the same, but new existential
18:04frame transforms how people receive,
18:07understand, and live within their
18:09reality. This is the heart of safe.
18:12Subjective appropriation framing
18:13existence.
18:15So, let me define that.
18:18Changing the interpretive framework
18:19through which the self inwardly
18:21appropriate objective reality before
18:24God.
18:24The external world may remain unchanged,
18:27but the inward relationship to the
18:29reality is transformed. This is not
18:31positive thinking or psychological
18:33optimism. It is an existential
18:36reorientation in which truth becomes
18:39personally lived rather than merely
18:41intellectually known.
18:44Amen to that.
18:49Oh, I'm I'm giving my students all you
18:52all of all of you could use this.
18:55You could You could translate into your
18:57own language. I I don't I don't hold
18:59copyright on any of my books.
19:01Any of my songs, it's all free. I don't
19:04need to make money on that. So, you
19:06could actually change that to your
19:08lecture in your country and start
19:10teaching that. And if you need to make
19:11money, that's even greater. If you can
19:13make a living doing that, go for it.
19:15Just let me know that you're doing that
19:17so we could celebrate together.
19:21The story The Road to Myself is about a
19:24lady who lived
19:26middle-aged, kids grown.
19:29She's home alone.
19:31And she's so unhappy. She
19:34remember her how she found her father
19:36who hung himself.
19:38And now it's it is visiting her.
19:42And the key teaching is suicide is the
19:44loneliest escape chosen by soul that has
19:46lost the way to find live as its true
19:49self. It's talking about that
19:51individual.
19:53The story of I, the individual, is an
19:55excellent illustration
19:57of safe.
19:59Her existential her external
20:01circumstances changed very little.
20:04What changed repeatedly Oh, so the point
20:06is that you go you I gave you the book.
20:11Right? I gave you the book.
20:13So, go if you have not done so, go and
20:15read the story. Very short, like four or
20:17five pages.
20:19Very short. And and and four or five
20:21pages or 10 pages.
20:23But it's very very very very short.
20:25And and it's not even written in
20:27paragraphs. It's almost like a poetry
20:29cuz
20:30I'm trying to mimic Oh, Han Kang style.
20:32Han Kang is the one who won Nobel Prize
20:34recently, last 2 years ago, so. Yeah.
20:37Read that. I'm just going to summarize.
20:41What changed repeatedly was the frame
20:43through which she interpreted herself
20:45and her life. Kierkegaard
20:47would say that the deepest crisis was
20:49not her curtains, her daughter leaving
20:51home, or even her traumatic memory.
20:53The crisis was that she had never become
20:55a self before God.
20:58She borrowed her identity from other
21:00people's eyes.
21:03Objective appropriation, not subjective.
21:06For most of her life, she understood
21:07herself through comparison. Her
21:09husband's success became her success.
21:11Her friends' homes became standard for
21:14her home. Their vacation, clothing,
21:16their lifestyle silently framed how she
21:19evaluated her own life. When frame
21:21changed through social media, her
21:24satisfaction disappeared.
21:26This is subjective appropriation framing
21:28existence in its negative form.
21:31The objective reality remained largely
21:33unchanged, but the interpretive frame
21:35changed everything. She was not living
21:37from an inward appropriated identity,
21:40but from borrowed standards. Kierkegaard
21:43warned that the greatest danger is
21:45losing oneself in the crowd. Her despair
21:50grew not because her life became
21:52objectively worse, but because her
21:53existence continually framed by the gaze
21:56of others.
21:58The despair forced her to encounter her
22:00true self. The decorative rope in the
22:03department store awakened a traumatic
22:06memory of her high school. Suddenly, the
22:09years of hidden pain surfaced. It's when
22:11she found her father killed it killed
22:13himself. Instead of merely remembering
22:15her friend's death, she realized she has
22:17spent decades avoiding the deeper
22:20question, who am I?
22:22Oh, it was not father. It was
22:28I changed the story so many times. Let
22:29me see.
22:42I'm sorry.
22:44You you could check that on your own.
22:47This moment illustrate Kierkegaard's
22:49understanding of despair. Despair is not
22:51merely emotional suffering. It is the
22:54crisis
22:55that exposes the self. For the first
22:57time, she stood inwardly alone.
23:00Not as someone's wife, mother, or
23:02friend, but as single individual
23:05confronting her own existence. The
23:07question itself became the beginning of
23:08healing. Safe teaches that the decisive
23:11changes was not the memory itself, but
23:14new way she appropriate that memory.
23:17Rather than following trauma
23:19define her identity, she allowed it to
23:23reveal her need to discover her
23:25authentic self.
23:28And so she began to reframe her
23:31existence and began living as herself.
23:34The turning point became when she
23:35stopped asking how to become someone's
23:37admired and began to asking how to
23:39become herself. She deleted shopping
23:42apps, reduced social comparison, started
23:44journaling, enrolled in autographic
23:47writing class, called her daughter
23:48simply to hear her voice, and even
23:50choose chose curtains according to her
23:53own preference rather than someone
23:54else's.
23:56Nothing spec- spectacular happened
23:58externally. This is a key point.
24:01To save somebody from killing
24:02themselves, save somebody from living a
24:04boring life, nothing spectacular is not
24:07you don't have to win a million-dollar a
24:09lottery or hundred-million-dollar
24:10lottery.
24:11Yet everything changed internally. When
24:14you change of your heart,
24:17this is the heart of subjective
24:18appropriation framing existence safe.
24:20Reality did not suddenly improve, rather
24:23she began appropriating her own
24:25existence differently. Instead of
24:27interpreting life through comparison,
24:29she interpreted through the
24:31authenticity. Instead of living before
24:33the crowd, she began living before God
24:36and before her own conscious.
24:39The image of motorcycle airplane
24:41beautifully summarized in the story
24:44you you read it.
24:45She no longer measured herself by
24:47someone else's flight. She accept her
24:49own road, her own speed, her own
24:51calling. That is precisely what
24:54Kierkegaard means by becoming oneself.
24:57Safe demonstrates that despair is often
25:00sustained not only by painful
25:02circumstance, but by the frames through
25:04which we interpret those circumstance.
25:07The woman did not need a different
25:09husband, different daughter, different
25:11house, or different curtains. She needed
25:13different way of appropriating her
25:15existence. In Kierkegaard's term, she
25:18moved from living through the opinion of
25:21others to become the single individual
25:23before God. Her circumstance remained
25:26largely the same, but the meaning of her
25:28life was transformed because the frame
25:30through which she understood herself had
25:33changed. And that is the power of
25:35safe.
25:37Wow.
25:38It's in my Stay Suicide Prevention
25:42Studio
25:43YouTube.
25:45It's a song about her.
25:49She Her name is I, individua-
25:51individuality.
25:52Kierkegaard believes that living
25:53honestly with oneself is more important
25:55than living according to society's
25:57expectation.
25:59He called the fight not to lose yourself
26:02in the crowd the hardest battle of all.
26:04That This resonates deeply with pressure
26:06many Korean youth feel today. Trying to
26:08fit into mold of success, they often
26:10lose themselves in the process.
26:12To stand alone, to endure that
26:14loneliness, to plant yourself in that
26:16space. You are not an airplane. You are
26:19a motorcycle. And I I I wrote a poem
26:22called uh motorcycle.
26:25And you can read in in the book.
26:28Well, let's listen in.
26:32>> Thought anyone knew me.
26:36Morning comes again.
26:40But I'm still here.
26:42Nowhere
26:44at all.
26:47In this quiet room
26:50where I barely
26:53>> [music]
26:54>> I realize
26:57I've never met myself.
27:01Familiar [music] days, familiar faces, I
27:05live my life by someone else's measure.
27:09You look so good, you're doing [music]
27:11fine. I hid inside those words and
27:14smiled
27:14>> [singing]
27:15>> like I was okay. And something [music]
27:18in me
27:19stirred up a forgotten
27:22memory
27:24called
27:26my name.
27:29Suicide
27:33is the
27:33>> [music]
27:33>> loneliest escape
27:36a soul
27:37can [music] choose
27:39when it
27:40loses its way.
27:44I stood at that
27:45>> [music]
27:45>> door
27:47for far
27:48>> [singing]
27:49>> too long,
27:50>> [music]
27:51>> quietly
27:52erasing
27:54everything [music]
27:56I was.
27:59Without [music] a sound, I fell apart,
28:03lost in comparison and endless
28:05loneliness. Who am [music and singing]
28:07I? What do I want? I couldn't even
28:10answer
28:12a single question.
28:15And one small [music] voice,
28:17a fragile voice, [singing] don't die,
28:19hold on to me.
28:24>> [music]
28:25>> I
28:26suicide
28:28is the
28:29saddest [music]
28:31illusion
28:31when you believe
28:33there's no
28:35way back.
28:36>> [music]
28:38>> But right there
28:40in that broken [singing] place,
28:43I finally
28:43>> [music]
28:43>> cried
28:46and turned
28:49toward my myself.
28:52So
28:53I asked now,
28:54>> [music]
28:55>> "Who was
28:56someone else's name, someone else's
29:00life? For the first time
29:02>> [music]
29:03>> I call my own name.
29:07It's okay.
29:10You're allowed to live.
29:13>> [music]
29:14>> One small sentence, one quiet step was
29:18enough [music] to keep me breathing.
29:22And somehow
29:24that [music] was enough.
29:34>> [music]
29:36>> How is
29:38suicide
29:40>> [music]
29:42>> a guideline
29:43when a
29:44heart breaks
29:45and there's no way left?
29:46>> [music]
29:48>> But now I know
29:50the world
29:50isn't gone, it's
29:52still unfolding.
29:54And today
29:55>> [music]
29:57>> once again
29:59I walk
30:01toward
30:03myself
30:07softly.
30:09>> [music]
30:11>> I call my name.
30:15And this time
30:17I'm here. [music]
30:22>> [bell]
30:28[music]
30:31>> Wow.
30:34Well,
30:35>> [laughter]
30:37>> let's go to our book.
30:40I think I'll be
30:43uh
30:44I'll do a book talk on this
30:46and share it. I I
30:48may not use it as a main textbook, but I
30:50think it's so important.
30:52Uh
30:56We're covering chapter five
30:58page 40 in your book.
31:01Uh and in page 42
31:04we talk about I talk about nihilism and
31:06romanticizing of the suicide when art
31:08becomes cultural violence.
31:11Right?
31:15When nihilism turned despair into false
31:17freedom.
31:18This class is not talking about
31:19nihilism. So, if you don't know what
31:21nihilism is
31:22go look it up. It'll take 5-minute
31:24research.
31:27I talk about Jean Améry, Holocaust
31:29survivor, the philosopher
31:31who eventually killed himself. Um
31:34And he argues that that was his
31:38That's it, you know. So, I'm going to
31:39try to contextualize into
31:42safe. Safe is looking at nihilism and
31:45the
31:45illusion of freedom.
31:47Jean Améry, the life illustrate the
31:49deepest human struggle is not merely
31:52external suffering, but how suffering is
31:54inwardly interpreted.
31:56Interpreted through the lens of
31:58subjective safe, we see that despair
32:01does not automatically lead to suicide.
32:03Rather, suicide becomes a conceivable
32:06when despair is framed as the final
32:09expression of freedom. Instead of an
32:11invitation to discover one's true self
32:14before God. The objective suffering may
32:17remain the same, but external frame
32:20fundamentally change the meaning of that
32:23suffering.
32:25How do I How do I talk about
32:27that
32:29in frame?
32:30The frame of despair determines the
32:33meaning of freedom.
32:34Safe teaches that objective reality
32:37alone does not determine our choices.
32:39The way we subjectively appropriate
32:42reality shapes how we understand
32:44ourselves and our future.
32:46For Jean, years of trauma gradually
32:49framed suicide as a last act of personal
32:52autonomy or freedom within a nihilistic
32:55worldview. Now, this is important. From
32:56the nihilistic worldview, this is where
32:59Sartre and Nietzsche
33:01worldview, suffering appeared
33:03meaningless.
33:05That appeared to be final freedom.
33:07The external facts of this suffering
33:09were tragic, but decisive factor was the
33:12interpretive frame through which he
33:14understood his existence.
33:17What about Christian?
33:19Christian faith offers a radically
33:20different frame. The same pain is
33:22interpreted through the different
33:23existential lens. Freedom is not ability
33:27to end life, but the freedom to
33:30but the freedom to entrust God
33:34entrust one's life to God. Can you say
33:37amen to that? Right? Yeah, you have
33:39freedom to kill yourself, of course.
33:42Can you use it for that? No. You should
33:44use it to live.
33:47Trust God.
33:50Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
33:55Changing the frame can transform the
33:56future. Save reminds us that hope often
33:59begins not by changing our circumstance,
34:02but by changing how we appropriate our
34:04existence.
34:06The life is not problem to be solved,
34:08but a reality to be experienced. My
34:12My wall says that.
34:15Kierkegaard quote.
34:19Is it for you?
34:21Is it for you?
34:23When suffering is framed as meaningless,
34:26despair deepens.
34:28When suffering is framed as place where
34:30God remains present
34:35and where authentic selfhood can emerge,
34:37despair no longer has the final word.
34:39This does not minimize pain, rather it
34:42gives pain a context larger than itself.
34:47The cross
34:48what happened to the world as utter
34:50defeat became through God's redemptive
34:52frame. Very meaning of salvation.
34:55Likewise, a person who says, "My life is
34:57over." can gradually discover a new
35:00frame. My story is not finished. That's
35:03what cross does.
35:04The cross is Christianity's supreme
35:06example of safe
35:09>> [laughter]
35:09>> subjective appropriation
35:12framing existence.
35:18Even the font color matches my logo.
35:20Isn't that pretty cool? Yeah. I thought
35:22that was cool.
35:25Safe therefore seeks to help individuals
35:29in reinterpret their lives before
35:31making irreversible decision. It does
35:34not deny suffering. It reframes
35:36existence through hope, identity, and
35:38presence of God. In Kierkegaard's term,
35:41despair becomes not the end of self, but
35:43beginning of becoming one's true self
35:46before God.
35:49Another 3 minutes.
35:53Give yourself What about your context?
35:56Your country
35:58uh your church. You may be maybe Korean,
36:01then what?
36:02What about how does that play out?
36:043-minute writing.
36:07Okay, pause, please. Pause.
36:10Don't don't say that I did not have time
36:12to write. I'm giving you already like 6
36:14minutes to write something. All right,
36:17just anything, just any thought that
36:18comes to your mind. And you could run by
36:20ChatGPT.
36:22All right.
36:23Please ask the question.
36:26Well, this is a book.
36:29This is a really exciting book.
36:31Uh Sickness Unto Death and and this
36:34Korean author
36:36explain entire [snorts] book
36:40in this uh cartoon. I thought that was
36:42so cute. It's so simple. And I thought
36:46what better way?
36:47So, I actually translate into Korea
36:49English.
36:51This is actually this one.
36:54So, all these frames.
36:59I was anxious.
37:01>> [laughter]
37:03>> I was utterly terrified.
37:07To escape anxiety and fear, we sometimes
37:09seek pleasure.
37:11Drinking, drugs, over shopping
37:15buy stuff that you don't even like to
37:17impress people you don't like with money
37:18you don't have.
37:20All right, that's the motto of
37:21consumerism.
37:22The pursuit of pleasure ends in
37:24suffering. Wow, so sad, right? You see
37:27that over You see that in yourself. You
37:29see that others that you minister and
37:32it is so sad.
37:34Some sought refuge in the forest of
37:36human morality. Oh, you need to live a
37:38religious life. Go go to church even. Be
37:41a good Christian. Be a Sunday school
37:43teacher and teach morality. Live right.
37:45Live right. Live right.
37:48Yet they could not escape the anxiety
37:50and fear.
37:51It comes to you.
37:53Those around him came to understand his
37:55fear even more deeply. Loneliness,
37:58regret, self blame, emptiness, despair,
38:01anxiety.
38:02Goes round and round and round. And you
38:04find yourself, what is this?
38:07In the end, it became something that
38:09terrified, horrified, and tormented him.
38:16The nature of that fear is
38:19sickness unto death.
38:21It was disease that led to death, a
38:23disease that had no cure. It led only to
38:25death.
38:29And then guess what?
38:30When you die internally and you die to
38:33yourself,
38:34it was in the depth of despair that they
38:36finally came to face-to-face with their
38:39true self. When person falls into
38:41despair, finds themselves utterly alone,
38:44they begin to ask, "Who am I?
38:46What am I? What kind of being am I?"
38:48It's the only
38:49It is only in this despair, standing
38:51alone before God, that one comes to know
38:54one's true self.
38:57Wow, wait a minute. Is that how I should
39:00have looked?
39:01This God is showing that to you.
39:05Despair is an opportunity to become
39:08one's true self. No one escapes despair,
39:11the sickness unto death. Yet, when we
39:13use that despair to examine
39:16ourselves and seek our authentic
39:18identity, despair becomes an opportunity
39:22to discover who we truly are.
39:26So,
39:28wow, I'm not going to read all that.
39:31Um I'm going to read it through that
39:33book, through the SAFE's perspective.
39:37Well, actually, I should just leave it
39:38on. You could pause it
39:40and read the back of that book and how
39:43the professor
39:44Park
39:45talk about this book. You could pause it
39:48and read it. I'm just not going to read
39:49it myself.
39:51So, reading Kierkegaard through the lens
39:53of SAFE, this particular book, Sickness
39:55unto Death.
39:56The central theme of Søren Kierkegaard's
39:58existential philosophy, the journey
40:00toward becoming one's authentic self,
40:03through the perspective of SAFE,
40:05subjective appropriation framing
40:08existence. We can understand this
40:10journey even more clearly. SAFE proposes
40:14that transformation begin not by
40:16changing our external circumstances, but
40:19by changing how we inwardly appropriate
40:21and interpret reality before God.
40:24Kierkegaard remind reminds us that
40:26suffering, despair, and loneliness are
40:29not merely psychological experiences.
40:32They are existential invitation to
40:34encounter our true selves.
40:40Despair is not merely problem to escape,
40:42but reality to reframe.
40:46The modern culture often teaches us to
40:48avoid despair through comfort,
40:50entertainment, wealth, and pleasure.
40:52Yet, Kierkegaard argues that such
40:55strategies merely postpone the deeper
40:58question of existence. Save reframes the
41:01despair not as end of hope, but as
41:03beginning of authentic self-discovery.
41:05We'll call it beginning of salvation.
41:08From the Save perspective, the external
41:10situation may remain exactly the same,
41:13but the existential frame changes.
41:15Instead of asking, "How can I escape
41:17this pain?" the individual begins to
41:20ask, "What is the despair revealing
41:22about who I truly am before God?" The
41:26objective suffering remains, yet the
41:28subjective appropriation is transformed
41:30into opportunity for spiritual growth.
41:36Think about that.
41:38Don't just rush through.
41:41Translate it in your language if you are
41:43not English speaker.
41:47Authentic selfhood is discovered before
41:49God, not before society, the mass.
41:52The one of the Kierkegaard's finding
41:54defining insight emphasized that one
41:56must move beyond the noise of social
41:58relationship, stand alone before the
42:01absolute God, coram Deo.
42:03Stand alone before God's face.
42:06Save describes this movement as change
42:09in existential framing. Identity is no
42:12longer constructed by comparison with
42:14others, but received through one's
42:17relationship with God.
42:20Well, on that note, do you compare
42:22yourself other pastors, other
42:23missionaries, other students,
42:25other men,
42:27other member of the family?
42:30Stop.
42:32Modern people often frame themselves
42:34through social media, popularity, career
42:37success, or public approval. Save
42:39invites a different frame. The self asks
42:41not, "How do others see me?" but, "Who
42:43am I before God?" Nothing spectacular
42:46changes externally. The people's person,
42:48job, appearance, or circumstance may
42:51remain exactly the same. Yet, everything
42:54changes internally because the center of
42:56evaluation mechanism has shifted from
42:58the crowd to God.
43:01Amen to that.
43:03So, true relationship begins only after
43:05the self has been properly framed. Søren
43:08Kierkegaard concludes that although
43:10understanding others is important,
43:12discovering one's own true self must
43:15come first. Save
43:17explains why we cannot appropriately
43:20love others until we have appropriately
43:23interpret our own existence.
43:27People often seek identity through
43:30relationship, hoping others will give
43:32them meaning. Kierkegaard reversed this
43:35order. The individual must first
43:37appropriate truth personally before
43:40genuine love becomes possible.
43:42Once the self is framed by God's grace
43:45rather than by comparison, fear, or
43:47performance, relationship become act of
43:49freedom rather than attempt to fill
43:52inner emptiness. So, so Save moves
43:55through three stages. See the truth,
43:58honestly recognizing one's despair and
44:00condition,
44:01appropriate truth, inwardly receive
44:03God's truth as personally true, live in
44:06freedom, relate to others from it.
44:08Authentic identity rather than
44:10insecurity or comparison.
44:15Kierkegaard does not promise that
44:16suffering, loneliness, or despair will
44:18disappear. Rather, he teaches that these
44:20realities can be inwardly appropriated
44:23in a radically different way. When the
44:25existential frame changes, the same life
44:28acquires new meaning. In this sense,
44:31SAFE is not simply a method of positive
44:33thinking. It is Kierkegaardian way of
44:36encountering existence, seeing reality
44:38truthfully, appropriating that truth
44:41before God, living from the identity
44:43rooted in grace rather than despair.
44:45Through the SAFE,
44:48despair becomes the doorway to
44:49authenticity, loneliness becomes a place
44:52of divine encounter, suffering becomes a
44:54context in which true self is emerged,
44:57formed, and discovered.
45:00Wow. So, that would conclude our lecture
45:05uh for for this lecture.
45:09But, um
45:12this thick book, Subjective
45:14Appropriation: Living Truths Before God,
45:17I will share this in a book talk and
45:20share it in the class.
45:22Um
45:24and I'm I'm thinking cuz I am actually
45:27recording this a month before actual
45:30August, so
45:32maybe I could actually even write a
45:34whole book on SAFE and share it with you
45:38so that and I'll give you full
45:40permission
45:42to um
45:43download, translate into your own
45:45language, and you just interact with my
45:48book, and then you could publish as your
45:49own book in your country.
45:52>> [snorts]
45:52>> Is it fair?
45:54Lord bless you. I'll see you next
45:56lecture.
46:02>> [music]
46:06>> Mhm.