457. This Is How Mokmin Church Got Its Name
This is quoted from our senior pastor’s blog written on 2023.03.19
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Some people ask why our church is named "Mokmin Church." Just a few weeks ago, I had a meal with the singles from our English-speaking congregation, and some of them were curious about what the church name means and who came up with it. The name was inspired by the Mokmin Simseo (Manual for Governing the People), written by Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, a Silhak scholar of the late Joseon Dynasty.
I have always struggled with making decisions. That is why both of our daughters' names were chosen by my wife. As the due dates were approaching, I kept agonizing without being able to settle on names, so my wife went ahead and named them. The name of MokMin Church, however, was one I named myself.
After deciding to plant a church, I visited a prayer retreat center. On a piece of paper sitting on the dining table, these words were written: "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things" (Mark 6:34). When I had said I couldn't plant a church, the Lord spoke to me: "I will do it — you just follow Me." It was not my ministry but the Lord's, and I felt that all I needed to do was carry the heart of Jesus shown in that verse and simply follow Him. As I rose from the table, I noticed a copy of the Mokmin Simseo on the nearby bookshelf. With a desire to shepherd God's people well with the heart of the Lord, I named our church "MokMin Church."
In the preface of the Mokmin Simseo, Dasan Jeong Yak-yong writes that he called it a "simseo" — meaning "a writing of the heart" — because he had the heart to govern the people but was unable to carry it out in person. It seems to express his grief at being unable to serve the people while living in exile.
I began with the resolve to pastor with the heart of Mokmin, yet as time passes, I feel more and more the lack of that heart — the heart that truly loves and serves the people. Whenever I feel that way, I return to Mark 6:34 and to a passage from the Mokmin Simseo:
"Look with a critical eye, and every blade of grass becomes a weed. Look with a kind eye, and every person becomes a flower — so choose to see others as flowers. Shake anyone hard enough, and dust will fall from them all; cover with grace, and there is no fault that cannot be forgiven. Though it is hard to win someone's favor, losing it can happen in an instant.
One with thin ears has a mouth as light as a dry leaf; one with thick ears has a mouth as heavy as a rock. O you of deep thought — you will speak of others' words as carefully as your own.
Humility makes people stay; praise draws people near; breadth of heart makes people follow; depth of heart moves people deeply. O you of beautiful heart — the world is made beautiful by your fragrance."
A name carries the values and spirit of an individual or a community. To change a name is therefore to change an identity. The heart of Mokmin is the heart of Jesus. MokMin Church is a church that, with this very heart of Jesus, saves souls and makes disciples.
