Why am I Philemon 1

Why am I Philemon?

My English name has a middle name. In East Asia, there is no middle name. Philemon is not a commonly used name. So people often ask me why I use Philemon.

'Philemon' is a letter of forgiveness and tolerance. It is the shortest letter in the New Testament after '2 John'. It is a letter written by Paul to Philemon, and its content is asking for forgiveness for Onesimus, Philemon's runaway slave. Onesimus later left a great mark on Christian history as one of the 70 apostles.

When I was studying in the United States, my church mainly comprised of Korean students. I didn't realize it at the time, but they were outstanding young people who had passed a rigorous screening process, and they had excellent intelligence and good faith.

They were dedicated to making a healthy and ideal church. The group in charge of the spiritual axis in the church was the 'Philemon Cell'. A cell is a church group unit.

These talented and energetic Christians often argued. The first leader at the time named the group Philemon Cells to encourage them to forgive and be tolerant of each other.

The Book of Philemon is so short that its existence is not well known. However, the Book of Philemon conveys the essence of Christianity. Another reason for naming it the Philemon Cells is to shine humbly without being noticed, like the Book of Philemon in the New Testament.

I later became the leader of the Philemon Cell. I worked hard as a leader and there was much joy and fruit in the first year. However, problems began to arise afterward. There were problems with me, problems with the members and those around me, but external factors were significant. Looking back as time passed, I realized that the sparks of their long-standing factional strife, unrelated to me, had flown to me in the United States, a hundred million miles away.

At that time, I tried to love my enemies like Jesus. However, one visiting professor oppressed me with his petty power for his own glory, but even advised me to love myself. Later, he got a big position in return for harming his college alumni.

One girl loved me, but I didn’t love her the way she wanted, so she tore my heart apart and drove nails into it. My junior, currently a professor in the central part, sold me out for his own benefit, even though he received a lot of help from us. Someone thought I was right, but they ignored my suffering. I ended up in so-called burnout.

At that time, I did my best, but I have many regrets due to my mistakes and shortcomings. What would I have done if I were back then? In fact, I don’t think I could have done better. However, I still refrain from talking about that time. It was a time of patience and training like a dark valley. Even if I talk about it, it won’t help anyone.

After returning to Korea, I worked at Samsung SDS, which had offered me a job when I was in the US. There was a university I wanted to work, but those who claimed to care about me very much in that university prevented me from getting into it. I decided to quit the company to achieve my original goal. However, they contacted my father several times, not me, and told me to stay at the company. This was how they influenced my life for the past ten years.

However, I fiercely rejected all of that opposition and decided to become a postdoctoral researcher. I think it was the best decision I ever made in my life in terms of my career.

My parents changed their religion from Buddhism to Christianity under my influence. However, they went to church and were hurt by the church members. When I went to back to my home, I found that they did not go to church anymore. My parents had already suffered greatly from the church members when they were young, so I was very upset. I needed time with them. That’s why I chose Yonsei University, where I could commute.

After eight years of studying and working, I returned home. There were so many blessings during the time I spent with my parents. After all, families should be together. At that time, there were miracles that you wouldn’t even imagine. I think it was the most blessed and spiritual time of my life.

One Saturday morning, while praying, I had the thought of fulfilling what I couldn’t do as the leader of the Philemon cell for the rest of my life. As a sign of that commitment, the idea of ​​setting my middle name as Philemon came to me during prayer.

I discussed this with Daniel, a middle-aged man I met in the US. I thought I should at least check with an English-speaking American’s perspective to see if it was okay to use that name officially. He said it wasn’t awkward at all. He said it was very good for that reason.

So I became Philemon.