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Make Disciples of All Nations

Matthew 28:19,20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Good evening. My name is David Baik. I am currently serving UBF campus ministry in New York City, the global city. Maybe you can tell where I came from by just looking at my appearance, especially my goatee. One evening Shepherdess Liz Hembekidez came up to me and commented on my goatee, “Missionary David, You look sharp.” “Thank you,” I said. Then she added, “You also look like a Chinese philosopher.” I took it as a compliment. Our conference theme is “a man after God’s own heart.” Our heart is more important than our appearance. Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, that they should go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them everything he commanded. We are to teach not just head knowledge but obedience to everything Jesus had commanded. There are many things Jesus commanded. But the ultimate commandment of Jesus is the command of love. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How can we help those who are not willing to obey? Who is going to obey a Chinese-looking Korean American old man? Nobody. But when they hear the voice of God they will obey Him. I thought about three things we can do in teaching students to obey Jesus’ commands. First of all, I believe that we should teach through showing a good example. Second, we should teach with great patience and careful instruction. Third, we should pray. I am not going to give a long lecture. I will briefly share my story. So relax.

When I was a college student, I was like a Korean hippie, playing guitar and drinking a lot of soju in search of freedom. I was trying to escape from the harsh reality of the world. But when I studied Genesis, among all the sins I committed, the sin of self-centeredness living without God was most serious. I repented and accepted Christ and received God’s call as a disciple of Jesus. Msy. Mark and Anna Yang labored a lot for me in Christ. At that time I had no idea of becoming a missionary to any country. I had no particular country I wanted to go to. I only prayed, ‘Lord, just don’t send me to Africa or Jeju Island” because I didn’t like insects or animals and I didn’t like fish either. I was very picky. But thank God! Right before graduation I was introduced to get married to Msy. Joy, who was a missionary in Chicago. Dr. John Jun conducted our marriage ceremony. In 1981, God sent me to Chicago as a young missionary. At that time, I was 26 years old, young and cute. God trained me in Chicago for 12 years while serving UIC ministry under the supervision of the late Dr. Samuel Lee. I really wanted to bury my bones in Chicago because I loved Chicago and I had been loved and encouraged by so many beautiful servants of God and coworkers in Chicago, beginning with Dr. Lee, Grace A. Lee, Mother Barry, Dr. Joseph Chung and other elder missionaries and fellow coworkers. I also enjoyed beautiful friendship with American shepherds in Chicago. God also established a fruitful ministry in my fellowship at UIC. My wife had a very stable and nice job with great benefits at the UIC hospital. But God’s will for me was not to remain in Chicago. In 1993 God forced me to move to the East coast with my loving wife and two crying boys. They didn’t want to leave Chicago because they didn’t want to be separated from their buddies. So while I was driving the moving truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I had to sing many songs to comfort and entertain them. One of the songs I sang is, “Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River,…. Take me home, country road, to the place I belong… West Virginia, Mountain Mama, Take me home country road.”

But my next home to which God was leading me was not a small town with many country roads in West Virginia, but the global city New York City with all kinds of people from all over the world, a jungle like City. However, when I arrived in New York, my heart began to pound. I loved the city and people even though I didn’t know any of them. But as time passed, I also felt overwhelmed. When John Paul II visited New York, he called Rudolph Julianni, the mayor at that time, “the President of the world.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “America is most segregated on Sunday morning.” There are 2 million Jews living in New York. New York is a professional city. It seems that even the beggars on the streets and subway stations in New York have to be professional.

After 9-11 there was a nationally televised inter-religious ceremony at Yankee Stadium. New York is diverse. Currently we have our main NY center in Flushing, a rather Asian dominant area, 37 % Chinese, 17 % Korean, 8-9 % Indian or Pakistani. On the block where I live in Flushing, there are 10 different religious temples, beginning with a Roman Catholic Church, a Jewish temple, a Mosque (100% Afghanistan congregation), 2 Buddhist temples, one as big as Bulkuksa in Korea, a Hindu temple, a Kingdom Hall, a Salvation Army headquarters, a Christian science place and many Korean churches.

What can I do in this kind of city? The more I stayed and tried in New York, the more I felt I was unprepared to do anything. I experienced failure after failure. It seems hard enough just to survive. Living expenses are high, stress seems to be over the limit, and there are many obstacles to overcome. In fact, I am the fourth UBF Staff shepherd in NYUBF. As time went along, I began to understand why the previous staff shepherds left the ministry despite their good intensions. At some point, I was also thinking about finding a different mission field. I overheard one NY-missionary praying for me at an evening prayer meeting, ‘Lord, have mercy on David Baik. Help him not to run away.” Because of these prayers, I could not run away. It’s only by God’s grace that I still remain in New York. Fifteen years have passed. God has done his work among us.

What I have learned is that it’s not I but God who will raise disciples in New York. He said to his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given me.. go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus wants me simply to obey his command. How am I going to preach the gospel in a city like New York? Shall I remain in the Korean American community and build an ethnic church like most ethnic groups in the city?

Then what’s the problem? I must be changed first. My heart should be changed. How can I have a heart like God’s and Jesus Christ’s? I must be a faithful disciple of Jesus through obedience to his command, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Also, if I want to serve in New York, I need to be culturally sensitive and ministry has to be contextualized, while maintaining gospel principles and absolute trust in God Almighty. I need to accept my own identity as a Korean American, yet learn to accept, respect and tolerate differences and embrace others different from me in the love of Christ and make disciples among those whom God allows. I believe that Jesus is still telling me to go and make disciples of all nations. Now, I’m not too concerned about the results but the process, how I obey Jesus’ command, continually cultivating my heart through sincere repentance and faith in Jesus. I must be a new creation in Jesus Christ. My primary concern should be obedience, obedience to Jesus’ supreme command, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This I should never give up. May I genuinely love one person regardless of his or her different culture, race, gender, age or even sexual orientation, teaching her/him to obey Jesus’ command and be a part of the global Christian community, the kingdom of God on earth.