I know quite a few people like that… hahah so reading that gave me a chuckle. From your intro I thought you were talking more about worship and how we worship in a “western” way.

I guess I don’t mean not to read Kenzo… but rather read the people that Kenzo is reading…

Kenzo can’t be that bad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crazy about all his stuff, but this quote I felt was on target.

Obviously, with the massive contributions the West has made to the preservation and transmission of the Christian faith, I’m not suggesting that we ignore that or dismiss it. I’m merely suggesting that we not swallow everything as though it were “truth” when it is clear that historical context influenced the traditions there which would differ greatly when and as the intersection occurs with the rising Christian East and South. Basically, we’re cautioning against a perceived Western Christianity being raised up as a Tower of Babel to which all the ethnos and identities are subsumed. Certainly we have a great deal to learn from Luther and Calvin, et.al, but that is not the whole of Christianity, nor do we want to even say that they are the limit of Western culture.

My criticism is actually directed towards the many of us ethnos who practically operate as though we have nothing to offer and that since Jonathan Edwards (or substitute with theologian of your choice…) has spoken, the matter is settled and we need only replicate what is currently available. I have the sense that we were called to be more than practitioners, but also artists in the ways of God. This demands something of us, not merely technique in planting churches or preparing worship services, but imagination and distinctiveness that acknowledges our cultural particularities for the universal whole. And yes, i’m quite the incurable idealist.

I don’t think you can take Christianity and get rid of the Western culture in which it is bound. Nothing is culture separate. You can’t separate Christianity from western culture in the same way that you cannot separate Christianity from Jewish culture. Both are an indelible part of Christianity. Sure Christianity can change and continue to develop into new cultures and new forms of expression, but you’ll never be able to get rid of Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Luther, Calvin etc… in the same way that you’ll never be able to get rid of Peter and Paul. Any new expression of Christianity will have the fingerprints of Western culture all over it. And why would you want it any other way?

kevin doi of epic church gave me priceless insight in that we’ve had it backwards most of the time. we presume that our ecclesiology will lead to a healthy christology. but we’ve got it backwards…a strong christology will lead to healthy ecclesiology.

i think the work is two-fold (at least!). first, we need to have a cultural “awakening”, and talk about the elephants in the room in the existing church structures. Christ was willing to tear down some cultural assumptions of temple-mindedness and bring in kingdom-mindedness. in essence, to be honest and face what we’ve become and how dysfunctional we are is a good place to start because for so long, we’ve trusted the institution to bring us to Christ that our “revivals” move from leadership down, but it’s one and done. we need to prick ourselves sharply in our wounds for we have lost sensation.

secondly, for the contingent of asian ams where church is not central, missional thinking needs to incorporated so that we would be willing to leave the institution of church to live incarnationally in the clubs, bars, noraebangs, street racing, and wherever asians who would never meet Jesus gather. our goal is not to get them to come to church, but to show ourselves as not afraid to be their friends and live our lives before everyone that to be Asian and Christian is not and oxymoron.

i believe it is very possible to be missional in america without being multi-ethnic, in as much as you could be missional in papua new guinea and not be multi-ethnic.

while i wouldn’t say that such a church needs to be emergent (as many people are allergic to that term in atlanta, yourself not included), emerging people understand that models of church must be highly contextualized and would not expect a church in atlanta to be similar to say, quest church in seattle. there are too many different influences that shape our cities and communities.

Many immigrants to this country do not share this zeal, and also view the US as being somehow already Christian, and so downplay, even in their ethnic churches, those elements which could lead to broader revival especially if those things are “cultural.” That combined with pressures and benefits of assimilation mean the question of “what could have been” is never asked.

Just food for thought

more specifically, will emergent asian-american churches will look vastly different in atlanta than in other cities? not that eugene cho’s church is asian-american, but there is an incredible diversity. but we look at the city and understand that whites and asians SEEM to have a much healthier relationship than in atlanta.

food for thought.