Next Gener.Asian Church

I’ve been thinking a lot in terms of excavation and imagination. Excavation is the act of going back to seek, to uncover that which has been cast under the skyscrapers of modernization and urbanization in order to re-trace our steps as Asian Americans to be more ourselves. Imagination is the act of stepping forward into what can be and could be, based on where we’ve come from.

For some time now, I’ve been sure that this process is a long one, and rather difficult at that. In my personal explorations, I find myself running up against a ceiling (or floor, if you choose to stay with the excavation metaphor) where both excavation and imagination seem to stop short, where the road seems to end.

I wonder what happened before my parents’ generation. And where it has led in the land which they have left. It begs the question of what kind of collective trauma the nation went through when Japan occupied the country and when the country was torn in two when the Korean War broke out. So much of our dysfunction seems to stem from these events.

It doesn’t seem very hard to assume by looking at that trajectory of crisis, Korean/Korean American churches reflect the trauma made to the society and nation as a whole. It’s not merely that Korean American churches are at a loss for how to contextualize the Christian message and implications therein, it’s that Korea as a whole has lost its sense of self somewhat.

I was doing some loitering on the Internet and found The Western Confucian, who confirmed some of my suspicions with the following article (originally posted on Seoul Times).

For those who like to skim, the emphasis marks are mine.

It seems that I’m not the only one who’s run into this ceiling…er…floor.

South Korea’s old Taegukki (太極旗), national flag

The Taegukki (太極旗), the national flag of the Republic of Korea, is perhaps the world’s most beautiful. It is certainly the world’s most philosophical. At its center is the Taegeuk, known in Chinese as the Taichi (太極), symbolizing the “Supreme Ultimate.” Thus, an idea first formulated by the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu (莊子) in the fourth century before Christ is symbolically represented on the flag that flies over the world’s most Confucian country. Yet, the people who live under this flag seem to have lost touch with this “Supreme Ultimate.”

The Tao (道) is difficult to define in English and is thus left untranslated. “The Way” is its literal translation, but unmodified by other nouns perhaps “The Way of Nature” is a better. Perhaps it is best to think of the Tao in terms of what it is not. Koyaanisqatsi, “life out of balance” in the language of the Hopi Indians, is its polar opposite. Yet koyaanisqatsi is precisely what one finds in modern Korea, once known as “The Lang of Morning Calm.” How, then, did Korea lose her Way?

(more…)

In a recent conversation with anakainosis from Merging Lanes this week at the nearby James Joyce Pub,(oh yes, Happy Birthday, Dan Ra), we reached brief moments of lucidity with regards to Asian American church: “There is no culturally-neutral expression of the Gospel”, the rationale for an Asian American church is not so much to re-create our cultural bias and therefore stigmatize a particular view of Christianity further, but to to remind ourselves that every culture, whether we assimilate in to White Evangelical American Christianity or assume that there is something to the indigenous Asian responses to the Gospel, has limitations (consciously or unconsciously) to allowing transformation of that culture.

However, the goal is not to eliminate culture, but similar to what Peter Rollins says about Christianity being an atheistic theism (or an irreligious religion), what we should strive for in our conversations about culture is to make it an acultural culture. We oppose the calcification of Asian and American cultures precisely because they are both self-preserving, and the Gospel is not. But neither is the Gospel a despiser of culture, therefore we seek to create something in the midst of the twilight which we embody – neither completely Eastern nor Western, Asian nor American. The beauty is that we can be honest and authentic about the very transplant that has occurred and discuss the dislocation as a personal and social phenomenon, not merely as a spiritual one. Furthermore, we understand even this location of “establishing” some Asian American church as transient – we are in motion as it relates to this Christ and the Spirit (wind, breath) of God. 

The real challenge then is not to re-write history or to re-invent our identity, but from this moment begin to commit to the creation of culture transformed as the DNA of Christ becomes hard-wired, transcribed into our genes one strand at a time neither erasing who we were created to be nor denying that we are being fashioned into something more (and yes, I am mixing my metaphors here). What the Gospel has been unable to do (albeit it has been a relatively short history for Asian conversions to Christianity, although we can make a strong case that the West has not fared much better), is puncture a core barrier of culture. Sure, we accept moralism and borrow language for hierarchy and order, but we refuse to be transformed at the nucleus. This is precisely why even the zealots with the best intentions still re-create empires that bear none of the true ethos of Christ in the end. We were not called for dominion in that sense, or perhaps as we have consistently presumed, we think too highly of ourselves to begin with. We were called to be generative, and regenerative, born again, healed again, called again, forgiven again, and sent again. We were not called to reproduce the Tower of Babel as though that were the solution to the kingdom – gathering the masses of people under one language, one banner, and one edifice. We were called to be the “living stones,” the very material – with all the particular properties that go into building materials of varying texture, composition, density and color (i.e. race, ethnicity, and culture). 

And…then I don’t remember what else we talked about, and I have to clarify for his sake, some of this is extrapolation from our conversation, but keywords were “diversity of doctrine”; the fear of reproducing empire; and creating community for (lack of) creation’s sake. Then we drank “flaming Dr. Peppers” and I went home.

But sleep easy, we’re got this figured out. I just can’t remember it right now. 

Continuing on from the video on David Choe, is this video I found about graffiti on the streets of Shanghai. Graffiti is all about expression and it’s wonderful to hear mainland Chinese talk about creativity in a way that I think most “churched” people do not articulate. There’s an awareness of ideas, identity, and expression that is amazing. Perhaps this is why people associate the church/Christianity with backwardness, but I believe that we have the theological language to inform, encourage, and support creativity and expression.

When we create we bear the image of God most fully. Even when we graffiti. 

May we be as daring as these artists in Shanghai.

h/t to DJ for finding this one….

Asian American Pastor Speaks Only English

Chicago native of Korean descent also knows no martial arts

HOUSTON – The employment of James Kim as youth pastor at Mt. Olive Baptist church here has resulted in some disappointment among church members, but not for the usual pastoral dissatisfaction reasons.

“When I saw that we had hired him, I was so excited,” said church treasurer Lilly Rudd. “I thought we could finally start an outreach to the Chinese and Filipino populations of Houston, but when he opened his mouth I noticed there was no accent at all – even his l’s and r’s were all pronounced right. That’s when I had to ask him if he even spoke Chinese at all. I was completely speechless when he told me he’d never even been outside the US.”…. Click on the link above to read the entire parody…

Is there room for a David Choe in your church?

There’s simply something intriguing about an artist and his art. Perhaps it is because God as the Creator has made us in his image that we take on a certain divine resemblance and authority when we also create.

It’s a curiosity that most Asian Americans who dare to be creative in the face of our parents’ wishes to be practical and profitable are cast off as failures and deemed as having wasted their lives.

But the last time I checked, the Gospel is not practical or profitable either.

Anyone who has wrestled with a simple case of “writer’s block” should understand the notion that the act of creation requires something of us. It pains us to try and express ourselves. It is unnatural and somehow divine. Perhaps it is actually divine and somehow made natural in us.

Even though most of us grew up taking violin or piano lessons, it seems that Asian Americans have over-emphasized the performance aspect as opposed to the composition aspect. It’s much easier to read than to write, to appreciate than paint, and to imitate than innovate. But perhaps that’s the crux of the problem – you cannot “imitate” the life of Christ, it has to be “created” in you. When we merely consume to sustain ourselves and then work to secure all that we have gathered, we have fallen short of that creative image of God, we become less than human. Why would the church want to perpetuate that?

A key problem with immigrant churches and their children is basically the inability to speak the same language. The majority of those born in the US are not fluent in the language of their parents. In order to succeed, they have to speak English in schools and at work, which means the mother tongue gets a rest, sometimes a permanent vacation.

It seems that the priority of English in order to succeed – read: English as a first language beats ESL any day, leads to rifts in the church. We can’t worship together (efficiently and/or effectively) and we have problems communicating as a whole. In fact, language is at the very crux of the problem in many churches and homes. Both generations can often feel like strangers in the same home. They speak to each other and kind of understand one another, but something always gets lost in translation. When parents speak among themselves in the mother tongue, it seems like plotting. And when the children retort in English slang, the parents can’t help but feel disrespected. 

But does globalization possibly change that dynamic? Or does English truly become the new lingua franca? Does the tension increase or decrease in our families/churches? Is language seen as an inefficiency (again, sorry to borrow verbiage from economics) or will it be viewed as an asset? And one question further for our immigrant churches – is there a strong theological rationale for the preservation of languages? Do we keep the inheritance of the Tower of Babel as a good thing or a bad thing? 

Interestingly enough, globalization tends to support ghetto-ization, at least in my observation. Channels of distribution that increase the import of ethnic foods, television, music and movies means the children of immigrants stand a better chance of preserving the mother tongue. It also means that there’s less of a delay in culture. That means there’s less of “time capsule” effect that occurs with first generation parents. For instance, if my parents came from Korea in the 1970s, they bring over a 1970s Korean mindset. So even though Korea undergoes its own cultural shifts and trends, my parents are like time travelers somewhat, and the picture of Korea that I inherit from them is not necessarily the Korea that is. 

But now that’s changed, and the real question is then what effect will globalization have on language. 

Here are some excerpts from some Freakonomists pondering that very question: 

English is a tool, just like a piece of technology. Much of the world’s economy is tied up in English-speaking countries and for that reason, English is like a cell phone provider offering the best plan. But if the dollar continues to drop, the most viable option could shift. Mexico and Korea don’t need English to communicate if Korea begins to find it profitable to learn Spanish.

In fact, globalization means that we have more reason than ever to learn a language. While globalization has its benefits and drawbacks, learning a language, like almost any other skill, is at best useful and at least a bit of personal edification (like learning Ancient Greek or fly fishing).

It’s obvious that English promotes American power in the global linguistic marketplace — but a slogan of Li Yang’s Crazy English movement is “Conquer English to Make China Stronger!”

one of the intriguing consequences of globalization is that English’s center of gravity is moving. Its future is going to be defined not in America or Britain, but by the new economies of places like Bangalore, Chongqing, and Bratislava.

Realistically, fifty years from now the world’s big languages may be as few as three: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and English. Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi will also be pretty big — but chiefly because of massive population growth on their home turf. Arabic, too, will have grown — for religious reasons at least as much as economic ones.

So while organizations like Wycliffe are busy translating the Bible into minor indigenous languages across the world, dozens of other languages are simply going to vanish. Is that a good or a bad thing? What does that mean for ethnic churches – Fight to keep the language? or learn to lose it? And what if we can’t pick it back up again? How much culture can I retain without the language? Why is it that I feel like I’m holding water in my hands? or rather, my tongue? 

I’m really glad to welcome Daniel So on board here, he’s an extremely gifted writer and thinker.I should have piggybacked along with Daniel’s post earlier this month, but it’s been a rough season for me personally.  I’m getting to the age where there begins to be more funerals than weddings at certain stretches and every news of birth seems to coincide with someone’s passing away. 

In any case, this video was from last year’s May celebrating Asian American Heritage month, but since I didn’t post it then, it still seems to apply this year and features one of my newfound heroes in Beau Sia, a very talented poet whose passion and fury I wish I could reproduce every time I get a chance to speak.

Enjoy..

Wired has a great article this month entitled, “Screw Organic. Go Nuclear. Live Urban. Crank the A/C.” Subtitle: “Inconvenient Truths: in the age of climage change, what matters most is cutting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. That means rethinking everything you ever learned about being green.”

China and India, two emerging superpowers usually get a lot flack for their growing consumption and their overworked factories, but I thought this was an interesting flip of the script. Here’s an excerpt from the article, enjoy.

Pop quiz: who’s the volume dealer in alternative-energy hardware? If you said, choking, smoking, coal-toking China, give yourself a carbon credit.

Consider solar cells, the least carbon-intensive option after nuclear, wind, and biomass, according to an analysis by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2007, photovoltaic factories in the People’s Republic tripled production, grabbing 35 percent of the global market and making China the world’s number one producer. How about rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, critical for superefficient electric vehicles? Chinese manufacturers will soon rule that world, too. Windmills? “Prepare for the onslaught of relatively inexpensive Chinese turbines,” says Steve Sawyer, head of the Global Wind Energy Council. His forecast: China will produce enough gear to generate 10 gigawatts of power annually by 2010–more than half the capacity of the whole world installed in 2007.

China has three big reasons for jumping feetfirst into the carbon fight. Obviously, there’s the threat of climate change–flooding in China’s coastal cities, drought in the country’s interior. Second, there’s political instability: Air and water pollution is already a flash point for public protests. And then there’s the burgeoning export market for green products stamped MADE IN CHINA.

Will renovating the planet spur the first wave of homegrown Chinese tech innovation? Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, thinks so. “China has as much or more at stake than anyone,” he said at a recent corporate summit. “Solar energy, carbon sequestration–we’re going to be blown away by China’s progress over the next couple of decades.” If only they could clean up Beijing’s air in time for the summer Olympics. –– Spencer Reiss

What strikes me is the power of economics. More than the politics and the environment itself, it seems that the opportunity for profits seems to create the momentum for change. Perhaps I’m too cynical, but I can’t help but observe that “saving mother earth” just isn’t a good enough motive. Isn’t it strange that the ideal itself rarely is enough to live accordingly? Don’t get me wrong, I’m encouraged to read an argument that doesn’t just point the finger at the growing Asian economies as the biggest culprit in climate change. That’s a nice consolation argument piece. I’m just interested in the notion that in order for us to make environmental consciousness ubiquitous, we’ve had to make it consumable – and consumption, and its twin brother production, is what got us here in the first place.

Instead of Walter Wink’s “Myth of Redemptive Violence,” it is as if there is a Myth of Redemptive Consumption. It’s not that shopping is evil, it’s that you’re shopping for the wrong things. But that’s the great conundrum, isn’t it? Like Bob Dylan said in one of his Christian episodes, “You’ve got to serve somebody.” We are never quite as free as we would like to be. There seem to be some who would like to think we could live on earth without leaving any footprint at all, much less a carbon one. But what would that profit us? My soul and not the world?

Bruce Reyes-Chow (candidate for moderator in the PCUSA) has written a succinct exposition with Asian Week on why Asian Americans tend to be conservative theologically. 

Please do read the article and here’s a bit of a teaser…

Are Asian Americans more drawn to conservative Christianity?  Is conservative Christianity seeking out Asian Americans?  Yes, and, well, sort of.

Here are three characteristics that create an environment ripe for the convergence of conservative Christian teachings and Asian American mojo.

1) Conservative Christianity and Asian American culture like the idea of working hard for what you get…

2) Conservative Christianity and Asian American culture emphasize the family unit before the individual…

3) Conservative Christianity and Asian American culture stress strict obedience to the authority given to elders….

It’s true. The only theologically liberal Asian Americans I’ve met go to seminary or divinity schools. They’re not in Asian churches. Admittedly, often they’re the ones with a chip on their shoulder - women who’ve been refused in leadership or guys who asked too many of the wrong questions. They’re the pariahs of the Christian community…and perhaps of the Asian community. It seems too American (and I mean American in the worst sense of the word) to be this type of Christian. 

I know evangelical Asian American Christians are seen as the booming segment on college campuses and the Great Yellow Hope for morality and conservative theology, but can we actually dialogue past these categories of liberal and conservative? I tend to think that the church, especially in Asian circles, wounds as many people as it evangelizes, so at some point, we need to talk, don’t we? And we need to add theological language for reconciliation that is not merely, “when you get it right, you can come back.” Because in all my reading of Christ, when we get it right is when we figure out we’ve done it wrong.