I’ve been seeing more posts lately on other blogs about church diversity, and they constantly remind me about how the church focuses on the visible, without digging deeper in this issue of diversity.

When a suburban, white, middle-class church attracts a few people of different ethnicities, it becomes something to be celebrated. Why? What does having a black family, or a Chinese family coming to your church service have to do with anything if your songs are contemporary, white America, Christian radio songs and your message speaks to your white American congregation?

We quote lots of Scripture showing why God mandates reaching out to other ethnic groups, yet fail to remember how culturally relevant New Testament churches had to be in order to grow in Ephesus, Galatia, etc. We have Paul’s letters--and the context of their praise and rebuke--as reference to just how culturally diverse these churches were. The Bible is rich in its story of how culture plays a big role in the story of its characters. We need more stories of people within our churches that speaks to who we are individually and how that shapes us collectively. We are a mosaic of different pieces all coming together to form the face of Jesus--Not a mish mosh of different faces assimilating into a whiteboard seen through rose-colored (or brown, red, yellow, black, or purple) glasses that screen out color and makes everything look monochrome.

If your church is ethnically diverse in its makeup that’s great. However, when you fail to learn that our differences go beyond appearance and actually penetrate down into our DNA, you fail to realize the wonderful, painful, sometimes hidden world of what makes us not just ethnically diverse, but culturally diverse.

The title of this post needs some immediate clarification. It’s strictly in the context of segregated churches that stand on their own for a particular reason, such as ethnic churches (Russian, Chinese, Spanish) or fringe churches (Biker, Hip-Hop, Urban).

I wrote two previous posts here and here that had to do with the apathy of being a diverse local church and why I feel it is important to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity more so than ethnic or socio-econimic diversity.

Having served in pastoral ministry in an ethnic church, I find it very awkward to not be part of the group. Many people will immediately think that me being Asian means I must be comfortable around others Asians. However, I was a Japanese American in an almost exclusively Korean American church and it was not very comfortable for me. I had to learn an entirely new culture and how I could transcend that at times for the sake of communicating effectively. To come in from the street and connect during a Sunday gathering would be great. On the surface the only difference would be that the congregation was Korean in appearance, yet not much would seem different. However, if you kept coming back every week, you’d begin to notice the context of the sermon illustrations were very Korean, some of the words in a sermon were Korean because there really wasn’t a good English equivalent, and the people seemed to have an unspoken communication that outsiders wouldn’t quite get. Many days were spent with me feeling like such an outsider. Many days I felt like those I was serving in the church didn’t appreciate me being different.

As uncomfortable as much of my time in ministry with my Korean American brothers and sisters was, I can’t tell you how much I learned from them. How I could have been (and probably was at times) judgmental of them, before learning of certain things that are taught and seemingly inherent in their nature and personalities. A small thing that ended up being a big thing was the use of titles. Even as a youth pastor intern, I had to be referred to as pastor by the teens in my group. I hate titles and don’t like the formality of being referred to as “Pastor Dave.” However, if the teens just called me Dave it was a sign of disrespect. I was okay with it, but their parents were not. On top of that, I was not really an official pastor in the church since I was not ordained at the time. So, I was referred to differently by adults in the church. I was the jundosa and the senior pastor was the moksanim. It had everything to do with respect and hierarchy. A tough pill for me to swallow at first, but once I grew to understand the culture more, I knew it had to be that way.

In the same way, there is culture that surrounds a church of bikers. As much as we in the suburban local church like to say that we welcome everybody and encourage anyone to “come as they are,” I can assure you that in most white, upper-middle class suburban churches, if a few bikers came in on a Sunday it would freak people out. If they chose to come back several Sundays in a row, it would cause some people to leave for another church. Being surrounded in a church with people that understand the biker culture may be much more positive for them than being around a bunch of accountants and soccer moms sharing stories.

Not just cultural differences that cause a lack of diversity to be a positive thing in a church, but language itself is a barrier. If people immigrate from Spain and only speak Spanish, having a church where they can worship in Spanish would be a good thing, whereas English-only may make it impossible for them to gather in the name of the Lord. Having a church where people of Vietnamese, Russian, or Mexican descent has a place in the community. They serve a particular need that an English-only church cannot. Language, more than culture, can determine diversity sometimes--even if that language is from being a biker or Hip-Hop.

At some point I have to believe that there will be blending of cultures in America. As we make the shift very soon to caucasians being the minority in the US, things are going to change--like it or not. My hope is that rather than continue segregating churches that we will someday be able to celebrate the diversity of cultures in America and embrace them and learn from them. What makes me who I am is a conflict of being a Japanese American with certain traits inherently Japanese, yet feeling fully American. I hope you’ll want to learn more about me as a person so you can understand me and others like me better. I want to learn more about you so that I can relate and celebrate those things that are unique to you and your culture that I may not know or experience had I not come to know you. That makes the world a better place and converges our cultures into something far more beautiful than if we just kept it to ourselves. Don’t just show me your skin color, but take me on a journey with you and let me hear your story and get to know you. We’ll both be better people as a result of our time together.

[This is a continuation of a previous post titled "In the church, ethnic diversity is meaningless," which you can read here.]

Continuing with my perspective on church diversity, let me start off with the three positions the local church takes on diversity (or lack of):

1. The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
2. The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
3. We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

These days it’s hard to escape diversity. We find people of different races and economic levels in the: workplace, school yard, and suburban neighborhood. Yet, in the local church, diversity is tough to come by. Should our local church reflect of the demographics of our neighboring community? I think it should. That goes along with points 1 & 3 above. So, for the purposes of this post, I am going to save point 2 for a third post and focus on points 1 & 3.

We are led to believe, as Christians, that heaven is a place where we will find people from all nations. As we walk out our driveways and look down the street we will probably see people of various ethnicities and varying income levels. So, if we are called to see heaven here on earth the local church should be diverse in its makeup. If we are to be a diverse church in our community, then we have to strive to make all people welcome. Makes sense, right?

I argue that diversity, for the sake of being a colorful congregation is just a facade. It’s something put in place to make congregants feel like they are being cosmopolitan and for ministry leaders to put a feather in their cap. I won’t say that it is all done in the name of vanity, but if you really break down the effect of diversity on the church, what do we accomplish by encouraging it? If everyone in your Sunday church service closed their eyes, would the effect of diversity really have any meaning?

You see, I am not a fan of diversity. What I am is an advocate for infusing culture into the local church. I believe that when we are in a church gathering and we were to close our eyes, that we could feel culture--and its influence on our lives--regardless of the skin color or job title of those around us. To me, beauty is not skin deep. In fact, I contend that our true beauty can only be realized when we get to know what lies under ones skin.

Not only is understanding other people’s culture relevant when it comes to ministering to them, but I say that it is more important for us to take the opportunity to learn their culture for the sake of making us better people. Offering different styles of music or having colorful faces in leadership in the church has no bearing on who the church it is. It may influence some to come so they don’t feel like standouts, but it doesn’t have much impact on us as a gospel community.

If we use the epistles as a reference, we can easily see that each church Paul wrote letters to was praised or admonished differently. They each battled different idols and ideals and were written to differently as a result. We don’t just align ourselves with one of the churches in the New Testament and then say that we will only learn what Paul taught from that particular Epistle. We take each Epistle into account and learn the context of each church and therefore understand why Paul wrote to each individually. We should do the same thing when it comes people of other cultures. Only when we get to know people deeper than what we see on the surface, can we truly be connected and stand alongside them. Only when I see you reach out to me to learn about my culture, will I truly believe that you care about me, rather than desire to see my Japanese face added to the mix of your congregation to confirm that you have your good deed. It is culture, not diversity, that will cause us to grow and become more beautiful as people.

I’ve made many, many attempts to engage people in a continuing dialog about racial diversity and cultural diversity within the local church. There seems to be three camps within church circles these days:

1. The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
2. The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
3. We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

The problem with scenario number 1 is that diversity for the sake of coloring a room to give it the appearance of heaven, isn’t really heaven. Think about it. When you walk into a church gathering and see a lot of races represented, is it truly any different than if you walk into a room with only people that look like you? Is the music any different? Is the perspective of the message any different? What do you take away from a room filled with people of different races vs a room filled with only your own? Maybe pride that you’ve done a good thing?  Aside from that, you have gained--nor learned--nothing.

Scenario number 2 is most often used in the context of an ethnic church such as: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, etc. However, it does apply to the White American church as well. Growing up in Mexico, China, or Russia comes with a different set of cultures than growing up in America. Certain practices/customs/viewpoints/taboos are going to be different than here in the United States. As people migrate to our nation, should we force our culture on them from day one? Do we make them feel unwelcome in the land known as the melting pot of people? Not only do these issues conflict with culture, but they also conflict with faith. One’s faith as practiced in Korea is probably not going to look like ones faith as practiced in Tennessee. Gathering in this manner can lead to exclusion, which leads to inclusion. That’s he problem with this scenario.

Number 3 is like the Disneyland of churches. Most conversations I’ve had with pastors and church planters describes their ideal view of this scenario. A church of diversity, both in race and social/economic class. A church where the alcoholic can worship next to the millionaire and everyone can experience love and grace. I know churches like this do exist in some communities, but what can one learn from such an experience? Just because you enter a room with people that do not look like you, that can afford more or less than you, that speak different languages than you, what difference does it really make?

We’ll never escape any of these three scenarios. Each has some merit and will have those people drawn to gather within those contexts. As I continue this topic in my next blog post, I will argue that what we want to gain from each of these can only truly be found when we get past race and learn to embrace culture. It’s what the first century church did, and I believe it’s what the twenty-first century church must do.

Not Like Me: A Field Guide for Influencing A Diverse World is a reprint of Eric Michael Bryant‘s previous book titled Peppermint-Filled Pinatas. I did not read the first release so I am not sure how it is different, but I do know that in the form of Not Like Me, this book is like gold! There is so much in here to take away and apply that it could easily take me a year (or probably more) to get through all of it. Apparently, I’m not alone as Eric has provided small groups resources and teaching materials from the book’s website: http://notlikeme.org/.

Pastor Bryant shares his own personal stories and incorporates a lot of humor in a way that helps break down defenses and makes us want to connect with this book in a more personal level. It’s exactly the type of thing Bryant advocates for us as Christians--and as the church--to do with those we encounter outside of Christian community. He calls us to help overcome the Christian stereotypes that unchurched people tend to have of churched people. In doing so, he wants us to understand that we must hold others in a new light--that which does not include judgement. As Eric writes, “We [Christians] have created an environment where we are seen as judgmental, irrelevant, mean, and hypocritical.” and “We should not be surprised when people who have not surrendered their lives to God live differently [than we Christians should].” In order to see this happen, Bryant’s answer is to practice “the art of woo.” It is through this “art of woo” that Pastor Eric unfolds a story of how we might learn to develop diverse communities, resolve conflict, overcome bitterness, create a better future, and even heal our fractured world. “Wouldn’t it be amazing,” Eric asks in the introduction, “if as followers of Christ we found ourselves as part of the solution in our divided world rather than as part of the problem? In the end, don’t people matter most?”

Sharing stories and ideas on realizing diversity within the church and reaching those that do not know Christ in a relevant way, Not Like Me is a training manual of sorts. It’s a book written by someone that has accomplished all that he offers to teach us. As a pastor and influencer of Mosaic--a diverse and amazing community that seeks to follow (and be more like) Christ with services that are in various locations such as a nightclub--Eric Bryant is someone who lives what he preaches. His heart for seeing diverse communities of Gospel love, compassion, and grace is big. Eric gets why it’s important to celebrate cultural diversity and why the church must be about loving others more so than becoming a shelter filled with Christians trying to escape from the world that doesn’t know Christ.

Thanks to Zondervan and Eric Bryant for allowing me the opportunity and privilege of being a part of the Not Like Me: A Field Guide for Influencing a Diverse World blog tour. It is with great passion and enthusiasm that I will continue to refer to the pages and apply the things that Eric graciously shares for communicating and building community with those around me, especially those not like me.

Long before the whole incident of the Deadly Viper/Zondervan use of Asian culture to promote a book arose, there was a lengthy dialog from the Next Gener.Asian Church blog about how white evangelicals were using Francis Chan because he was a safe spokesperson from the Asian-American ministerial community that would relate to a broad audience. It was titled: Is Francis Chan a sell-out? At the time of this writing, there are 162 comments in reply to that post and more are added each week. It’s a polarizing issue and one that is totally misunderstood. Due to some recent events, it seems that this conversation has taken on a new life and either people are voicing their opinions or left on the sidelines scratching there heads in confusion. If Francis Chan is an Asian-American pastor and his messages don’t have much relevance to his being Asian, how can that be bad? Should there be a Chinese gospel along side a Caucasian/Anglo one? Weren’t we all called to be part of one church anyway? Some people are looking upon the Asian-American Christian community as one that wants to be segregated and appearing to be somewhat elitist.

I’m kind of in the middle on the whole issue--I understand both sides, yet I’m not quite sure I have the answer to build unity on the matter. However, maybe my perspective will help some gain more understanding the heart of the matter.

If you are a white evangelical, a lot of this will probably resonate with you:

1. It’s not about what we want, but it’s about who God sends to our church. God builds the church, not us.
2. While we may be white, we are open to people of all races coming in to worship together with us. Not only are we open, but we encourage people of other cultures to join us!
3. There should be no Black church, White church, Asian church, Latino church--there should just be one church as we are all one in Christ.

In actuality, there are some in the Asian-American evangelical church that would agree with all three of the above-points as well. However, there is a bit of a different perspective that is predominant within Asian-American Christians. Unfortunately, many within the Asian-American community can’t quite place their finger on it or even understand there is an issue.

The perspective from the Asian-American evangelical is like this:

1. I grew up in a (Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese, etc) church that had services for my parents in (Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese, etc.) and services for me in English. Often times the English services were presided over by a Caucasian pastor who spoke English well, but didn’t really understand the (Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese, etc.) culture I was raised in. My friends aren’t Asian, my neighbors aren’t Asian and I want to go to church with them somewhere that isn’t (Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese, etc.)
2. When in a predominantly Caucasian church service, I feel like I don’t fit in. I’m not connecting beyond a surface level with others in the church.
3. I don’t embrace all of the culture forced upon at my parent’s church, yet I don’t feel like I get any culture from the predominantly-Caucasian church.

On an even deeper level, some Asian-American Christians struggle with their identity. They don’t quite know how to feel about being Asian. Are they to look past their cultural heritage and integrate with everyone else disregarding why God birthed them as Asians or is there some relevance they should appreciate by being birthed by God as Asians?

When someone says, “I don’t see color, I just see people. When I look at you Dave, I don’t see someone who is Asian. I just see you as Dave.” I think that’s great. However, what you fail to realize is that you just discredited my cultural heritage. I’m not just like you. Even though we may think and speak in a similar manner, we don’t have similar stories. If you are white growing up in America, you can never really know what it’s like being Asian growing up in America. Racism aside, imagine what it’s like growing up with the pressure to be smarter than the average student. There is a stereotype that Asians are smart and they become accountants and engineers. Not only is there pressure from Asian parents to excel in school, but there is pressure to stay in school and at least obtain a master’s degree. I can understand how some non-Asian people will tell me how they had similar pressure to excel in school, but it’s just not the same. I can’t tell you how many times I have been introduced to people that aren’t Asian and the first thing they ask me is what I do for a living, then they ask me what school I went to. When I tell them what I do (and it’s not being an accountant or engineer) and when they ask me where I went to school and I tell them I did 2 years part-time at a community college and went to seminary when I was 38, they usually walk away from the conversation confused. They spent time trying to quickly assess me before asking the questions, yet my answers were unexpected. At the heart of the matter is whether they would ask me what I do and where I went to school if I weren’t Asian.

So, being deemed too smart and a geek by white students, yet not smart enough for the Asian students is not a very comforting place to be. It leads to conflict and some resentment over who we are.

Another problem is in how we as Asian-Americans represent ourselves. Why should non-Asians really be cautious over what they say or what they find humorous if Asians say and laugh at the same things? Isn’t that hypocritical? In short, yes it is. When there are people like Bobby Lee of MadTv mocking Asians for the sake of getting a laugh, it absolutely sends a confusing message to non-Asians. Unfortunately, for some that aspire to be actors or comedians, perpetuating stereotypes is the only way they can get work. Some Asians don’t even understand how wrong it is to perpetuate the stereotypes and connotations of playing up being Oriental.

As an Asian-American, does Francis Chan have a responsibility to be some super-Asian and season every statement he makes with an Asian perspective? Not at all! From Francis’ perspective, he is doing what is right for him and his messages connect with lots of people. However, at the same time, should Francis Chan operate in circles of influence that only care about his Asian appearance rather than his Asian cultural perspective? No, I don’t think he should. As an Asian-American Christian, I think he does have some responsibility to other Asians. He may speak the language of white evangelicals, but at the same time he obviously doesn’t look like a white evangelical. There is a reason for that. Chan is Asian-American and is gaining respect in the white evangelical church, yet he isn’t white. This has to have some meaning and can’t be equated as just some random thing. It’s similar to Obama’s presidency. We all pat each other on the back and the world stands and applauds us for voting in a black president. However, our expectation is that he is black in appearance only, not in a cultural context. President Clinton went to McDonald’s and was criticized and stereotyped as a result. Imagine if President Obama went to KFC on a regular basis. Even though you may explain to me how you aren’t prejudice or racist and that you see Obama as just another president, I know that your mind wandered into a place of stereotype as you envisioned Obama eating at KFC. It’s the same reason why if Obama plays basketball you’re okay with it, but if he played basketball poorly you’d question it. Stereotypes are difficult to overcome. They wreak havoc on our perceptions even on subconscious levels. As much as we as non-black Americans see in these stereotypes, how do you think black Americans feel? They see Obama as a sign of hope and change. That a black person can be elected president and ultimately bring some respect to African-Americans. They expect that he will represent them in some way that someone like myself couldn’t. In the same way, there is some expectation that Francis Chan will use his opportunities to lend a voice for the voiceless Asian-Americans who deal with conflict and self-esteem issues and feel out of place in the church. In an extreme sense, just as pop culture and Hollywood exploit people like Bobby Lee on MadTv to show some diversity on the set, the white evangelical church can exploit Francis Chan for the sake of claiming some diversity in the pulpit.

In the end, those of us that are Asian-Americans don’t have a unified philosophy on racism, prejudice, stereotypes or exploitation. Some of us (Asian-Americans) laugh at skits that remind us of the days of being an Oriental in a white land because we never lived through that pain and accepted environment oppression. Some of us Asian-Americans use our Chinese voice and squint our eyes and make fun of parents to our white friends because they don’t know what it’s like to be physically threatened because we as Asians were caught talking to a white girl on campus. Yes, some of us Asian-Americans can be insensitive to those that have walked before us because we feel we are above the racism so much so that we can laugh at stuff just like our white friends. In the end, it’s this passive perpetuation of stereotypes that fuels non-Asians to make the same jokes, pull at their eye lids and make the buck teeth while putting on thick coke bottle glasses, say things like “Heh-rro!” in a room full of Asians and expect to get a laugh.

Just so you know, I am an American first. I love my country and am willing to defend her. However, God created me for a reason and I am called to live my journey as a guy born in Japan and brought to California to live amongst a diverse group of people and find my own identity in Christ. It must have some perspective of my culture otherwise my story which begins with being born in Japan is insignificant and irrelevant. If that were to be true, then why are there so many nations of varying cultures on Earth? Why not just be one continent with one people? Even in the Bible we see people of different nations all playing a role. Some positive, some not so positive, but they all are important in the context of entire story. Even Moses was created by God to be extracted from his land and placed into the culture of Egypt, only to be reunited with the people of Israel and lead them to the promised land. His culture was of great importance in the greater context. Mine isn’t to be considered on the same magnitude, but it is still significant in some small way. I am a child of God with a Japanese perspective and heritage living in America. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Continuing a bit with a theme I started on yesterday’s blog post here, I wanted to clarify something. For those of you that don’t know my story, I wanted to give a bit of background and to confirm my thoughts on race and the American church. Being an Asian with the last name Ingland, you can imagine that it can easily lend to some confusion :)

I was born in Japan, but put up for adoption. My adopted parents are bi-racial, being that my dad was white and grew up in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania and my mom was a native Japanese woman. My parents met in Japan while my dad was stationed there in the US Air Force. So, while I have my adopted father’s last name, I am 100% Japanese. However, the context of my culture is really American. While my mom is Japanese, due to prejudice and racism she did everything she could to assimilate us into our exclusively white neighborhood. I was one of 3 Asians in my graduating class in high school. So, for me, most of what I know is rooted in white, American culture. In the conversation of Asian-American church, I am kind of the oddball. However, there are aspects of me that are inherently Asian…things that I don’t consciously think about or purposefully do or think, yet they are ingrained in who I am. This is the conflict I have spent the past 9 months trying to figure out--who am I and who am I supposed to minister to?

When I look at the predominantly white, American church I don’t necessarily see it as evil or racist. I don’t even really consider it segregated. What I do see though is that there is a perspective present there that only someone not white would understand. When a white pastor proclaims to a white congregation that they want to purposefully try and reach out to people of color, I know their heart is in the right place. However, in reality, this is a very difficult challenge because of the current establishment. Just as most white people would feel uncomfortable driving into a black neighborhood and worshiping as the only white person in a black church, people of color can feel the same discomfort in a white church. I know that you’re reading that last sentence and believing that it is not true of you, but I think if you were being completely honest you would agree, even if not publicly. Know that not only is there a discomfort for non-whites in a white church, but there is also a disconnect. American culture, as mainstream as it is, really lacks diversity and the incorporation of other cultural perspectives. You can bring in an African-American pastor to share a message on Sunday about Kwanzaa, but that really doesn’t help us break down the discomfort and the disconnect that exists in our churches today.

Having said all of this, let me reiterate again: I do not believe that churches that are predominantly one race are racist. I just believe that the method is causing them not to realize a congregation that truly represents the diversity of their community.

If you are part of a white church, in a white community, in a small farm town in the midwest somewhere, does that make you racist? Not at all. Part of the conversation of diversity and multi-culturalism has to exclude some people just because their ministry has no choice except to be predominantly white. Same is true if you are part of a black church in a predominantly African-American neighborhood.

Does racism exist in the church today? Yes, it absolutely does. However, so does idolatry, addiction, hypocracy, the making of celebrities..etc. The church today is not perfect! We don’t always practice what we preach. If we better-understood the message of Christ and grace, we’d be a happier church without judgment and criticism.

While I acknowledge racism exists in the church, I also believe that racial segregation is a by-product of how we “do” church today. It is rooted in how we have “done” church in the past. It’s become more about us and less about Christ. That being said, I still know that the heart of many churches is in the right place.

Know that if a church is trying to establish a ministry to Russian people that have migrated to the US and still know more about Russian culture and the language than they do about America and English, it does not make them racist. Also know that if white people in a swank suburb are being ministered to in the context of being white collar professionals with no programs or ministries to connect with people other than themselves, does not make them racist. People of different cultures, in different communities, will just naturally want to congregate together.

Know this as well: There are people being called into ministry to start doing a new work that goes beyond color or socio-economic classes. As the future of our American culture changes, we as the church must change with it. For some, the status quo isn’t about racism and segregation, but there is a feeling that change must take place. Let’s not try to bridge the gap of black and white, but instead let us bridge the gap to be people reaching people, regardless of color or social status.

It’s taken me forever to finally devote time to this, but I feel the need to respond to a blog post from nextgenerasianchurch.com. It was a guest post from Danny Yang that generated over 100 responses so far. It’s a post that I have serious issues with.

First of all, if you aren’t familiar with Francis Chan know that he is a Chinese-American pastor that is gaining notoriety in Christian Church circles. He recently wrote a book titled Crazy Love that has a lot of buzz behind it. He is the senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA, which is also home to Eternity Bible College.

In my opinion, the frustrating thing to me is that for all the accomplishments Pastor Chan has done--including Cornerstone plating 9 churches throughout the US--he is being viewed as a token Asian in a white man’s world. However, it is sad to know that now Francis Chan’s notoriety is being used to drive discussions on how Asian an Asian-American must be with blog posts scandalously being titled like “Is Francis Chan A Sell-out?”

After talking about being surrounded by a “sea of whiteness” at the Orange Conference and how wrong that was, Yang concludes the blog post by stating:

don’t really think he’s a sell-out; I believe Chan is living faithfully to what GOD has called him to be. But I do think Chan is being used by white evangelicals to alleviate their unwillingness to engage race and faith. Chan is welcome at these conferences only because his message could come just as easily from a white male.

Sometimes a little diversity is worse than no diversity.

So, it’s great to know that Yang writes in the end that Francis Chan isn’t being considered a sellout, but in essence Danny Yang affirms that Chan is a sellout when he puts Chan’s speaking engagements as merely a tool used by white evangelicals to relieve themselves of the burden of engaging race and faith. In essence, as I read it, Yang is saying that Francis Chan is a sellout, but he just doesn’t know he’s a sellout.

To take a man that stands on the truth of the Bible and has gained attention outside of the Asian-American church context and then knock him for speaking to white evangelicals really just rubs me the wrong way. Chan has done things as an Asian-American that speak to how big God is within him. He is not being asked to speak because he is of Chinese descent--He is being asked to speak because he has a relevant voice that is drawing people to truly understand what discipleship means. White, black, yellow, brown, neopolitan..it doesn’t matter!

When I think of this subject, it reminds me of the issues that the Apostles had after Jesus had risen to take his place next to the Father and let the work of evangelism to the Gentiles be done by his people. Issues such as eating only what was considered clean by Jewish law and requiring circumcision for Gentile Christians. As much as the Jews wanted to retain their customs and favor as God’s chosen people, God instead was moving them to understand this passage from Galatians 3:28:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Yes people, it’s true: We are all one in Christ! Does it matter that an amazingly gifted and talented servant of God named Francis Chan is speaking to groups of Caucasian Americans? I think not. Don’t you know that through opportunities such as Chan speaking at the Orange Conference or any other forum where the attendees are predominantly Caucasian, that it will inspire other Asian-Americans as well as Latino-Americans, African-Americans, Native Americans, Italian-Americans, etc to embrace a call to preach the gospel to all nations? Just as Christ transformed a Jewish Pharisee of Pharisees and caused him to speak to Asians, Greeks, Romans, and others in the name of grace and love, so too will he call upon people like Francis Chan to do a similar work. Regardless of race God will bring people near to him through the ministry of Francis Chan and we should celebrate this, not downplay it by judging who Chan speaks to and whether or not he recites cultural Chinese aspects in his sermons.

How can we get from a place of no diversity to a place of great diversity? It starts with one person and grows from there. In order to get a place of diversity, it must begin as just a little diversity. I appreciate who Francis Chan is, what God is obviously doing through him, and the fact that regardless of who one is or where one is born, Chan is speaking relevant truth in a loving way to everyone.

Whether you like it or not, one day we will be in a place where there is no Asian, Latin, German, French or Russian--instead we will be in a place of undeserved love and grace in the presence of the God that created us to be one with him through his Son Jesus.

While responding to a blog post recently I was compelled to introduce a concept to those that follow my blog. It’s a story that was briefly introduced awhile ago, yet only engaged new Asian readers into the discussion, while most of my readership is not Asian. Asian or not, this is an issue that we must face within the church and I’m curious what you all think.

A reply to one of my comments on the blog was:

“In the short-run, you are right, i don’t think you’ll see much positive growth at all, but ethnicity needs to validated as a gift from God and our inheritance from our immigrant parents. so while i agree with your implication that many would benefit from a multi-ethnic or missional church (culture/ethnicity can be viewed as an inefficiency from many people’s eyes, but), an honest exploration into the question of why God created us to be from a certain place and of a certain people should inspire us to discover our ethnicities and cultures in a redemptive light.

This is where i think the example of the people of israel and the biblical practice of remembering, remembering what God has done, who God is, and who God has made us to be, a very real practice to engage in the ethnic context.”

First of all, let me state very clearly that I am extrapolating something from a post that had a larger context. It is not my intention to argue or criticize the blog author or anyone that shares his viewpoint. I am just taking the statement and inflecting my experiences and ideas in the hopes of engaging in some dialog about the subject (hopefully) from both Asian and non-Asians.

Okay, so I’m Japanese, but I’ll admit there were some times in my life where I wished I could have been born looking like Brad Pitt or Joe Montana (nod to my NorCal upbringing) or David Cassidy. Usually it was so that I could have a girl attracted to me that wouldn’t date me because I was Japanese or so that I could avoid the words and violence associated with racism and prejudice. However, I am who I am and all that I am is for the glory of God.

However, do I want to celebrate my heritage in such a way that I need to have everyone around me be Japanese and understand my culture and my language when I’m in a Sunday church service? Is preserving my heritage in such a way something that can honor God much in the same way that the Israelites were true to their place as God’s chosen people? Did God create me as a Japanese person to engage only other Japanese people and rally us around a common cause of preserving who we are?

The Israelites were in-fact God’s chosen people. They were to inherit the earth as Abraham’s descendants. They were not to intermarry or in anyway corrupt the lineage. However, even in the Old Testament we see evidence of something that goes against this notion. Ruth was a Gentile that came to faith in the one true God. Not just any Gentile, but a Moabite and therefore hated by the Israelites. Ruth marries Boaz and bears a son that can be traced to the family line of Jesus himself.

As we see here, introducing Ruth into the Israelite culture of Judah had a profound place in history. Therefore, what is my place as a Japanese person living in the United States? Am I to segregate myself to a place where I can teach the things of God based on the context of my Japanese culture for those that will understand it because they too are Japanese? Or should I celebrate who I am in Christ and share my culture and experience with others so that they may benefit?

Let me shift to a different scenario to help me make my point. With Barack Obama’s candidacy the discussion of black church and white church came up in the media. There were some black churches (I personally dislike this label even though it is socially acceptable) where the message was preached against white America. It was almost an us-against-them mentality that was glorified. However, what if instead of trying to empower African-Americans in the church to stand up to social injustice from the caucasian world they tried to share their stories outside of the black church in a way that brought attention to what has gone on and continues to go on in their lives? How can white America know what is going on in the black community if the black community segregates themselves from the rest of us? The same is true with Asian-Americans in my opinion.

I talk to so many people today that have no clue what I go through as an Asian-American in society. So many think that racism and prejudice is a thing of the past. You wouldn’t believe how many people think I must be smart in math or must have gone to college at UCLA or Cal or that I must be an engineer or know all there is to know about computers or ask me questions about sushi. The outright hatred of me due to my Asian features has diminished greatly over the years, but the stereotypes have not. How does being exclusively with other Japanese people on Sundays help me to make a difference? What if I could take the fulfillment of one of God’s Ten Commandments to honor your mother and father to a whole ‘nother level by introducing my Japanese culture of being there for my parents in ways that aren’t the norm here in America?

I believe that God created me more to honor him and bring glory to his Son Jesus through my unique perspective of a Japanese person with my own individual experiences than he did to see me perpetuate my ethnic values and cultures at all costs. As the Great Commandment in Matthew 25 calls us to do, we are to preach the gospel to all nations and teach them what Christ has taught us. He didn’t say each nation is responsible for the preaching of the gospel to themselves. Three thousand didn’t come to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and believe so that they could go back to their nations and keep their faith within the borders of their individual nations. Paul didn’t preach there is neither slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile only to see us reverse that in order to preserve our ethnic culture in a new land.

I should not have the viewpoint that I am Japanese and you are not so I can perpetuate my culture and heritage in my church and you are excluded, therefore you lose out on all that you could gain through knowing and understanding who I am and what I experienced. Through knowing my struggles with racism and prejudice and the pressures I faced in school here in America you can have some insight on persecution for who I am and how I dealt and continue to deal with that now that I am a Japanese person and a Christian. You can learn how some of the values revealed to us through the Scriptures have been in place in the country of my birth even though less than 1/10th of 1 percent of its people are Christian and how that breaks my heart. You can learn how to look at me as a brother or sister in Christ with individual experiences I can bring to the table and share rather than someone you have no idea how to address since you couldn’t be as mathematical or technologically savvy as me or because you don’t like sushi or whatever.

The harsh reality is that I am different from most of you. Heck, I’m different from many Japanese people as well. However, not only do I truly believe that you can learn from me, I absolutely know that I can learn from you. Together we can celebrate all of God’s people and all that he is doing in this world as the brothers and sisters he created us to be.

We must face our fears, mistrust, and ignorance and become a society of one. It is often said that Sundays are the most segregated time in America. I would tend to agree. As I watch the news on the Democratic National Convention and underlying question that is always looking my commentators is whether Obama as to overcome racism in 2008. Simply put, yes he does! Race and racism are still in existence today. However, if we try to drive racism by pointing out differences between black and white culture we are on shaky ground, yet when it comes to the church, I rarely hear anyone take issue with calling a predominantly African-American church in Atlanta, GA a black church or even talking about the black church as if it is its own denomination.

It’s not so mainstream in America, but there is such a thing as the Chinese, Korean, Japanese or more-generic Asian-American church.

Should American churches be black, Chinese, Mexican, Russian, etc.? I say yes, and no. Let me define my point:

1. For first generation immigrants that have a language barrier, yet want to be able to worship, there should be a church that exists to allow that to happen. If Russian-speaking immigrants can gather in the name of the Lord, then that is great!
2. Regardless of language or race inherently the second generation will want to assimilate into American culture and be taught English and encouraged to become Americans. Will this second generation want to stay in an ethnocentric church the rest of their lives? Their friends are diverse ethnically, their school is ethnically diverse, their workplace, etc. Why wouldn’t they want their church to be representative of their Monday-through-Saturday environment?

Looking at Jesus’ ministry on earth, we know that as a Jew he broke away from traditional custom to walk though Samaria on his way to Jerusalem. It is on a walk through Samaria that he encounters the woman at the well. The end result is that a wave of Christ followers came to know salvation even though they weren’t the chosen people of God (Jews). We also read testimony of Jesus being in the company of prostitutes, those with leprosy, and the much-hated tax collectors. Jesus didn’t care whether someone was of the “chosen” or not, because one of the primary things about his gospel was that anyone that believed in him was granted forgiveness of their sins and brought into the brotherhood of God’s people. Looking at the New Testament, most of it was written by the Apostle Paul, whom Jesus called to preach to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Greeks, Romans, Ethiopians, all would come to know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ through Paul’s outreach. Paul gathered the Jews and Gentiles and assembled them into one church in the community. There were the Ephesian, Galatian, and Thessalonian churches with Jews and Gentiles in unity, not the Jewish Ephesian church, and the Greek Ephesian church on the other side of town, etc. One church, one God, one love for all.

With such examples from the Scripture, why do we so often choose to be segregated during worship? Why must we use Sundays to try and preserve our culture, when God calls us to him above everything else when we come before him in worship?

One argument I hear from some is that if God sends us an Asian-American congregation, then that is who we are to shepherd and minister to. Okay. The problem with this argument is the leader/visionary. I’ve heard (and experienced) that the church will generally take after the senior pastor. If the senior pastor is Caucasian, mid-40′s with a college degree, married and has 2.3 kids then people of similar makeup will be drawn to him/her because they can relate to each other equally. So, me being an Asian-American, it would make sense that I could attract those that have similar cultural backgrounds to me. Therefore, if as Asian-American pastor, I have to be intentional about attracting those that are different than me. Can I as an American cross cultural lines and connect with people that are Hispanic, African-American, Russian-American, etc.? If I can’t, then personally I believe I have a problem because Jesus doesn’t differentiate based on race and I should be doing the work of Jesus, not the work of myself. If the population at large still won’t accept me because I am not of their heritage, then I believe that empowering leaders within the church that represent diversity can help people overcome such personal issues. If I have an Asian-American leadership team and talk about my experiences growing up with racism and certain aspects of Japanese culture, then I am going to relate to Japanese-Americans almost exclusively. It just makes sense. However, if I preach and exemplify the gospel of Christ and do so to Hispanic, African-American, Russian-American people in my community and they see the love of Christ and not a Japanese-American, then they will be drawn in by Christ’s love and not because we are of identical cultures.

To be diverse, I have to agree with DJ Chuang’s position in his blog post and state that it does take being intentional. However, I don’t believe that this is some form of manipulation or relying on some system of diversity rather than trusting God to build his church. If God wants the church to be multi-cultural, then I believe the leadership, attitude, sermon illustrations, etc. must be ethnically/culturally/socio-economically diverse in order to facilitate this happening.

Imagine what it must be like for some Asian guy to invite an African-American unbeliever to his church only to find out that his African-American friend doesn’t fit in and isn’t really welcomed because he is not Asian. Is that the example we should be setting for unbelievers? Would Christ only want to see African-Americans saved in African-American churches? When Scripture states that Christ will return to claim his bride, do we really believe that we are to be a segregated bride seeking solace in our cultural customs rather seeking peace and joy in unity and love? Interesting complementary post to this from Laurence Tom titled, “Is your church more Chinese than Christian?“

We can only stop talking about racism when we start coming together and worshipping together with our community rather than just our cultural community. We can only stop talking about racism when we are viewed as light and love rather than black or white or brown or yellow. I believe the church is an important instrument in this process of change and that someone needs to not be afraid to be a little uncomfortable for the sake of seeing ignorance win in the battle of racism and prejudice. When we should be leading the charge for this in the church, we are the last to embrace this concept!