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3rd Culture Thursday: Multi-Cultural vs Third Culture

// December 24th, 2009 // 6 Comments » // 3rd culture, church, multi-cultural, multi-cultural church, people

There is a lot of talk about being multi-cultural in the church. For some that is a great thing, and for others it puts too much emphasis on race as opposed to who the church should serve. The interesting thing is, the idea of multi-culturalism is mainly thought of only within the predominantly Caucasian church in America. Additionally, when most white church members think of being multi-cultural, the first thought is accepting African-Americans into the congregation, as opposed to Asians or Hispanics. Go outside of the context of the predominantly white church in America and you will rarely hear any discussion about being multi-cultural. What does this say about our church in America?

One of the most common phrases I heard repeated during my time at seminary was, “Sunday’s are the most segregated day of the week.” in reference to churches. Our communities are becoming diverse, our workplace is diverse, yet our churches are not. Why is that so?

I think to be a church of a majority really does a great injustice to those in the minority. It causes those not in the majority to feel uncomfortable. You can cite all of the cases you want of how your church has some diversity in it and that no one looks at the color of another person’s skin–that you all just get along as one happy family. However, in reality, there is a conflict brewing inside of those that are not like the majority.

Let me give you an illustration to consider: You are craving Chinese food so you head over to your favorite, local restaurant only to find it has changed. The sign outside is now written in Chinese. You walk in the door and are greeted to a familiar face you’ve seen before, only she is now welcoming you in Chinese. You head over to your usual table and are handed a menu written only in Chinese. You look around and everyone else in the restaurant is Chinese. The waiter comes over and asks for your order…in Chinese. How do you feel? Uncomfortable? Strange? Displaced? Knowing that you really, really like the food at this restaurant, what do you do? Do you risk trying to explain in English to someone that keeps responding in Chinese? I think what you’d do is go back to your car and go to your second-favorite Chinese restaurant and hope that they still speak English there. In essence, the white church in America is like that Chinese restaurant, but they just don’t realize it. Everything is about the white culture, yet the invitation to reach out to people of other ethnicities is always given. The white church expects those in the minority to come in and assimilate into the existing, predominant culture–like the Chinese restaurant–yet makes no gestures to try and understand the perspective of the minority culture. It’s like the white church says, “Please come to our party. We’ll have music, but you can’t request any songs. We’ll have food, but only if you like meatloaf. We’ll be mingling, but mostly with people we know already.” This is the reality of multi-culturalism. It’s diversity for the sake of looking pretty, but with no respect to the other cultures you are inviting.

Third culture, on the other hand, is not really about attracting people for the sake of looking pretty. It’s about learning more about people of other cultures and finding how we can live life together. It goes much deeper than the color of someone’s skin. It goes to the core of who they are and how they are different. It’s an exploration into why God made us all uniquely individual, coming from different nations to be joined together at that very moment in time. It becomes more of a celebration of us individually and how we can come together collectively in a way that honors God. It lets us be free in the color of our skin and have some security in appreciating our differences rather than seek to homogenize us into the majority. As the working definition from Dave Gibbons of third culture is: “the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort.” It entails some pain and discomfort.

Continuing with the illustration of the Chinese restaurant. When you go back to your second favorite restaurant and find everyone still speaks English and the food tastes like you remember, you’ll soon come to reflect on why this is your second favorite Chinese restaurant. Either you go on eating average food or you make an attempt to understand some of the language and customs of the people of your favorite Chinese restaurant and begin a process that will allow you be able to eat your favorite food once again. However, as much as you may go through the pain and discomfort of trying to learn the Chinese language and culture at the restaurant, you will most-likely find that they will begin doing the same with you. They will begin to pick up on some of your customs and language. Once you make a commitment to try to learn and better-understand the ways of the Chinese restaurant, the more those in the Chinese restaurant warm up to you rather than look at you as an outsider.

Third culture in the church is a process that begins with a mindset. It takes work, perseverance, steadfastness, and a willingness to get through whatever it takes for the sake of celebrating those things that we don’t know. If we as the church are willing to make some sacrifices in our comfort and not fear the day when we become the minority, but instead choose to celebrate all that outside cultural influences have played in creating this great nation and all that will continue to happen as we embrace each other’s pain and look forward to a better tomorrow, the future will be very bright. Otherwise, the only pain will be the result of internal struggles we all have that never have the chance to come to the surface. This is a pain that shouldn’t be required for us to endure. It’s a pain that can only ultimately be resolved through having the will to love, learn, live, and serve in differing environments that will bring about a reconciliation amongst us, not just a visible patchwork of skin colors.

3rd Culture Thursday

// December 10th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // 3rd culture, church, culture, multi-cultural, multi-cultural church

In response to some things stirring within me, along with the sense that there is some cultural context we are striving to find yet failing in our search, I am devoting my blogspace on Thursdays to what I am calling “3rd Culture Thursday.” It’s an exploration and conversation related to the idea of third culture kids and how we as the church should move towards embracing the concept within our own communities. This whole 3rd culture idea became aware to me from reading Dave Gibbons‘ book: The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership For A Third-Culture Church.

Gibbons defines 3rd culture as:

The mindset and the will to love, learn, and serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort.

A key element to the discussion is this idea of being committed to something while being in the midst of pain and discomfort. It involves honesty, conflict, hard work and an attitude of openness. These are all hard things to deal with on an individual basis, but imagine what life would be like if we were to take them all on once and then some. Imagine the amazing things that come about if we would at least try.

Here’s a video from Dave Gibbons that gives a bit of insight on the 3rd culture mindset:

Does this resonate with you? Are you intrigued? Beginning to feel a sense of connectedness? If so, it is my hope that this forum will help educate and be used as a way to lend a voice to others and engage in some new dialog.

Learn more by visiting Dave Gibbons’ 3rd culture website: http://www.3culture.tv or by reading his book: The Monkey And The Fish. Also, look for tweets with the hashtag #3ct or follow the aggregate list of tweets on twubs.com/3ct as I will be tweeting 140 characters at a time throughout the week to help facilitate better understanding and dialog on 3rd culture.

See you here next Thursday as we kick-off the conversation with a post titled “Who is your neighbor?”

Don’t disrespect me because I’m Asian!

// November 5th, 2009 // 40 Comments » // Asian-American, Dave (personal), culture, life, multi-cultural

Personal Tidbit: I rarely feel like I have much of a voice when it comes to being an Asian-American Christian or especially, when it comes to practical ministry to Asian-Americans. However, whenever I blog about such things, I get the most readership and the most feedback to the posts. Interesting!

So, here is another post on an aspect of being Asian-American. However, this time I have to chime in and say I feel like I have a lot to speak to on the issue regarding the controversy between the guys at Deadly Viper and Soong-Chan Rah. If you haven’t heard enough about the issue already, you can read the initial blog posts that started the controversy: Soong-Chan Rah’s post is here; Deadly Viper’s post was taken down yesterday, but you can see a follow-up here.

Let me start by saying I’m not here to criticize or judge anyone. I think enough has been said based on too-little information *and* too much assumption already. The fact-of-the-matter is that I truly believe that had all parties involved taken the issue seriously and worked toward solutions from the beginning, rather than being defensive this would have all been alleviated. Taking it privately where real understanding and reconciliation could emerge rather than making it public, thus drawing attention to themselves. So, I’m not adding fuel to the fire through using a public forum to call people out. Instead, I ask that we take a look at the deeper issue. The escalation was just the byproduct of the underlying issue that hasn’t really been brought to the surface yet. That is, that understanding the context of Asian-Americans in a predominantly white (western, Anglo, Caucasian) culture is excruciatingly difficult, yet important.

To Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, I know you guys from your time with my class at Londen Institute in Corona, CA. Especially in the case of Jud, I have seen integrity and leadership revealed in a stripped down way that was incredibly humbling and eye opening for me as a seminary student with no real practical ministry experience beforehand. I know Pastor Wilhite is an amazing man of God, full of grace and that he gets the gospel of Christ on many levels as he reaches out to the marginalized and forgotten people in Las Vegas. As for Mike Foster, I sense his grace and heart for people in everything he does. His ministry work speaks for itself. However, with that said, there is one more thing I must add. Neither Jud, nor Mike can stake claim to knowing what it’s like to be Asian in America. In addition to that, I don’t think they care to know. In fact, I don’t think many Caucasian-Americans really care to know. There is just an incredible amount of indifference by white America when it comes to this subject.

As for Soong-Chan Rah, I do not know him or know much about him. However, I read and studied his book The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church From Western Cultural Captivity and found it to be a great work that expressed many thoughts I resonate with. Professor Rah seems to be man of integrity and kingdom mindedness as well. However, I don’t think Rah can claim that he knows what it’s like to be a white person living in a world of mixed cultures where the slightest mis-step can lead to one being labeled a racist. Living in a world of political correctness where seconds after making a statement, social media blasts it all over the world for the judging public to chime in can be quite intimidating (and nauseating!).

You see, we can attack some white guys that appear to have used some Asian aspects to add a cool factor in marketing their book to a white consumer and give them a piece of our mind. Interestingly enough, there were quite a few non-Asians speaking about the offensiveness of the packaging/branding of the book. However, is that really the issue? It’s what’s behind the packaging that is the issue. Unfortunately, we Asians haven’t had a loud voice in America and it has hurt us in being identified as a relevant culture in the United States. Blacks took a stand and made their voice known. Even today we are talking about repression and reparation for slavery in America hundreds of years ago. We are censored in our use of the n-word and how we portray African-Americans publicly in the media. However, the same cannot be said for Asian-Americans. Being born in Japan and moving to California when I was 4 years old, my ancestry is obviously Japanese. However, one of the great injustices in the history of America was when Japanese people lived in the United States in the 1940’s, spoke clear & fluent English, worked hard to live the American dream, pledged allegiance to the American flag and wanted to serve in the US military against Japan in WWII, yet families were separated by the US government and forced into internment camps and their land was taken away. Years later when the war ended, they were released with no restitution and in most cases, no land to come home to. As unjust, unfair and irrational as that act was, did you hear any Japanese people complain about it? In some cases, some of you didn’t even know this injustice took place. And, if you did, it isn’t a burden to you to see this resolved and mad right 50 years later. No, we Asians just tend to shut up and assimilate, work with the hand we are dealt with and be happy that we live in the land of (supposed) opportunity.

Please know that I am not bitter or angry. Just because an injustice to my ancestors wasn’t made right, doesn’t mean that I won’t stand in the name of justice for others. All I’m saying is that what happened to Japanese-Americans back in WWII is an example of how we Asians tend to deal with things. I think white America takes this for granted. It’s a shame actually, because as the world becomes multi-cultural it seems to be seeking to become more Eastern. Religion, design, food, etc. With all of the Asian influences visible in the U.S. today, it is still so lacking because the culture it comes from is never really associated with it. It has been taken over and Americanized. You are getting bits and pieces of Asian culture, but mostly out of context and that is a problem. When we Asians come into the United States, we’re expected to dress like you, speak English like you, worship God like you, think like you. It’s as if it’s such a privilege to share your land, that we must do it on your terms. You take from us and put it into your context of living, yet never really give us the respect or credit. To you, being just like you is our greatest reward.

Know that while you may choose to live disrespecting other cultures that are not your own, at some point Asians and other minority groups will take a stand against it. You won’t understand why it happened and you’ll think we’re making a big deal out of nothing. What you don’t know is that when you say you look at me and see just another person, you are saying you see me as you see other *white* people. Think that’s an unfair statement to make? Then ask yourself this question: How much do you know about my Asian culture and perspective? How important is it for you to take the time to listen to what I bring to the table as an Asian-American? In reality, the answer is that you really don’t care, because you just want to see me as one-of-the-guys. I am one-of-the-guys, but my eyes don’t look like yours and they don’t see things exactly the same as yours. There is a reason for that. You can say I’m making a big deal out of nothing, or you can ask God why he birthed me in Japan to Japanese parents who gave me up for adoption and put me with my adoptive parents who moved me to the United States. If I were to live life like a Caucasian-American, I should have been born here like you and made to look just like you. I was definitely created to live as an American–that I am proud of and I appreciate my opportunities as an American, but my perspective as an Asian is important…it is relevant…it is worth your knowing about. This is the greater tragedy that I as an Asian-American have faced my entire life. It is complex, it can be confusing at times–even we as Asian-Americans don’t see things the same way. In the end, we are all unique and one of the things that distinguishes me from others is my cultural identity + my own personal life experiences. I am clothed in Christ, but that clothing consists of many layers.

In the end, you may perceive me as irrelevant because I have less than 100 blog readers and as a people group, we (Asian-Americans) don’t make or break your profit margins as a publishing house or corporation. However, know that one day that will change. I won’t be the one causing a revolution, but I will be the one that has stood here with my open hand reached out to you and inviting you into my world, just as you have been gracious enough to invite me into yours. Your indifference to me is more disrespectful than you know, but I’m not one to call you out on it. Instead, my hand is open and my arm outstretched. I’m here to join in conversation and relationship with you based on mutual respect and grace anytime.

The American Church and the Race Card

// October 6th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // church, multi-cultural, multi-cultural church, people

I had quite an interesting conversation with someone last week in regards to the American church and multi-culturalism. We recognize the existence and strength of something we refer to as the Black church. Does that mean that we should also acknowledge the existence and strength of a White church?

I’m sure that there isn’t often any meaningful conversation in the context of a predominantly Caucasian church in America that has to do with race and culture. In reality, the Caucasian church really just focuses on what they know, which is being White in America. Caucasians have come from so many different countries and just basically blended into one race of people here in America known as Caucasian. Even though the ethnic culture may be unique (Germans vs Irish vs French, etc.) everyone seems to be comfortable in their own skin, worshiping together in church. However, when it comes to being multi-cultural, the conversation goes to reaching people of any ethnicity outside of the Caucasian Christian group, yet invariably ends up meaning, “We’d like more African-Americans in our mostly White church.”

While White America owns the right to being the majority and therefore setting the cultural rules in the US, ethnic minorities are all trying to stake their claim to their identities within this White, American culture. Some will choose to blend in, while others rebel and holdout for something that acknowledges their ethnicity and recognizes that in the worship setting.

Being that I’m Asian-American, I can really only speak with any authority on that perspective. I think most Asian-Americans would be uncomfortable worshiping in the context of being multi-cultural with Hispanics and African-Americans. Rather than embrace the beauty of diversity, I think we Asians want to seek the refuge of a worship environment where people look like us and share a similar heritage/culture.

If we as Asians want to isolate ourselves and worship only with people that look like ourselves because we feel that we are owed the right to express our ethnicity in our Christ-likeness, then why should we be critical of American church that is predominantly White?

There is a saying within the church that “like attracts like.” In other words, if a pastor is Caucasian, then he/she will attract other Caucasians. If a pastor is Asian, he/she will only attract Asians. That once a worship gathering starts to build momentum, non-Whites will feel uncomfortable incorporating into a White congregation and Whites will feel uncomfortable joining into an ethnic-centered congregation, be it Asian, Latin, Black, etc.

If like attracts like within the church, what about people like CNN’s Soledad O’Brien? We think we have it bad trying to figure out the answer to meeting the needs of incorporating ethnic culture into the church, what do we when people are of diverse races such as Soledad, whose father was Irish and Scottish from Australia, and her mother is Afro-Cuban. As Soleded described herself in this CNN.com article:

I have a mass of kinky hair, light brown skin and lots of freckles. I’m black and Cuban, Australian and Irish, and like most people in America, I’m someone whose roots come from somewhere else. I’m a mixed race, first-generation American.

How do we, as the church, not only connect with someone so culturally diverse as Soledad O’Brien, but how do we present ourselves in a relevant way if we are either Caucasian or Asian in our makeup? How does someone of mixed-race identify with the church? Should it only be the responsibility of the White church in America to reach out to people of mixed-race? In actuality, should any of us take responsibility for crossing ethnic/cultural boundaries?

Will God bring every nation and every tongue together at the appointed time, or should we feel commissioned to integrate all Christians into a unified body of believers all worshiping together today, because that will be the true reflection of heaven? As a corporate body of spirit in heaven, will we even identify with race and heritage at the appointed time?

These are the kinds of issues I feel compelled to investigate as I seek to find my place within the Body of Christ as someone who is externally Asian, yet internally I relate more to White American culture with aspects of myself that respond strongly to African-American gospel music and having a heart for mi familia like my Hispanic brothers and sisters. When I read the CNN.com article from Soledad O’Brien she portrays such peace and comfort at who she is, while feeling some strain from the African-American and Latino community to represent them proudly. In the end, she is neither. In the end, she is just Soledad O’Brien, the uniquely beautiful person God created her to be, that even though she is a person of color, has been able to be comfortable with the perspective of many living under that skin. While there will always be first generation people bringing their culture into the US and having difficulty assimilating, our multi-cultural nation will be constantly evolving into a whole new culture that we may completely miss out on by being so immersed with how to deal with the various cultural perspectives in the church today. Sometimes, for guys like me that are conflicted in the conversation of the American church today, it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, it really doesn’t seem so black and white, yellow or brown. It just seems to be kind of muddy, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

Creativity: The Monkey And The Fish and the church

// March 12th, 2009 // Comments Off // church planting, church relevance, multi-cultural, multi-cultural church, people, the idea camp

For my participation in the Dave Gibbons’ blog tour last week, I was given a copy of Dave’s new book The Monkey And The Fish: Liquid Leadership For A Third-Culture Church. Third-culture and the whole premise behind how Pastor Gibbons explains it has really spoken to me. I feel as if even though I feel more American than Japanese (in a cultural context), some aspects of engaging in various cultures connects with something in my inner being. At the heart of my soul I feel a kind of oneness with everyone. It’s as if I’m cross-cultural and multi-generational.

So, I eagerly sat down to read the book last night and felt a little disappointed. I wasn’t particularly fond of the writing style and felt as if Dave shared too many different voices in this book. Funny thing happens when I approach things like this with my own set of expectations. God always seems to hit me upside-the-head and show me the error of my ways. The more I read, the more it exposed questions I had. The more I wondered if the church is ready for this kind of culture shift. Finally, I realized what I believe the blessing of The Monkey And The Fish is going to be. I will be using it as a catalyst to facilitate conversation and deep thought within our core group of Revolution Church Sacramento as we prepare to gather for the first time tomorrow night. A lot of things I had thought of, but probably couldn’t quite express verbally or as concisely are presented in every chapter of Dave’s book. This is going to be a great tool that can be used to help us find our mission and do our part to embrace the third-culture concepts in a way that not only speaks to each of us in the church, but also causes us to be relevant to our community. As my friend Charles T Lee commented in an online chat last night, “The Idea Camp will never end.” How true (possibly prophetic) that statement really was!

My analytical, orderly mind saw randomness and too much input from other people in this book, but my creative aspect caused me to wonder “what if?” and to just listen and hear others speak to this and let Dave’s thoughts speak to them…to let Dave’s thoughts speak to me. Tomorrow is going to be a good night…a memorable night…a historic step forward for our community. I can’t wait!