Beyond face value

I wasn't raised to think a great deal about or dwell on my ethnic ancestry. I grew up in a little town where you could count the number of Asian families on one hand. I didn't go to school or to church with people who looked like me. I was never sent to Chinese school like other Chinese American children to learn the language and preserve the cultural heritage. Consequently, there was some outward and private disapproval, because my sister and I were too American to suit some folks. This disapproval came from extended family as well as other Chinese American believers.

My parents deliberately chose to worship with people who were externally different from themselves. They deliberately chose not to isolate our family based on our background. My parents were given an opportunity to make a new life in this country. Because of that, they felt it would be wrong to take advantage of those opportunities afforded in America and not become a part of the country that opened its doors to them. Another motivation was for the sake of the gospel and for the unity of the body of Christ. I love and respect my parents for their choice. I also think it was the right choice to make.

It wasn't always easy. I've had my share of racial slurs. I couldn't find safety in numbers, but this experience helped me to look beyond face, features, and skin color. After all, we're individuals with names and unique stories not just generic black, white, red, brown, yellow, blue, green, whatever.

Last year my aunt died and remembered her nieces and nephews in her will. She set aside a certain amount to be used for the purpose of learning about our culture and heritage. This bequest has brought a flood of feelings and thoughts about race and ethnicity to the surface. I loved her, and I'm grateful for her kindness. I want to honor her wishes, but I have conflicting feelings.

When do you cross the line between learning about your earthly heritage and having it become an object of false pride? When does focusing on earthly heritage become the means of division and looking down on others because they are perceived to be different?

I'm not denying that we're different. Thank God, we're different! God was very creative when He made all the people groups in the world. But isn't diversity a way to glorify God and His creativity, not for taking pride in belonging to group XYZ versus ABC? Doesn't the diversity in the body of Christ bring glory to Him because we are so different from Him and yet He has saved us and united us to Himself?

Maybe, I am over reacting. Maybe not. Maybe I am resisting, not so much my aunt's request, but the perpetuation of cultural segregation and all that feeds it. Race isn't just a black and white problem. It's my problem, too. The sense of racial superiority is ugly and it's sin. It's not confined to this group or that group. The only prerequisite you need to be a bigot is to be human.

I don't have the answers. I wish I did. As we try to figure out how to honor my aunt's wishes, I pray this difficult subject of race and prejudice could be openly discussed in my extended family and not just swept under the rug. I pray that we would take a hard look and see if our lives are consistent with our profession as Christians. And if not, that we would repent and take a stand on the side of the Gospel.

(For an excellent talk on this issue, listen to Thabiti Anyabwile's message from T4G 2008.)