Global Christian

As promised, a shorter (never said short) but probably much more meaningful and weighty post to complete my train of thoughts from my previous entry "Stirrin' up a Big Commotion". You probably think I'm crazy: Wang Lee Hom song > Chinese music and media > Chinese American culture > "Prejudice" > Attitude > Global Christian, but in fact my thought process is pretty consistently crazy.

Here is a short example before I "delve" into my intended content for this post. Don't laugh at me haha. I can easily find myself whoopin' up rather serious themes, connections, and life-questions just by watching dramas. I remember watching City Hunter and feeling absolutely miserable from the deep, long-running hatred and plans of vengeance. At certain points, it was actually very heart-wrenching and difficult to get through (funny how I put myself through such misery, ey?) Here is a snippet of a journal entry I wrote in response to the series:

雖然聼起來可能很傻，但其實我是有很大的領悟。Heart-wrenching 的原因是看到痛恨與報仇是足以毀掉一個人的人生，以及傷害到身邊好多的人。真的是看到我痛心入肺，因爲要一輩子懷著憤怒和仇恨是件很痛苦，很孤獨的事情。(Trans: Even though it may sound very silly, I actually did in fact have a great realization. Heart-wrenching because I saw how hatred and vengeance are sufficient to destroy an individual, and able to hurt those around him/her. It was very difficult to watch, because to hold onto a grudge and to hate for a life time is very painful and lonely.) Perhaps I had never hated someone to the guts in my short-odd-year life-span, and never had some insane revenge planned, so forgiveness came a lot easier. However, to sound dramatic, watching City Hunter was pretty cruel on my emotions because the emotions in the drama were very real (and I assure you, it is not lovey-dovey fluff that is more commonly associated with Asian dramas, but more along the lines of politics, betrayal, murder of close friends and family, and being lied to your entire life by a supposed close family member). It caused me to question what I would do if I were ever faced with a situation with meddling emotions of hatred, revenge, love, and forgiveness. I hope I will 緊記神對我們的 (trans: remember God's) forgiveness, unconditional love, and grace 因爲我們的罪，在神的的眼裏，超越了別人對我們犯的錯 (trans: because our sin, in God's eyes, transcends others' wrong-doing towards us)。 So I hope that... should I ever encounter such internal conflict, I would remember this "silly" connection / epiphany. Since I wrote it down, 不能耍賴 - can't get out of it!

Honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, should I, or anyone for the matter, ever be in such a situation, I really pray that God would empower us to forgive and be joyful in Him because I really do not see a solution elsewhere, and definitely don't see any comfort in planning a life-long revenge. So much for watching dramas as a form of relaxation right? Okeys, I am done giving you a glimpse of my crazy thought process. And yes, if you are curious, I do think and write in English and Chinese depending on my mood. Anyway, moving on to the actual point for this entry...

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are oftentimes encouraged to be global Christians. What do you think that even means? Missions? Awareness and advocacy for social justice? Knowing about the world? To a certain extent, I think all of these facets play an important role in shaping what a global Christian could or should be involved in. However, what I have slowly come to realize in the past few years (which was also surprisingly rekindled by WLH's song "Open Fire") is that the attitude level is what is fundamental to being a global Christian. Although it may sound like a well-duh, I find myself falling-short of it all the time. Not to over generalize, but in my minimal exposure, it is also a weakness I've noticed in the Chinese-American Christian community, especially when it comes to China. Just to qualify, I too have experienced the following at one point or another. The unintentional and sometimes unaware "prejudice" that we ABCs project is definitely a problematic attitude to have as Christians. We cannot go on a short-term missions trip to China, claim how much we love the people there and how much the spiritual darkness breaks our hearts, all the while continue in our ignorance, lack of intentionality, and "prejudice" against the very same group of people immediately outside of the confines of our mission trip. This could range anywhere from your next stop to Taiwan or Hong Kong for vacation, to the comforts of your own backyard in America. If you are curious as to what I mean by "prejudice", perhaps you can skim through my previous entry for a glimpse of a more superficial kind of prejudice?! I've also witnessed the other extreme. As disciples of Christ, we also should not go on a short-term missions trip to anywhere BUT China just because it seems less cool or far too common. Are the Chinese people not equally as lost as those who are in Africa and Latin America? Can one really justify a rejection to go to China for missions simply because of "I have no interest in China" - what does that even mean? I do not know if such a claim shows any kind of understanding of the weightiness of the subject matter, or an understanding that God even extended His plan of Salvation to us, Gentiles. This is not to say that one must like every culture in the world or all aspects of a single culture (or be like me and be quite fond over some Chinese music and artists heh), but I don't think we should find contempt in our preferences. I do not know how I would feel if I find out the individual ministering and speaking about God's love to me actually goes around poking fun at my people, culture, and language with a high-and-mighty attitude outside of the confines of our relationship. Then is that truly a relationship, or am I merely a target, a project, or a step to elevate the individual to a higher pedestal??? Simply said, it is very easy for others to identify whether we are being genuine in our interaction with them or being superficial and hypocritical. In the Christian context, consider this: are you promoting the American church traditions and culture, or the Gospel? I think there is a reason why Christianity is often times known as a "western religion".

Recently, I attended a conference on China. I was privileged to get a glimpse of the hearts of a handful of people: Chinese shepherds ministering to their own people in China; Caucasians and Chinese alike involved in local Chinese ministries (ie: international students) and overseas ministry in China (ie: returnee follow-up, establishing strategic educational institutions). It was very moving and encouraging to see the non-Chinese pour out so much love and care for our people. At the same time, it was very humbling for me to not find in myself nearly as much passion as they have for the Chinese. In terms of the conference, I still have much to digest and process, and definitely much to say about it, but the bottom line is this: God brought me a step further along in having a genuine global Christian attitude. Not perfect, but one step forward. Having seen with my very own eyes the tears shed by our Chinese brothers (pastors / pastors-to-be), these people become so real that you really cannot go about your day thinking "well, I'm just not very interested in the Chinese, I'll go to (insert country name) instead", and making a decision solely based on that. Of course, this is not purposed to neglect other peoples all the while overly promoting China. But I just wanted to bring up a point about the attitude that I feel is oft-overlooked or brushed aside and dismissed as something less serious than it could potentially be.

Locally, there are a plethora of opportunities for us to practice being global Christians, and I really do believe that it starts here. When God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, I do not think it is exclusive to mission overseas, and definitely not loving others with a superior attitude. It is important to walk alongside those we minister to instead of imposing our preferences. One thing that stood out to me a lot in Perspectives is contextualization. We are not bringing traditional American church culture to others. We are bringing the Gospel. Just because something works well here doesn't mean it is equally effective and applicable elsewhere or in another culture. Can you see the parallel between contextualization and the attitude a global Christian should have? Both address the issue of holding and imposing western-superiority. It is also important for any missionary to hold an attitude of humility - to be willing to learn about the other culture, their worldview, etc. It takes time and effort to learn and understand these things, and undoubtedly lots of humility because it is easy for us to think that our way is the best without considering the context in which an individual was brought up. Here are a few relatively good, informative reads on local opportunities and how applying the global Christian attitude here can be very powerful and strategic:

- "Cold Welcome for International Students", WorldView Conversation Blog
- "Immigrants Reshaping the U.S.", IMB
- "World Lives in U.S. Urban Centers EthneCITY Participants Discover", IMB
- "Mission, Evangelism, Contextualization, and the Arts", Lausanne World Pulse


I'll pull a shameless plug, International Students Inc. is one way in which you can get involved locally! This type of ministry is actually quite new to me and I am still in the learning process but though it has been an extremely slow process, I have been enjoying my time as a friendship partner with my new Thai friend :) if you would like to get in on the action, let me know!

I admit that this subject matter is something very close to my heart and something that frustrates me and aggravates me a lot. I really hope this post did not come off as extremely critical or ungracious. I stand corrected if it did. My train of thoughts is also oftentimes unorganized (forgive my "girl-spaghetti-brain"). Again, this is not to say that I have not experienced these same thoughts and emotions before. In fact, God had to, on many occasions, instill various lessons and people in my life to correct my hypocritical and prideful attitude, and He continues to do so. You would think that I would have learned this lesson long ago considering I spent most of my childhood in Hong Kong and Shanghai, but nope. It took years to reach this point and even now, I can not say I have perfectly reached this genuine global Christian attitude. Not even close - which is also frustrating in and of itself when I see and know it to be a certain way, yet think and feel otherwise in my heart. Ah, the oh-too-familiar war between flesh and Spirit. 

When there is conviction, an internal change that causes an attitude change, then the things we accomplish become genuine service to the Lord and not tasks ready to be marked off from a checklist or acts ready to be praised by men. A lifelong process of learning it is. Sanctification really does not come easy, but ultimately very rewarding.