In light of Lunar New Year taking place tomorrow, I was thinking about which book was quite formative in my Christian faith from a cultural perspective. Without a doubt, it was Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents, written by an Asian American team with broad voices and experiences covering a range of topics from familial relations to performative pressure to racial reconciliation. If you're interested in reading more about my personal experiences, I've shared before why this book was so pivotal to me and how it allowed me to appreciate the ethnicity that God has given me while learning how to follow Him.
Regarding the book and how its title may seem geared toward youth or young adults, I would say that this is a helpful resource for those who are older as well. I have given this book as a gift to those much older than me, which is a testament to how enduring its messages are. Furthermore, a lot of the topics covered remain useful to revisit, especially around work and faith.
Though this is a niche topic, this book explains how cultural differences can influence our walk with God which is helpful for anyone struggling to find their place in the Christian faith when much of it is dominated by Western culture. In looking at churches today, especially in the West, one of the things that can be overlooked is how other cultures can contribute different values or practices to the Christian community. For instance, with Asians typically being more communal than individualistic, it is interesting to think of how that dynamic can play out in a personal relationship with God and within a body of believers.
Another reason why this book has been so helpful to me is that syncretism is still an issue I grapple with where I have to evaluate cultural practices against the Bible. Since much of Chinese and/or Asian culture is rooted in superstition, ancestor worship, and other religions, it is important to me that I only participate in customs where I can have a clear conscience before God. This is one of the reasons as to why I am sensitive to and on guard regarding content in Christian books when it veers toward luck, New Age influences, or occultic practices. In separating out what is merely cultural versus what is in fact a religious act, it is not an easy task.
This applies to Lunar New Year as well. One tangible example I'll share from my own life is that when I first became a Christian, I completely cut myself off from anything having to do with Chinese culture. The problem with this is that there is no one Christian ethnocultural group that exists; there are good and bad elements in every culture. In essentially throwing out the baby with the bathwater, I was saying to my family that one could not be both Chinese and Christian at the same time. While I don't fully regret going through this stage at first as it helped me parse out the differences between culture and religion, I did subsequently learn that some of my behaviour could be construed as a poor witness to Christ, especially when people from all nations and tribes have been purchased by his blood (Revelation 5:9) and will be represented before the throne (Revelation 7:9). In time, I had to learn what from my culture was a gift and a reflection of God's image versus what would take away from His glory. Since Chinese culture and religion can be woven together tightly, I confess that this will remain a life-long struggle for me. That's why I'll acknowledge the Lunar New Year holiday and celebrate by getting together with family and exchanging gifts, but I will not take part in religious or superstitious activities to welcome in fortune or anything of the kind.
All that being said, this isn't necessarily a book that would be of interest or relevance to all Christians; however, I can see it being deeply impactful for Asian Christians. As a disclaimer, I am much more familiar with East and Southeast Asian cultures than I am with South Asian or any other geographic regions that may fall under the same categorization. Additionally, I still forget to use the term of Lunar New Year, which is meant to be more inclusive, since I grew up with the holiday being called Chinese New Year for most of my life, so typing this new phrase out has been a bit of a learning curve!
恭喜發財!
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