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PREACHING SKILLS
Asian American Preaching
Matthew D. Kim

Printer view

In addressing the topic of Asian American preaching, we must start with the question: Who is Asian American? Asian American has commonly referred to East Asians: Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. This view has unfortunately excluded non-East Asian Americans.1 Like members of other ethnic and racial categories, Asian Americans vary by ethnicity, language, generation, class, and gender. Due to this extensive diversity, generalizations are inevitable, yet for the sake of specificity, I will comment briefly on the preaching of two distinct subgroups of Asian Americans: (1) first-generation Asian Americans, that is, foreign-born Asian immigrants and refugees, and (2) second and multi-generational U.S.-born Asian Americans.

All Asian Americans, regardless of the duration of their residence in America, experience marginalization. Sang Hyun Lee of Princeton Theological Seminary states that for Asian Americans marginality is a way of life: "In the Asian world, we are often criticized for not being Asian enough; in American society, we are looked down upon for not being American enough."2 In the words of Asian American author Mia Tuan, we are perceived by white Americans as "forever foreigners" who cannot and will not be accepted fully in America.3

David Gibbons, a biracial Korean and Caucasian American pastor in Southern California, shares a personal account of marginalization he faced during his undergraduate days at a southern Christian university: "As I entered his office, the dean greeted me cordially. He proceeded to inform me that I could date only Asian women because I looked Asian. Dating someone of another ethnic origin would be breaking the school's 'biblically based' rule of no interracial dating, he explained. The Catch-22 for the university was twofold. I was both Asian and Caucasian. Yet, my brother, who was of the same birth parents, was given the choice of dating either Asian or white women. Why? Because he looked more Anglo than I did."4

Gibbons recounts a common phenomenon for many Asian Americans. Consequently, Asian American preachers will often align their sermons with the marginalized experiences of biblical misfits like Noah, Joseph, Moses, the wandering Israelites, David, Daniel, the Samaritan women, Paul, and even Jesus himself, among others. The stories of these biblical figures help to assuage some of the psychological distress of many Asians who call America home. Asian American preachers should ask themselves, In what ways have I encountered marginalization in America, and how can I assist my congregants to embrace the narratives of biblical characters to cope with their pain?

Since most first generation Asian American churches serve primarily the people from their own ethnic background and who speak the same language, first generation Asian American preachers have an undying commitment to their places of origin. Many first generation preachers effectively employ illustrations and personal stories from their native countries.

The peril for some of them is the lessons their sermons impart may be a hybrid of both Christian and Asian religious and cultural values that are shaped by the country from which they came. Two dominant theological themes in first generation Asian American sermons are based on the dualistic relationship between suffering and blessing.

First, the importance of suffering is emphasized in the traditional tenets and practices of Buddhism and Hinduism.5 For Christians this suffering mentality is not only a continuation of the first generation's past experiences of foreign oppression and current discrimination in American society, but it is simultaneously a voluntary suffering as in experiencing oneness with God through Christ who serves as our co-sufferer.6 Imbalance comes when the willingness to suffer for Christ turns into a need to suffer, or a trust in our suffering as a means of merit before God.

In a recent conversation with my mother, she told me how my parents saw Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. My mother said, "When I saw how much Jesus suffered for me, I cried so much and so did your dad. Jesus suffered so much for me. I must go now and suffer for him." This example illustrates how the Buddhist-Hindu worldview of suffering infiltrates the consciousness of even my first generation Asian American Christian parents.

While evangelical first generation Asian American pastors preach that salvation can only be received through personal faith in Jesus' death and resurrection, many first generation Asian American Christians still believe their earthly suffering has some merit.

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	Average Rating:  by 1 member. (Members, please login to rate this item.) David Park   (Guest) Posted: April 17, 2008 When was this article published?