I grew up in a majority culture (white) unchurched home and came to know the true gospel as a teenager when a friend invited me to the Chinese heritage church in my hometown. There, I heard the gospel for the first time, was convicted of my sin, and received discipleship from godly adults. I fell in love with Jesus and his church, and eventually discerned a call to vocational ministry. Now, more than 15 years later, God has kept me in the Chinese heritage church, where I’ve served for 10 years on staff with the youth ministry.
Over the years in this context, I have learned (and am still learning) many lessons about serving cross-culturally, particularly in the Chinese heritage church as someone from majority culture. Whether you are similarly serving in a cultural heritage church setting as someone not from that culture, or you’re serving cross-culturally in a different context, I pray these three exhortations will be helpful in your ministry. (And remember, that to a certain extent, youth ministry is a cross-cultural mission in and of itself.)
Cultivate Humility
The first important lesson is learning to cultivate a heart of humility. While serving my small Chinese heritage church during seminary, I was getting lunch after Sunday service and the auntie serving said, “here, I give you extra potatoes, because you’re white haha.” I smiled, said thank you, and moved on. Was this appropriate for the auntie to say? No; however, her comment gave me a glimpse into the experiences of my Asian American brothers and sisters who often hear unkind comments or gestures about their race. You might experience similar things as you serve cross-culturally, but remember to anchor yourself in the gospel. And remember the experience of others who may face similar things in the majority culture.
Humility, paired with love and curiosity, will make you a good student of the culture of your church and help you love the church better. Imitating Jesus’ humility (Phil. 2:3-4) calls us to listen, and listen a lot. Humility reminds us of the importance of reading books from Asian heritage authors and listening to sermons from Asian heritage pastors.
Here’s an example. One church I served at had an old sign that was falling apart. It reportedly only cost $100 (material and installation) a decade earlier, and the church was financially able to easily afford a new one. To my surprise, deciding whether or not to replace it became a big deal!
Some saw the value of a new sign, but many thought the old sign was “just fine,” and believed it was unwise to spend money to replace a sign that still “worked.” From my perspective, a new sign seemed like a worthwhile investment that would work better than the old one, but it was important for me to understand why so many did not want to replace the old one. Different cultures evaluate decisions based on different value systems, and that same diversity will play out in all kinds of areas, big and small. Remain humble so you can understand why things are the way they are, and be wise to know that not everything needs to be changed.
Humility reminds us that we don’t know everything. Understanding culture and learning how to contextualize is important, but no one needs you to “white-splain” Asian culture or correct someone about their own cultural heritage. It’s also important to admit that even if we know something about a cultural element, there are also parts we don’t know or fully understand, and it’s important to remain humble when someone coaches us or reminds us that we don’t fully understand. This is a practical way of “counting others more significant than yourselves” and “looking not only to your own interests” (Phil 2:3-4)
Steward Your Privilege Well
Serving in an Asian heritage church as someone from a different culture (generally) grants you a certain privilege. I call it the “grace privilege,” and it is important to learn how to steward that privilege well.
As an outsider, your church and people will often show you grace whenever you don’t understand a certain cultural nuance that impacts why things are the way they are (like the old sign). It allows you to be more direct, or to question systems, structures, and leadership in ways someone from an Asian heritage background would not be able to do without spending significant relational equity. Likewise, you earn extra relational credibility when you do understand cultural customs. For example, my limited Mandarin is “celebrated,” while speaking the language fluently is almost expected of Asian heritage brothers and sisters, even those born in the United States.
On the other hand, being an outsider also means that sometimes our ideas or suggestions will be dismissed because “you don’t understand.” Once again, humility is essential, as it might be true that there is something we don’t understand. At the same time, we must remain patient because even if what we are addressing does need to be challenged by the gospel, in many cases there is resistance because of deep cultural idols (which often have dimensions we don’t fully understand). Remember, every culture has blindspots, and so do you!
To my majority culture brothers and sisters serving in the Asian heritage church, you need to learn to steward this privilege well. God can use that privilege to help your church flourish, but it can also be something (if abused) that could make your time serving in the Asian heritage church bitter for you and your people.
Learn The Art of Code Switching
Code switching is the ability to alternate between styles of communication and thinking within different social contexts. In cross-cultural ministry, we must learn to code switch so that we can better love and relate to others. The Apostle Paul was a master code switcher, as he says, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel. . .” (1 Cor. 9:22-23, emphasis added).
Notice how Paul changes how he relates to others out of love for the sake of the gospel. Paul even changes his name from the more Jewish “Saul” as a method of code switching to better relate to the Gentiles! Code switching is a lesson our Asian American brothers and sisters in the church know well already.
As youth ministers, we also know what this looks like. How we interact with parents is different from how we interact with their teenagers. Different social contexts require us, out of love, to code switch. For those from majority culture serving in the Asian heritage church, learning this art will help minimize miscommunications and misunderstandings that are all too common.
Remember the Gospel
Serving cross-culturally is both rewarding and challenging, and I thank God every day for his provision and calling. As I reflect on the past several years, the gospel is the one thing that has made the ups and downs the sweetest. The gospel is what unites us, from every tribe, culture, tongue, and nation (Rev. 7:9). It is the gospel we strain forward towards (Phil 3:12), and it is the gospel that must remain at the center. It is to the gospel we cling in trial, and the gospel we to which we anchor ourselves when we fall short. When we look to Jesus and imitate his humility (Phil. 2:1-5), our time serving will be more sweet than bitter.
If you serve in an Asian American context, or you have Asian American students in your youth group, we hope you’ll tune in for the Asian American Youth Ministry Roundtable podcast.
