By Clark Fobes
I
am a Christian. I am an Asian American. I am an American. As human beings, we are constantly negotiating our various identities. On a smaller scale, I’m a husband, a father, a son, and a college minister. Sometimes, I have to negotiate whether or not taking care of my aging parents as their son is more or less important than spending time with my kids. Or I might have to help one of my students manage a crisis as a college minister at the expense of hanging out with my wife as a husband.
These kinds of negotiations are small, and we often make decisions without even thinking about them. How we negotiate our various identities in our decision-making tells us how and what we prioritize. It tells us what we desire, whether consciously or unconsciously.
For someone with a mixed-racial identity, these negotiations can often look more complicated. Yet, in many ways, my mixed heritage has helped me negotiate between my American and Christian identities.
The negotiations we make with our various identities often feel more weighty during an important election. The decisions we make on who to vote for and what policies are important are deeply tied with one’s identity, and often affect different populations who hold different identities, including Asian Americans. However, if we are not careful, these decisions can lead to an unhealthy expression of identity politics."
The term “identity politics” does not just refer to left-wing politics. In a recent Christianity Today article, sociologist George Yancey rightly argues what we would call “Christian nationalism” is better understood as “conservative identity politics.” Yancy writes, “Identity politics originally focused on racial minorities, women, sexual minorities, and the poor. In contemporary society, it has expanded to include oppressions, as deemed by activists, based on sexual expression, disabilities, body types, and other criteria. With the rise of the Trump-fueled conservative identity politics, we have now also seen it develop on the right”
Yancey identifies three pitfalls when we engage with the world primarily through the lens of identity politics: First, “it leads people to use language that dehumanizes those they see as oppressors.” Second, “it creates a strong tendency to compel agreement and constantly police boundaries[.]” Finally, “it leads people to dismiss their own precious moral standards and intellectual commitments to maintain fidelity to a cause.”
Making negotiations with our various identities is one way we can resist identity politics which dehumanizes oppressors, police’s boundaries, and dismisses moral and intellectual standards. Making these negotiations is all the more important during national elections like the one being held this November.
How Paul Negotiated His Various Identities
Early Christians had to negotiate their various identities in similar ways to modern Christians. For example, Paul was a Roman citizen. In Acts 16, Paul leveraged his status as a Roman citizen to be freed from prison in Philippi. Paul was also a Jew. In Acts 23, Paul leveraged his Jewish identity when he was put on trial by the Sanhedrin: “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 23:6 NIV)
Throughout the book of Acts and Paul’s various epistles, we see Paul negotiating his various identities. As we read about Paul in Acts and read his epistles, it becomes clear that Paul’s guiding apparatus for the way he holds together all of these identities—as a Jew, a Roman citizen, and a Christ follower—is the gospel.
For Paul, the gospel redeemed Paul’s various identities in such a way that he can say:
“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23 NIV)
The cross and resurrection of Christ gave Paul the freedom to negotiate his various identities to “become all things to all people.” In this way, the gospel does not remove, eradicate, or assimilate our various identities. Rather, Christ redeems our identities such that we can leverage them for the sake of the gospel.
The gospel changes the way we view our identities. Paul says in Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) The gospel radically realigns the way we view our identities. While it does not remove, eradicate, or assimilate, it is also the great equalizer as we are all “heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:28)
As a mixed Asian American, I find Paul’s understanding of the gospel relatable and liberating. Paul is both a Roman citizen and a Jew. However, the gospel shatters his understanding of what it means to be either a Roman citizen or a Jew. Paul lived freely within the identities God gave him so that he might be able to carry out the ministry God entrusted him with.
By its very nature, the term “Asian American” entails a negotiation of identities. On the one hand, we are Asian. We are Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Korean, Cambodian, or Vietnamese. At the same time, we are also American. We live in the United States of America and are part of its culture and border society.
The gospel does not erase either our Asian or American identities. Rather, it reframes them. Specifically, it reframes how we think about our various identities as they relate to our love of neighbor.
For Paul, the core question to ask when negotiating our various identities is “How is this going to affect my neighbor?” Paul says in Romans, “The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.” (Rom. 14:3) This might seem a bit abstract in our current culture, where we do not live with food restrictions. However, Paul gives us insight in this passage on how to negotiate our various identities. Namely, the love of neighbors should influence how we relate to our identities.
I once heard of a Chinese Christian coming to an American church for the first time. When she entered the church, she was stunned to see an American flag hanging in the sanctuary. In China, the only legal way to be a practicing Christian is through the state-sponsored Three-Self Church.
For American Christians, the American flag in the sanctuary is very commonplace. To American Christians, American flags are a way to honor our veterans and express our gratitude for the many freedoms we have been afforded. However, when a Chinese Christian sees the American flag in the sanctuary, it reminds them of the oppression and persecution many Chinese Christians have faced and the government control of churches in China.
In this particular situation, how does our American identity affect our neighbor? For the Chinese Christian, seeing the American flag in the sanctuary was a conflict of her conscience. As Paul says, “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” (Rom. 14:13 NIV)
Perhaps, at this moment, we might need to negotiate our American identity for the sake of our neighbor. We might say, “We can still respect our veterans and enjoy our freedoms while recognizing that the American flag might make it difficult for our Chinese neighbor to worship freely in our sanctuary. What are some ways we can appreciate our American heritage while also loving our Chinese neighbor?”
When we vote, we make similar negotiations. Instead of making decisions based on our best interests, what would it look like if we were to make voting decisions based on the interests of others? For example, let’s say there’s a Christian business owner. There may be a new zoning law that could bring in new businesses in the area which could see increased revenue and market value for their business. However, the zoning law might make it more difficult for lower income residents to afford to live in the neighborhood. The Christian business owner might have to make negotiations based on what is best for their neighbor rather than what is best for their business.
These negotiations can be difficult and often mean we have to make sacrifices. However, as mentioned already, these sacrifices never mean that we need to remove, eradicate, or assimilate our identities. For Asian Americans, it means finding new ways of being both Asian and American in light of New Creation and for the sake of our neighbors.
1 Peter is addressed to “resident aliens” who live in “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1). Such language to describe Roman Christians suggests that Christians, in some ways, will always feel as though they are displaced in their various identities, at least until Christ’s eventual return and restoration of all things. This is true for both our Asian and American identities. As much as I love being a mixed Cambodian American, the gospel calls me to negotiate both of these identities in light of the cross and what that means for my neighbor.
1 Peter calls Christians who live as resident aliens to be holy, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV)
Holiness isn’t a flight from the world as an attempt to be cloistered from it for the sake of purity. Rather, as “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16), so too do we enter into the world for the sake of holiness. For Asian Americans, this means entering into our Asian and American identities for the sake of the world while continually negotiating them for the sake of our neighbor.
In this upcoming election, what would it look like if we voted based on our love and care for our neighbor rather than on our rigid sense of identity? I wonder if that might change the way we engage in politics in general. Rather than getting into self-righteous battles that dehumanize, police boundaries, and dismiss moral and intellectual commitments, it might help us see our enemies as human, build bridges rather and boundaries, and bring us back to our moral and intellectual commitments.
We will continually negotiate our identities as long as we live as resident aliens. However, I believe that God will eventually redeem all of our identities as all nations gather for the wedding feast of the Lamb.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Clark Fobes is the Editorial Director for AACC, and serves full time as the Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church of San Francisco, a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-generational congregation in the heart of the city. Prior to this, he served in both Student and Worship Pastor roles in Asian American and Asian immigrant churches (both Korean and Chinese). Being half-White and half-Korean, issues of culture and faith, and their intersection in history are central to his research and teaching. He received his M.Div at Talbot School of Theology and a Doctor of Missiology (D.Miss) at Southern Seminary. Clark and his wife Janet have two young daughters and live in his hometown of San Francisco.
More Like This:
