Andrew space: Blog

Mixed marriages among the Chinese

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:02:09 GMT

A while ago I found some interesting data from the ABS about mixed marriages - that is, marriages between people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Here is a graph I've put together, that shows you the percentage of people of Chinese ancestry, who had a spouse of a different ancestry. The blue is guys, and pink girls.

Basically, it's quite rare for first generation Chinese migrants (ie. OBCs) to have a non-Chinese spouse - less than 20%. But then it becomes increasingly popular for second generation Chinese (ie. ABCs) - between 30-40%. And by the third generation the level rises to above 70%.

This is not so surprising, because second and third generation Chinese (ABCs) are going to the same schools and finding the same jobs as Aussies (and others). They speak English with the same accent, and probably share a lot in common.

However mixed marriages can mean tension between the spouses that they only discover later on down the road, because their families of origin. While they might seem quite similar in their outlook on life, the families they grew up in were probably quite different from each other. They probably grew up with different values in the home, different attitudes towards family, work, leisure and housework. Both of them will have brought unspoken assumptions and expectations into their marriage about how things should be, which have been formed by years of seeing how their family did things.

When they were going out, these differences probably weren't apparent. And if they were aware of them, they probably seemed minor and easily dealt with. But later on, when they are deciding on family holidays, or raising children, these differences will emerge. They find themselves naturally falling back to the way their parents did things - sometimes to their horror!

This is an issue for any couple - but the differences can be particularly large, and particularly unexpected for those in mixed marriages!

[ PS: what are some potential differences that might unexpectedly emerge down the line? ]

Good works

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:09:33 GMT

As evangelicals, we tend to be afraid of good works and social action.

Doing good works feels that we might endanger our salvation and turn us into Roman Catholics. Or that it might compromise the priority of gospel proclamation and turn us into liberals. And so good works tends to be something we avoid for theological reasons!

And there are probably other reasons as well holding us back. Perhaps we are afraid that once we start looking into it, we will be overwhelmed by how much there is to be done. Or that it will show up our comfortable lifestyle in the West and make us feel guilty about the new widescreen plasma TV we bought recently. And so it's simply too confronting for us...

However the Bible won't let us do this. It tells us that God has actually created for good works (Eph 2:10). Not only that, we are to be eager for good works (Titus 2:14). And James tells us that pure religion is to care for orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27).

We are right to insist that people are not saved by good works (Eph 2:8-9). However, we are saved for good works (Eph 2:10). And so the evangelical fear of good works, and the affluent discomfort with good works, is actually wrong. Far from shunning good works, we should actually embrace them, be eager for good works, and be full of good works ourselves!

How then do you put good works and gospel proclamation together? People have gone about it in different ways.

One answer is (a) that some Christians should devote themselves to social action, while others do proclamation. Another answer is that (b) we do social action so that it opens doors for gospel proclamation. Others (c) confuse the two and say that social action is gospel proclamation. And still others say that (d) they are two equal partners of the missionary task.

All of these are unsatisfactory for different reasons. Instead, you can think of it as the difference between being, and doing - and a Christian should have both.

Our doing should be gospel proclamation. Paul asks, "How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Rom 10:14). The biggest need people have is to hear the good news about Jesus - and no one else will do the work of proclamation for us. For some Christians this will mean doing the work of the evangelist (2 Tim 4:5), for others it will be a readiness to give an answer for the hope we have (1 Pet 3:15).

But in our being, we are to love good works, and a desire to do good should naturally flow out from us. We shouldn't have to think twice about caring for those who are in need or pleading the cause of the oppressed. We have been created for good works.

Once we have heard the gospel and responded to it with faith and repentance - what then? Are we saved to just become messengers of that gospel, passing it on to others? No, in our being, we are to grow to become a people who are attracted to good works, who willingly give and work to see good done, and who mourn the fallenness of the world.

[ PS: are you eager for good works? ]

The migrant experience - and Chinese culture

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:11:10 GMT

1. Not just Confucianism...

From the previous series of posts (here) you might think that Confucianism is the major contributor to the worldview of Chinese people. However Confucianism isn't able by itself to explain every aspect of Chinese culture - there are other things as well that contribute to the worldview of the Chinese, and a significant one is the migrant experience.

There are several factors making up the migrant experience. Some are common to all migrants, but some are particular to those who migrated away from China in the 1970's, and away from Hong Kong in the 1990's. This group is called the Diaspora (a Greek word meaning 'dispersion'). And understanding these factors sheds a lot of light on the culture of Chinese in the Diaspora.

2. Fleeing danger - and conservatism

In the 1960's and 70's many people fled from China to Hong Kong, ahead of the Cultural Revolution. And then when they heard that Hong Kong was returning to China, they again fled to countries like Canada, Australia and the United States. In both cases they perceived a threat to their family's economic and physical wellbeing, and showed a willingness to go to great lengths in order to protect the economic and physical safety of their family - even going to a country where they have no relatives.

This is why many OBCs (Overseas Born Chinese) seem to us to be conservative and cautious. However they are not so fearful as to do nothing - instead, they are the ones who are active enough to take drastic steps to protect their family from danger!

On the whole their ABC (Australian Born Chinese) children have never had such an experience themselves. They have grown up in the West, with its relative stability and security - and so are much more willing to try out things their parents think of as being dangerous or risky!

3. Chinatowns - and culture

As thousands of Chinese migrated to cities Sydney, Vancouver or San Francisco, it was natural for them to congregate together. And also for them to set up communities and maintain a culture just like what they knew back home. In an earlier period this meant Chinatowns - but more significantly it also meant that the culture of these migrants don't change very much.

The culture of Chinese migrants is often much more traditional Chinese than even China is. This is because, while the culture of China continues to develop, the culture of migrants is frozen in time. They may live in Canada - but they still consider themselves Chinese first and foremost! And so they preserve and live out Chinese culture as they knew it in order to maintain links to their roots and identity and distinctiveness.

Their children don't see why there is this insistence on Chinese culture - because they naturally consider themselves to be Australian, Canadian or American. But their rejection of Chinese culture and values is seen as unnatural by their parents - like a duck deciding to behave like a dog!

4. Hardship - and education

Fleeing from China to Hong Kong meant a great deal of hardship. People had to scrape and save and find money wherever they could find it. Some people succeeded despite such hardships - and were in a position to leave Hong Kong for the West before 1997. However when they came to the West they found that their qualifications and abilities were not as recognised as they were in Hong Kong. The jobs open to them were not as prestigious or well paid as back in Hong Kong. However despite this new hardship they again persevered, to give their family every advantage.

Because of this, anything that could give their family, and especially their children a head-start in life, or a better advantage in the working world, becomes highly prized. It's because of this that education becomes so vitally important - it's the way to get ahead. And so parents want opportunity classes for their children, selective schools, getting a good mark in the HSC, doing subjects over summer to get ahead in uni.

And together with this is the work ethic that strives for excellence and advancement, first in studies, but later the working world as well. Because unless you get ahead of the pack, your family will sink into the mire.

Children don't tend to see what the fuss is all about - because they have grown up in relative luxury in the West, and haven't had to go through hardships themselves. As a result, children who are lazy about their studies and not ambitious in their work are perceived very negatively by parents who have always seen hard work and advancement as the only way ahead!

5. Isolation - and family

'Family' in Hong Kong and China doesn't mean mum, dad and two kids. It means the whole collection of aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas and cousins who constantly interact and come over and share things. And so for migrants to leave that and to migrate to the West with their family means massive isolation.

Yes, they are living here in a big house with their 'family' - but not family in the sense they knew it as children. And because of that, the family that you do have becomes that much more precious. Family is all that you have! Or at least, they would like their children to share their sense of just how precious family is...

The trouble is, their children don't think like that. They absorb the culture of those around them - where Western parents raise their children to become independent, leave home at a (relatively) early age, and face the consequences of their own decisions. By contrast, their migrant parents seem overly possessive and controlling. And that's because, to them, independence means turning your back on your precious family!

Confucianism influences Chinese culture a lot - but it doesn't account for every aspect of OBC culture! You can see how the migrant experience has shaped and transformed OBC tremendously - and moreover, it also explains many conflicts with their children, who on the whole haven't gone through the same things.

[ PS: there is another thing, in addition to Confucianism and the migrant experience... can you guess what? ]

Opening ceremony and Chinese culture

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:03:32 GMT

So - were you one of the millions around the world last week watching the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics? It actually gave you a great insight into the Chinese culture - and I don't mean all the dancing...

What you see in the Opening Ceremony is the predominant concern for maintaining 'face' - particularly in the light of revelations in the following week.

First we had nine year old Lin Miaoke, the young girl who appeared to be singing - but was in reality lip-synching to the prerecorded singing of Yang Peiyi. Because she was not cute enough. The musical director was quoted as saying that, "The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression." He continued, "we should all understand it like this: it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture."

Then we heard that the 55 second sequence of 29 giant footsteps projected by fireworks walking towards the main stadium was in reality a piece of computer generated footage. The head of the visual effects team was reported as saying that "Most of the audience thought it was filmed live — so that was mission accomplished."

And then we discovered that the children carrying in the Chinese flag and wearing traditional dress of the 55 minority groups in China, were not actually children of those minority groups - but instead members of an acting group, made up of children from the dominant Han people group. The VP of the Games was reported saying that, "It is typical for Chinese performers to wear different apparel from different ethnic groups. There is nothing special about it. They will wear different apparel to signify people are friendly and happy together."

And of course there is the content of the historical retelling itself. It was interesting to see how Confucianism was celebrated - while in reality in the 1960's and 1970's Confucian teachings were actually repressed by the Communist party, and Confucian scholars strongly persecuted. And in the retelling of China's history, large sections of the modern period were conveniently omitted - such as Mao's Great Leap Forward of the 1950's, and the Cultural Revolution of the 60's and 70's. All we had was "the modern period", represented by bright neon lights - presumably a reference to modern development and technology!

One feature of the Chinese culture is the concern for 'face'. That is, that on the surface everything appears to be harmonious, impressive, and functioning well. To convey the impression of minority groups happily coexisting under the one flag. That modern China is all about clean technology. The concern to show the prettiest possible face to the international community. Because in Chinese culture, substance doesn't matter - only the appearance does. What matters is that people form a good impression.

The reason why this can seem so wrong to many in the West, particularly those of younger generations, is because increasingly the opposite is true - substance is more important than appearance (or at least, what we think is substance). And so for Gen X and Gen Y, it's become more important to be authentic, than polished. More important to be vulnerable, than correct. More important for someone to be genuine and heartfelt, than to be traditional...

...and so when East and West come together, no wonder there is sometimes suspicion and miscommunication!

[ PS: a good book that explores differences between the East and West from a Christian perspective is One World, Two Minds by Dennis Lane. ]

What I think of house churches

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:39:53 GMT

People like the idea of house churches.

A house church evokes in our minds the purity of the New Testament early church. They don't need a lot of structure and formality, and instead make do with a simple structure. They don't need all the rules and bureaucracy of an institutionalised church, and instead you have people relating to one another purely, as brothers and sisters...

Sometimes you hear people speak glowingly and wistfully about house churches - and maybe you also long to throw off the restrictiveness of our church structures and go back to the beautiful purity of house churches.

And of course house churches can work nicely. And in some places, that's the only viable church structure in the face of persecution.

However there are problems with house churches, and often people don't realise that they aren't all they are hyped up to be. Power is in the hands of a few people - particularly the family that owns the actual house they meet in. And if they want, they can abuse that power.

Like it or not, they have a big influence on the house church. What if they want to preach? Or if they suggest that their son or daughter would be a good Bible study leader? What if they want a certain event to be held for the church, or if they didn't like another event and simply made their house unavailable on that day?

Of course, if they are godly, then these things shouldn't happen... but there is no guarantee that this will always be the case.

The way to think about church structures isn't to imagine the best case scenario, when everyone is behaving in a godly way. Because if that's what you do, then any church structure will work fine.

Instead, the way to do it is to think about worst case scenarios - what can be done if people behave badly, and things go wrong. What can be done if church leaders abuse their power. Or if certain individuals insist that things get done their way, and lie and slander. What can be done if any one person in the hierarchy ends up going wrong... or if two, or three people go wrong. And the problem with house churches is, little can actually be done if key resources (such as the house) are in the hands of a few people...

This is why when churches get larger, it makes sense to have buildings and property that aren't owned by any one person or family - but by the group. And with that comes all the administrative overhead that we dislike - but all that overhead actually serves to protect gospel ministry for when things go wrong.

[ PS: the 'emerging church' is one modern form of house church movement... ]

Emergency joke

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:26:14 GMT

Have you got an emergency joke?

If you're anything like me, you tend to forget jokes right after you hear them. After all, you have much more important things to keep in your head - like birthdays of your loved ones, or statistics on the Chinese in Sydney.

But sometimes it's good to have a joke up your sleeve. In case you need to fill in a few minutes' worth of time. Or give people a bit of a break from thinking hard in a workshop. Or entertain some children...

If you're the kind of person that finds it hard to remember a joke, you might want to go and learn one - just in case.

Earlier this year at our church camp, when the 'variety night' score tally was slow coming in, I was called on to use my emergency joke, so I did - in front of about 300 people, and two guest speakers.

So go and learn a joke. Hopefully a clean one. Hopefully one that you can flesh out a little. And even better if it's something that you could segue into an impromptu gospel talk from. Because you never know when you'll need your emergency joke...

[ PS: having used up that one, I've now gone and learnt another emergency joke... ]

Narrative criticism

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:10:07 GMT

Narrative criticism is a relatively new thing in the world of biblical studies - but is actually really useful for handling biblical narrative, such as the Gospels in the New Testament.

In the Western world, we are used to reading and making sense of logically ordered pieces of writings, such as Paul's epistles. We generally know how to discern the structure and argument from these things to get at the author's big idea.

However, we're not so used to doing this with narrative. While we are used to reading narratives in the form of novels, and see narratives in the form of movies, generally this is for entertainment - and we are not used to narratives that are written to actually get us to do something. We either think that narratives just plainly and historically describe what happened (with no intention to cause a change in us), or are looking for a moralistic way to apply it to ourselves (much like Aesop's fables).

However the writers of biblical narrative aren't simply out to record bare historical facts - they actually are wanting to persuade us to do certain things. A good example of this is John, who himself declares that "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). Having read his gospel, John wants us to believe. He writes with the intention to get us to believe.

Observe then the different ways that people would get you to believe...

First, if Paul is writing a letter and wants to get you to believe, he would go about it this way. He would:

list out all the good reasons for believing in Jesus,
and then he would explicitly tell us that we need to believe.

And that's what we're used to - Paul telling us explicitly what we should think or do.

Second, if Mark writes a narrative and wants to get you to believe, he would go about it in an entirely different way. He would show you:

an incident where a Pharisee attacks Jesus, even though he had healed someone (and we are thinking, "that's just wrong").
Then show us another incident where a teacher of the law tries to trip up Jesus, even though he is clearly a good teacher (and we are thinking, "no! can't they see?").
And then another incident where a wealthy man was close to following Jesus - but didn't, because he loved money first (and we are thinking, "how foolish that is!") .
And then we are shown an incident where someone finally does follow Jesus (and we think, "at last! Someone has gotten it right!").

Mark hasn't gone out and explicitly told you to believe in Jesus - but through the way the narrative is arranged, and through how characters respond to Jesus, gets us identifying with the person who responds with belief.

So a narrative may actually have a similar aims as a letter (eg. to get people to believe in Jesus) - but it has the added power of being able to draw in the reader to identify strongly with people who actually do believe in Jesus.

This means that when you're doing a Bible study or talk on the Gospels, you want to be alert for what is going on, so you can show it to people and teach the Gospels with the right emphasis. You need to be very alert for the kinds of things that the writer of a narrative uses to shape your response as you read. These include things like:

incidents that in reality are far apart, arranged so they are adjacent in order to make a point or show contrasting reactions
incidents that happen in the same place as something earlier on, or at historically significant places
characters that are well described vs. characters that are not well described
characters that we identify with vs. characters that we dislike
authoritative things that the narrator says vs. things that characters say
unexpected features of people (eg. that a Gentile has faith, while the Jewish leaders don't)
how classes of people are described (eg. the many different women in Mark)
what the crowds do (eg. following him, listening to him, or calling for his death)

This involves not just reading a paragraph or two of the narrative, but reading large chunks of it, being very familiar with it, so that you can see what is going on. It also involves listening to yourself as you read along - am I attracted to this character? what things has the writer done to attract me to this character and not that one?

This might sound a lot like a postmodernism reader-response kind of approach. Postmodernism doesn't care what the author's intention was - that's irrelevant. The only thing that's important in postmodernism is how the reader responds. But that's not what we're doing here. The difference is we're not just interested in our response - we're looking for the kinds of things that the author himself has done, which shows us what the author's intention was.

And for those who have been tightly wedded to a plain-historical-account view of the gospels, this might all sound dodgy, as though the gospel writers are deceptively making up incidents and conversations in order to elicit a certain response in his readers. But that's not true - Luke for one is at pains to show that these are in fact actual people and incidents that he writes about (Luke 1:1-4)!

Narrative criticism is hard to do. But for those with the patience to look for how the writer is crafting the narrative, there is a lot to learn!

[ PS: those who went to the Annual Moore College lectures on Tuesday heard Mike Ovey do a great job of this on Luke! ]

Confucianism - and Chinese Christians

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:25:52 GMT

Over the past few months I've put together some posts on Confucianism (clicking on the links will take you to that post):

If you want to read more about Confucianism, you can access translations of the Analects of Confucius yourself here. The Analects is a collection of Confucius' teachings, collected by his disciples after his death, and is probably the most important text in the Confucian canon.

Through these posts, it's probably become obvious to you how Confucianism could influence how Chinese Christians think and behave, and how Chinese churches function in a whole range of different areas.

What I've done here is drawn many of those themes together so you can see, on the one hand the features of Confucianism, and on the other, how it could influence a Chinese church.

Aspects of Confucianism	Possible implications for Chinese churches
The past is prized	What has been decided in the past at church is not open to question
Elderly people are venerated and should be obeyed and shown reverence	Youth leaders should always listen to and obey older leaders at church
The cornerstone of virtue is filial piety	Godly children are those who obey their parents
Social harmony is sacrosanct	A high premium on uniformity and outward shows of unity
Outward conflict is avoided at all costs	Conflict is suppressed and denied at church
Rules of society are deeply ingrained inside of people	There are a lot of unwritten rules at church
People are motivated by shame	Christians feel a strong need to redeem themselves when they do wrong
The Chinese psyche is set up for approval seeking behaviour	People behave in church in the way expected of them
Doing your duty is the greatest good	Christians focus on doing their duty to God outwardly - and not on the affections

It's important to remember that many Chinese Christians won't acknowledge the influence of Confucianism. This is not because they are lying, but simply because many of them won't actually have received any formal training in Confucianism. For them, they are not being Confucians - it's just a normal and unquestioned part of how things should be done. It's just like how "being true to yourself" is just an unquestioned part how things should be, for someone who has actually been influenced by Western individualism. Because of this you can't go about accusing people of being Confucians - that's simply not helpful. The best thing to do is just be aware, and let it help you understand why things are done a certain way.

Realise also that the influence of Confucianism among Chinese Christians is not uniform. Some individuals will be more influenced by Confucianism than others - so you can't assume that what influences one person is the same, or to the same degree. Don't jump to conclusions too quickly! However I've had the opportunity to share about Confucianism at a few different places now, and many Chinese Christians are amazed how Confucianism makes sense of so much of their experiences at home, as well as at church.

And finally it's important to understand that Confucianism isn't worse compared to Western individualism. No - it's just as un-Christian a philosophy as Western individualism, postmodernism, or modernism is. All cultures - including those influenced by Confucianism - need to be critiqued by the gospel - but don't think that the answer is to adopt Western individualism. Western individualism, and churches influenced by that, have a whole different set of problems! It's just that Confucianism is not well understood, though it is the philosophical environment in which a lot of Chinese Christians operate.

[ PS: note that Confucianism hasn't just influenced Chinese culture - it is a significant influence on the Korean and Japanese cultures as well! ]

Migration from Asian countries since 1975

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:01:29 GMT

This graph shows you the number of permanent arrivals into Australia from some Asian countries, since the the 1975-76 financial year. Remember that the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was only repealed in 1973.

Note that this is permanent settler migration - not merely those coming over to study or visit for the short-term.

Note the reaction to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and the leadup to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997. You can clearly see that 1992 was the big year for migration out of Hong Kong into Canada, Australia and the United States of America.

But while migration from Hong Kong used to be very strong, it has really tapered off in recent years - and by comparison, migration from China really is booming! You may have guessed that from your own observation of your suburb - but this graph really highlights the massive, and sustained increase of migration from China over the last ten years...

[ PS: how is your church contributing to reaching out to these new Chinese migrants? ]

Communication styles and culture

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:51:02 GMT

Ever get frustrated how people from other cultures communicate? That's because people of different cultures prefer to communicate in different ways - and this diagram highlights the differences between Western, Eastern and Middle eastern cultures.

People from western cultures tend to get directly to the point. Their communication tends to have a logical and linear structure. Sermons have a clear structure, and in face-to-face communication people don't beat around the bush, but get right to the point.

Middle eastern people tend to eventually get to the point - after slowly spiraling in, having prepared the listener for the message. Sermons are lengthy, and face-to-face conversations take a long time before delicately getting to the heart of the matter.

People from eastern cultures tend to not get to the point at all. They will talk around and around the point, never directly mentioning it - but by constantly circling around it, they will make clear what they're really talking about. Sermons seem to go around and around, and in face-to-face communication people never seem to say what they really mean.

You can see that each way of communicating actually has a nice side to it. In different ways, each of these are trying to be considerate...

However people of one culture can become incredibly frustrated (and even angry) about the communication styles of other cultures. Westerners can appear blunt and rude, while Easterners can seem manipulative and untrustworthy. Sometimes that's because sin can cause people to become selfish and demanding in their communication.

Not only that, people tend to think that their own communication style has an inherent rightness about it. But this isn't the case - and you can even see some of these differences coming out in the writing of the different apostles in the Bible. Paul for instance is logical and direct in his writing - like the Western linear style. And John's letters tends to go around and around - like the Eastern circular style.

[ PS: I saw this diagram in a library book back at Moore College - but unfortunately neglected to write down the reference... ]

SCCCA Leadership Conference 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:44:22 GMT

First time ever - SCCCA is running a leadership conference in Sydney on the weekend of 12-14 September. It'll be awesome! We recommend coming as a leadership team, to make the most of the conference.

Click on the image above to go to the registration page.

[ PS: spaces for this conference really are limited, so get in early! ]

Confucianism - and the person

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:32:43 GMT

Over the last short while I've put up some articles on how Confucianism works. And we've seen how Confucianism puts the focus on observing the rules of propriety in the five li roles you may find yourself in (see previous post). But what implications does that have for the Chinese person's view of him or herself?

Stephen Cheng runs East Asia Access Consulting, a company that trains people wanting to do business in China. He points out that Confucian values heavily influences the Chinese person's conception of the self, and thus their behaviour - leading to a very different outcome from those influenced by Western values.

In this first diagram, he outlines the Western psychological paradigm, with its emphasis on the values of individuality, autonomy and conflict - and the outcome of this, at the level of needs, behaviours, and assertive personhood.

Contrast this to his next diagram, showing the Chinese psychological paradigm. In this case, the Confucian values of filiality, propriety and harmony lead to radically different outcomes in terms of needs, behaviours - and a diminished self.

As a result, behaviours that seem pathological in the West - such as being overly dependent on what others think about you - are normal in Confucian countries. And in Confucian countries behaviours that are seen as pathological - such as independent behaviour and thought - is normal in Western cultures.

In the case of Confucianism, Confucian values lead to a need for approval, which shows itself in approval seeking behaviours such as the following:

choosing careers that will please parents, even though you don't really want to do that work;
behaving in the expected manner, even though you feel otherwise;
suppressing conflict and pretending that everything is okay in public, even though there is obviously tension.

Ultimately the person is a non-being, only a persona. Yes, they are a father, a son, a member of a group - they are in relationship with others - but their feelings and personal preferences don't really matter. Just that they behave in the approved way within those roles.

Now this is not to say that the Western world has gotten personhood entirely right - not at all! Trinitarian theology tells us that ultimate reality is beings in relationship - just as the Father, the Son and the Spirit are three persons, eternally in loving relationship with one another. And it can be easily seen that the view of the self that arises from the Trinity is just as different from the Western view of the person, as it is from the Confucian view of the person.

Here is a diagram I shared with some fourth-year students at Moore College recently:

Western individualism has generated a society where the focus is on the individual, and not so much on loving relationships. The highest good is to be "true to yourself" - no matter what everyone else thinks. And you see this reflected in many Hollywood movies! However Confucianism has generated a society where people have roles in interconnected relationships - but personal feelings and desires are not important. The highest good here is to do your duty, even at great personal cost...

If such a Confucian view of the person influences Christianity, this leads to a Christianity that focuses on our duty to God. On right behaviour. On reading the Bible. On making sacrifices for God. But minimises the affections - loving God, longing for the return of Christ, thirsting for God's word.

In Mark 7 Jesus talks about a people who love God with their lips - but whose hearts are far from him. Instinctively, Chinese people might think that God would be pleased by such sacrificial obedience. However, God is not honoured - ultimately, Jesus calls such people 'hypocrites'...

[ PS: things like loving God, longing for the return of Christ, thirsting for God's word are called 'affections'. You'll find some posts on the affections back in January and February... ]

Understanding China's generations

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:22:51 GMT

In the West we have names for people of different generations. There are the Baby Boomers, the Busters, then we have Gen X, Gen Y and so on. And it's useful in showing some of the broad differences in culture in each of these generations.

But what about non-Western nations ... such as China? What kind of generations do they have?

I've spoken to a number of people, and they commonly describe the following generations in China.

Pre '80s generation - conservatism

This generation grew up during the early years of the Communist era, and lived through the difficulties of the Cultural Revolution. They tend to be much more conservative, and hold traditional Chinese values, such as Confucianism.

Post '80s generation - privilege

This generation grew up after the introduction of China's One Child policy (introduced in 1979). The only society they have ever known has transformed itself upside down from a Confucian society where elders are obeyed and shown reverence, to a Little Emperors society where the single, precious child is spoilt and given every privilege by their parents and grandparents.

Post '90s generation - prosperity

In the 1990s the leaders of China introduced a new policy of economic liberalism. It was during this decade that China moved from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy. And so the post 90's generation grew up only knowing a very prosperous China. And of course during this time the One Child policy is still in operation, and so they have also grown up being doted on by their parents and grandparents.

Not only that, the teachers and parents of the post 90's generation are increasingly those of the post 80's generation. Thus those who are influencing the current post 90's generation have not been as influenced by conservative Chinese ideas (eg. Confucianism) as in the past.

Returnees generation - Western ideas

This is not really a generation, but a significant sub-group of the post '80s generation. Some of the post-80's generation travelled overseas to study (eg. Australia and the United States), and have now returned to China with overseas degrees - but more importantly, with a taste for the freedoms and lifestyles of the West, and a greater awareness of Western ideas...

China has transformed itself in absolutely massive ways within one lifetime. If you think the difference between Baby Boomers and Generation Y is big, then consider the very huge generational differences opening up in China!

[ PS: if you're doing ministry among Chinese migrants, it's helpful to know what has influenced their generation... ]

"Walk with Jesus" - Catholic style

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:11:17 GMT

So I'm at the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, looking around (here). And on that page there was an advertising banner that catches my eye, with the words, "Walk with Christ".

I thought to myself: "great, it must be some Bible teaching event, maybe a conference, and people are learning about following Jesus." Because that's what you would imagine, with a name like that ... right?

So I clicked the link (to here) - and discovered what "Walk with Christ" really means for Roman Catholics...

The way a devout Roman Catholic "Walks with Christ" is with a priest blessing a host (a wafer of bread), and placing that into an elaborate metal holder (called a monstrance, pictured in the promotional banner). And then the priest holds up the monstrance and carries it through the streets with people walking along with him, and others lining the route making the sign of the cross as the consecrated host passes by. That is what it means to "Walk with Christ."

"Walking with Christ" is not really about Christlike living at all - it's actually about physically walking along with a wafer of bread, that they believe has changed (or transubstantiated) into the actual body of Christ. This is all part of the feast of the blessed sacrament, an annual procession through the streets of Sydney.

They have also put up a YouTube video here promoting the event - and it's worth watching. Because the video shows up quite explicitly how different Roman Catholicism is from biblical Christianity.

The website explains that what is going on isn't just people watching - the key verb is actually 'adoration'. And according to the words of the previous Pope, you could also use the verb 'worship'. That is what is actually going on at this event!

There is a particular need to cultivate a lively awareness of Christ’s real presence, both in the celebration of Mass and in the worship of the Eucharist outside Mass.

Pope John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine

And if you think this event is merely a minor quirk of Roman Catholicism, think again. At one point in the video, a voice explains how "this is the central belief of our Catholic faith" (1:28).

Perhaps you might be fooled into thinking that Roman Catholics are close to biblical Christianity - at least on a superficial level. They are passionate about God, so are we. They sing similar songs to us. They love Jesus, so do we. They stand against many of the same things we are. But here you begin to see how significantly different Roman Catholicism is. How tradition has taken the language of biblical Christianity - and amazingly, unbelievably, brashly - given it their own, completely new meaning.

[ PS: some good analysis on World Youth Day and Will's blog here. ]

English congregations in Sydney's Chinese churches

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:48:55 GMT

I have recently been looking at how many Chinese churches there are in Sydney - and how many English congregations there are in particular. Some people argue over the definition of what constitutes a Chinese church, but here I'm going with a list compiled by a Chinese parachurch organisation. And this is what I found...

This first graph is broken up into the different regions of Sydney (eg. North, North West, South, etc.). The red line graph shows you the number of Chinese churches in each of those regions. The bar graphs show you the number of congregations in each of those regions, broken up into the different languages (eg. English, Cantonese, Mandarin).

Some larger and more established churches will have multiple congregations, and others that are smaller or newer will only have one congregation - this accounts for the difference between the line graph, and the bar graphs.

This next graph isolates just the Chinese churches. Here I've presented it as a pie graph, so you can see the distribution of Chinese churches as a proportion of the whole.

I also have that in a bar graph form here, in case you find that better suits your purposes. The bar graph is useful for comparing with the following two graphs...

This bar graph shows how many English congregations there are in the different regions of Sydney. Be aware that some churches have two English congregations. And bilingual congregations with English as one of the languages do not count.

In some regions, there are very few English ministries! But even the bars that seem quite healthy can actually be deceptive. And this becomes clear with the next graph...

This one shows you the need for English ministry. These are the Chinese churches that currently do not have an English congregation.

While some churches have one, and sometimes even two English congregations, quite a few churches don't even have one. But they will increasingly feel the need to set up an English congregation to reach the second generation...

What is also interesting to note is that regions that seem strong in the previous bar graph (eg. the North and North West) still also have a great need for English ministries!

This next set of small pie graphs show you the English ministry situation for the Chinese churches in each of the eight regions in Sydney. The numbers inside the pie graphs indicate the number of churches with, and without English ministries.

Here you can see which areas are really in need of English ministries - the South, the East, and surprisingly the North!

And this last pie graph shows you how things are going as a whole in Sydney in terms of English ministry.

The Chinese churches that do have English ministries are already finding it hard to get pastors to serve in them. But this graph shows that even if we do fill all those current vacancies, we still have a long way to go to serve the needs of all those Chinese churches without English ministries! And that's not even to take into account the extra Chinese churches we need to plant to reach the Chinese of Sydney...

[ PS: Melbourne was cold for the ANZCCOE conference ... so I ended up with the 'flu the last few days! ]

Confucianism - and leadership

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:34:44 GMT

In case you're wondering why I'm into all this stuff about Confucianism, it's mostly for a Master of Arts in Theology subject I was doing earlier this year. It's about Leadership Development in a Cross-Cultural Context - and one of our deacons suggested I do my essay on traditional Chinese leadership styles - and Confucianism does in fact has a very distinctive take on leadership...

1. Confucianism and leadership

The Confucian style of leadership involves the ruler remaining in the palace and observing the rites of his office. By applying himself to these rites, virtue would emanate from the palace and out into the rest of the country, as the influence of virtue spreads.

The Master said, 'If a man is able to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what difficulties will he have in public life? If he is unable to govern a state by observing the rites and showing deference, what good are the rites to him?'
Analects IV, 13

In fact Confucius envisaged that you don't necessarily even need to have a ruler - as people see the value of observing their obligations in the li relationships, virtue will surely take over.

The Master said, 'Barbarian tribes with their rulers are inferior to Chinese states without them.'

Analects III, 5
The Master wanted to settle amongst the Nine Barbarian Tribes of the east. Someone said, 'But could you put up with their uncouth ways?' The Master said, 'Once a gentleman settles amongst them, what uncouthness will there be?'
Analects IX, 14

The reason government is not so central is because the government shouldn't need to create and enforce external rules, because it is better anyway for people to be kept in check by an internalised sense of shame when they do not observe what is required in the li relationships.

The Master said, 'Guide them by edicts, keep them in line with punishments, and the common people will stay out of trouble but will have no sense of shame. Guide them by virtue, keep them in line with the rites, and they will, besides having a sense of shame, reform themselves.'
Analects II, 3

In reality, no ruler ever embodied the Confucian ideal of rule by virtue and observance of rites alone. The Qin dynasty rejected Confucianism and adopted Legalism as its policy. But even when they were overthrown by the Han who adopted Confucianism as the state orthodoxy, Han rulers (and those of subsequent dynasties) still relied on punishment and reward to keep the empire in check!

And today, people don't really follow Confucian ideals when it comes to exercising leadership in business say, or in a church setting. However, Confucianism does strongly influence other aspects of the leadership task...

2. Confucianism and relationships

Three of the five key li relationships are: the ruler-subject relationship, the parent-child relationship, and the older-younger relationship. These are significant because they govern how people relate to one another (or expect people to relate to them). In a leadership situation then, the older will expect the younger to defer to them. The parent will expect reverence from their children, and rulers obedience from their subjects.

However in these li roles, the rule of the ruler over the subject is absolute, as is that of the parents over their children, and older over younger. In practice then, Confucianism can lead to an abuse of position because there is no higher authority outside of the li relationship. Not only that, there is also nothing to protect the son from sinful demands made by a father, let alone a subject from the ruler.

Because in many instances the function of leadership involves taking on the acknowledged role of a leader, we must be aware of the tendency for those influenced by Confucianism to insist that others to relate to them in a Confucian manner, and to see their decisions and wishes as being beyond challenge.

And in Australia, this can be particularly troublesome because of the history of Chinese migration. Because the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was only repealed in 1973, Chinese churches have only a short history in Australia (see post on the age profile of Chinese migrants). This means that for that vast majority of Chinese churches, the OBC congregations are the older and more dominant congregations, while the ABC congregations are younger and generally contain the children of those in the OBC congregations.

Consequently, church leaders tend to come from the older OBC congregations, and tend to relate to the younger ABC congregation as a parent does to their son - because some of them are in fact their children! This therefore means that Chinese church leaders expect their direction to be obeyed and for them to be shown reverence, in much the same way as in the li of ruler-subject, elder-younger, and even father-son.

Theologically this is dangerous as it does not account for sin! Theologically driven leadership will always be glad of checks and balances to prevent sin in the leader from damaging gospel ministry (see SCCCA discussion paper).

3. Confucianism and the past

In terms of the broad drama of history, Confucius looked to China's past and revived the rituals of the ancestors. And in terms of the individual stories of family households, Confucius directed that sons should always care for, obey, and show reverence to their parents - even after they had died, and even if they were doing wrong (see post on filial piety).

And so in both the broad and the narrow of human history, Confucius elevated the past. This brought stability to a turbulent time - but it also means that change is difficult, new ideas are seen with suspicion, and decisions made in the past are never open to question. This is well illustrated in the following from the Analects:

Duke Ai asked Tsai Wo about the altar to the god of earth. Tsai Wo replied, 'The Hsia used the pine, the Yin used the cedar, and the men of Chou used the chestnut, saying that it made the common people tremble.'
The Master, on hearing of this reply, commented, 'One does not explain away what is already done, one does not argue against what is already accomplished, and one does not condemn what has already gone by.'
Analects III, 21

When the gospel comes to any human culture, that culture will need to be critiqued and tested as people grow in their understanding of God's revelation. Even the Reformers reminded themselves of this with the saying, Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei ("the church reformed, always being reformed according to the Word of God"). And so Christian leadership will necessarily require an openness to test and review their past with the word of God.

This is particularly important in Chinese churches, which are increasingly bi-cultural (with both OBCs and ABCs together). This is because what is merely a cultural expression of one group's love for God may be demanded of another group as tests of spiritual maturity. Christian leaders therefore need to be particularly careful to not allow elements of one culture to become elevated to the level of gospel, and to have only biblical requirements for unity (Eph 4:1-6). And the past-revering aspect of Confucianism makes the task of the Christian leader in leading a re-evaluation of their culture particularly challenging.

4. Confucianism and conflict

Confucius sought to restore order and harmony to a divided China - and as a result social harmony is highly prized in Confucianism. However the pursuit for social harmony also meant that conflict was not appropriate for the virtuous man. The nearest thing to conflict that should be, Confucius taught, was an archery contest!

Master said, 'There is no contention between gentlemen. The nearest to it is, perhaps, archery. In archery they bow and make way for one another as they go up and on coming down they drink together. Even the way they contend is gentlemanly.'
Analects III, 7

However as people grow as Christians at different paces and are therefore at different levels of Christian maturity, conflict is inevitable. Not only that, in bi-cultural Chinese churches with some people adopting a Confucian, and others a Western paradigm of conflict, conflict situations can be explosive! Those influenced by Western conflict styles can be very outspoken in their opposition to ideas and ready to challenge leaders. And leaders influenced by Confucianism may react by demanding submission, and challenging opponents with threatening the unity of the church. This can be oppressive, and so leaders must be equipped to handle conflict well with those used to a more Western style of interaction.

The high premium placed on Western education (even in Asian countries) can mean that a lot of prominence is given to Western philosophical approaches. By contrast, Confucianism is neglected and its powerful influence not challenged. However it does influence the Chinese strongly - and if we are not careful, shape our approach to Christian leadership.

[ PS: how then do you think this influences the training of new and current leaders? ]

Uni students from China

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:15:46 GMT

From the previous post you can already see that university students make up a significant part of the Chinese migrant population.

Information on international students is tracked by Australian Education International (AEI). Here are figures for enrollments from some Asian countries in all sectors of education (data from here).

Country	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Change from 2002 to 2007
China	48,236	60,301	70,741	81,843	90,048	107,071	122.0%
Hong Kong	21,984	23,765	22,816	21,266	20,424	19,742	-10.2%
Taiwan	10,006	10,607	10,151	9,584	9,889	9,646	-3.6%
Malaysia	17,540	19,827	19,994	19,336	19,118	19,874	13.3%
Singapore	12,074	11,852	10,860	9,898	9,229	8,853	-26.7%

This is summarised in the following graph:

As you can see, China is sending a lot of students to Australia compared to other countries - and over five years the numbers have more than doubled!

However not all of these students are actually university students. This next table shows only the figures for the higher education sector alone (eg. universities).

Country	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Change from 2002 to 2007
China	16,311	22,394	30,203	40,054	45,873	48,695	198.5%
Hong Kong	8,376	10,182	10,974	10,703	9,895	9,180	9.6%
Taiwan	3,883	4,113	4,165	3,964	3,814	3,706	-4.6%
Malaysia	13,595	15,426	15,895	15,375	14,897	15,200	11.8%
Singapore	10,442	10,186	9,229	8,349	7,855	7,516	-28.0%

This is summarised in the following graph:

Again, a huge increase in students from China - the figures have almost tripled over a five year period! China is the largest sending nation of students - and accounts for 22% of overseas students.

But overseas students tend to head to certain universities over others. This graph shows the top ten universities that overseas students attended in 2006, by number of students. As you can see, in NSW Macquarie University actually had 9.7 thousand overseas students.

If you're wanting to do ministry to overseas students, this shows you strategic unis. But from the previous post, you can see that many of these university students don't actually stay in Australia long-term. This means they are generally only here in Australia for a short while, before returning to their home countries.

[ PS: I'll be flying off to Melbourne on Tuesday for the ANZCCCOE conference! ]

Age profile of the Chinese migrant population

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:47:09 GMT

Here is information about the age profile of the migrant population from Hong Kong and China in particular, and North-East Asia in general.

1. Age profile of Hong Kong migrant population

First off, those migrants who originally came from Hong Kong. Note that these graph shows the age profile of the population for several years, given in different colours. The most recent one is the bright blue one (2007p).

In this graph you see two distinct bumps - one in the 15-29 age bracket, and another in the 40-55 age bracket. This corresponds to parents and their children who migrated to Australia after Tiananmen Square and before the handover of Hong Kong to China.

You can see that after 1996, the 40-55 age bracket bump hasn't increased very much - it's just shifted to the right as that age group grows older. Hardly any of that age group have migrated since then - in fact numbers even seem to have dropped a little! However the 15-29 age bracket has increased quite significantly - particularly the 20-24 age bracket. It looks like students and young workers have continued to migrate to Australia from Hong Kong.

Note that these graphs only cover migrants, and doesn't include those born in Australia to migrant families - the second generation! Stay tuned however, those graphs are for another day.

But already you can see that this next generation is a significantly growing area in the Chinese community. Not only is it important to pour resources into them to raise the next generation of church leaders - we also need to pour more resources into them for the simple fact that there is increasingly more of them!

2. Age profile of China migrant population

Next we have those migrants who originally came from China.

This graph also shows two bumps - but I think you'll find that unlike the previous graph for Hong Kong, these two sets of migrants are unrelated. The first spike at the 20-24 year age group is university students and young workers (more on them in a future post). The next bump is the 40-44 year age group. This group is also growing, though not in the same dramatic way as those university students. But who are they? These 40-44 year olds aren't actually the parents of the university students - they're not old enough - they are unrelated young families who have migrated to Australia.

And so if you want to reach Chinese migrants, these are two distinct groups you need to be reaching out to. Just reaching out to university students is not going to reach all those young families. You need to have strategies to reach students as well as young families!

Pay attention also to the scale of the two graphs above (with peaks of 15,000 and 45,000 people respectively). The increase in Hong Kong uni students/young workers looks significant - but it is well and truly dwarfed by the increase in the number of students from China!

3. Age profile of North-East Asian migrant population

This last graph shows you migration from the North-East Asian region as a whole, which includes China and Hong Kong, but also Macau, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.

Again, we see a big spike in the 20-24 year age group, and a bump at the 40-44 year age group. However you can see that this parent age group is not as sharp as the China graph - it's much more rounded, reflecting the fact that other nationalities have migrated to Australia as whole families.

If you go back to the second graph, you can see that over this 10-year period, China increased it's share of the 20-24 year olds by 40,000 people. This means that about four-fifths of the increase of 20-24 year olds in this graph is actually due to China alone!

[ PS: anything else you can say from these graphs? ]

How many Australian Chinese are Christians?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:37:30 GMT

So. How are we going at reaching the Chinese in Australia?

Earlier this year the ABS released Perspectives on Migrants 2007, and part of it contains information that correlates birthplace and religion. It's based on the 2006 ABS census, and you can find it on this page at the ABS website. This reveals the religion of those living in Australia who were born in China, and Hong Kong.

First off, a pie chart of the religious belief of Australian residents born in China.

And here is a pie chart showing the religious belief of Australian residents born in Hong Kong.

Because the Chinese aren't culturally predisposed to identify themselves as Christians (compared to Anglo Aussies, say) these figures for Christianity are a lot more believable than the Christianity figures for the general population.

And so it's quite encouraging to see how many people born in Hong Kong call themselves Christians - 38.6% of the whole! But by comparison we still have a long way to go with people born in China - only 15.1% identify themselves as Christians. And of course, these figures don't include the second-generation Chinese - those who are ethnically Chinese, but who were born here in Australia.

The ABS' Census Ethnic Media Package provides even greater detail, and from that we can see the following:

Country of birth	Religion	Percentage	Persons
China	No religion	58.1%	119,501
	Buddhism	17.6%	36,278
	Christianity	15.1%	31,111
	Hinduism	0.0%	14
	Islam	0.3%	522
	Judaism	0.1%	262
	Other religions	0.2%	379
	Not stated	8.6%	17,709
	Total		205,857
Hong Kong	No religion	43.3%	30,997
	Buddhism	10.6%	7,579
	Christianity	38.6%	27,635
	Hinduism	0.2%	121
	Islam	0.2%	119
	Judaism	0.1%	47
	Other religions	0.3%	213
	Not stated	6.8%	4,846
	Total		71,557

What's also interesting to observe from this is that the primary worldview that we are dealing with, for both people born in China and Hong Kong, is 'no religion' (58.1% of residents born in China, and 43.3% of residents born in Hong Kong). Buddhism, by comparison, only accounts for 17.6% and 10.6% of residents born in China and Hong Kong respectively.

[ PS: it's also interesting to see the figures for the other countries... ]