I hate crabs. No, I’m not talking about those “crabs” – I’m talking about crabs from the ocean. Which is unusual, because I am Korean, and Koreans love eating crabs. Have you ever seen Koreans at an all-you-can-eat where they have crab legs? Have you ever noticed they are the skinniest legs around? It is totally embarrassing to watch Koreans eating those Kate Moss crab legs. First, they grab every one of the crab legs and wobble back to the table. Then they whack them, snap, crackle and pop them, and even shove chopsticks into them. When all else fails they start sucking on them like Tony Montana snorting blow on his desk.
Koreans not only love eating crabs, but also love catching crabs. On Saturday mornings during summer vacation my parents would wake us up early and drag us to our smelly station wagon to go crabbing. I wanted to be watching Super Friends and Spiderman, but we were at the beach putting raw chicken legs in the traps and throwing them in. We would wait for a while and then pull up the traps. If there was nothing, then it was bitter Korean drama disappointment. If there were crabs in the traps, I swear I thought that Korea just scored a goal in the World Cup or Kim Jong Il died and the North opened up. Much to my embarrassment, my parents and their friends would begin to loudly clap, shout and holler in Korean. Oh, did I tell you my dad’s secret place to go crabbing was the Hamptons? Knowing my dad, his secret crabbing place was a private beach owned by Martha Stewart. I was so scarred.
We spent many good Saturday-morning-cartoon-watching summer vacation days at Martha Stewart’s beach catching crabs. This was the days before portable games, so there was no PSPs or DS’ or iPhones or iPods. All you had was your thumbs; nothing else. So to amuse myself, I would watch the crabs in the bucket. One thing I noticed is that when a crab is in there by itself it can crawl out of the bucket. When there are multiple crabs in the bucket they grab at each other. Just as one crab is about to break out, the others grab at him. Like Michael Corleone said, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in….”
Which brings me to the point of why I’m writing. Recently there was a post title- Is Francis Chan A Sell Out? Here is the link. The author begins with this question but states at the end he does not believe Francis Chan is a sell out. However, through the article he gives me the feeling that Francis is just being used as a diversity oddity in the Barnum Bailey White Christian Conference Circuit. This reminds me of the crabs pulling at each other in the bucket instead of celebrating our successes. Francis is a gifted communicator- regardless of his race- and he backs up his preaching with the fruit of leading a dynamic local church he planted. I believe those are the reasons why he is getting invited to speak at these conferences.
I have noticed that our greatest challenges never come from those outside of our race: they always come from within our race. C’mon, lets celebrate each other’s gifts, callings and achievements so that we can extend God’s Kingdom regardless of the color of our skin.
Here is something for you to think about:
When you proclaim someone a “sell out “ you ultimately sell yourself short, because your judgment of someone else becomes the boundary that you yourself will never be able to cross.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s the Hampton’s version of the “Deadliest Catch”.
LOL
Well said, Chico. I just discovered Francis Chan and can’t get enough.
Thanks Adam.
You’ve just opened the door for me on my blog when you throw a: “like Tony Montana snorting blow on his desk” comment out there
My editor did not want me to add that line but I insisted. You run with it.
Well said Chico. I don’t think we truly do celebrate each other enough. I am so thankful to belong to the Body of Christ!
Thanks Rob you da man.
hey chico~ thanks for the comment and this post. interesting comparison. crabs and korean preacher haters.
i would like add though some nuance to the table. i don’t think anyone is questioning francis chan’s faith or preaching or life. i also don’t think it’s jealousy or because we can’t be happy that “one of us” is doing so well. i was and am actually uber-stoked that francis chan is like the bruce lee of asian american pastors. seriously, have we ever had an asian face at conferences like passion?
it’s just an honest question of whether or not francis chan does consider himself one of us. it’s a question of whether or not the platform that he is being given can be leveraged for the parts of mainstream culture where the kingdom of God hasn’t been extended graciously, that is in terms of racial reconciliation and matters of immigration and discrimination. if the kingdom is not proclaimed in those areas as well, then it becomes too private, too moralistic, and well, too colorblind.
here’s the thing, there is no such thing as a disembodied proclamation of the gospel. francis chan is not just a godly man, he is a godly asian american man, and there is a great deal to celebrate for all God has called and enabled him to do, all we are saying is that we also want to celebrate who and what God has called him to be, which is one of us.
David,
Thank you for your reply and I look forward to continue reading http://nextgenerasianchurch.com/ .
Can I ask you a question? You use the term “one of us” 3 times in your reply above. Correct me if I’m wrong, if there is an “us” then there has to be a “them”. Right? So when we start saying this then does it not inevitably boil down to “us vs them”. Isn’t that counterintuitive to diversity?
i think it depends on what you mean. if we think of unity as uniformity, then us vs. them would be problematic, but if we think unity coming from diversity, then it’s not necessarily us vs. them, it’s really us and them. sopranos, altos, tenors basses; red, yellow, black and white…holding diverse colors, perspectives, cultures and worship expressions, but united in our faith and all proclaiming the kingdom of heaven on earth.
what i think largely passes for diversity is an assimilation, a subsuming into a larger Western culture. and honestly, that would be efficient and perhaps easier toward creating something great (remember Babel?) but i don’t think that’s staying truly redemptive to how God has created us and placed together with different histories and cultures, etc. in this line of thinking, pentecost is a reversal of babel, because a diverse number of tongues were spoken in order to make the proclamation of the gospel to the nations even more powerful through diversity, rather than through a monolithic colonization of other cultures.
i don’t know if that really answers your question. i know it sounds like i’m really against multiethnicity, but i’m really not. i’m all for it, i just want the peoples of God to be faithful for who God has created them to be, then we can be diverse and united at the same time.
Its funny, while on one hand people (like myself) complain about the lack of diversity in many of the Christian leadership circles and on the other hand as someone is breaking through the cultural divide, he get called a sell out.
Where I’m from, the mere reference to the phrase “sell-out” is grounds for a gunfight (being from Detroit I’m only half exaggerating). The term sell-out denotes being a traitor. A traitor to either your people, your IDEALS or both purely for the purpose of personal gain. So to me, I think the author of the piece – even though he concludes that Pastor Chan is not a sell out – to even bring it up is out of line.
BTW, great blog you got here Chico.
Steve,
I appreciate your input as an African American working in a predominately white church. Thank you for the compliments.