My online church is a Facebook group of 5000+ Progressive Asian American Christians, and I am part of a group of 50+ members that have produced a daily online Lent Devotional for 2018, called Our Daily Rice.
A Progressive Asian American Lenten Journey: Our Daily Rice
It’s a devotional that perhaps you don’t feel like you need. But I know that there are more and more of my Christian friends and family that are uncomfortable with the state of our country, and the complicitness of the American church has you questioning whether Jesus is really about tax cuts, gun rights, and supporting the richest of the rich.
But Jesus isn’t American or a Conservative or a Republican. Heck, if you really think about it, Jesus isn’t even a Christian. And his life and death aren’t about changing God’s mind about humankind (you know all that Dutch and German theology of only the past few hundred years.)
Rather, Jesus’ life and death are about changing humankind’s mind about God. A God who wants all people to experience the fullness of life. A Jesus who was a refugee who lived off the support of others, who criticized and provoked the religious and power systems from within, and who spent his life with and advocating for the marginalized.
There’s lots of reasons why people identify as Progressive. For me, my Progressiveness and my faith come from the same place.
Being Asian American and growing up in an immigrant church also has given me the perspective to be able to recognize, through lived experience, what is Asian and what is American in church culture, beliefs, and practice.
One of the realizations of many in my online church is that Asian American perspectives aren’t really represented in the church at large, and that lack of visibility and voice makes it seem like our unique experiences don’t matter. But of course they matter. And that’s why I’m excited to share this grassroots work of Asian American storytellers, artists, and musicians.
If you identify as Asian American, I strongly encourage you to participate with us in this shared experience, created with you in mind.
If you don’t identify as Asian American, I also urge you to participate – to learn how a diversity of experience contributes to a more complex and rich understanding of truth.
Daily reflections can be found starting February 14th on the Progressive Asian American Christians website.
Can’t check the website everyday or might forget? Reflections can be emailed daily if you subscribe:
1) Go to progressiveasianamericanchristians.org/blog/
2) Scroll down
3) Subscribe to the Lent Devotional on the right (under calendar)
4) Confirm email
5) Await for the daily reflection to make its way to your inbox
#ourdailyrice
No Simple Answers 