Biblical Manhood from the Asian-American Perspective

by Pastor Samuel Choi If you are a Christian with Asian cultural and ethnic background, you're probably familiar with two names: Christ and Confucius. You're also likely familiar with the cultural expectations or family traditions that place high value on honor, loyalty, and obedience. The concept of "saving face" also pervades the social fabric of many Asian cultures and people groups. It's important to be able to differentiate your faith with cultural background. Here are some important questions for Christians with Asian cultural heritage and ethnic background to ask themselves:

• What are the fundamental differences between Confucius and Christ?
• How is the Confucian view of manhood different from a biblical view of manhood?
• What does it look like for you to be a man according to your identity in Christ?

Flip a Coin

Christ and Confucius share a few similarities. Both are regarded as "great teachers." Both lived in poverty. A Golden Rule is attributed to both men: Confucius is credited with saying, "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself," while Jesus is quoted, "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." These two rules are like the two sides of a coin: The same principle taught negatively and positively.

Split the Difference

Yet, Biblical manhood is different from the Asian or Confucian view of manhood. Confucianism is the humanism of the East in the way ancient Greek philosophical traditions have shaped the Hellenist or humanism of the West. But, importantly, Confucius never claimed to be God or the Son of God. Confucius at best had deistic or an impersonal understanding of God in terms of "heaven," whereas the biblical understanding of manhood derives from the name of God: "Father." The difference between these two view of manhood is the self-defensive and self-saving moral and ethical manhood of Confucianism and the self-existent, holy and eternal fatherhood of the merciful and just God of the Bible. Jesus Christ came to declare and demonstrate the kingdom of God where the center of world and life is God and not man. Jesus is the Son of God who became a man to become the only way to God. Moreover, Christ not only claimed to be God, but fulfilled the principles Confucius taught.

Strength of Character

Confucius believed in humanity, which he labored hard to teach and practice through the following five principles:

1. 仁 (jin), or kindness
2. 義 (yi), righteousness,
3. 禮 (li), manners,
4. 忠 (zhong), loyalty, and
5. 孝 (xiao), obedience.

If we look at the etymological ideograms of these Chinese characters, we'll see that the person and work of Jesus perfectly demonstrate those principles: For example, the character 仁 (jin, kindness) is composed of 人 and ニ, the ideogram that shows man connecting heaven and earth. Jesus said, "I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father," (John 16:28). The character 義 (yi, righteousness) is composed of 羊 (sheep) + 我 (self), the ideogram that shows a hand holding a spear and protecting a sheep. This comes from the idea that protecting those weaker than you is a righteous behavior. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep," (John 10:11). The Chinese character for the word "I" or "self", 我, is an ideogrammatic compound of扌 (hand) and 戈 (halberd, lance). To the ancient Chinese, the act of taking up arms in self-defense represented or communicated a sense of self or individual, especially a man.

How to Say "Cross" in Chinese

Biblical manhood is demonstrated in the loving service and sacrifice of the Lamb (羊) of God whose hand (扌) was nailed to the cross and whose body was pierced with a lance (戈) for the sins of the world.  God sent his only son, Jesus, to demonstrate both God’s mercy and justice by paying for the penalty of the rebellious humankind and purchasing the chosen people to be his children by the blood and the body of Jesus. Stay tuned for 10 questions every Asian-American man should ask himself. Pastor Samuel is the campus pastor at the Federal Way campus. Last week, he wrote about what to learn – and not learn – from the storied 18th-century preacher, George Whitefield. Blog team volunteer Kim M. contributed the header graphic.