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Introduction to this 3-part blog series–>

By Melanie Mar Chow

Although I was not one of the first hundred people to sign the Asian Americans United letter, ultimately I did sign it, after some thoughtful and prayerful consideration.  My deliberations involved reflections on how to be responsible with my position and vast years of experience, as part of the Body of Christ, to act as a bridge to address racial tensions and perceived actions.  Would my response be limited only to the act of signing the letter as one of the 1000+ who signed it, or would my response involve and shape who I am as a leader and as a follower of Jesus as an Asian American Christian woman?  Was I responding individually or corporately?

Bottom line, why respond? I recall my seminary years, during which I learned that I had a voice and the God-given ability to offer my own opinions and thoughts instead of remaining silent, following a “pack mentality.” Seminary was the first place that was safe for me to find my voice and thus, to become an agent of change.

Therefore, though the AAU letter to the Evangelical Church had a stronger tone than the voice of Asian Americans that I was familiar with, I knew that I resonated with the intent.  It came from the genuine passion and concern of members in the body of Christ who are known to me, such as Kathy Khang and Helen Lee.  It asks both corporately and individually how we can finally “progress together…pursuing true reconciliation and racial harmony together.”

The AAU Letter to the Evangelical Church was sent as a general letter via Facebook.  I am still learning the implications of using today’s forms of media as I reflect on how I want to be represented personally and then how it affects my corporate connections.  It presents an opportunity to use our God-given gifts to respond from our particular vantage points so that others can relate to our voices of expertise and observations, and  it can also partner with and empower the voices of others to bring awareness of issues and unique perspectives.

For some, social media may cause us to bristle and not respond to what might be misunderstanding or even a direct slight or attack of a person.  This letter has made me realize that we do need to have some opinion about what goes on and at the end of the day, to be responsible for what we know and do with the information we have acquired.

As I work to serve my college students, I realize that there are times of capturing teachable moments and allowing dialogue and interaction to bring perspective from others to process our own responses.  There are many different ways to address the issues of race and gender   There are also the real dangers of jumping to conclusions too quickly.  There is the challenge of prayerfully preparing a response while thinking at lightning speed.  But with so much interaction and processing of information in cyberspace, the danger in responding is that our opinions of the moment get recorded in history and go live before we can thoroughly process what is at hand or at stake, and those responses live much longer than we ever intended. The reality is that we are not all good at these things and we do make mistakes.  We need the grace of God to respond.

There are many great articles out there that talk about how best to use social media for God’s purposes.  I’m preparing a message on the need for acknowledging the Holy Spirit in our lives more.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control are the hoped-for fruit/outcomes of what we do in cyberspace, social media and old-fashioned media in interacting with others and building relationships to address the topics of the day and process that information to bring  about what God intends for our lives.  The challenge is how to engage and still build relationships in the process, ie. to know when to stop typing data into a computer or to a media site, and pick up the phone and talk to someone.  That, sisters and friends, is simply being disciples and putting into action what we know about being part of the Body of Christ. Working toward reconciled and faithful lives is part of the God’s mission on this earth, and to that end, I will labor towards having voices heard and understood for the empowerment and redemption of others.

Rev. Melanie Mar Chow serves God through Asian American Christian Fellowship, the campus ministry division of the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS). She has been an ordained American Baptist minister since 2004. A Pacific Northwest native, she currently lives with her husband and daughter in Southern California.