Photo by Sonny Abesamis

By Melanie Mar Chow

I am thankful for the new beginnings of another year of life and ministry. As we begin the AAWOL blog for February in the still-new 2020 year, the focus is based on yet another new set of themes. The newest book by AAWOL founder, Young Lee Hertig, titled The Tao of Asian American Belonging: A Yinist Spirituality will supply our blog themes for the rest of the year.

Dr. Hertig notes that Yinist spirituality as that which is a “derivation from yin, which is holistic, dynamic, synthesizing, and complementary with yang, the male energy. Therefore, yinist feminism diffuses false sets of dichotomy that are derived from the dualistic paradigms of male against female, human being against nature, God apart from humans, this world apart from humans, and this world apart from the otherworldly. The yin and yang are not opposing, but complementary; one could not exist without the other. Together, they bring harmony and chaos.”

The first blog theme taken from the book is “gender.” As I read Dr. Hertig’s book, I was interested in the discussion on Yinist spirituality as a theology of harmony. Hertig notes “the Bible is full of opposites existing in harmony.” Hertig noted that Joan Chittester writes about the harmony of yin and yang, noting “scripture is full of the coming together of opposites. Two Joan gave were young Mary and older Elizabeth, or Moses’ mother and Pharoah’s daughter. I think of Mary and Martha. It is important to focus on what God intends for what is perceived as oppositional or different.”

What does it mean for gender harmony? Hertig makes me think about how “opposites attract,” and oh how that I am familiar with that in my everyday life, as my husband is opposite of me in many of his preferences and viewpoints. When we work together, God invites us to focus on His harmony for our relationship in Christ, blending our differences. The emphasis is the unity God gives us — to acknowledge that God did not intend for everyone to be the same, but to embrace our uniqueness for the sake of unity. Our goal then is to express our differences so people can see God’s plan.

How does gender harmony exhibit itself in community? Community is built upon the value of uniqueness and differences coming together and finding ways to demonstrate harmony. I have learned how relationships that honor God are important and valued in my Christian community.

Furthermore, what does scripture say about this? In regards to Galatians 3:26-28, while some have said that the freedom of differences are equated by this passage, others find it gender-invalidating because it talks about how there is no race, class or gender. But the conclusion for this passage is not to focus on the specific differences but to embrace God-given harmony in the newfound freedoms in Christ. Paul’s intention for the church can be found in reading the passage: “so in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

One of the challenges for gender harmony that I struggle with is how some perceive what the Bible teaches for women in ministry. Some believe that women cannot have gifts, some believe that women cannot teach men, and more. The bottom line is how we can use our gifts to glorify our God and harmonize to work with others for God’s purposes in our unique differences. We should not focus on whether or not a woman can lead when we don’t ever ask why men lead.

I recently gave a workshop titled “A Recipe for Right Relationships.” It was to enable the consideration of how God brings different people together to benefit His kingdom in the manner of Christ’s sacrificial love in harmony. The analogy of a recipe is that when we cook, there are sometimes very different ingredients that are creatively brought together to taste good. I shared a recipe with the following ingredients: garbanzo beans, brown sugar, nut butter, oatmeal, vinegar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla, chocolate chips. These ingredients blended together harmoniously made a great dessert…I made the group taste them and they agreed. Often we avoid bringing people of different thoughts together because it might bring perceived conflict.

Another passage God often recalls for me when thinking about disharmony in the body of Christ is the passage in Phillippians 4:2-3. It reads, “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to think the same thing in the Lord. Indeed, I ask you, my true companion, to help them — these women who have contended together with me in [the cause of] the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life”.

One of the most disharmonious moments in community is when others disagree. Paul is encouraging these two women to “think the same thing” or to live in harmony. He also validates the importance of each woman. Interestingly, if one does a study on the significance of the names of these women, it points to the value of their working together to glorify God. Euodia comes from the Greek word euodoa — a verb that means “to cause to prosper or be successful.” Syntyche’s name comes from the Greek word suntuchia, which means “the unexpected coinciding of two events, which in itself means to make every effort to support and live in harmony.” In this passage, Paul is encouraging these two coworkers to come together and work for God’s purposes. Some of the hardest struggles for me is when women are unable to value each other and work towards God’s unity.

To live in the harmony God intended in Christ is a beautiful thing. Harmony is lived out in people seeking to live life as God intended. We are called together to embrace one salvation in one body of Christ, not our own salvation for ourselves.   That is the harmony and unity that we are to strive for. It is what God was calling Euodia, Syntyche, Clement and the other leaders in the church at Phillppi to do — to go deep and live in the harmony Christ brings. This is why it is important, why these saints’ names are in the book of life and why we today should aspire to embrace one another beyond race, class and gender to be God’s people —  not just men and women — but a new humanity for His purposes and not our own.

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.