No Need To Be Scared

June 22, 2020

By David Chang, Director of Ministry Support

Like many keiki who grew up in Hawaii, I was raised in a multi-cultural household. Dad was born here and spoke fluent Pidgin-English. That meant a single sentence could contain Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Filipino, Japanese, and, yes, even English words. :) Growing up we didn’t differentiate the cultures; we just integrated them.

My Mom was like Ruth in the Bible, who left her native country and went to a foreign land because of love. I remember her teaching us the Chinese culture and language. Since the “Black Lives Matter” protests began, I began to recall some of those language lessons. When Chinese people refer to themselves, they say “Tong yen,” which could be translated “people of the Tong (dynasty).” But when they referred to people who are not Chinese, they sometimes used the term “foreign-devil”. 

Please understand I’m not judging my Mom. She’s an amazing woman. She made 90 last year and still can run rings around her great-grandchildren. I think these Chinese terms came from a culture that had been exploited by foreign invaders interested only in profit. I want to think that these terms originated from a people who were hurt, and that these terms were expressions of fear and not hate.

Interestingly, in my Mom’s village, most of the households were Christians. Church services were held regularly in her home. I am fortunate that when Mom came to Hawaii, she not only taught us the Chinese culture and language, she taught us God’s way as well.

As I think about racial injustice, I am realizing that it may be born of fear and not hate. Perhaps a way to reduce racial injustice is to reduce the fear. There’s a verse that says:

There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. (1 John 4:18 Message)

Prayer: Lord, help me to stop giving room for fear. Help me to stop using the language of fear. Help me to realize that to continue in fear is to settle for a crippling life. Help me to be surrendered to You. Please fully form Your love in me. In Jesus name, Amen.

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