Breaking Theological Binaries
The Call for a Collaborative Asian Australian Theology
By Grace Lung, the Director of the Centre for Asian Christianity at the Brisbane School of Theology.
The last time I was in South Korea, I was pregnant. What followed the birth was a whirlwind of poor health and motherhood. So, when the opportunity to go again came up ten years later, I was keen to make it work. After all, what young Asian woman wouldn’t want to go to the land of K-pop, K-dramas, and K-beauty? Child-free?
Of course, I had noble reasons. Ten years ago, I had barely started vocational ministry as a pastor in my local church. But now, I also oversee the Centre for Asian Christianity at the Brisbane School of Theology, a small center in a small bible college in Australia. Though small, I suggest that we punch above our weight, holding events in many Australian cities and supporting ministries in Asia. We are the only such center in Australia that seeks to be an Australian hub for accelerating the gospel in Asian churches. But enough marketing spiel…
The State of Asian Australian Christianity
‘Asian immigration is saving the Australian church’ was declared at a nationwide conference several years ago. While it was shocking for some Anglo-Australian Christians to comprehend, the presence of Asians was already noticeable at national conferences, in mission agencies, and bible colleges. Historically, census data showed that people of Chinese ancestry continue to be the largest ethnic minority in Australia1 and that Mandarin is the most common language spoken after English. The number of Asian Australians sits at 17.4% of the population. Similarly, within Australian Christianity, Chinese Christians are also the largest ethnic subgroup2 and the most established and well-resourced, mainly due to the migration of Christians from Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Issues Facing Asian Australian Churches
Despite the significant numbers, if our churches are anything to go by, they are relationally and culturally Asian but not spiritually or theologically Asian Australian.3 The key questions that arise from Asian contexts in Australia, such as questions of 1st and 2nd generation conflict, family, and identity, are not being adequately addressed theologically. However, Asian Australian studies and theology are barely their own discipline and attract little interest and research.
And this has ramifications for ministry on the ground. The Silent Exodus can also be observed here. Generational and cultural tensions between the 1st and 2nd generations contribute to waves of young adults leaving the church or functionally operating together but in silos. So, beyond the boom of 1st generation migrant Christians in Australia, the subsequent generations are struggling to stay in migrant churches and sometimes leave the faith altogether. They often turn to Australian / Western Christianity, its theologies, its priorities, and praxis, but consequently, our own contextual questions largely remain unaddressed. Not only this, but we tend to follow the stagnation and decline of the Global North rather than the evangelistic zeal of the Global South.
Consequently, I was desperately keen to (have a solo trip in Korea), connect with others further ahead than Australia, learn, and bring back inspiration and strategies for my own context. I want to share three highlights:
Meeting ‘heroes’ and like-minded leaders: And meet them, I did! Firstly, I won’t embarrass myself (or them) by naming them. Still, finally, meeting thought leaders in person outside of a textbook, YouTube clips, or Zoom lecture was incredibly encouraging and inspiring. Many of them are humble outside their engaging writing and preaching. Meeting just one is amazing, but meeting multiple daily was almost too much for my heart. They were so generous in their conversation, and I’m so thankful.
Further, it was immensely encouraging to connect with others in the Evangelical world on our ‘gaps.’4 I participated in the ‘Ethnicism and Racism’ gap, given that Ethnicism contributes to certain theologies being normative or privileged, while racism can prohibit local theologies from being formed. Knowing others were faithfully plugging away at the issues, even amongst Evangelicals, I felt less lonely. To address the needs in the Asian Australian context, I needed their community and their expertise.
Global South and the Persecuted: Secondly, God taught me through the church in the Global South, despite the differences in our church backgrounds. The testimonies of the imprisoned and the whispered prayers of the persecuted jolted me out of my comfort. As I interacted with my table mates and other participants in the marginal spaces: the food hall, the bus, and the foyer, I realized that the zeal of the Global South is not inherent but borne out of lack, suffering, and a desperate trust in God. Hearing people share with me personally as we sat together was a profoundly different experience from hearing stories on a screen or for 5 minutes at a church service. Their issues were at times overwhelming, but rather than drawing internal boundaries, I was convicted to enlarge my heart. I needed to hear these testimonies. Conversely, they needed me. They needed resources, but more than that, they needed my prayers.
Lingering questions: A sense of unease developed as we came towards the end of the Congress. A sense of disillusionment. Can we really imagine the Great Commission gaps closed? It was a struggle to wrap up our discussions neatly. Instead, we could see intergroup tensions and the messiness of the world, not just in our individual contexts but now in many other contexts around the world, too! At times, even within Congress itself. Third, I was reminded that our hope is not in each other per se but in God and what He can do through each other. Because the task is great, we need each other for encouragement and for progress.
There are many moments at the Lausanne Congress I’ll never forget. The feeling of overwhelm at the sheer scale of everything. Singing ‘In Christ Alone’ with the Gettys. Taking Holy Communion with 5000+ participants. The reciting of the Apostles Creed together truly moved me.
Beyond that, through meeting like-minded leaders, Global South leaders and working through the gaps, God convicted me that we need each other; that collaboration is essential.
The Need for Collaboration
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty. (1 Cor. 12:21-23)
Who doesn’t love a good collab? Starbucks x Stanley, Lego x IKEA, Jungkook feat. Usher. All these collaborations bring out the strengths of each brand, and their joint effort multiples what they could have done separately. But God’s word also exhorts us not to partner with others as strong as us but to honor those who are weaker as indispensable—those we may consider to have weaker theologies and praxis.
The urgency is high. If we want more people to be reached and discipled with the gospel, we may need to consider collaborating with ‘the other’: those from other cultures, generations, and doctrinal ‘tribes’:
The theological binaries of evangelical and mainline Christian identity in the US assume an Anglo-European genealogy that is not native nor natural to non-White Christians, including Asian American Christians…The trans-Pacific migration structure of Asian American life complicates the conventional wisdom. Asian American Christianity raises questions about the adequacy of the conventional wisdom regarding the normative significance of doctrinal similarity and difference.5
Although Asian ministries in Australia share similar concerns, they have been divided. Often, they have been divided by historically white and denominational lines, e.g., Calvinist or Arminian, complementarian or egalitarian, reformed or progressive, or Pentecostal. However, the issues of generation, culture, and family impact us all.
In Australia, there is a significant sports event called ‘The State of Origin.’ It might be somewhat akin to the Superbowl in the U.S. There are two teams: the Queensland ‘Maroons’ and New South Wales ‘Blues.’ Since I live in Queensland (the winning state), there are the inevitable ‘water cooler conversations’ at every social gathering in May and June every year; I am asked who I am rooting for. The truth is, I don’t know anything about the game, I don’t know any players, I don’t care (sorry, not sorry). By not supporting the Maroons, some Maroons put me into the Blues camp. But I’m not a Blues supporter either; I simply do not fit into their categories.
Could it be that Asian-heritage Christians have been overly sucked into the battles of Western Christianity? Many Christians at my Chinese heritage church would not even know what a complementarian or Arminian means. It would be unfair to categorize them in the same way. They simply do not subscribe to the Western dichotomies. Hence, excluding fellowship and collaboration purely based on orthodoxy and doctrinal categories would be unfair, a preoccupation of the West.
Of course, some collaborations aren’t strategic, nor should some things go together (I would never have Coca-Cola x Oreos again). But the development of any contextual theology is a group exercise. So, I would go so far as to say that these binary categorizations in Australian Christianity are not only dividing us but sustaining these divisions, actively prohibiting Asian Australian Christianity from addressing its own urgent theological questions.
Post-congress, I look forward to what God will birth through me in the next ten years, together with the whole body of Christ.
Grace Lung is a second-generation Chinese (Hong Kong) Australian. She is the Director of the Centre for Asian Christianityat the Brisbane School of Theology. She and her husband are pastors of Rise Alliance Church, a church plant in a high Asian heritage area south of Brisbane. She has one daughter, Naomi, who is 10. Grace studied at the Sydney Missionary and Bible College and Fuller Theological Seminary.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, "Cultural Diversity in the 2021 Census," Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 28, 2022, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021.
Yu Tao and Theo Stapleton, "Religious Affiliations of the Chinese Community in Australia: Findings from 2016 Census Data," Religions 9, no. 4 (2018): 93, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9040093.
BSTComms, “Contextualized Discipleship for the Asian Australian Christian - Dr. Daniel D. Lee,” YouTube video, 1:27:05, February 5, 2024.
The Lausanne Movement defined 25 gaps in the State of the Great Commission report. Congress participants chose one gap to focus and work with others on throughout the week.
David C. Chao, "Evangelical or Mainline? Doctrinal Similarity and Difference in Asian American Christianity: Sketching a Social-Practical Theory of Christian Doctrine," Theology Today 80, no. 1 (2023): 54–73, https://doi.org/10.1177/00405736221150397.