Success and Identity

WSJ.com – You Might as Well Face It: You’re Addicted to Success — Click to read article

One of the interesting things I’m learning from church of all places are the functions/purposes of cities.  There are many functions and one of which is culture producing.  Compared to rural locals, cities are full of people with diverse ideas, methodologies, and personalities that are only bound to produce/improve/create ideas and sharpen people’s skill sets.  Cities add to culture via personal and communal competition – by the very nature of being in a place where there are a ton of people who are smart or great, if not smarter or greater than you.

One of the cultures out there is how career success is used to gain identity.  This is one of the cultures that are propagated on the college campus via teaching system, media, and personal interaction.  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for people being successful in what they do, I just think it’s dangerous to let that define who you are.

A good friend of mine sent the article above to me and this was his comment:

This is one of the most depressingly secular articles I’ve read in a while. A more appropriate title would be ‘If Your Idol Has Failed You, Find Another’.

This article suggests that the center of one’s life should not be ‘career success’, but rather moralism and relationships, which are, according to the writer, things “that can’t be stripped away.” But what if we can’t live up to our own moral standards? Or what if our family and friends let us down? What/whom can we cling to then???

Being a psych major, it was hard to sit through class sometimes because the remedies offered to help deal with issues were mainly ‘band-aids’ to heal the problem.   (One of the ways is mentioned in the article).

We are all in a position to help create and shape culture.  The gospel means ‘good news’ .  So how good is it to you?

Asian North American Theology and Ministry Consultation, May 18-20

It still feels like a mistake. For reasons not fully clear to me, I’ll be at this consultation, along with a number of wise, well-seasoned, and prolific pastors, theologians, parachurch workers, and lay ministers. Being neither wise, well-seasoned, nor prolific, there is seriously no reason why I should be going. I guess God has other plans.

A little more about the consult:

Participants are divided into 8 tracks, focusing on topics such as “Lay Leadership Development and Training,” “Intergenerational Congregational Life and Ministry,” and “Ministry in the Marketplace and Public Square.” I thought I would be placed on the “Ministry to the Disillusioned Generation” track, but as things came together, the consult leaders put me on “Developing and Supporting Women Leaders.”

Yep. Not sure what God has in store here, but whatever it is, it’ll be very interesting.

Anyway, my hope in going is to learn from these amazing individuals and, with them, seek God’s heart and direction for Asian Americans. Hopefully, they won’t expect too much from me while I’m there. I’ve asked some friends to pray for me while I’m there, and just the thought of that takes the edge off my nerves.

Despite (or perhaps because of?) my junior standing amongst these giants, I’ll be taking notes during the consult. Some of them should make it to this blog.

I’ll also be live blogging the consult. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/reginapchan.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

This blog is really becoming “the things Glennis loves.” Well, I recently finished the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who desires to grow in their relationship with God, others and even yourself. There were several moments while reading that I had to stop and pray, just confessing my sinfulness and selfishness. I also stopped to lift others in prayer as I read about some of their struggles outlined, which Scazzero attributes to stemming from an emotionally unhealthy spirituality.

Parts I especially liked about the book:
* Scazzero’s summary of what it looks like to be an emotional baby, child, adolescent and adult (I think I tend to be an emotional adolescent, such as ‘often being defensive, keep score, critical and judgmental’)
* Description of I-It relationships: “The result of I-It relationships is that I get frustrated when people don’t fit into my plans. The way I see things is ‘right.’ And if you don’t see it as I do, you are not seeing things the ‘right’ way. You are wrong.” (p. 182)
* Use of biblical stories to illustrate how families develop sinful patterns that get passed down from generation to generation (e.g. pattern of lying in each generation: Abraham lied twice about Sarah, Isaac and rebecca’s marriage was characteried by lies, Jacob lied to almost everyone, his name means “deceiver”, ten of Jacob’s children lied about Joseph’s death, faking a funeral and keeping a “famil secret” for over ten years, p.98)
* Emphasis on SABBATH (love learning about this topic, I have always been unable to keep a Sabbath, but I am perpetually learning how God designed us to rest–physically, emotionally and spiritually– regularly)
* Very practical appendix which includes “the prayer of examen” (a spiritual practice of prayerfully reflecting about certain experiences) and a  how to guide on doing a “daily office.”

Even as I was talking with a student leader today about a conflict she was dealing with, I found that I was using principles that I got from this book to help her think through her situation. So it’s definitely been a great resource for me. I hope it proves to be a helpful resource for you too!

I can only say, “Live love, let love invade you. It will never fail to teach you what you must do.” (p.210)

We love KevJumba ;-)

Ok, I don’t want to speak for the whole NYC Epic Movement team, but we have enjoyed a couple of KevJumba videos in our meetings (along with the lovely Happy Slip). One that we watched together today was Kev’s thoughts on “Asians Just Aren’t Cool Enough?” Kev talks about how Hollywood recently cast a Caucasian actor as the lead “Goku” in the movie Dragonball Evolution, a role that is meant to be played by an Asian. Kev laments on why Asians aren’t cool enough to score these roles meant for them. It reminded me of the controversy over the casting in the Black Jack movie, “21.”

One of the reasons I decided to join the staff of CCC with the Epic Movement was the burden God laid on my heart to see Asian Americans living out His purposes for their lives. I’ve heard too many stories of young Asian Americans going into careers they hate or have no giftings in because their families want them to be doctors or lawyers. I’ve always said that I think there would be so many more Asian American pastors, campus ministry staff, artists, athletes and entertainers if people took steps of faith to follow after God’s calling for their lives.

But, maybe part of the problem is that there are “reasons more sinister than you or I care to believe” that also prevent Asian Americans from excelling in these fields. Thoughts?

Welcome to the new Epic Movement Nyc blog

Hello world!