dippu.com

I'm not sure ... but I think #5 is a given ... if it's okay with the rest of the team we could do without that one!

I have been asked few of these questions several times so thought of answering
1. Should culture be the primary characteristic upheld after our spirituality?

Not at all. Of course indian culture is well accepted around the world but that shouldn't hinder our smooth flow of living in US.
2.How can we as Indian Christians speak to "Americans" about Christ in a relevant manner, if we only attend our Indian churches?

Believe it or not, eventhough indian churches are very small in number the principles they keep in a good way. There are some "dead flies give perfume a bad smell".
3.f you were a pastor and one of young in your 'flock' decided to marry outside of race, would you do the marriage?

Wondering Dippu already selected one "outside the race"? Just checking. Our pastors came out of a tight doctrins back in kerala. It is very hard for them to digest the fact of inter racial marriage. From my opinion, it would be good to avoid if possible. The other day one of my friend was saying it is hard to find a mallu origin pastor to conduct his wedding because his "girlfirend" wearing ornaments!!!
4.What kind of a mindset should an Indian Christian have when bringing a newly saved person to church?

OPEN. Warm welcome. If we can't do that why came to US?
5. Does Christ's love supersede our affinity towards our culture?

Of course Christ's love supersede culture. But the reality is we mix the our normal love with Christ's love. The love we often use will not join with Christ's love. This questions usually young guys ask only when they start dating an outsider (culturally) and try to convince parents. Poor parents !!!!!


6.If you saw an Indian on the side of the road who needs help, would you help him more often than if you saw man from another race?

Most probabaly yes. And I believe there is nothing wrong in it. That is a natural behavior and if we don't have that kind of compassion to same origins then we we are not included in humans.

7.Do you as an Indian Christian only associate with other Indian Christians, or do you have friends from other races? If so why do you or why do you not?

Like I mentioned earlier, if we can't assoiciate with other races we shouldn't come to US. There are not much aliens in Kerala so better be happy with Tapioca and Fish Curry not Hamburger and Pizza. I do have several american friends.

8.Have you ever felt racism in the Western culture? Has anyone from the Western culture felt racism when around you?

Yes. several times. So I don't think it is an Indian 'thing" it is common
9. How does compassion and reason play into our Indian minds when it comes to helping the poor, needy, and destitute?

I believe American christians are more compassionate than Indians. But the first generation Keralites (First Immigrants , 40 + years back) were more compassionate than the new generation.
10. How in your opinion can we become more relevant in our Western society? Should we be relevant at all?

Not many thoughts on this, may be a later time.

i saw a real diffrence when i came to US. the diffrence is that in india my freinds all seememed to be exactly like me except they were hindus and muslims. they did just as what their parents wanted them to do. And then when i came here, i saw all this entirely diffrent group of people, who was easily tempted to fall in trials and fail missrably. after studying this i learned that our mall. culture has somethig positive to do with our spritual life. we can take out some positive things out of our cultur inorder to help us grow spritually. so for people who choose to drop our "safe zone" culture (by marring other christians from diffrent race) are exposing themself to a risky situation that can hurt their spritual growth. i belive that our culture is the best "safe zone" culture one can get.

Should culture be the primary characteristic upheld after our spirituality?

Some people would say that culture is deeply and irrevocably enmeshed with our spirituality.
E.g. look at the way we're always taught that
arranged marriages are the biblical model (Isaac) not love (Solomon), while this is very clearly a selective choice, based on cultural preferences that ignore other examples
(Ruth, David and Abigail)

If you were a pastor and one of young in your 'flock' decided to marry outside of race, would you do the marriage?

Yes and I'd be delighted to!

What kind of a mindset should an Indian Christian have when bringing a newly saved person to church?

Hospitality first and foremost.

If you saw an Indian on the side of the road who needs help, would you help him more often than if you saw man from another race?

Probably - only natural and in my city I'd probably know someone who knows someone who knows his brother.

Do you as an Indian Christian only associate with other Indian Christians, or do you have friends from other races? If so why do you or why do you not?

I actually don't have too many Indian Christian friends here becuase - a) there aren't too many non-Malayalee Christians in my city b) many Malayalee Christians in my experience tend to be very cliquey and overly competitive with one another. On the other hand I have Indian friends from different religious backgrounds that I share wonderful friendships with.

How does compassion and reason play into our Indian minds when it comes to helping the poor, needy, and destitute?

I think that a faith that sees compassion to the "least of these" as secondary to "doctrinal purity" or being "filled with the Spirit" is really a cheap substitute for what we are called to be.

great great post by badmash, ..very thoughtful

Way too many questions for one post, bro. How about a question a week so we can really figure out the answers.

My question for the night:
Should culture be the primary characteristic upheld after our spirituality?

Sure our culture should be held up after spirituality-- the Christ culture. One problem we have is trying to separate who we are as Christians from who we are as individuals. (Disclaimer: In this context, I use the term "christian" strictly. This does not necessarily describe the persons in our churches or on our pews. I mean the person who follows Christ to an absolute).

And to engage in healthy debate, I ask, what are my other alternatives to uphold after my spirituality other than culture?

1. I dont know. what do you mean by culture as a characteristic? If spirituality is all about taking care of the inner man, we need to deal with the world around us next. if culture is the established norm for dealing with people around us, then yes. why do you say upheld? Are you implying that culture is static? wouldn't it be more effective to affect culture around us?

2. I dont think we can.

3. yes. as a pastor, my concern would be that they are both ready for marriage, and that they understood they were expected to come to my church if they lived nearby.

4. The same kind any christian should have. "This is where we meet to remember our Lord's death. Welcome to the family."

6. I would hope to be above such prejudice. I can't deny that it will probably be easier to communicate with an indian when i need to help.

7. I don't associate with only Indian Christians. However, I have more indian christian friends than non indian christian friends. I do have a lot of friends from a lot of ethnic backgrounds who are definitely not christian. This is because I go to an Indian church, and I dont meet too many non indian christians, but I do meet a lot of people outside church.

8. No. I've never been discriminated against based on my ethnicity. Misunderstood, possibly, but I dont think it survived contact. No, I dont think I've ever been racist either. I feel pretty strongly about the "all men are created equal" aphorism.

9. I think a lot of indians suffer from a fear of the culture around them. They usually tend to disguise this with strident calls for cultural purity or blind statements that pass judgement on people based on stereotypes. If compassion and reason were allowed to rule, I dont think the fear would last long.

10. We can become more relevant in our Western society by bringing down the walls of the cultural ghettos we live in. Yes we should. In the pluralistic society that we live in, there is much to be gained from exposing americans to our culture. It contains viable forms of christianity that deserve to be shared with the rest of the world. Our music, our food, our social niceties are all as equally valuable as any other culture's.

Hey Ashish, (i finally spelled ur name right) thanks for putting up these questions. I answered them honestly. I'm not perfect in anyway... there's still a lot God has to perfect in me. These questions u put up has helped me to re-evaluate my priorities. So thank you. =)

1. Should culture be the primary characteristic upheld after our spirituality?

I think spiritualiy should be upheld first and Bin said.. it's the Christ culture that should be held up.

2.How can we as Indian Christians speak to "Americans" about Christ in a relevant manner, if we only attend our Indian churches?

To answer your question, it would be hard to do so. That's why when I moved to texas, I decided to go to an american church- to become exposed to that idea that we are all equal in the sight of God-- its hard to do at least for me. I"ll be honest.

This is my fear-- I like the values that are placed by our culture-- family values, church obligations etc. From what I've observed through my american friends -- they also have a trouble separating the "american culture" from spirituality... this is a struggle if regardless what race you come from. But because we are Indian and we grew up experiencing the discrimination first hand-- in our own families-- we lash out against our own society. That's well and good-- but you have to also understand that american have their own "cultural beliefs" that goes against the word of God ex. drinking,dating-- etc. Like bin said we need to hold up the "Christ culture".


3. If you were a pastor and one of young in your 'flock' decided to marry outside of race, would you do the marriage?

Yes, permitted that they are both ready to enter into marriage. They know the word of God and understand what God's expectations are as the two become one.

4. What kind of a mindset should an Indian Christian have when bringing a newly saved person to church?

Oh boy, I've had newly saved friends, and I've chose to keep them at an american church first- so that they learn the word of God-- and will not have be confused by "culture vr. christianity"--

5. Does Christ's love supersede our affinity towards our culture? (this question is almost always going to be yes...so no need to answer it unless you have a different opinion)

I'm not sure about this one Ashish-- Christ love should supersede our affinity towards our culture-- but how true is that if we separate ourselfs from the rest of the world. (what do u say to this Ashish-- if ur reading this?)

6. If you saw an Indian on the side of the road who needs help, would you help him more often than if you saw man from another race?

Actually not, I"d help or not help the both just the same-- I'd help if i thought I could be of avail.

7. Do you as an Indian Christian only associate with other Indian Christians, or do you have friends from other races? If so why do you or why do you not?

I have friends from all walks of this world-- but I'm guilty of trusting my Indian friends more than I do any of my other friends. (sadly)

8. Have you ever felt racism in the Western culture? Has anyone from the Western culture felt racism when around you?

Yes, I've felt it in the Western culture. i'm not sure if they have felt it from me, I hope not. (but i've felt myself being racist toward them.)

9. How does compassion and reason play into our Indian minds when it comes to helping the poor, needy, and destitute?

I think this is one area in my Indian christian upbring was kept sacred. I've always been taught to give to those who are less fortunate bascially from a biblically point of view.

10. How in your opinion can we become more relevant in our Western society? Should we be relevant at all?

Like i mentioned before, our culture-- has some very good guidelines set in place-- family values etc. (i've been told this by friends from other cultures 100x over) so, the answer isn't to keep away from other races cultures, but to spread the importance of family values, compassion-- set an example if anything.

Since I've asked the questions, I've also decided to answer them. I know some of you are dying to know what I'm thinking about these questions.

1) Should culture be the primary characteristic upheld after our spirituality?

I think it depends on the individual and what is important to them. For those of us who came straight from another culture, it has a lot meaning and it keeps perspective. For those of us who were born here or grew up here, that emphasis is normally on something else. For me personally, culture is not the primary characteristic after spirituality. I respect my culture, but I'd think that'd be 3rd or 4th on my list.

2) How can we as Indian Christians speak to "Americans" about Christ in a relevant manner, if we only attend our Indian churches?

I personally don't attend an Indian church, and unless God specifically wants me to attend one, I'll probably run away from that notion. I believe that since Christ came to save all, I must congregate with believers from every walk of life and culture. And now since I live in the Western culture, it would be alienation for me to congregate with only Indians. For me to be relevant in society, I must be a part of the society and work among that demographic, not isolating myself in my Indian click. Don't get me wrong, I love Indian churches, and I attend them every so often, but I don't live in India anymore, I live in America. For me to attend an Indian church is not healthy for the culture I'm in.

3) If you were a pastor and one of young in your 'flock' decided to marry outside of race, would you do the marriage?

I've thought about this...and I've seen and heard stories of ostracization of Indians who married outside of culture. I think multi-cultural marriages need to be addressed because the couple will face a lot more obstacles in the future that same-culture couples don't. I won't marry any multi-cultural couple that doesn't understand the challenges ahead of them. It has to be weighed. I'm not against mixed marriages, I'm just against people getting married without thinking of what they're going to get into.

4) What kind of a mindset should an Indian Christian have when bringing a newly saved person to church?

An Indian Christian first of all should learn to minister to all cultures not just Indians, when living in a Western society. Secondly, once a new believer comes to Christ, culture should not become an obstacle in your relationship with that person. It seriously is a stench to the nostrils of God, when people don't fellowship with people from other cultures because they're different. That should never become a hindrance. Be a true Christian friend who goes above that cultural difference.

5) Does Christ's love supersede our affinity towards our culture? (this question is almost always going to be yes...so no need to answer it unless you have a different opinion)

For me it totally does. I'm more than comfortable to spend time with other cultures. However I do find it more comfortable to talk to an Indian than someone of another culture. Is that sin? No, it's just that we have something common to start our conversation and friendship on. It's something that I'm working on.

6) If you saw an Indian on the side of the road who needs help, would you help him more often than if you saw man from another race?

More often than not, I would help an Indian more than I would another person. It's sad, but Christ is changing that in me. I'm getting a more global perspective on things. I'm learning to love all, and not prejudice those who are different than me.

7) Do you as an Indian Christian only associate with other Indian Christians, or do you have friends from other races? If so why do you or why do you not?

I associate with many people. Going to Portland Bible College, I'm learning to make friends from all nationalities. We have a high percentage of international students here (I being one...as a Canadian), and therefore it's imperative that I associate with all peoples. I have to say though that in the the past most of my friends were Indian.

8) Have you ever felt racism in the Western culture? Has anyone from the Western culture felt racism when around you?

I've felt racism in numerous ways, but I also feel my own people are very racist in some ways. Why is it that our people make fun of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian? It has to do with an inherent racism flowing in our Indian veins that has not been dealt with.

9) How does compassion and reason play into our Indian minds when it comes to helping the poor, needy, and destitute?

I'm not the best at helping. If the thought is all that counts I'm doing good, but actions speak louder than words, and helping hand is a lot more valuable than a tearful cry. I'm learning to be a real Samaritan in that sense. I have to go beyond my culture and be a light that God intended for me to be.

10) How in your opinion can we become more relevant in our Western society? Should we be relevant at all?

We can be very relevant, but we have to make the choice of opening up to different cultures and seeing what we can do to impact society. I don't believe that Indians should work with Indians, but rather should not be ashamed to work with the plethora of different cultures represented in the Western world. Why do Indian pastors only think they can minister to Indians? Well that's a mindset. Sometimes God's called people to minister to specific groups, but for me personally, I'm learning to work with everyone.

my thoughts, scary as it is,
Ashish Joy

Hello!

In regards to @2 and speaking to Americans if only attending your churches. People immigrating to the Americas unfortunately tend to surround theirselves with their own cultures. It is unfortunate that society does not accept individuality easily. It's unfortunate that as humans we have fears of so many things. I am caucasion and well, I am here listening to what you have to say. I am willing to adapt to what the Lord would desire. So I ask you to go up to the next person of a different culture and begin to gain a friendship. We are supposed to be a melting pot for all society but we have all failed what our fathers, mothers and grandfathers, grandmothers have tried to create. We have let ourselves down. I, myself put myself out to many cultures, !st Nations, Hindu's, Chinese, and that is just a few. If you never try to connect to others you will miss so much, because every individual offers so much to your own personal growth. By being a part in this blog site I have learned so much just by reading.
ADAPT, BREAK BOUNDRIES, BE OPEN TO INDIVIDUALITY, AND LOVE ALL THOSE WHO COME YOUR WAY!!

Sincerely

Blaine

This is a shame, that any Indian Christian would be against interracial marriages, this isaac thing is fromt he old testament, and those days only JEWS believed in te noe true GOD, it made sense to marry another jew.

There is no Jew or Greek in jesus christ, if both are loving each other and believe that GOD made them meet and ready to marry , any Indian Christian pastor should do that.

Racism against a bride or groom because she is not an Indian, is a dangerous and deadly sin that can land you straight in hell. Period.

Finally, Indian Christian come from many diverse backgrounds as many are of different races and languages coming from India.

If some Christian pastor goes on preaching isaac arraigned marriage story, then it means we implement all the death penalties, wars, and killings of the old testament huh ?

I am an Indian Christian and happily married to a Filipino Christian, we both are one in Jesus.

I would never go and marry a stranger, only someone I love and believe has come from the Lord just for me.

A lot of Indian Christian marriages are unhappy and pressured into. they just stick on for the sake of it, thats why the low divorce rate joke.

total strangers marrying each other because the pastor dad or some evangelical dad pressured them on the basis of hellfire threats.