Sermon : On the Need to Dispel ‘Model Minority’ Myth

Over the last several decades, we Asian Americans have not quite known what to do with the tag “model minority.” It has been a source of pride--both false and appropriate. But it has also been a wedge between us and other minority groups and it is also a myth.

While our wider community has already begun to dismantle this stereotype, we in the church persist in propagating it. To be sure, we never use the term “model minority,” but we buy into the myth just the same. Our version comes with “Christian” packaging, but the message is still the same: We Asian Americans (add “Christians”) have fewer problems, suffer fewer failures and are less likely to do something terrible than other Americans.

Week after week, this myth is covertly preached and taught in our churches. True to our cultural tradition of saving face, we rarely hang out our dirty laundry in public forums, leaving everyone to assume that, as believers, we are untouched by serious sins or problems. This sin of omission in our preaching and teaching leaves those who ache for Christ’s grace and mercy feeling more ashamed and more inclined to keep their pain a well-kept secret--from the rest of us, maybe even from the Lord.

Given the size of our congregation, it is reasonable to suggest that just about every problem or sin that exists in the world is represented in our church. Would you be shocked to know that there are active and recovering addicts here? Or that some of us have had multiple abortions or have been either the victims of incest or the perpetrators? We consist not only of legally divorced people, but of those who have been married for years but have been sexually and emotionally divorced.

The Apostle Peter was forced to dispel the myth that it was wrong to associate with non-Jews. In the Book of Acts, Peter went into a trance and saw a large sheet filled with living things he had been taught were unclean for a Jew to eat. Three times, the Lord offered the contents of this sheet to Peter for his consumption. But each time, the apostle declined, thinking his caution was proof he was a devout and holy believer. But the time had come to extend Christ’s salvation to non-Jews.

In much the same way, people with the types of problems mentioned earlier fill our “sheet.” They contradict the model minority myth, but we’d rather believe that we are somehow immune to these issues. Our believing this in spite of the evidence to the contrary is proof of the power of this myth. Our silence and our avoidance sentence our fellow sinners to unnecessary exile.

At Evergreen, we who are called to preach and teach try to lead the way by being what writer Henri Houwen so aptly calls “wounded healers.” We have begun illustrating our messages with stories of our own struggles with sin, our own imperfections. It has not been easy, but the resulting sense of personal integrity and honesty has been well-worth the risks.

A fundamental tenet of our philosophy is that we accept others as Christ accepts us. In recent years, we have offered groups for divorce recovery and infertility. We sponsor a weekly tutoring program for teen-age moms from our local high schools. We run a 12-step type recovery group for adult children of alcoholics and dysfunctional families. Participants come from within our church as much as from outside it. If you are surprised, then you are under the spell of this accursed myth.

We can either see tremendous healing and freedom in our midst or we can continue to convince people with problems to live in the shadows of despair and shame. For Christ’s sake--and all of ours--let us dispel this myth once and for all.