Our Food Is Sacred

"Lunchbox moments" within the white evangelical space

New Years Day Dinner - Photo by Young Yi

Lunchbox Moments

If you’re tired of hearing about one of the pillars of growing up as an Asian-American, namely “lunchbox moments”, so am I.

For those who might not know what “lunchbox moments” are, it is a uniquely shared experience among Asian-Americans where in our childhood, our friends and peers would question or make fun of the ethnic food we would bring during lunch hour at school. Particularly for me, I remember when my mom made me 불고기 (”bulgogi” aka Korean marinated beef) and my friends would comment how it looked like dog poop. Of course, embarrassed as a young middle schooler, I would go home and lament to my mom why she made this food. And as the story goes for many immigrant-generation parents, food was (and continues to be) the primary mode of communicating their love for their children. So when me and many fellow Asian-Americans would go home to ask our mothers for the PB&J or the quintessential school meal, a “Lunchable”, in lieu of [insert ethnic food here], the bridge between our generations would lose yet another plank.

That is what is encapsulated in the phrase, “lunchbox moments”. It is a phrase where Asian heritage, Western assimilation, and inter-generational cultural barriers, all intersect.

So why am I writing about these “lunchbox moments?” Why beat this dead horse over-and-over again? Hasn’t Asian representation moved the needle far enough where we are now well passed the point where our culture’s food is no longer being met with a raised eyebrow or at most, flat-out disgust? Hasn’t social media curbed the exoticization of our food and normalized it into the mainstream? Hasn’t the relentless work of the 1st and 2nd generations of Asian-Americans raised our people’s food to the upper echelons of fine dining?

As you may have predicted, the answer is a flat out, no.
Especially in the white evangelical Church.

The reason I am writing about this is because I recently saw an Instagram story shared by someone who is well known in the white evangelical space and even the broader Christian space in America that had some insensitive and unwise words to describe a certain Asian dish. Despite being a great and fantastic leader … this surprisingly unwise post was made, where he had shared about said Asian-ethnic food smelling like “wet dog”.

Anyone else let out a deep sigh?

With several thousand followers on Instagram, most being Christians, it boggles my mind for this to happen in 2024. But then again, I’m not entirely surprised seeing as how Asian food in particular is still viewed as “other” and strange in the white evangelical space. It wasn’t too long ago when Rick Warren, then pastor of the California megachurch, “Saddleback Church”, apologized for one of their pastors making a foolish and downright idiotic video demeaning Asian culture that included caricatures of kung fu (which is Chinese) and sushi (which is Japanese).

If you’ve ever wondered why this continues to happen, just look up the phrase, “perpetual foreigner” on Google and that will give you a running start for an explanation that is far too long to include in this post.

Story Time

I remember almost 10 years ago, I was having dinner with some friends (mostly white and Christian) and we decided to have homemade spring rolls where we would assemble them as we ate. One of my friends, who I presumed to be extremely sensitive to different cultures (in a good way) had made the comment how the rice paper was “slimy and icky” after putting water on it, which was also said right after she exclaimed, “ewwwww!!!”.

I was taken aback.

Listen. I understand rice paper is in fact a bit slimy or slippery, but dear Lord, was that reaction necessary? The answer is, no.

A few years ago during the beginnings of the COVID-19 lockdown, I had made plans to get lunch with a friend of mine before he moved out of the state. We decided to eat at a local sushi restaurant in town, but literally at the last minute, on the day-of, he texted me asking if we could eat at the local Potbelly’s sandwich shop.

Personally, I love Potbelly’s. Give me an order of a large “Wreck” and one of their chocolate milkshakes to wash it down and I’m a happy camper.

But I couldn’t help but wonder if my friend had bought into the xenophobic rhetoric at the time, where anything that came out of Asia had COVID just smothered all over it. So as any good friend should do, I checked him on that. We sat down with our food at Potbelly’s and I asked him point blank, “did you want to eat here instead of the sushi restaurant because you’re afraid of getting COVID by eating there?” His answer was, “yes”.

I was stunned.

My personal experiences are not limited to these three stories.

There are more.

Food is sacred.

As Dr. Tony Evans says, “the Kingdom is a table.”

As John Mark Comer writes, “the Christian life is found along the lines of fasting and feasting.”

Food is a consistent theme found in the Biblical narrative and it is also a sacred part of our experience as humans. When we dwindle the value of food as just sustenance to keep our bodies afloat and functioning, we enact a deep injustice to a beautiful gift from God. Personally, this is why I believe food shortages around the world, food deserts within inner-cities, and even prolonged, unhealthy nutritional practices are an affront to God’s desire for people’s relationship with food. Our attitudes toward food should be as the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Food and drink can be means to glorify God. Isn’t that wild? In addition to practices such as singing psalms, praying, reading the Scriptures - eating and drinking are on the list of practices to glorify God.

May we refrain from viewing food and drink and the dinner table, as a lesser sanctuary and sacred space than Church buildings or arenas where large Church conferences are held.

Let me say this too: Asian food isn’t more sacred than African food, European food, American food or any other culture’s food. There is no superiority (although, you may need a good argument as to why your favorite food is better than KBBQ). Jokes aside, no culture’s food is more sacred than another’s, much like no culture is superior than another. And that should be no surprise because culture and food are so inextricably linked to one another.

Food is simply that: it is sacred.

It not only connects us with one another among our own people group, but connects us across cultures, and connects us with God our Creator. Present in the Creation account (Genesis 1:29) food was another touchpoint between God and humanity. There was intention from God to create the world with food. To God, food was and continues to be of great significance, not just throughout the entire Scriptures, but the years that follow Biblical times to the present.

You Can’t Sit With Us

All that said, this is why when white evangelicals continue to disparage, view with disgust, exoticize, and treat ethnic foods as other, it breaks apart Biblical unity among the body of Christ.

Later in 1 Corinthians 11:27, Paul writes, “So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.” There is a bit of a meta-layer that is happening here with food, the Lord’s Supper, and division in the body of Christ. What is this “unworthy manner” Paul speaks of? In short, Paul prohibits people who do not have reconciled relationships with one another to partake in the Lord’s Supper. He’s essentially saying, “You got beef (pun intended) with someone in our church? Reconcile with one another and then you can take the Lord’s Supper.” Because how can you partake in the very practice that represents our restored relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, while you have animosity toward your brother or sister? It is hypocritical.

Food (where in this passage represented by the bread and wine for the Lord’s Supper) is a specific medium to express unity not just between people and God, but people and people.

Do you see the meta-layer here when this passage is overlayed on top of “lunchbox moments” in the white evangelical space?

Better Together

I’ll end with this. I’m not saying you need to like another culture’s food. I’m not the palate police (lol), nor do I want to be. I’m not even saying you can’t be picky about what food you like. But I do believe there is Biblical wisdom and precedent here to be “slow to speak” when it comes to critiquing another culture’s food - and that also includes making critiques of their customs, traditions, and names (don’t get me started on this one). Why? Because it is divisive in a deep and profound way, as it can cut to and hurt an identity marker for many Asian-Americans or any ethnic minority for that matter.

Frankly, for the white evangelical church, this needs to be learned, in a deep, deep way. I’m not talking about putting up a DEI committee for your church to learn this. I’m talking about having a robust theology of what true Biblical unity looks like among people who don’t look like you, smell like you, and eat the same foods as you.

For the white evangelical church, this needs to be learned because as the next-generation of Christ followers in America grows to be the most diverse generation, you can’t go and share that someone’s food smells like “wet dog”. That’s just crazy; you just found the fast track to excluding Asian people from your flock.

For the white evangelical church, this needs to be learned because if you have ethnic minorities in your church or ministry space, a great way to learn about them and their culture is through their food. Because remember, their culture’s food has been and continues to be the primary avenue of love.

Food is sacred. The kingdom is a table. And the Christian life is found anywhere along the lines of feasting and fasting. So may we treat another culture’s food as a way to build bridges between us, as an avenue to encounter the infinite creativity of God our Creator, and as new sacred ground to explore together.