A Dimmed Voice
When I was at Wheaton during my graduate school years, I attended the Wheaton Chinese Alliance Church at Wheaton IL, just a couple miles down from the college. One Sunday, Pastor Jonathan Mann, the Youth Pastor of the church, preached a sermon on Psalms 78:1-4 that I will always remember:
“O my people, hear my teaching, listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from the old-
What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deed of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done”.[1]
Pastor Mann wanted the congregants to remember that we had an obligation to not hide our voices from those who are young, maturing, and even the old, especially in areas that reflected our past experiences. But as I continued to discern the message, this message is not only for the old but for the young as well. Are we (the young) hiding our voices from those who are even younger? Are we being role models to the generation after us, showing that we are obedient and holding fast to our faith?
Throughout my entire graduate year at Wheaton, this question kept returning to my mind. Pastor Jonathan Mann’s words were nothing that I was unfamiliar with, but the debilitating question that I had was the ecclesial vocation of the Christian Historian. What is the role of the Church Historian in the church? We are not a pastor or a preacher by any means, so how can our voices be heard? Are we even speaking the passions of showing the legacies of the church? Are we as historians becoming stubborn like our forefathers? God’s mercy and providence are always perpetual, but are we in a state of perplexity when it comes to our purpose, path, and mission? Are our voices dim?
Never Lose Sight of the Church
In the book Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation, there is a chapter titled “Don’t Forget the Church” by Dr. Tracy McKenzie, an American History faculty member at Wheaton. This chapter made me realize the reality of the present conditions of the Christian Historian in the church: their voices are turning in the wrong direction. According to McKenzie, “…the Christian historians’ most public ruminations about the nature of their calling…are driven almost entirely by concerns within the walls of academe.”[2] There’s a lackluster concern for the church amongst Christian historians, and even though they have a desire to show their faith in their works, “Christian scholarship typically means seeking professional accomplishments and recognition within the academic community,”[3] with the church not being in the spotlight of their purpose.
McKenzie even goes further that people outside of the academy (ex: pastors, missionaries, church leaders) are discussing the history more publicly than the historians themselves with little to no understanding of historical methodologies, thus it poses a danger to historical interpretations.[4] Plus, in most graduate schools, students are trained to “write for other Ph.D.’s rather than the general public.”[5] Even though McKenzie does acknowledge the purpose of doing historical or academic research and that it is a great calling for Christians, the church is also a necessary calling too. But how to bridge the academy and the church together is a more daunting task. Even Dr. McKenzie admits that he still hasn’t fully grasped it yet despite having objectives.[6]
The Confession
When I did my independent study on the Chinese Republican church and their work with the Chinese minorities, I realized that the legacies of the minority church had deeper roots than I expected. It also made me realize how much ignorance that I had upon my understanding of Hmong Church History, or even Chinese/South East Asian Minority Church Histories: I have little to no knowledge of it.
My first historical love is the Han Chinese church, it was because of their history that I even had an interest in Asian Church History. But regardless of my love, in the past, I had disregarded the historical richness of our ethnic church history as Hmong Christians, and maybe even this is a confession for most Hmong Christians today. The Hmong ethnic church is still young and the Gospel message is always needed, but the need for the Gospel is causing a lack of desire for understanding Christian History with congregants, alongside with the academic paths of the Christian historical vocation that had detrimental effects to the church in the last century.
To heal this, it cannot be done alone, not by my own “historiographical” power. It requires the influences of pastors, missionaries, and church leaders who are humble to assist and provide the influences to instill this message itself. It’s not only on this subject but with other subjects as well. Above all, the message must be mediated through prayer and on the full reliance on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). The history doesn’t change people, the Gospel changes people. But the history shows that we have a legacy that is rooted with Christ himself with all the joys, pains, blessings, hopes, and errors. God’s providence and work have always prevailed, and it must be remembered.
Our voices will not be dimmed.
Kou Xiong is a Wheaton College Graduate School grad in History. His focus is on the Modern Church and Chinese Christianity, with an emphasis on early 20th century Chinese Republican Christianity and minorities. He recently received his MA in Church History at Wheaton College, IL in 2016 and is now currently participating at Twin Cities Hmong Alliance Church in Minnesota, serving in the Young Adult ministry. He recently presented at the Conference on Faith and History and is establishing and teaching a Church History 101 lecture series with the TC young adults and has plans to expand the work in the future. Also, he occasionally volunteers with a Christian non-profit English ministry in the University of Minnesota called Connexions International, doing Bible-based English tutoring to International students at an assistant level. Despite being in discernment with his Ph.D. or future academic plans, Kou Xiong has a desire to be a resource for the church in the areas of Christian History, especially in Asian Christianity and foundational Historical Theology.
[1] Psalm 78:1-4 (NIV).
[2] Tracy McKenzie, “Don’t Forget the Church,” in Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation, ed. John Fea, Jay Greene, Eric Miller (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), 282.
[3] McKenzie, 283.
[4] McKenzie, 284-285.
[5] McKenzie, 288.
[6] McKenzie, 290.