Asian, American and Christian: What Identity Means for Gen Z Today
By: Bonnie Wong
Tags: Religion, Gen Z, Asian American, Identity

Asian, American and Christian: What Identity Means for Gen Z Today

Cross-cultural values are sometimes at odds with each other. Here’s how one individual has come to define herself. Bonnie Wong Mar 23, 2020·6 min read

Growing up, Sarah Okamoto never had a reason to feel different. Born in an ethnically diverse suburb in Southern California, she experienced a variety of cultures but spoke English at home and school, ate American food and engaged in common Western social practices like many of her peers.

Okamoto (top right) with her siblings circa 2006. (Photo courtesy Sarah Okamoto)

As someone who was raised a Christian, she said her faith, rather than her ethnicity, became the primary marker of her identity.

As she got older, however, she began to wrestle with bigger questions concerning the intersectionality of her ethnicity, nationality, religion and age.

For many young, Asian American Christians, values instilled by each of the three characteristics may conflict with one’s identity as a whole.

Asian Americans Value Conformity and Collectivism

A study by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Maryland found that many Asian Americans value conformity and collectivism, according to an Asian Americans Value Scale they developed.

The difficulties of simultaneously being raised in two different cultures puts a strain on many Asian Americans according to Jon Liu, director of Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF), a religious campus ministry that has collegiate branches among the West Coast and of which Okamoto is also a part.

“Asian Americans are bicultural,” Liu said. “They are on the fringes of both cultures. They may have grown up in America, but their physical features are Asian. They may have Asian features, but they are culturally North American. So Asian Americans are constantly in tension about their identity. They are not enough of one or the other to be fully accepted by either.”

The first time Okamoto became consciously aware of her ethnic background was when she visited a new church. She was the only Asian in the church classroom, and another student remarked that he had seen her before. And although she told them it was her first time visiting, the teacher looked at her doubtfully.

“I felt a little bit betrayed because church had always been a place where I felt comfortable and accepted. I don’t know when I realized it, but that [incident] definitely made me hesitant to join non-Asian churches because I didn’t want to feel like I was different,” she said.

Okamoto (left) at her baptism in 2008. (Photo courtesy Sarah Okamoto)

To avoid standing out as a racial minority, Okamoto stuck to both Asian American churches and college ministries. Ethnic-specific churches and groups appeal to the Asian American value of strength in numbers as a collective whole said Nicole Ng, president of AACF at USC.

“Asian Americans relate to each other in the same way that other people relate to each other specifically within the same culture, so there’s shared background experience that helps people understand each other,” Ng said. “They also share common struggles such as obeying your Asian parents or [fulfilling] specific parents’ dreams of going into medicine…Those things can be very specific for the Asian American identity and can be spoken to by being in the Asian American community.”

Christians Value a Personal Relationship with God and Missional Evangelism

Although Okamoto has grown in her faith and has been able to practice her religion more freely, she said that remaining solely in these Asian American communities is a source of tension for her.

“In Christian circles [where] you are constantly surrounded by people [who] have similar values, it can be really conducive to spiritual growth because you have people to keep you accountable and encourage you to keep following the commands in the Bible, [which] can be extremely difficult to do on your own,” she said. “But the real world is not always going to be full of Christians. If we are so out of touch with the world that we lose a sense of understanding and empathy for how non-Christians view the world, it will be so much harder to reach them.”

While collective Christian communities are good for spiritual growth, they do not expose believers to differing perspectives and actually counteract the evangelical mandate as Christians to reach out to people everywhere, Okamoto said. She often seeks comfort in familiarity because it is harder for her to feel accepted by many of her peers who are not religious or Asian.

“As Christians, we are called to make sacrifices for other people and to be willing to submit to God despite our own desires,” she said. “Breaking out of these comfortable bubbles of Asian American circles is something I am called to do as a Christian, but something I do not desire to do as a byproduct of the Asian culture I have been raised in.”

Okamoto (second row, fourth from left) with Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF) at USC. (Photo courtesy Leighton Okada)

According to Ng, Asian American values can conflict with Christian ones.

Asian Americans value collectivism and conformity, which is at odds with Christian values of fostering a personal relationship with God and worldwide spreading of the Christian gospel.

These are bigger picture issues Okamoto still tries to reconcile with.

“I feel like young adults… in the modern Asian American church are all the same. It feels so homogenous. Is this what we are supposed to be like and end up like?” she questioned.

Gen Zers value individualism and choosing multiple identities

Although 42% of Asian Americans identified as Christian in a Pew Research study, only a small percentage of them are young people. As a whole, religion among young Americans is becoming increasingly unconventional. Okamoto falls into the 4% of Gen Zers who have a “Biblical worldview,” according to research firm Barna.

Screenshot from Okamoto’s Instagram account. (Photo courtesy Sarah Okamoto)

“I think there are a lot of people who stereotype Christians to have certain ideals that conflict with things that are popular with people my age,” Okamoto said. “I think it’s very easy to reject Christianity and religion if it doesn’t align with what you believe.”

One of the reasons why Gen Z strays away from religion is because multicultural and metropolitan cities often bring in diverse perspectives, which may challenge commonly-held views, according to Pacific Standard Magazine.

After Okamoto moved to Washington in the third grade, she was exposed to more differing beliefs.

“Having lived in Washington for the past 11 years, I’ve come to see the frustrations of my non-Christian friends with the church and how they have been hurt by Christians that may or may not have had good intentions. I think something the church struggles with is addressing political issues especially [living] in a state that is so progressive. People feel like the church does not address certain issues or even when they do,[it] overlooks many of the more complex parts such as environmental sustainability, abortion, homosexuality and feminism,” she said.

Labeled as the “the least religious” generation by Pew Research Center, Gen Zers are finding their identity elsewhere. Gen Zers have been labeled as “identity nomads” according to consumer consulting firm McKinsey, meaning they do not stick to one specific identification, instead seeking individual definitions of “truth.”

Okamoto said that many of her peers have raised the question of Christians “blindly following” their faith without considering alternative perspectives. As a result, it can be hard for her to have honest conversations with her friends and peers both back at home in Washington and in college at USC.

However, she says that having her beliefs challenged by others has increasingly strengthened her faith because it’s allowed her to hear other Gen Zers’ perspectives.

As she grows older, Okamoto continues to explore her identity.

“I definitely prioritize my Christian and Asian identities the most,” she said. “I think I am definitely still growing in my identity as a Gen Z, Asian American Christian.”

This story is the first edition of a series for USC Annenberg’s Journalism and the Audience course.