Last week, when a self-proclaimed Christian yelled “I am going to kill all Asians” and then killed 8 people—6 of whom were Asian American women—it was too much.
Just too much.
So in this article, my hope is to help you understand:
- That this senseless murder was actually a racist hate crime against Asians
- That Jesus would never endorse or condone such hatred
- What we’re saying to God when we allow our churches to remain mono-ethnic
Let’s go in order.
1. This senseless murder was a racist hate crime against Asians
If you quickly Googled “Atlanta Spa Shootings,” you’ll find a lot of reporting about what happened. And the purpose of my article here isn’t to recap what happened—there’s a lot of other better places for that.
Instead, I want to point out what you may not as easily find:
- Less than 24 hours after the shootings, a captain from the county sheriff’s office said about the killer, “Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.” That same police officer shared a picture last year of a t-shirt that said, COVID-19 is an “imported virus from CHY-NA.” And in that post, he said “Love my shirt…get yours while they last.” [1]
- The killer drove past hundreds of other potential “sexual temptations” for 35 miles to target three different spas owned and operated by Asian women. [2]
- There is a long history of the fetishization of Asian women that traces itself back to wars fought in Vietnam and Korea, as well as the porn industry. [3]
- Hate crimes against Asian-Americans in major Canadian cities are 600-700% higher than the previous year. [4]
- Although hate crimes have risen in American cities, the majority of hate crimes never get reported, which skews the actual numbers. [5]
- One source said “it had received more than 3,700 reports of anti-Asian verbal harassment, civil rights violations and physical assault over the last year.” [6]
- Although the majority of anti-Asian racist attacks involved verbal harassment, physical aggression, and being coughed at and spat on, what’s troubling is how “children were more likely to be on the receiving end of physical attacks than adults. Children also reported significant mental and emotional trauma in rates that outpaced all other age groups.” [7]
If all of that wasn’t enough, here’s what threw me over the edge—an eye witness account in the media heard the killer say, “I’m going to kill all Asians” during the shooting. [8]
The only reason you haven’t heard this last point is because it was a Korean employee who was interviewed by a local Korean media source and was reporting in the Chosun Ilbo, a national Korean media outlet.
My friend, Richard Lee, who works with International Justice Mission, put it like this,
The only source saying that this was a “sexually motivated crime” is from the suspect after being interviewed by the police. If it is classified as a hate crime, the accused will have added time to his sentence. So, the same person who would suffer the most from a hate crime classification is the only source who denies it was racially motivated.
On the one hand, you have an eye witness, who was shot at and escaped with his life. But his voice is literally not being heard, because he does not speak English. Instead, we take the word of a white man, who just killed 8 people.
Why are we letting the murderer control the narrative? Why aren’t we listening to the voices of the victims? Is it because of their language and accent of their voices?
Friends, this senseless murder was a racist hate crime against Asians. Don’t let the killer and media tell you otherwise.
2. Jesus would never endorse or condone such hatred
It’s been widely reported that the killer claimed to have a sex addiction and wanted to kill these women to “eliminate temptation.” Also, he is apparently a self-proclaimed Christian who “goes to a Southern Baptist church that has been connected with Founders Ministries, now best known for its anti-Critical Race Theory efforts.” [9]
Sigh…
As Christians, although we are called to live a life of purity, and be holy because God is holy (1 Pet 1:16), heinous acts like this have nothing to do with Jesus. As I shared in this OMNI TV National Newscast, sinning by killing people to eradicate or eliminate your temptation to sin has nothing to do with Jesus and nothing to do with Christianity. (If you don’t speak Tagalog, you can skip to 3:11 to hear my response in English)
Also, see here what it says in Proverbs 16:9 CSB, “The LORD hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.”
That is the very definition of what has just happened…and we see clearly that God is NOT on his side.
Although this killer claims to be Christian, we know in the Bible that Jesus said to beware of ravaging wolves who dress in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be Christian but who actually aren’t.
We are called to love, not hate. “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.” (1 John 4:19-21 CSB)
Friends, it’s clear that Jesus would never endorse or condone such hatred.
3. What we’re saying to God when we allow our churches to remain mono-ethnic
Seeking first “the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33) has a future and present aspect to it. For the future, it’s about trusting that God will fully establish his rule and reign over all things when Jesus returns. For the present, it’s about actively praying and being a part of the growth and expansion of his rule and reign everywhere that darkness reigns.
And as we’ve experienced over this past year, one place darkness continues to reign is in the division of humanity—and the church—through racism, which is a systemic evil that’s deeply embedded in our society and culture.
In the Kingdom of God, when God’s rule and reign is fully established, we know that there will be people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev 7:9 CSB).
This doesn’t mean that race will go away or that ethnicity doesn’t matter when you become a Christian.
No, not at all! Rather, this means that God has uniquely designed every nation, tribe, people, and language to reflect a different aspect about Himself. So we need to celebrate and learn from every race and ethnic group, so that we can know and worship God deeper and more fully.
Now when someone who claims to be a Christian kills eight people because he was “addicted to sex” and wanted to “eliminate temptation,” we need to pay attention to what we are teaching and discipling the church about sex and temptation. And when six of the eight people are Asian American woman, and he yells “I’m going to kill all Asians” during the shootings, we need to pay attention to what we are teaching and discipling the church about the Kingdom of God.
This is what happened in Atlanta last week.
We live in a society and culture that’s racist and has an imbalance of power. And the reason this seeps into the church is because of a lack of understanding about the Kingdom of God. If someone claims to be Christian and hates a particular “nation, tribe, people, or language,” they are essentially saying that they hate a part of God and want to fix God’s perfect vision for humanity. And if someone who claims to be Christian is driven more by hate than love, there needs to be an inner awakening because Scripture is clear about us being people of love, not hate.
Let me quote 1 John 4:19-21 again, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.” (1 John 4:19-21 CSB)
Friends, please allow a vision of the Kingdom of God to shape how you talk about race, power, and the future of your church.
Come Lord Jesus come.
Footnotes:
[1] https://globalnews.ca/news/7704008/atlanta-spa-shootings-bad-day-racism/
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56433181
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/17/us/asian-women-misogyny-spa-shootings-trnd/index.html
[4] https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/reports-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-surging-in-canada-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.5351481
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/18/fbi-pressure-anti-asian-hate-crime-atlanta
[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/17/anti-asian-attacks-shootings/
[7] https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/new-report-details-disturbing-rise-in-anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-canada-1.5358955
[8] https://www.chosun.com/international/us/2021/03/17/XSDXYLMAQZCC5JWMQ4HGRZGOG4/
[9] https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2021/march/religion-race-and-atlanta-murders-untangling-multiple-layer.html