Becoming All Things (Michelle Ami Reyes) -- A Review

BECOMING ALL THINGS: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections Across Cultures. By Michelle Ami Reyes. Foreword by Thabiti Anyabwile. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2021. Xxiii + 184 pages.

                We are living at a time when lines are being drawn that are designed to keep us separate and divided. We see this in the church and the broader society. Politics is one area of division, but we also see it in relation to ethnicity, race, and immigration. Regarding the last-mentioned item, the anti-immigrant sentiment makes for good politics. Sometimes it even infects the church. When it comes to race and ethnicity, we seem more separate today than in decades. Thus, we hear parents and politicians rail against Critical Race Theory, though no one seems to know what CRT actually is. All they know is it deals with race, and white kids feel bad about themselves when they read about racial and ethnic struggles in American history. When it comes to immigration the key phrase the “Great Replacement.” That is, if we let people immigrate to the United States (unless from western Europe) our great Judeo-Christian culture will disappear. We will, we're told by some pundits that we will soon be replaced by people who don't hail from Europe or share our "Christian heritage." Even as these voices are raised, other voices speak out calling our attention to the challenges faced by persons of color and immigrants as they seek to navigate a society that has been designed with white folks like me in mind. So, what should we make of this?

                Much ink has been spilt discussing these questions. You will find books that speak in support of addressing racial/ethnic concerns and books that hail America’s unique history in such a way that you would never know that slavery or Jim Crow or Japanese internment camps ever existed. Maybe upper-division college courses can address these questions, but not children. While polls suggest that White evangelicals, who overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump, are worried about things like CRT, immigration, diversity education, anti-racism education, etc., not all evangelicals are alike. That is especially true of evangelicals of Color. Among them is Michelle Ami Reyes.

                Michelle Reyes is an evangelical who identifies as Indian-American (by that I do not mean Native American or First Nation). She is also married to a Mexican-American man who serves as pastor of a multi-cultural congregation in Austin, Texas. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is Vice President of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, co-executive director at Pax, and scholar in residence at Hope Community Church (the congregation served by her husband). With this academic and vocational background, Reyes offers the reader a very personal look at the way cultural identity is understood and experienced by persons of color.

                Reyes organizes her book, Becoming All Things, around her reading of a passage from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9:19-23). The passage reads in part "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." She turns to this passage as the foundation for a reflection on the nature of cultural adaptability as Paul experienced it and as most persons of color experience it today. While becoming all things to all people addresses our need to adapt to different cultures, the question is, how do we do this responsibly. That is the question that serves as the thread holding together her book. Regarding cultural adaptivity, Reyes means that "each of us is called to go on a journey of becoming all things to all people. Becoming is not code for appropriating or stealing other people's cultures. It is a posture that desires to see the world through other people's eyes, values what they value, and both centers and honors their way of life. This will require humility and flexibility" (p. xx).

                Becoming All Things is composed of eight chapters. These chapters cover everything from developing one's cultural identity to changing one's perspective on justice. She speaks first and foremost to persons of color, encouraging them to own their own cultural identity. She also speaks to those of us who are White reminding us that our culture is not superior to others and that it is wrong to expect everyone to conform to our cultural identity. In other words, the United States isn’t a melting pot where everything melts into a bland White Euro-centric vision of reality. As you might imagine, this will be a challenging read for many. As a White male, reading books like this, and I’ve read many, is uncomfortable.  Of course, she has a chapter on that concern as well, encouraging those of us who are white to "embrace cultural discomfort." She also addresses the question of cultural appropriation. This is always a difficult arena to navigate. The question is, how does one understand the role of clothing, food, and music in cultural ways? What is appropriate and inappropriate usage? That is, at what point does clothing become a costume that is appropriated for one’s use? Or what about food? What is appropriate usage by someone not of the culture in which it derives? I will admit that when it comes to food I felt that Reyes drew the lines a bit too narrow, but I understand her point. Food is an aspect of cultural identity and should be understood as an expression of a culture.   

                As a post-evangelical mainline Protestant, it is easy to stereotype evangelicals. That is, all evangelicals are the same, and when it comes to matters of justice, well we liberals are superior. Or so I sometimes hear and perhaps say myself. This book serves as a good reminder that not all evangelicals are the same nor are they all white. Yes, many persons of color are evangelical in their theology. Since Zondervan generally caters to a more conservative evangelical audience, perhaps this book will find a ready audience that leads to a more expansive conversation, greater justice, and greater understanding. If so, then perhaps we can make the small changes that lead to lasting connections across cultures. As one who has been enriched by such connections, I hope and pray that she is successful in building bridges. Then, it will be possible to become all things to all people without having to engage in code-switching—you know like trying to pass as white to climb the social and economic ladder!

                There is much to commend about the book. Like many books of this nature, Becoming All Things is a very personal book. Reyes speaks from the heart and experience. For people like me, who are white, well, it’s important to listen and learn through the experiences of others.