Growing up in a Chinese-American home, there was always some kind of meat dish. Even if there wasn’t enough money to buy a prime cut of beef, there’s always lop-cheung, a sausage that comes in bunches tied by a string used to dry the lop-cheung in the butcher shop. After a pot of white rice was washed and the water has been boiled off, you put a lop-cheung for each person eating that night and cover the pot. After a few minutes, the fat of the lop-cheung is fully soaking the rice and the aroma fills the house. It’s now time to eat. It is said that Chinese eat anything with 4 legs except the kitchen table.
In 1998, I was called to serve as the Senior Pastor of the historic First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. At the other end of our street stands a restaurant, Uncle’s Café that serves one of the best tasting ox tail stews in town. Instead of lop-cheung over rice, the ox tail stew mixed with potatoes, carrots, onions, celery in a thick gravy is poured over the rice. This is a big step from what I had at home. For about $5, you get the stew over rice, a dinner roll, a cup of coffee, and a piece of apple pie. I ate with no guilt or self-consciousness. And for such a price, it’s cheaper than a Big Mac!
As Senior Pastor, my weekly responsibilities included preparing a sermon and a Bible study. Every week, I strived to interpret the Scriptures to have relevancy for our congregation. In one season, my personal study led me to read Genesis 2 and how in the original creation plan, God planned for us to eat food that grew from the ground. I read Isaiah 11 and discovered how in the future, God wants us to live peaceably with all living things including cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, fish, shellfish, etc. I began to experience an inner struggle that questioned how God’s plan for creation was not necessarily being made evident in my personal lifestyle.
Every time I stood behind the pulpit, I called people to be more giving knowing that they will still hold some back. I call people to be more kind knowing that they still have prejudices. I call them to act and live as the Body of Christ knowing very well that there were still gossip, backbiting and squabbles in our church. I began to understand that I would always be calling people to be more than they are able to be until the age of Christ’s reign. I came to the realization and then the conviction that I am a vegetarian not by birth in a Chinese-American home but by faith so that I may model for the not yet and is to come. For me, being a vegetarian is a matter of personal and spiritual integrity.
My eating decision opens discussions to other lifestyle issues. It’s no longer possible to eat vegetarian and not look into every other aspect of living more wholistically. Physical exercise becomes important and essential and now occupies two time slots for playing tennis in my weekly Day-Timer planner. When tennis is not possible, I substitute gardening and housework as alternative forms of physical exertion. Following recommended physical check-ups and taking vitamin supplements provide the confidence that my health is on the right track.
As the result of my conviction, the multiple circles of life and relationships are also affected. While my wife is not a vegetarian, when we eat at home together, we both eat vegetable based meals. We shop at markets that have more vegetarian products and fresh fruits and vegetables. Last year, I even started a small planter-box garden that yield heirloom tomatoes, string beans, and strawberries.
Perhaps the most significant transformation of what started as my rediscovering the meaning of Scriptures and how that has affected my lifestyle is how my church has responded to my decision. While I haven’t converted as many to vegetarianism as God has transformed lives to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in the past 11 years, I have made a small impact. Our congregation is more aware of having a vegetarian option when I come over for dinner. They make the dish and try it for themselves and in many occasions, they even like it.
When I was first called into Christian ministry way back in 1975, I never thought that I would not be eating anything with 4 legs except the kitchen table. But what I do know now is that God called me to be faithful when I stand behind the pulpit and when I pick up a fork.
Don Ng is the Senior Pastor of the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco since 1998. Previously, he was on the staff of American Baptist Educational Ministries in Valley Forge for over 20 years and grew up at another historic church, the First Baptist Church of Boston.