Written on September 3rd, 2010
So many people in this world are seeking after truth. Surely, there are many, like so many in the west, that have given up on the search, saying that such findings are unattainable. So many of them have gotten discouraged, because as soon as they believe they’ve found truth, someone else contradicts and says that it is wrong. At best, many people have resorted to living by “what’s true for you.” However, in light of very simple logic and the very nature of all that is, that can’t be true. If what you say opposes what I say, one of us must be wrong. Indeed, we could both be wrong, but we can’t both be right. I am aware that such logic falls on deaf ears in a post-modern world, but it is valid nonetheless. Many a philosopher and theologian, much wiser and more articulate than me, have wrestled with the big questions of how did we get here and what do we do now. Here’s a portion of my attempt…
You’ll have to forgive me, I have no intent of being politically correct or soft on what I’ve found to be true in this post. You can try to see my perspective and realize that if I didn’t believe it was true in its entirety, what would be the point of believing it in the first place? My position towards anybody referred to in this post is love. Sometimes love includes sharing of truth. My unbelieving friends, whom I love, may prefer another post on something like social justice, like I’ve done in the past. That is an important part of living out the Gospel and being a part of God’s Kingdom. But its not enough, we must also share eternal truths that we’ve found. I can become a father to an orphan, but if I never tell my son the truth of the Gospel, I’ve only blessed him a little in this life time and profit him nothing for eternity.
So let’s get at the truth… While so many others have given up on truth, I truly admire the search of the people in the nations that we’ve been in for the last couple weeks. To be sure, we’ve met with and been able to encourage my brothers and sisters in the church that Christ is building up here. However, these two countries are largely ruled by Hinduism and Buddhism.
I think that one of the biggest reasons that people are drawn to false religions, is because within their false framework there are indeed elements of truth. I’m sure that just made all my readers uneasy. Christians don’t want me to say there are elements of truth within these religions and my non-Christian friends don’t want me to refer to another walk of life as false. We’ll just say that I like to stir things up…
Hinduism has a grip load of gods that they worship. Ryan just told me its 33 billion, but I don’t have online access right now to fact check him. Regardless, there’s a ton. As I have seen their temples and altars, I make no apology to say that they are nothing more than pillars, statues and paintings. They worship gods that are not gods. From a biblical perspective, it is easy to say that many of these have demonic forces that have attached themselves to these false deities. The power of these forces are for real, but they all bow their knee to the power of Jesus. However, in a place where Jesus’ name isn’t uttered, they rule over those that have been given away to the futility of their minds (Ephesians 4:17-18). The false mindsets open up for the demonic influence and the demonic influence perpetuate the false mindsets. I’m not sure if the egg or the chicken came first. Hindus surely grasp that something else is going on than what meets the natural eye. They believe that there are forces at work in the universe that account for how things have come to be. Biblically that’s not far off, there are forces at work. The triune God is good and created all good and perfect things. He however is not a force (He does have force though), He is Father, Son and Spirit; three persons comprised in one Godhead, all of the same nature and essence. There is the kingdom of darkness that opposes Him, Satan as their leader. Hindus see in the natural that something is going on, but have misinterpreted it and tried to explain it using many gods with many purposes. Thus, their worship is misdirected to non-gods.
Maybe the number one thing that is unappealing to me about what Hinduism appears to be (I make no claim to be an expert) is the lack of love within the religion. They are created in the image of God and do experience love for one another, of course. But in regards to religion, I see the people worshiping mindlessly. No smiles, no laughter, no crying, no lighting up when they talk about their god. There is no love relationship between god and man. Whereas the God of the Bible is love (1 John 4:8) and so loved the world that He gave up His precious beloved son to save it (John 3:16). He calls His followers to walk in the same way of radical love (John 15:12), which includes even those that would be considered enemies (Luke 6:27). Indeed, the very marking on His followers should be that they love one another (John 13:35). I do see Hindus obedience, but even that obedience must be based out of love (John 14:23). Love is the key. A passionate love for the true God and allowing that to pour into our other relationships is what this whole life is about (Matthew 22: 37-39).
I have very much enjoyed speaking with our Buddhist friend here and he has taught us so much about their beliefs. There is so much value in living a disciplined life that is seeking after truth, but if its misguided it is all for not. Of course, some of their practices are totally contrary to Jesus teachings. They pray often, but they have no new prayers. They merely repeat written prayers that were written long ago. They will even take these prayers and put them inside these prayer wheels that are all over this place. The idea is that you turn the wheel and the prayers go out in vast number. With each turn the same exact prayers are lifted up. The first thing that came to my mind was when Jesus told us to not “use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). I do love some written prayers like that of St. Francis of Assisi and certainly the Lord’s prayer, but all the most beautiful times in prayer for me have been the times where the Holy Spirit is there and speaking through the new, fresh words of His saints.
Nonetheless, there are certain Buddhist teachings that sound an awful lot like biblical teachings. And yet, the point is missed when you take God out of it. The act of emptying yourself in Buddhism sounds a lot like denying yourself and taking up your cross (Luke 9:23-24), but if you take out the “follow Me” of Christ you lose the point. Likewise, Buddhists believe that you must rid yourself of fleshly desire, ignorance and hatred. I agree completely. But such is only possible by the working of the Holy Spirit and if you don’t take those things and turn them into a desire for God, a knowledge of the ways of the Lord and a fervent love for Him and others, you come short of truth. I was quite surprised yesterday when my Buddhist friend told me that there is no supreme being in Buddhism and there is no creation account whatsoever. What you see is only a combination of the five elements and the thought of a timeframe for this universe is untouched, considered eternal. Quite interesting to be sure, but requiring prayer for these beloved people.
What is the point in me sharing all of this? For the non-Christian reader, not a whole lot. Other than I hope your spirit is responding to truth that I’ve spoken and you see the one true God, a God of love that is worthy of our lives. For my brothers and sisters in the faith, this ought to be stirring us to action. We are bearers of the truth. As ministers of the Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we should have a heart that beats for these people to know the God of truth.
If you feel that this post is about comparing religions, we’ve both missed it. These are people we’re talking about. People that God loves, people that Jesus died for. People that will spend eternity away from him, unless we, as His body, do something. The religious rituals and the demonic strongholds are only the obstacles. There is a sheer beauty about the people of south Asia that the Lord created uniquely. There are elements of their culture that He designed and wants to redeem to its highest value. God wants them and Christ’s blood is sufficient. What are we going to do about this?
Certainly a part of God advancing His Kingdom internally, as He told me He would do, includes this new desire for all people to come into right relationship with the Lord and begin fulfilling the beautiful destinies He’s prepared for them. To be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time praying people into the Kingdom, my prayer life is somewhat selfish. I pray for people, but it’s the people that are in my life as friends, family and acquaintances. That must change. I, without a doubt, see my first ministry in this life to be a father and believe that there will be great fruit in the lives of my children as they go out and advance the Kingdom themselves. I’ve said before that my traditional view of a missionary is that guy going into the remote village and bringing the Gospel. Some might say that I am more of an overseas aid worker, who happens to be a believer. But as my heart grows to have a hunger to see the prodigals come home and allow that to have a profound impact on my work, I can fulfill the calling of a true missionary.
In the past, my own walk with Jesus was all that mattered. If I was recognizing Him and loving Him, getting myself closer to Him, then that was enough for me. Call it evangelical apathy, call it sin. Until we take the Great Commission as a personal commission, we won’t fully grasp our purpose in this life. We are to be about His business and advance the truth that He’s given to us. It is the cure for all the ails of this world and He enables us to be ministers of His saving truth, for this we give praise.
So many people in this world are seeking after truth. Surely, there are many, like so many in the west, that have given up on the search, saying that such findings are unattainable. So many of them have gotten discouraged, because as soon as they believe they’ve found truth, someone else contradicts and says that it is wrong. At best, many people have resorted to living by “what’s true for you.” However, in light of very simple logic and the very nature of all that is, that can’t be true. If what you say opposes what I say, one of us must be wrong. Indeed, we could both be wrong, but we can’t both be right. I am aware that such logic falls on deaf ears in a post-modern world, but it is valid nonetheless. Many a philosopher and theologian, much wiser and more articulate than me, have wrestled with the big questions of how did we get here and what do we do now. Here’s a portion of my attempt…
You’ll have to forgive me, I have no intent of being politically correct or soft on what I’ve found to be true in this post. You can try to see my perspective and realize that if I didn’t believe it was true in its entirety, what would be the point of believing it in the first place? My position towards anybody referred to in this post is love. Sometimes love includes sharing of truth. My unbelieving friends, whom I love, may prefer another post on something like social justice, like I’ve done in the past. That is an important part of living out the Gospel and being a part of God’s Kingdom. But its not enough, we must also share eternal truths that we’ve found. I can become a father to an orphan, but if I never tell my son the truth of the Gospel, I’ve only blessed him a little in this life time and profit him nothing for eternity.
So let’s get at the truth… While so many others have given up on truth, I truly admire the search of the people in the nations that we’ve been in for the last couple weeks. To be sure, we’ve met with and been able to encourage my brothers and sisters in the church that Christ is building up here. However, these two countries are largely ruled by Hinduism and Buddhism.
I think that one of the biggest reasons that people are drawn to false religions, is because within their false framework there are indeed elements of truth. I’m sure that just made all my readers uneasy. Christians don’t want me to say there are elements of truth within these religions and my non-Christian friends don’t want me to refer to another walk of life as false. We’ll just say that I like to stir things up…
Hinduism has a grip load of gods that they worship. Ryan just told me its 33 billion, but I don’t have online access right now to fact check him. Regardless, there’s a ton. As I have seen their temples and altars, I make no apology to say that they are nothing more than pillars, statues and paintings. They worship gods that are not gods. From a biblical perspective, it is easy to say that many of these have demonic forces that have attached themselves to these false deities. The power of these forces are for real, but they all bow their knee to the power of Jesus. However, in a place where Jesus’ name isn’t uttered, they rule over those that have been given away to the futility of their minds (Ephesians 4:17-18). The false mindsets open up for the demonic influence and the demonic influence perpetuate the false mindsets. I’m not sure if the egg or the chicken came first. Hindus surely grasp that something else is going on than what meets the natural eye. They believe that there are forces at work in the universe that account for how things have come to be. Biblically that’s not far off, there are forces at work. The triune God is good and created all good and perfect things. He however is not a force (He does have force though), He is Father, Son and Spirit; three persons comprised in one Godhead, all of the same nature and essence. There is the kingdom of darkness that opposes Him, Satan as their leader. Hindus see in the natural that something is going on, but have misinterpreted it and tried to explain it using many gods with many purposes. Thus, their worship is misdirected to non-gods.
Maybe the number one thing that is unappealing to me about what Hinduism appears to be (I make no claim to be an expert) is the lack of love within the religion. They are created in the image of God and do experience love for one another, of course. But in regards to religion, I see the people worshiping mindlessly. No smiles, no laughter, no crying, no lighting up when they talk about their god. There is no love relationship between god and man. Whereas the God of the Bible is love (1 John 4:8) and so loved the world that He gave up His precious beloved son to save it (John 3:16). He calls His followers to walk in the same way of radical love (John 15:12), which includes even those that would be considered enemies (Luke 6:27). Indeed, the very marking on His followers should be that they love one another (John 13:35). I do see Hindus obedience, but even that obedience must be based out of love (John 14:23). Love is the key. A passionate love for the true God and allowing that to pour into our other relationships is what this whole life is about (Matthew 22: 37-39).
I have very much enjoyed speaking with our Buddhist friend here and he has taught us so much about their beliefs. There is so much value in living a disciplined life that is seeking after truth, but if its misguided it is all for not. Of course, some of their practices are totally contrary to Jesus teachings. They pray often, but they have no new prayers. They merely repeat written prayers that were written long ago. They will even take these prayers and put them inside these prayer wheels that are all over this place. The idea is that you turn the wheel and the prayers go out in vast number. With each turn the same exact prayers are lifted up. The first thing that came to my mind was when Jesus told us to not “use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:7). I do love some written prayers like that of St. Francis of Assisi and certainly the Lord’s prayer, but all the most beautiful times in prayer for me have been the times where the Holy Spirit is there and speaking through the new, fresh words of His saints.
Nonetheless, there are certain Buddhist teachings that sound an awful lot like biblical teachings. And yet, the point is missed when you take God out of it. The act of emptying yourself in Buddhism sounds a lot like denying yourself and taking up your cross (Luke 9:23-24), but if you take out the “follow Me” of Christ you lose the point. Likewise, Buddhists believe that you must rid yourself of fleshly desire, ignorance and hatred. I agree completely. But such is only possible by the working of the Holy Spirit and if you don’t take those things and turn them into a desire for God, a knowledge of the ways of the Lord and a fervent love for Him and others, you come short of truth. I was quite surprised yesterday when my Buddhist friend told me that there is no supreme being in Buddhism and there is no creation account whatsoever. What you see is only a combination of the five elements and the thought of a timeframe for this universe is untouched, considered eternal. Quite interesting to be sure, but requiring prayer for these beloved people.
What is the point in me sharing all of this? For the non-Christian reader, not a whole lot. Other than I hope your spirit is responding to truth that I’ve spoken and you see the one true God, a God of love that is worthy of our lives. For my brothers and sisters in the faith, this ought to be stirring us to action. We are bearers of the truth. As ministers of the Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we should have a heart that beats for these people to know the God of truth.
If you feel that this post is about comparing religions, we’ve both missed it. These are people we’re talking about. People that God loves, people that Jesus died for. People that will spend eternity away from him, unless we, as His body, do something. The religious rituals and the demonic strongholds are only the obstacles. There is a sheer beauty about the people of south Asia that the Lord created uniquely. There are elements of their culture that He designed and wants to redeem to its highest value. God wants them and Christ’s blood is sufficient. What are we going to do about this?
Certainly a part of God advancing His Kingdom internally, as He told me He would do, includes this new desire for all people to come into right relationship with the Lord and begin fulfilling the beautiful destinies He’s prepared for them. To be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time praying people into the Kingdom, my prayer life is somewhat selfish. I pray for people, but it’s the people that are in my life as friends, family and acquaintances. That must change. I, without a doubt, see my first ministry in this life to be a father and believe that there will be great fruit in the lives of my children as they go out and advance the Kingdom themselves. I’ve said before that my traditional view of a missionary is that guy going into the remote village and bringing the Gospel. Some might say that I am more of an overseas aid worker, who happens to be a believer. But as my heart grows to have a hunger to see the prodigals come home and allow that to have a profound impact on my work, I can fulfill the calling of a true missionary.
In the past, my own walk with Jesus was all that mattered. If I was recognizing Him and loving Him, getting myself closer to Him, then that was enough for me. Call it evangelical apathy, call it sin. Until we take the Great Commission as a personal commission, we won’t fully grasp our purpose in this life. We are to be about His business and advance the truth that He’s given to us. It is the cure for all the ails of this world and He enables us to be ministers of His saving truth, for this we give praise.
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