A Buddhist Christian?
A Buddhist Christian?
There is a joy in discipling new believers from non-traditional gospel cultures. There is something pure and virginal about their faith - untainted by presuppositions and free from the baggage that comes with a cultural religion. So much can be done with a blank canvas. To teach something that is entirely new and to see the eureka moments in one’s faith journey has an inherent satisfaction that those of us who love to teach long to see in those we teach.
The blank slate does, however, have some necessary difficulties. The learning curve can be pretty steep. Jesus didn’t really have blank slate disciples - they were all Jewish and had to unlearn much of what they had been taught before they could eventually see Jesus for who he really was. In Acts we see many blank slate believers as the disciples take the gospel to the Gentiles. There were advantages and disadvantages in both cases.
In our international student ministry there are many highly educated students and scholars who come with spiritual blank slates. Everything that we teach them from the Bible is completely new to them. Because of this, it is often a long journey to Jesus for those from the Orient, India, or the Middle East.
One such Chinese student has met Jesus on this long journey. He and I have a discipleship type relationship and he is eager to learn. The other day he asked me a question which I have never been asked before. “Can I be a Christian and a Buddhist?” I wanted to probe a little deeper and find out exactly why he would be interested in such a spiritual hybrid. “I’m Chinese. I’m going back to China in May, and Christianity is seen as a foreign religion. It’s not easy to be a Christian in China.”
When I asked him what he liked about Buddhism he talked about many of the areas where the teachings of Buddhism and Jesus are similar. Some such teachings are:
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
“The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.”
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
He said that he liked that Buddhism taught to be a servant to everyone. And while Buddhism does not acknowledge the existence of God, neither does it deny the existence of God. In his mind, the two were complimentary, not contradictory.
This same discussion could be said of just about every religion in the world. There is some form of moral teaching in every religion. One need not acknowledge the God of the Bible to understand Truth. Truth is ingrained in the fabric of creation - as is love, community, sacrifice, joy - because God wove them into us, into His creation.
The crux of the issue surfaced when I asked him, “Why?” Why is a Buddhist motivated to avoid anger, to serve, to love? My friend’s answer was the standard Buddhist answer - to save oneself. As the Buddha put it, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” And this is where Christianity and Buddhism (and indeed every other religion in the world) are separated with an irreconcilable divide. The Buddhist pursuit of self-made salvation is exactly what the Bible says is an impossibility. “No man comes to the Father except through me,” says Jesus in John 14:6. It is only by grace that we are saved, through faith in Jesus, “and this not of yourselves,” says Jesus‘ disciple Paul in Ephesians 2:8. While Buddhism prides itself on being the most tolerant of religions, Christianity does not allow for such pluralism - and unashamedly so. And praise the Lord for this! Galatians 5:1 redundantly says, "for freedom Christ has set us free!" Not only do I not have to earn my salvation by my own efforts - I cannot! Let us not focus on the narrowness of this truth, but rejoice in the liberty that it brings!
My friend knows these things - in his head. While he has a thorough understanding of the gospel, he had not yet reconciled his new faith with his home culture, to which he will be returning in 4 months. But this is discipleship! Discipleship is not transferring information from the teachers brain into the disciple’s. It is teaching, modeling, questioning, attempting, failing, experiencing one’s newfound (or maybe old-found) faith.
I am excited to continue this relationship and this discussion. I am looking forward to talking more with my friend about how he can share his faith with his Buddhist friends back home. I look forward to some day visiting him in China and seeing how his faith transitions back to his home culture. I look forward to continuing to teach, model, question, attempt, fail, and experience alongside him.
There is a joy in discipling new believers from non-traditional gospel cultures. There is something pure and virginal about their faith - untainted by presuppositions and free from the baggage that comes with a cultural religion. So much can be done with a blank canvas. To teach something that is entirely new and to see the eureka moments in one’s faith journey has an inherent satisfaction that those of us who love to teach long to see in those we teach.
The blank slate does, however, have some necessary difficulties. The learning curve can be pretty steep. Jesus didn’t really have blank slate disciples - they were all Jewish and had to unlearn much of what they had been taught before they could eventually see Jesus for who he really was. In Acts we see many blank slate believers as the disciples take the gospel to the Gentiles. There were advantages and disadvantages in both cases.
In our international student ministry there are many highly educated students and scholars who come with spiritual blank slates. Everything that we teach them from the Bible is completely new to them. Because of this, it is often a long journey to Jesus for those from the Orient, India, or the Middle East.
One such Chinese student has met Jesus on this long journey. He and I have a discipleship type relationship and he is eager to learn. The other day he asked me a question which I have never been asked before. “Can I be a Christian and a Buddhist?” I wanted to probe a little deeper and find out exactly why he would be interested in such a spiritual hybrid. “I’m Chinese. I’m going back to China in May, and Christianity is seen as a foreign religion. It’s not easy to be a Christian in China.”
When I asked him what he liked about Buddhism he talked about many of the areas where the teachings of Buddhism and Jesus are similar. Some such teachings are:
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
“The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.”
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
He said that he liked that Buddhism taught to be a servant to everyone. And while Buddhism does not acknowledge the existence of God, neither does it deny the existence of God. In his mind, the two were complimentary, not contradictory.
This same discussion could be said of just about every religion in the world. There is some form of moral teaching in every religion. One need not acknowledge the God of the Bible to understand Truth. Truth is ingrained in the fabric of creation - as is love, community, sacrifice, joy - because God wove them into us, into His creation.
The crux of the issue surfaced when I asked him, “Why?” Why is a Buddhist motivated to avoid anger, to serve, to love? My friend’s answer was the standard Buddhist answer - to save oneself. As the Buddha put it, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” And this is where Christianity and Buddhism (and indeed every other religion in the world) are separated with an irreconcilable divide. The Buddhist pursuit of self-made salvation is exactly what the Bible says is an impossibility. “No man comes to the Father except through me,” says Jesus in John 14:6. It is only by grace that we are saved, through faith in Jesus, “and this not of yourselves,” says Jesus‘ disciple Paul in Ephesians 2:8. While Buddhism prides itself on being the most tolerant of religions, Christianity does not allow for such pluralism - and unashamedly so. And praise the Lord for this! Galatians 5:1 redundantly says, "for freedom Christ has set us free!" Not only do I not have to earn my salvation by my own efforts - I cannot! Let us not focus on the narrowness of this truth, but rejoice in the liberty that it brings!
My friend knows these things - in his head. While he has a thorough understanding of the gospel, he had not yet reconciled his new faith with his home culture, to which he will be returning in 4 months. But this is discipleship! Discipleship is not transferring information from the teachers brain into the disciple’s. It is teaching, modeling, questioning, attempting, failing, experiencing one’s newfound (or maybe old-found) faith.
I am excited to continue this relationship and this discussion. I am looking forward to talking more with my friend about how he can share his faith with his Buddhist friends back home. I look forward to some day visiting him in China and seeing how his faith transitions back to his home culture. I look forward to continuing to teach, model, question, attempt, fail, and experience alongside him.
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