The Everyday Club

1/12/09 Parashar, about 30
Using a million dollar tract as a conversation starter, I met Parashar, an insurance salesman from India, in the isles at a Mejiers department store. He is Hindu but claims to believe in one supreme God - "the God of all religions" which surprised me because I thought Hindus believe in many gods. Parashar thinks the different aspects of God's character are represented by the numerous "gods" of Hinduism, much like the Holy Trinity of Christianity. He even said that some Hindus believe in Jesus as one of their gods. I found out later that Parashar has some Christian friends here in America and has gone to church with them a few times. I could tell that he has been trying to reconcile the differences between the two religions, and it seems like he is ending up with a watered-down version of each. He easily recognizes his own sin, but takes the attitude that one cannot know the future and "I'll take my chances with God on judgment day". I just tried to tell Parashar about a few things that his Christian friends might have negleccted to tell him - that while God loves people, He also loves justice and will not withhold His wrath and judgment of sin for long. Sin has a high price that must be paid, but God in his grace has offered His Son as a sacrifice on behalf of all who repent and believe. Parashar was very friendly and open to different ideas. I left him a booklet comparing the four major world religions and explaining how Christianity alone addresses our sin problem. I believe he is very interested and will read it. Pray for him.