1/19/2016 Tok about 24
“To
be honest, sometimes it seems very negative, like I can never do anything
right.” That’s how Tok, a senior
business major, described the faith he had grown up in and has now begun to
question. Another example of a prodigal
son from a Christian church? No, Tok
grew up in a Vietnamese immigrant family and was very active in his Buddhist
temple and in their Buddhist youth group.
He welcomed our conversation and described how his objective questions
have caused him to see some of the negative aspects of Buddhism. He can never be quite sure that his good
karma will outweigh his bad, and believes that only Buddhist monks have any
chance of breaking through the endless cycle of reincarnation. I could see some parallels with young people
within our churches, and I told him how many see Christianity the same
way. They haven’t learned to read or
trust the Bible for themselves and they still believe that their faith is just
a bunch of rules to follow that they will be judged on. Like the idea of karma, they hope their good deeds
will outweigh their bad.
Why the
similarities between a questioning Buddhist like Tok and the skeptical youth of
American churches? Because “through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law
of sin and death.” (Romans 8) Those without Christ are still under this
law, whether Christian or Buddhist or what-have you in background. They have not yet been set free in Christ,
and are still under the ‘law of sin and death” – all experience death in their
relationship with God because of sin, a death that no amount of good or
religious deeds can save us from. Tok
listened intently to the good news that we have been save not by good works but
by faith in Jesus, and how a faith relationship with Jesus can transform even a
business major into an opportunity to honor and serve God in response. I could see real hope in his eyes as he
learned how a right relationship with God can be so much more than “never being able to
do anything right”.
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