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IS BUDDHISM ALL BAD? #4
MY KIND OF GOD
Sometimes you can tell a lot from a book just by its
first sentence. Let me invite you to join me in critiquing this one. Here
it is:
"The prayer that reforms the sinner and
heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God."
That's good, isn't it? Just the next paragraph down,
it gets even better.
"Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is
prayer; and NO LOSS can occur from trusting God with our desires, that
they may be molded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds."
The whole chapter, by the way, is entitled very simply:
"Prayer." And the author quotes from where Jesus talks to His
disciples about prayer and how faith can move mountains, etc.
Well, so this is very good and inspiring. What's the catch? I should point
out that this entire book, with the first chapter, "Prayer,"
is entitled: Science and Health, written by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder
of the Christian Science church.
And if you go elsewhere to dig through the writings of this very interesting
religious group, you do find things which would trouble most Christians.
Here's a quotation from what are called Miscellaneous Writings:
"The spiritual Christ," this same writer
suggests, "was infallible." So far so good. "Jesus, as
material manhood, was NOT Christ."
And THAT'S a problem. Here's a bit more.
"Jesus' students, not sufficiently advanced
to understand fully their Master's triumph, did not perform many wonderful
works until they saw Him after His crucifixion and learned that He had
not died."
We asked at the beginning of this radio series: IS
BUDDHISM ALL BAD? And the answer is no. Of course not. There's great truth
to be found there, and many wonderful champions of goodness, heroes and
heroines who have blessed the world with their philosophy of gentleness.
But in some key areas where the Christian faith says one thing and the
Buddhist faith suggests something else, then both are not right. Only
one can be correct. And the thinking person has to study and make decisions.
Here's another quotation that all of us might wish we could sign our names
to.
"And I, being fifteen years of age and being
somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted
and knew of the goodness of Jesus."
Would you like to read more where that came from. You
certainly can, because what I just shared is from The Book of Mormon,
chapter 1, verse 15. But many Christians, as they do more reading, find
that there are troubling choices to be made. Not only must one wrestle
with the well-known teaching: "As man is, God once was: as God is,
man may become," but also with the additional suggestion that God
Himself, once a man but now God, impregnated Mary, the mother of Jesus,
through actual physical, sexual relations.
And you know, friend, I don't pick these two examples in order to trash
these two groups. You could turn right around and point to a difference
in doctrines between my own denomination and that, say, of the Methodist
Church. And there certainly are some. And on points where x and y cannot
both be true at the same time, thoughtful Christians who decide to become
a Methodist or an Adventist need to prayerfully search through their own
Bibles and then invite the Holy Spirit to guide in their decision.
But you know, today I'd like to move beyond our series title, IS BUDDHISM
ALL BAD?, and walk hand-in-hand with you to just one conclusion. And it's
one I find eloquently and passionately expressed in a landmark book entitled
The Jesus I Never Knew, written by evangelical Christian Philip Yancey.
Toward the end, he has a chapter entitled "The Difference He Makes."
And after more than 200 pages of writing about the Virgin Birth, the teachings
of Jesus, the miracles, the healings, and then His death and triumphant
resurrection, he makes his own personal confession.
And it basically goes something like this: There's nobody like this Person,
Jesus. There simply is not! His teachings are better. His example is better.
His miracle-working power is better. His life was better. His love is
greater. His sacrifice is one-of-a-kind. Only Jesus is alive again, alive
today, alive forever . . . if you believe the evidence. There's simply
nobody anyplace, anywhere, like the Jesus of the Christian faith.
I said in our last discussion that Christ isn't just one wonderful person
in a long line: Alexander the Great, Napoleon the Great, and now Jesus
the Great. No. In the immortal words of John Stott, He isn't Jesus the
Great; He's "Jesus the ONLY." And Yancey seconds that nomination:
"Jesus is radically unlike anyone else who has ever lived. The difference,
in Charles Williams' phrase, is the difference between ‘(quote) one who
is an example of living and one who is the life itself.'"
He goes on to write in amazement that Jesus loved sinners,
even though He wasn't one Himself. "The sinless friend of sinners"
— and he wryly observes how that is "a pattern that should convict
us on both counts." Because we're NOT sinless . . . and we don't
love our fellow sinners very much. And he keeps on writing, pouring himself
into this unforgettable chapter: "The Difference He Makes."
And then, toward the close, he gets even more personal. Why am I a Christian?
And here in this radio series, as we admit that the Buddhist faith has
some exceptionally good things about it, and that the great worldwide
movement, Islam, is marked by many good truths, this is a good question.
Why am I a Christian? And Yancey tells us it comes down to two reasons.
Here they are:
"(1) The lack of good alternatives, and
(2) Jesus. Brilliant, untamed, tender, creative, slippery [in His brilliant
dialogue with His accusers, that is], irreducible, paradoxically humble
— Jesus stands up to scrutiny. HE IS WHO I WANT MY GOD TO BE."
And you know, this is why I can say with some boldness:
The Buddhist religion is not all bad — it has some good elements — but
it does not have Jesus. Our friends who are Unitarian Universalists are,
in many cases, godly people, but that religion does not have the Messiah
Jesus. The Unification Church, the Moonies, own an excellent newspaper,
the Washington Times, and they're involved in some charities. But they
don't have Jesus. Hollywood superstars John Travolta and Tom Cruise and
others may receive blessings and philosophical advantages from their affiliation
with the Church of Scientology . . . but the missing ingredient is the
incredible Person, the Man and God Jesus Christ.
There's a verse in the Christian New Testament which a thinking person
can either accept as true, or reject as being false. The choice is mine
and it's yours too. Acts 4:12 — here it is:
"Salvation is found in no one else [than
Jesus Christ], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved."
In the Clear Word paraphrase:
"Salvation comes only through Him. There is no one else in the whole
world who can save us."
As we mentioned earlier, even Jesus Himself said this
same thing. And you take this incredible life: miracles, healings, sacrifices,
His death on the cross, the resurrection, the holiness and gentleness
and love. And then you also have this CLAIM, this plain statement that
this is the only way. With this Jesus, you get everything that He is .
. . AND salvation. IF He's telling the truth, that is.
Well, friend, that's a decision I have to make and you have to make. Actually,
I've already made it, and I need to keep making it — every day. Perhaps
you need to do the same.
Have you ever noticed how much emphasis Jesus puts on the necessity of
His own truthfulness? By His own admission, this is all life-and-death.
If He's the only way, then that statement being reality isn't just important,
it's ALL-important. Seventy-six times in the four Gospels, Jesus looks
around at His followers, and begins what He says this way: "I tell
you the truth . . ." With this Man, this Messiah, you get so much,
and you also get the Truth. Salvation truth.
And one thing more. I've shared before the very colorful story told by
Bill Hybels, where he's riding in a taxi driven by a very devout follower
of the Muslim religion. A religion with many truths. A religion with many
good people in its ranks. And I'm sure Pastor Hybels pondered in his mind
how to acknowledge those good things in trying to build a bridge to this
man's mind and his felt needs.
But somehow the Holy Spirit impressed him to be rather forceful. And as
they discussed, Hybels just suddenly blurted out a challenge: "Hey,"
he asked, "why is it that you follow the teachings of a dead guy?"
What?! The guy about put the yellow cab into the center divider. "What
are you talking about?" And Hybels pressed his advantage, because
he DID have an advantage! "You follow Mohammed," he reminded
the cabbie, "but he's dead. We could ride over to Kennedy right now,
get on a plane together, and fly over to the Middle East and see his tomb.
But Jesus Christ is alive!" And by the time they'd gotten to the
hotel, Hybels was halfway through a Bible study with this man who belonged
to a good religion, but not the religion with the greatest advantage there
is: the risen Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Friend, wouldn't you like to pray, and know that you had the living Savior
available to listen? Wouldn't you like to ask heaven for power, and know
that a risen Lord was there to provide it? And wouldn't you like to claim
salvation, and know that you belonged to the faith system whose Founder
had, by His own gift, His own death and resurrection, provided the basis
for that salvation?
Talk about advantage! And it's one you can have right now.
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