Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

Jesus & Buddha in Burma (8/30/02)

"So you just accept all this Jesus stuff on faith?"

"Yes," I replied.

"So if I said to you, 'There's a gun on the seat of that car over there,' is there a gun on the seat of that car?"

"If I knew you to be an honest person, & had no reason to doubt your word, yes, I would believe that there is a gun on the seat of that car. What reason would I have not to believe you?"

"But what if you believed me, yet there was no gun there?"

"Then obviously you would have proven to be a liar."

"Hmmmmm. Let me think on that."

His name is Kyaw (pronounced Joe) Min, and we were sitting in an outdoor restaurant at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. For the past hour he had escorted me & Phoebe in the one hundred degree heat, extolling the virtues of Buddhism while I tried to steer him to the person of Jesus Christ. His contention in this particular discussion was that all beliefs are the same; it doesn't matter what or who you believe in so long as you believe in something. Of course, Jesus said the object of belief (what or who you believe in) makes a huge, eternal difference. Faith all by itself is never a virtue in the Bible, but faith in the God who gave his Son is of great worth. It was my turn to ask a question.

"What if I poisoned this water bottle, but told you it was pure water. Even though you believed it to be pure, what would happen if you drank it?"

"If it's poisoned but I believe it's pure? I would die."

"So your believing it was pure wouldn't make it pure, would it? Believing something doesn't make it true, & not believing something doesn't make it false; it's already true or false whether or not you believe it. The issue isn't whether you're going to believe something or not, we all believe in something (even those who believe in nothing!) The issue is whether or not what you believe in is true, & to determine that you've got to examine the evidence. And in the case of Jesus Christ, the evidence is overwhelming: He is who he said he was, whether you or anyone else believes it or not."

Our discussion ended shortly after this exchange; heat exhaustion & dehydration were taking their toll on both me & Phoebe. We had to get a taxi & get back to the air conditioned hotel room quick. But it was eye-opening to me that whether you're in a coffee shop in Frederick or a café in Burma, the questions & the issues of life are identical: What is truth? Can we know it? Who am I? Is anyone out there? Am I a random accident or a deliberate creation? What happens when I die? Is there any way I can be sure of anything?

My hope & prayer for First Christian Church is that this will be a safe place where the Kyaw Mins around us - people looking for answers to these & other very legitimate questions - can poke around the claims of Christianity, & where the followers of Jesus are equipped to engage such spiritual seekers & lovingly challenge them to place their trust in the Savior of the empty tomb.

It's not enough to believe; it's what you believe in that makes all the difference.


Jim Dewar --