The language may be different as well as the architecture, but the busyness captures a person all alike. Distractions are everywhere, and this produces weak faith even for the many Buddhists we come in contact with. When we go to the various “massage” parlors and ask the girls if they are Buddhist, all of them say yes. However, if you continue to talk with them you will find that a majority of them don’t actually actively participate in Buddhism, they just occasionally go to the temple for good luck.
Every
city is the same.
The
religion may be different, but the inconsistency of the people is just as
alarming. Living in the Bible belt now for two years, I can say that basically
everyone you meet is “Christian.” In fact, a majority of the many church pews
on Sunday morning are filled with university students who want to get their “Jesus
fix” for the week. Isn’t that exactly what these Buddhists are saying? They go
to the temple just to receive good luck or blessings from the religious leaders.
The temple doesn’t ask for anything more of a sacrifice than a few pieces of
change. How convicting this was for me to realize. Christ asks for it all. I
will repeat that only because I don’t even think it has completely sunk into my
own head.
Jesus Christ, the Savior of us all, asks for our
everything.
It’s
more than a fix, it’s more than fire insurance, it’s more than good luck on
Sunday mornings. He asks for physical sacrifice every morning; every thought,
action, breath, word. The fickleness of the human heart has been revealed to me
yet again. When you share the Gospel with these women, they smile and seem
interested, but many aren’t willing to make that sacrifice just yet. This feels
discouraging at times, but then I think; can you blame them? By the Holy Spirit
alone could anyone make this life long revision. My eyes have been opened to
what God is doing in their lives, as well as in my own. It isn’t a choice you
make to follow Christ to the ends of the earth; it’s a transformation that He
gives you over a period of time. It’s the Spirit of truth shaping your heart to
be more like Him, and it starts by hearing the Gospel for the first time.
I
will pray unceasingly that God will continue to open the hearts of these beautiful
women, and I humbly request that you do the same.
For who regards you as a superior? What do
you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast
as if you had not received it? -1 Corinthians 4:7
A man can receive nothing unless it has been
given to him from heaven. –John 3:27
-Tori-Reanna