Crumble at the Cross
Dressed in our Sunday best, we walked into the conservative Jewish Synagogue and took our seats among the devoted Jews during the Sabbath service. They read from the Torah and paraded it around the room so that everyone had the chance to touch their prayer book to the Torah and then kiss it. They brought a couple to the front of the room, announced their upcoming marriage, and threw candy at them while exclaiming, "Mazel Tov!" They sang some and prayed some, I think. It was hard to tell because the entire ceremony was in Hebrew except for one short section and a few words of explanation here and there. One student reported that he spoke with a Jewish man as they were walking out of the synagogue together. The Jewish man said, "Yeah, I didn't understand half of what they were saying either."
Our next stop was the Baha'i center. This new religious movement seeks the unity of all humanity and religions. In other words (from the perspective of our class), they twisted together aspects of every religion in order to make them all agree - to make them all look like truth so that anyone can believe what they want to believe and be accepted. They believe that there are several "gates" to "salvation", one of which was the Buddha and one of which was Jesus Christ. The most recent, which surpasses all because of their philosophy of "progressive revelation", was Baha'ulla, who is the focal point of their faith.
One man spoke to us fervently, defending his beliefs by quoting the Bible with a surprising amount of knowledge. I can see why people would fall into believing him because of his smooth words and convincing speech. Except I wanted to cry because it was so false, so twisted, so confused.
The funny thing was that he grew up as a Christian in the Catholic church. But that didn't work for him, so he became a Baha'i, and now he claims to have finally gained the joy and peace that he was looking for all along.
We finished the day by visiting a Soka Gakkai temple. The Soka Gakkai are a sect of Buddhism, although they have little in common. The Soka Gakkai believe in the mystical power of a chant, which they repeat over and over again, claiming that it has power to change their lives. They don't believe in a higher power, just a chant, which they demonstrated to us. They tried to convince us that Soka Gakkai was the way to go. They showed an inspiring video about this guy who searched for guidance all his life and finally found it in chanting. One girl shared her testimony about how she knew a lady that was healed from cancer because she started chanting. A man that I talked to used to attend an Episcopal church, but he didn't find happiness until he started chanting. They tried to sell their religion like an infomercial, complete with cheesy smiles. They claimed happiness, but it all looked so fake.
Back on the van, my bus buddy and I were reflecting and contemplating what we had seen and experienced this weekend.
What blew me away was that some of these people had tried Christianity before they converted to these wild religions. They stood in church and then walked away. They heard about Jesus, but then they went elsewhere.
Why? I wish that I could have asked a member from each of these religions, "What is your greatest spiritual need? And how is your religion meeting that need?"
For the Soka Gakkai, it was obviously happiness that they were seeking. For the Baha'i, it might have been something like community, a place to belong. For the Buddhist, it might be peace. For the Jew, it might be a standard of morality or purpose.
But the point is this: These are the spiritual needs of people, and the church failed to meet them. So the people turned elsewhere, and now they are tricked into thinking that chanting and ritual and meditation bring life. And they are missing the source of Life Himself.
Later that evening, one of the students in our group led a beautiful, heart-felt prayer in which he said, "All other religions crumble at the foot of the cross."
It is true. All other religions have some similarities - the quest for satisfaction, some form of ritual, a set of codes, a hero to follow - all in order to earn your way to salvation or to your "god". But no other religion has anything like the cross. Nothing even comes close. And all other religions crumble to pieces at the foot of the cross, where Christ's blood ran down His love poured out, His grace freely given.
All this prompts me to pray, too. I pray for the church, that we may rise up to meet the spiritual needs of people of this generation, that we may show them the amazing love of Jesus, that we may be authentic and genuine in sharing the gospel, and that we may never ever again be the reason that someone turns away from God.
I pray for the lost in a way that I have never prayed before. I pray that a strong dissatisfaction in their hearts that makes them question if there is something more. I pray that they will be so restless that something prompts them to seek Christ.
I pray that God will send passionate Christ-followers to point them to Jesus as the only answer. And I pray that God will mold me into a disciple like that. O Lord, increase my passion and my faith and my love for you. Increase my concern for the lost, and make me into an ambassador and a fragrant aroma. I want people to see me and want you.
Our next stop was the Baha'i center. This new religious movement seeks the unity of all humanity and religions. In other words (from the perspective of our class), they twisted together aspects of every religion in order to make them all agree - to make them all look like truth so that anyone can believe what they want to believe and be accepted. They believe that there are several "gates" to "salvation", one of which was the Buddha and one of which was Jesus Christ. The most recent, which surpasses all because of their philosophy of "progressive revelation", was Baha'ulla, who is the focal point of their faith.
One man spoke to us fervently, defending his beliefs by quoting the Bible with a surprising amount of knowledge. I can see why people would fall into believing him because of his smooth words and convincing speech. Except I wanted to cry because it was so false, so twisted, so confused.
The funny thing was that he grew up as a Christian in the Catholic church. But that didn't work for him, so he became a Baha'i, and now he claims to have finally gained the joy and peace that he was looking for all along.
We finished the day by visiting a Soka Gakkai temple. The Soka Gakkai are a sect of Buddhism, although they have little in common. The Soka Gakkai believe in the mystical power of a chant, which they repeat over and over again, claiming that it has power to change their lives. They don't believe in a higher power, just a chant, which they demonstrated to us. They tried to convince us that Soka Gakkai was the way to go. They showed an inspiring video about this guy who searched for guidance all his life and finally found it in chanting. One girl shared her testimony about how she knew a lady that was healed from cancer because she started chanting. A man that I talked to used to attend an Episcopal church, but he didn't find happiness until he started chanting. They tried to sell their religion like an infomercial, complete with cheesy smiles. They claimed happiness, but it all looked so fake.
Back on the van, my bus buddy and I were reflecting and contemplating what we had seen and experienced this weekend.
What blew me away was that some of these people had tried Christianity before they converted to these wild religions. They stood in church and then walked away. They heard about Jesus, but then they went elsewhere.
Why? I wish that I could have asked a member from each of these religions, "What is your greatest spiritual need? And how is your religion meeting that need?"
For the Soka Gakkai, it was obviously happiness that they were seeking. For the Baha'i, it might have been something like community, a place to belong. For the Buddhist, it might be peace. For the Jew, it might be a standard of morality or purpose.
But the point is this: These are the spiritual needs of people, and the church failed to meet them. So the people turned elsewhere, and now they are tricked into thinking that chanting and ritual and meditation bring life. And they are missing the source of Life Himself.
Later that evening, one of the students in our group led a beautiful, heart-felt prayer in which he said, "All other religions crumble at the foot of the cross."
It is true. All other religions have some similarities - the quest for satisfaction, some form of ritual, a set of codes, a hero to follow - all in order to earn your way to salvation or to your "god". But no other religion has anything like the cross. Nothing even comes close. And all other religions crumble to pieces at the foot of the cross, where Christ's blood ran down His love poured out, His grace freely given.
All this prompts me to pray, too. I pray for the church, that we may rise up to meet the spiritual needs of people of this generation, that we may show them the amazing love of Jesus, that we may be authentic and genuine in sharing the gospel, and that we may never ever again be the reason that someone turns away from God.
I pray for the lost in a way that I have never prayed before. I pray that a strong dissatisfaction in their hearts that makes them question if there is something more. I pray that they will be so restless that something prompts them to seek Christ.
I pray that God will send passionate Christ-followers to point them to Jesus as the only answer. And I pray that God will mold me into a disciple like that. O Lord, increase my passion and my faith and my love for you. Increase my concern for the lost, and make me into an ambassador and a fragrant aroma. I want people to see me and want you.
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