If not, I would be either an Atheist or a Hindu

I have to make a confession; had I not experienced the living Christ transforming my life, today I would either be a die-hard atheist or a devout Hindu doing everything within my power to promote and protect the age old Hindu traditions against the encroachment from the competing religions and philosophies.  However, I am a Christian now, and the story-line is totally different. 

What made me to accept Jesus as my savior and guide for my life?  The one defining factor that made the difference in my decision to follow Jesus of Nazareth was his resurrection from the dead.  Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most fundamental aspect of Christian faith that posits Jesus to be a living person capable of interacting with human beings individually and collectively.  I happen to be one among millions who could not deny the real presence of living Jesus in their life. 

The thought of an alternative to Christian faith came as I was hiking in Bomunsan, a mountain with wonderful hiking trails not far from downtown city of Daejeon.  Mountains in Korea are venerated as they are dotted with many Buddhist temples, shrines, monasteries and tombs of ancestors; often one can easily hear monks chanting, humming or striking the handheld wooden fish called “moktak” making a peculiar sound identified only with the monks in meditation.  For such a culture that finds its identity being shaped for centuries by these religious sentiments, it is not difficult to imagine why there is a growing resentment toward Christianity and other religions.

As I was trying to be adventurous today; I decided to follow a less traveled trail as if I was inspired by Robert Frost in taking road not taken.  Starting their separate paths from the bottom, two mountains meet with one another on top making it one peak resulting in a steep cliff on the northern side; at the bottom of the cliff starts the ravine with a small brook springing from under the rocks.

As I was descending, I came at a spot where either I had to follow the mountain’s nose or try the less traveled trail into the ravine as if I was trying to get to the left eye of the mountain face; I chose the ravine.  Once I was half way down the cliff; I saw something like a roof of a temple below where the ravine separated the two mountains.  I could also hear a deep spiritual music coming from the loudspeakers hidden in the rocks and soon the sound of moktak confirmed that there was a Buddhist temple below.  By this time I was in a position from where I could see the two main temples and a cave completely decorated with candles, idols and many other religious articles.   As I was enjoying the view from above, a Korean gentleman, in his late twenties or early thirties, passed me by and went ahead.  When I finally got to the temple, I saw him inside one of the temples kneeling down before a huge idol of Buddha.  One of the temples appeared to be open to anyone who would like to stop by and pray while the other was well attended by a few nuns inside.  I did not see monks.  As the other hiker was inside the temples praying, I took a few pictures and the ladies from the temple made some gestures that I was not welcomed to do so but because I was a foreigner, I guessed they decided to overlook.  In Korea, foreigners are given some sort of license to make mistake and particularly if you are a person of white descent, you have a larger margin for it. 

After gesturing “anyonghee Kheseyo” (goodbye) to the nuns, I headed down and it was then that I began to think about my personal journey into the Christian faith from Hinduism.  I pictured the young man who passed me by, while picturing myself in his place, but was still in the temple praying; for him, places like these are so real, so personal, and so inspirational.  He does not need the existence of a God for these things to become relevant to his personhood and cultural identity.  These things are so ingrained in his cultural milieu and way of life that it is hard for him to think otherwise.  These are the sentiments that define his way of life and pattern of thinking; his true identity as a Korean cannot be divorced from the temples, shrines and the sounds in these mountains regardless of whether there is a God or not.  He is the torch bearer of his ancestors’ legacy and custodian of the wealth of culture, language, literature, and a way of life they have left for him and for his posterity.  

Asking this young man to accept Christianity is to ask him to commit cultural, linguistic, literary and religious suicide.  In any religion where God is only limited in legends, in religious texts or the confinements of temples and geography; rituals and symbols become the captivating alternative to a personal relationship with the creator of the heavens and the earth.  When there is no evidence of any living deity interacting with the devotees; no living relationship with a living person or transcendent being, then the legends, traditions, cultural norms, religious symbols and sentiments become the only alternative to form one’s identity be it a Korean, a Chinese, an Indian or anyone.  These symbols become so powerful that the human mind can actually surrender its autonomy to such inanimate things and objects; rationality and morality become the casualty of such spirituality that does not have a personal divine being that provides revelation, inspiration, and moral compass in a broken world.   Had Jesus not risen from the dead, had he not demonstrated his abiding presence in my life; on the one hand, following human rationality I would have become a pure naturalist.  On the other, failing to heed to reason, I would have become blind rationally, and would not be afraid to die or to kill in order to protect my Hindu symbolism; I would have lost my moral compass by placing spirituality over morality.

Spirituality/religion devoid of a personal God actively involved in human affairs appears to extinguish the light of human rationality and morality; all kinds of evil can be justified in the name of spirituality/religion.  It is when Karl Marx becomes right in saying that religion is indeed a drug or opium that blinds the human mind in which it is impossible to make moral judgment.  A Buddhist in South East Asian nation can murder a Christian or a Muslim for his religious reasons.  A Hindu in India can do the same thing with the Christians and Muslims.  For the Muslims, killing the infidels appears to be one of the most righteous acts throughout the Islamic world.  Wherever and whenever the Christians have deviated from the teachings of Christ found in the New Testament, they have also demonstrated the evil of putting spirituality over morality by killing each other; symbols and systems of religion cannot provide the moral authority needed to steer the sinking ship of fallen humanity.   Only the living relationship with the living person of Jesus Christ can provide the authority and the power by his own presence to steer the sinking moral ship of humanity in this world where he promises to return soon.

Precisely for this reason, when Jesus presented himself to be the way and the truth and the life, he coined the greatest commandment consisting of two sides; “Love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).  Only in the person of Jesus Christ do we see the balance between spirituality and morality; loving God cannot be accomplished without loving one’s neighbor.  Any religion that justifies the killing of one’s neighbor for any reason has fallen below human morality; the religious symbolism has blinded the voice of reason within the human soul and thus the depravity reaches lower than the animal world.

When a person actually meets the resurrected Jesus, the whole issue of human identity and cultural heritage takes into a new dimension; a Korean is no longer just a Korean, a Japanese is no longer just a Japanese, an English is no longer just an English, an American is no longer just an American, an African is no longer just an Africa.  Humanity becomes a family regardless of one’s cultural upbringing and religious affiliation; loving God necessarily leads to loving our neighbors instead of killing them.  That is why a converted Christian from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam or any other ways may appear to be committing cultural and religious suicide; but it is just an appearance. Instead of committing suicide, such a person truly starts living a spiritual life that values human rationality and morality.  Outside of Jesus Christ, my spirituality is always in danger of becoming an immoral spirituality and therefore, it is my moral responsibility to share the gospel with my fellow hiker in Bomunsan should the opportunity arise.