Bible Study With Jairus - Buddhist Mother Accepts Christ

Bible Study With Jairus - Buddhist Mother Accepts Christ

Have you ever tried to witness to a Buddhist friend about Christ only to hear them say they are perfectly content with Buddhism? Even if you try to argue that Jesus is the one true God, you may be met with anger. It is true that some Buddhists can be won over by a Christian who demonstrates Jesus’ love and patience, but typically this is a long process with a limited rate of effectiveness.

In my hometown, there are a lot of Buddhist believers. I am referring to the city of Handan, China. In China, there are two main groups of people who do not believe in the Christian God. The first group are atheists and they claim to believe in no god. They think burning incense to Buddha is superstitious and worshiping Christ is a crutch for the weak and unsure. They don’t believe in God, spirits or ghosts. The other type of person believes that gods exist, but they only worship the gods whom they think will do something for them. If an idol they worshiped manifested itself or helped them at some point, their loyalty will stay with that god.

I have a lot of direct experiences with people of the second group. Both my great-grandfather and grandfather are devout believers of Lü Zu. This is a god in Taoism. A local legend teaches that one day the Japanese were preparing to attack our village. Due to heavy fog, however, the Japanese got lost and were not able to enter our village. The villagers thought it was a manifestation of Lü Zu, so they built a special temple for him. The temple was demolished during the Cultural Revolution but restored afterward. After it was rebuilt, incense burned and flourished showing the power of the people’s faith and superstition. I never met my great grandfather, but I heard from my family that he was an enthusiast of the Lü Zu Temple. When it was being built, my grandfather even donated wood to it. It was clear to anyone who came to visit that my grandfather worshipped Lü Zu.

My mother, on the other hand, always worshipped Guanyin Bodhisattva. In fact, our house was built on the site of a Bodhisattva temple that was previously demolished. Villagers said that our family lived in the “West Temple.” Before my mother came to faith in Jesus Christ, one of her reasons for worshiping buddha had always been that “our family is in the West Temple.” She was not willing to offend the gods by denying this privilege and tradition. Although my mother was not on good terms with my grandfather for most of her life and she also didn’t worship Lü Zu, she still highly respected the village sorcerer of the Lü Zu Temple. This sorcerer didn’t have a good education nor did he come from an influential family line. It happened that suddenly one day, this man became possessed by a deity and became a sorcerer henceforth. Everyone often asked him questions; they treated him like a Christian would treat a prophet. He was a frequent and respected guest at the Lü Zu Temple. When I was young, he even used to visit my house. I didn’t like him at all, however. Like my father who was deeply influenced by communist education, I really hated this kind of feudal superstition.

Later in my life, I became a Christian and moved to the United States. I have always tried to witness to my family, but with trivial effect. My mom always said that we should go our own way. She stated once, “You believe in your Christ; I believe in my Bodhisattva.” Despite her suggestion, I still tried to witness to her. One year I took my parents on vacation to another city. My friend, a Christian brother, treated us to eat and witnessed to my parents. My father ended up leaving the restaurant in anger.

Read More: https://jbwm.org/elijah-list-conference-testimony-part-ii-buddhist-mother-accepts-christ/