"She shrugged. 'No, we're not Christian. We're good little Hindus." She planted a kiss on top of Christ's head, then placed the stature on top of the fireplace mantel, which needed, Sanjeev observed, to be dusted."
This phrase really caught my attention and somewhat made me compare the Hindu couples to Christians. In the story Sanjeev and Twinkle are not very welcoming to the Christian faith and relics that they found in their house. I wonder how would a Christian couple react or how would I react if in my brand new house I found a bunch of Hindu relics. Would I throw them away? Would I keep them in the attic? Would I set them around the house? And would my actions be disrespectful in any way?
If I found a bunch of Hindu relics I think I would definitely take all of them out of the attic. I would probably observe them and their beauty because they are art and millions of people worship them. I would definitely not throw them away because I feel like that would be extremely disrespectful to their religion; because I would not someone to disrespect a cross or a nativity scene. I believe if we disrespected someone elses religion how could they respect what we believe in. I know we shouldn't honor idols and fake gods but I do believe we should show respect for the people so that hopefully we can be a better witness to the lost.
Would I set them around the house? No. I would most likely donate them to a Hindu family or a Hindu meeting place so that they could put them in use.
I feel like when it comes to people's religion and relics people can be easily offended and many arguments could arise. Many wars have been started because of religion.
I personally believe we don't need more religion but more God, Christ and Love.
That's an awesome closing to your thoughts, Adam. This world needs more love and less religion. More God and less judgment. More hope and less oppression. How do we expect to offer that if we don't even respect the ppl we want to minister to.
ReplyDeleteShowing respect for a Hindu's things (if you were to find them) and not throwing them away is a good response to such a situation. I think that would show more Christ in you than if you were to trash their religion.
I agree with Heather. Love is one of the top priorities in reaching out to people when ministering to them. How do we expect Hindu's and people of other faith to respect christianity if we arent respecting their beliefs? good thoughts!
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