Reaching the Buddhists (Part 3 of 3, Final)

Reaching the Buddhists

Sharing the Gospel with our Buddhist friends

Khen Lim

Part Three of Three (Final)

This is the continuation from Part Two of the same article series. We continue with the seventh of the eight approaches to reaching the Buddhists.



Image source: Renovare

Seventh, talk about Christian meditation

Many Buddhists like to think that meditation is something they invented. Therefore, it is, they claim, an exclusive domain of Buddhism. In Buddhism, meditation comes by a very popular name – yoga. But we Christians have our own version. 

Not that we’re being competitive but it’s important that we take note of this. Christians regard meditation as a form of prayer where there is an attempt at structuralising an awareness and a reflection of the revelations of God. In fact, David said this about meditation:

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Ps 19:14, NLT)

For Buddhists, meditation has cosmic Eastern mystique. While seated in a lotus position, they indulge in transcendental meditation – called ‘lectio divina’ in Latin – which is a form of contemplative prayer that at its core, is wrought with danger because of the need to hear ‘something.’ 

The point is if you want to hear ‘something,’ the chances are that you will hear ‘something.’ In fact, you may begin to hear anything and everything and then attribute it to your meditative powers.

But on the other hand, Buddhist meditation promotes the emptying of the mind. In fact, many yoga programmes state that their primary goal is an ‘Empty Mind.’ They talk about the importance of holding the state of thoughtlessness in which one can then focus his mind indefinitely on one point. 

Once a Buddhist achieves this state, he can then apparently enter into higher meditations easily and remain in them. Buddhists call this form of meditation ‘Vipassana’ or ‘Anapanasati,’ which they can devote a lifetime of dedicated practices just to achieve a state where all human thoughts disappear entirely or no longer arises.

In other words, Buddhist meditation flushes one’s mind of any thoughts. You get emptiness, which is actually consistent with the Buddhist doctrine on nothingness. Just as they expel thoughts out of their minds, Christian meditation is about filling our minds with thoughts of God where we contemplate His laws, grace and love. If we were to adopt the Buddhist form of meditation, we would surely end up dividing the church and causing disharmony.

To expel all thoughts from our minds is to actually abandon God. That is to say that if we have to choose between being thoughtless and being thoughtful of God, the Buddhist position is to think of nothing and nobody, including Him. Instead, we are called to rely solely on Him and in fact, that is central to our Christian meditation. David obviously discovered this to be true when he said:

“…they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.” (Ps 1:2, NLT)

David describes how a man who delights in the law of the Lord and who, on His law, chooses to meditate ceaselessly will be blessed. In that sense alone, real Christian meditation doesn’t talk about emptying our thoughts to become mindless but to immerse ourselves in the study of the Word. 

Christian meditation is therefore an active thought process where we reflect on the Word through prayer in which we seek God to enrich us with a thorough understanding by the Spirit who has promised to deliver us “into all truth”:

“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” (Jn 16:13, NLT)

Image source: Mission Frontiers

Eighth, show love

Nothing beats this. In the Bible, Paul says it as much as Jesus. Even Hollywood movies admit it as well. Barbara Cartland obviously did with her many popular romance novels. For most if not all of us, love embodies the most powerful approach to reach anyone. For Buddhists, to love people is an important act. It goes without saying then that, for us Christians, reaching our Buddhist friends should also be the same.

Even though we seek to evangelise to the Buddhists for the purpose of conversion, our outreach attempts can also be a grand opportunity to do a whole lot more than that. It could be a wonderful way to make new and lasting friends, lasting enough to go the distance beyond evangelism. And baptism. It’s a great way to express this friendship with Christian love that is more than just an instruction written on an evangelism guide book.

We can take this further by making time and putting in the effort to draw closer to them. Learn about their lives. Find out about their families. Have dinner or supper with them. Go to the movies together. Play basketball together. Understand their struggles in life. At work and at home. Find out what their ambitions are or what they hope to do with their lives in the future. See what advice you can give them. If you can point them in the right direction, you’re only going to make them happy and more trusting of you.

In any relationship, it takes commitment to make things work. It takes dedication to get both people to learn to trust one another. And with this trust, you can certainly evangelise on a more personal level. That’s when your testimonies for Christ not only come alive but become elements of your life that your new Buddhist friend can believe in. In trying to understand what they go through in their own lives, put yourself in their shoes. Experience what they experience. Hurt for hurt. Pain for pain. Feel it beneath the skin. Open your heart to them and let them pour out their struggles for you to truly understand.

When people ask why the Son of God decided to live His life as a man on earth, the one good reason for that is for Him to know what our lives are like. We cannot say then that Christ has no inkling of what we have to go through every day in our lives because He does. Jesus saw with His own eyes what the Jews were like and how they lived. 

He witnessed the persecution because He was subjected to it Himself. He took the brunt of all the violence in the world by taking on sin. And defeating it. If there is anyone who sought to become our friend so that He may understand us perfectly, that will have to be Jesus. And as a role model in our outreach, you couldn’t ask for a better one.

Once we are able to relate to our Buddhist friends on a more personable level, we will find ourselves in a better position to share Christ resulting in them having a deeper and stronger understanding. This alone will help fill up the gaps in their lives, gaps that reflect how little they know of Him. 

In a friendship bonded by lovingkindness, your Buddhist friend has the best opportunity to realise that Jesus is the only One who can truly release them from bondage and captivity. And in doing so, they can then see an end to their sufferings.

But of course, all of this is not attainable overnight. You need to put in the hours to work on it. You need patience and tolerance. You need to stick to the game plan and see it come to fruition at some point later. Buddhists do not begin by having any understanding of Christ. Even if you manage to convince them that there is a God and He is the Christian God, their perception of Him is nothing more than basic – but very fragile – faith. 


Image source: ThoughtCo

In all its fragility at this point, it is easy for misunderstandings and misconceptions. And for all the willingness to believe that there is a God, you could find your Buddhist friend simply asking you what He can do for him. He might even go as far as to make deals like, “If He wants me to believe Him, what is He willing to do for me?”

This shallowness is completely understandable. We may not agree with it but in the long road to reach them, we have to sometimes swallow a bit and move on to a much larger game plan in mind. We have to have the tolerance to overcome small obstacles because the bigger picture is more important. 

What all this means is that we have to accept that Buddhists at this stage would prod and probe. They will be curious as to who this Jesus is. They will try to size Him up before giving Him a ‘shot.’

All this while, the best thing we can do is to go along with it for now. Remember that if you have come this far, don’t throw it all away on a technical point. Instead work patiently with them, gently advise and correct where necessary. But focus more on how we can slowly mould them over a longer term. For now, let us be tolerant because there is much for us to undo in them. Buddhists are so ingrained in their creeds that it will take time to help them ‘migrate.’

Some have said that it takes, on average, about seven years to see a Buddhist finally accept Christ. That’s not something that is too surprising or unbelievable. Something so worthwhile doing is always going to be difficult. Not impossible but difficult. That’s where our perseverance counts for everything. At any rate when you commit yourself to such a friendship, seven years can go by very quickly when you and your Buddhist friend come together and share the fruits of your relationship together.

And in those seven years, you will have plenty of chances to really sink your teeth into the Good News as much as helping him to understand your own Christian life. That’s also when your love for your friend will be reflected in the genuine interest and compassion you have in teaching him about Jesus. 

By then, you’d realise that this is not a job. It is not evangelism as people know it. It is evangelism out of sheer love for one another. It is something you realise your heart wants to do for their sake.


Image source: Sedona

Explaining the meaning of the cross

The cross is the central bastion of all Christianity. It is not just a symbol, though a powerful one it is, but a constant remembrance of how Christ suffered so that we may be released from the bondage of sin. He took the cross to free us from sin in order that we may be repatriated back to the Father and live an eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. That cross says Christ in Christianity.

But not to the Buddhists. Preoccupied by Karma, that cross is bad news because it tells them of Jesus’ sufferings. In other words, to many Buddhists, Jesus at the cross is nothing but bad Karma. And they want nothing to do with it!

That is not an uncommon observation. Dying on the cross has been something that is grossly misunderstood by those who know little to nothing about who Jesus was and why He willed Himself to die this way. The Buddhists are no exception but it does go to show that we cannot be too careful when we look to reach out to them and share the truth and love of Christ. 

What we must then do is to not go into the significance of the cross until we have come to the point of having properly outlined Jesus’ life of perfection to our Buddhist friends first. We have to get them to know the truth of the circumstances that led to Jesus’ moment on the cross.

For that to happen, we have to lead our Buddhist friends to understand Sin and its wages. We have to teach them the moral ethics of Christianity and why we cannot divorce ourselves from our very sense of purpose in life. In other words, God gave us each a life to lead that we may gain real purpose in it. 

After all, what is the point of it all if we died and not know what and why we were born in this world for? Sounds like a silly question to devoted Christians but don’t underestimate its value to Buddhists.

Back many years ago, an elderly friend of mine who ran a tyre retail outlet told me that he enjoyed walking to the nearby Wesleyan church where he would just sit in one of the pews on his own. I asked him why he would do that, since he was not a Christian. 

Robert explained that just sitting there and looking at the cross gave him an uncanny sense of peace and calm. He remembered how he always was filled with reassurance whenever he did that and closed his eyes to feel it all. It was as if all his troubles would melt away. His stress and pressure at work. His worries and anxieties would all fade into the background.

So I asked him if he knew what the cross actually meant. Surprising to me, he said, yes. And then he produced from his office drawer, a fairly minted Bible. Noticing my surprise, Robert told me one day that he became curious after all the many times that he would often drive past that church to and from work. 

Unsettled by his curiosity, he decided to go and buy himself a Bible to read and from there, he began to understand what the cross had meant for Christians. Though he was still not a Christian at that time, he would still make that walk every day in the late afternoon when the busy hours would be over. There, he would meet up with the cross and feel the satisfaction that he could not attain otherwise.

Robert was a Buddhist at that time although his curiosity led him to want to know God. This experience alone taught me that Buddhists can be intrigued enough to want to find out more. While Robert was independent enough to investigate on his own, many Buddhists need guidance especially when it comes to how the cross needs to be understood. Ironically of course, the cross should pave the way for us to reminisce about Jesus’ compassion, meekness, patience, calmness and lovingkindness.

While we’re at it, recount to our Buddhist friends how He could find it in Him to care for His mother even while He was in such great pain being nailed on the cross. In His dying moments, He was still forgiving and gracious. In His dying moments, He still loved his earthly mother. That should be worth a fair bit to share with our Buddhist friends.


Image source: Buzzfeed

Overcoming Buddhist misperceptions

No one ever says that the road to sharing Christ with our Buddhist friends is anything other than a bumpy ride. No smooth road, this is. All along the way, we’re going to face all sorts of interesting misperceptions and misconceptions. 

And none of this should come as a surprise when Buddhism and Christianity are at opposite poles to one another, with stark differences that are mostly irreconcilable. We’ve touched on many of these earlier on in this piece but here are two more that you cannot not notice.

While on the surface, Buddhists and Christians agree that forgiveness is important, many in the former camp are cynical about what it really means to us in the latter camp. Granted that Islam isn’t so hot on forgiveness – been caught stealing lately under the Sharia law? – many Buddhists think that we only pay lip service to forgiveness because of our hypocritical conduct. We seem to, in their eyes, make things all too easy. Let me explain.

What do Buddhists say when we’re forgiven on the one hand but continue to live a life of sin on the other? How does forgiveness look if our personal testimonies tell a drastically different story? Because Buddhists do believe in the power of forgiveness, they view our hypocrisy very seriously. It doesn’t take much to look around and realise how far off the mark we Christians can be.

We say we abhor sin, yet we condone unmarried partners sleeping on the same bed together, partake in consuming or distributing recreational drugs, dress lewdly in public, welcome Muslim imams to read the Quran in church, invite illegal immigrants in and defy the laws of their own country, swear profanely off their heads, indulge in character assassination, drink and then act irresponsibly, get caught in financial scandals, behave in unbecoming ways, engage in adulterous affairs with married spouses and even question the origins of man by association with primates. 

The fact that Christians can do any of these, get caught, and are forgiven and yet not repent is a damning indictment.

All these and more are pretty much very evident in the news and everywhere. It’s not as if Buddhists have to dig deep and look up obscure news to find any of these. The brazenness by which all of these are in glaring publicity bring nothing but shame to Christianity and just as we reach out to them, such things bite us back very painfully and embarrassingly. 


Image source:Wikimedia

Surely we cannot claim God’s forgiveness and then double-down on our sin. Surely too, we cannot keep a straight face before our Buddhist friends and yet not take any of this seriously. Surely as well we cannot no be deeply contrite when it comes to how we treat God’s forgiveness.

When it comes to forgiveness, don’t be surprised if your Buddhist friends raise such questions. They bring these up not to humiliate us but to seriously enquire of our immorality and how it is that, as Christians, we can talk about moral ethics and yet we lack that necessary moral backbone ourselves. In other words, how is it that we can talk the walk but we cannot walk the talk?

If we are to share the Gospel with our Buddhist friends, we should also consider it as a test of our own sincerity. We should view this as an opportunity for us to truly repent and to transform our inner self at the same time. This double-edged sword mightn’t be what we were expecting all along but we should always be aware that just as we teach others to be Christians, we must also let God open ourselves to become teachable at the same time. 

After all, baptism might just end up being getting a little wet for some of us. Instead it should have been a death unto self and the rising to a new life in Christ!

The apostle Paul is a great protagonist of dying to sin and the way he puts it in his letter to the Romans is worth reminding ourselves:

“Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” (Rom 6:2-4, NLT)

In the same letter, Paul explains about the inner transformation and how, by our obedience to God, it frees us from slavery to sin and turns us into slaves to righteousness. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that drives this change out of our own desire to want it in the first place:

“Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realise that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin but now you wholeheartedly obey this teacher we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin and you have become slaves to righteous living.” (Rom 6:15-18, NLT, my emphasis)

For Buddhists who seek to die to selfishness in their pursuit of purity of intent, here is Paul again, this time in his letter to the Galatians:

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal 2:20, NLT)

Paul talks about the “old self” having served its time. It’s done and dusted. It’s now time to leave it behind for now, we don’t live for ourselves anymore but for Christ. Selfishness is but no more. In its place, we have a brand spanking shiny self, one that is born anew in Christ who now lives in all of us. 

That’s what the powerful story of the cross is about. That’s what we tell our Buddhist friends who are looking for the perfect way to express their contrition and repent, to seek forgiveness and start life all over albeit in a new born-again way. Not reincarnated, mind you. Born. Again.

Forgiveness is already difficult enough to negotiate but the other problem could be just as formidable if not more so and again, it’s all got to do with perception. The flaw in logic that all religions teach us to be good might have something to do with this because many Buddhists actually believe that it is acceptable to have one foot in the Christianity camp and the other in Buddhism. 

With a similarly flawed nature, there are some – Christians even – who falsely assume that the Allah of Islam is the same as our Christian God and they point to the Quran as reflecting much of what the Bible’s Old Testament says. How wrong can people be!


Kevin Thew Forrester (Image source: Religion Dispatches)

In February 2009 when Reverend Kevin Thew Forrester became bishop-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, it was supposedly business as usual. This was like any other procedural appointment within the American chapter of the Anglican Church except that it wasn’t. 

Five years earlier in 2004, Forrester had attained the title of Genpo, which is a term to denote his commitment to the meditation practice of Zen Buddhism, a Japanese Mahayana sect that focuses on the value of meditation and intuition rather than ritual worship or scriptural studies. That was why he was known as Kevin Genpo Thew Forrester.

The ‘Genpo’ part was the problem. It meant that Forrester embraced Buddhism on the one hand and accepted the bishopric on the other. Once discovered, it was controversial enough to rock the Anglican Church enough. Setting off alarm bells, the Church re-examined the changes to the baptism rite as well as Forrester’s beliefs and interpretation of salvation. Invariably, the blending of Buddhism and Christianity was too much to bear for the Church and summarily, Forrester was rejected.

While the Church felt overwhelmingly that this was unacceptable, Forrester thought he was comfortable “walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism.” Yet failure to attain consent from a majority of the 110 diocesan standing committees was enough to have Forrester removed, making him the first in 77 years (since 1932) to be so thoroughly nullified.

Forrester isn’t the only one to think this way. Worryingly, there are so many others out there who do so as well. 

I have Indian Christian friends who retain some parts of their Hindu rituals in their lives. A Chinese Methodist pastor in Ipoh actually used incense sticks – just as the Buddhists do in temples – in the church’s celebration of Chinese New Year. A work peer of mine a few years ago thinks that as a Christian, she can commit herself so religiously in yoga. She deceives herself into thinking that it’s harmless and in her self-righteousness, she does not entertain anyone else’s opinions.

All of these compel us to re-examine the truth again. But it’s not difficult to do that since there are answers in the Bible to substantiate our position. If we believe in Christ, then we must accept that there are simply no other ways to eternal life. We cannot be reconciled to Him using any other way. There is no salvation without Christ. There is also no salvation when we share Christ with Gautama or Mohamed or Krishna. Jesus told us all too clearly in the Bible:

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” (Jn 14:6, NLT)

“Except through Me” means this is not negotiable. The way to the Father is on His terms and not ours. Because He is holy and “pure and cannot stand the sight of evil” (Hab 1:13, NLT), God does not entertain whatever worldly ideas we may have. There are no approaches other than His that He will consider. Although Forrester was ordained and supposedly knowledgeable in matters concerning Christ, his viewpoint was stunningly flawed. How could he not realise what John 14:6 meant!?

Making unbelievable errors has a habit of repeating itself throughout history. Right at the beginning of Man, this was already evident. Cain thought he could choose what offerings are best but God admonished him for his grave oversight (Gen 4:2-7). In 2 Samuel 6:1-7 (also 1 Chron 13:9-12), a Levite called Uzzah thought he could just hold on to the Ark of the Covenant just as the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. Doing that caused him to die. Like Cain, Uzzah thought he could reinvent the rules and do them on his terms and he paid that price with his life.

If other ways were possible, if we could do things on our own terms and not make a difference, why would Christ say what He said? How could He say that He was “the way, the truth and the life”? How could He claim that, “No one can come to the Father except through Me”? If other ways were possible, Christ isn’t just wrong but He would be branded a liar.

It isn’t just that Christ was wrong. It wouldn’t have made one iota of sense for the Father to have sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. If there were other equally plausible ways to attain salvation, then the Father’s decision to have Jesus die so tragically on the cross would be a so grossly serious a mistake that we would also have to question how God could be so fallible. In His perfection, this can’t be possible. In other words, if God could commit such a fundamental mistake, it is then totally questionable how He can be our God.

And if He is proven to be a fake, then all His words would no longer have the same vaunted importance or value. That means He is untrustworthy and unreliable. We can then prove that God is inconsistent and therefore unworthy of our respect, praise and worship. 

The world would see Christ’s death on the cross as a major deception. In fact, His death would simply be superfluous, redundant and overhyped because it never could save mankind. Fancy how Christ would have felt if His death on the cross hadn’t really saved anyone.

Churches would cease to exist because everything preached would be meaningless just as it would be meaningless to be called a Christian. Pastors would surely be out of jobs because being one would no longer be morally acceptable. All those who had died believing in Christ would have died for nothing. It wouldn’t be surprising if many would feel suicidal if they were to discover that Christianity was nothing but a big fat hoax. Ironically then, it might be better if the Buddhists would in return reach out to us to share their faith!

People the likes of Forrester are also like any of us in the sense that we have all been given choices to make in life. God assured us that we have the freewill to do as we like but He would decide later if the choices we make were or weren’t acceptable to Him. 

To hedge one’s bet and ride on Buddhism and Christianity at the same time is in fact disrespectful in so many ways but primarily, it is ignorant and offensive to God. Forrester demonstrated surprisingly shallow understanding of Christian fundamentals that if the appointment had gone uncontested, would have sent all the wrong signals to Christians throughout the world.


Image source: Baptist Press

Finally, nine short pointers

Having covered so much in the earlier parts of this piece, it is not enough just to know how to –and not to – reach out to our Buddhist friends. We may have clinical efficiency but without the heart being in the right place and doing the right thing, we will lack the sincerity moving forwards.

Our Buddhist friends are humans like us – they are quite likely to sense that this whole thing is a cynical exercise in the larger scheme of a numbers game. If building up church numbers is what we’re solely interested in doing, then we can all stop here and go shake them down. But if we want leave some truly lasting impression on our Buddhist friends, then we must also conduct ourselves with these nine simple points in mind:

1. Build meaningful friendships

Let us not only spend our time preaching and evangelising. Let us learn foremost to be real friends. Let us build sincere friendships that hold meaning to our Buddhist friends. Let them be lasting. Let our friends know that we hold them dearly in our hearts and no matter how long it takes for them to accept Christ, we’re always there for them.

2. Help with practical needs

If we strike meaningful friendships with our Buddhist friends, then we must behave accordingly. Our time spent with them shouldn’t just be about reading the Bible together or trying to explain something about God to them. We should seek out every opportunity to help them, short of being overbearing, that is. 

God will grant us those opportunities so that we can prove to our Buddhist friends that we can be of assistance to them. It’s as good a time as any to walk the talk and make ourselves practical and useful. So let’s be the extra hands on deck and avail ourselves in whatever capacity that we can cover.

3. Invite them to celebrate a holiday with you

A holiday with your Buddhist friend doesn’t have to be a trip to Paris with a nice room reservation to boot. In other words, you don’t have to pressure yourself to overdo things. 

In fact, take this as an opportunity to perhaps invite him to a special church event and I don’t mean a cell group meeting or a Bible study class. These can wait. At any rate, bringing your Buddhist friend along for something like this would be adding too much undue pressure on him. Worse, he’ll likely bolt and not want to see you again.


Image source: Northwest Baptist Convention

A special church event would be something that he can attend without obligations. Therefore, it is important to assure him that no one will pressure him into accepting Christ. Depending on what programmes your church runs for non-believers, you may have a fairly wide variety to choose from. 

These may include things like movie nights, special music concerts with lots of singing and socialising, agape feasts, children’s camp festivals or concerts. If your church has unique events that commemorate Good Friday, these might be excellent ones to bring your Buddhist friend. Of course, don’t forget that churches have Christmas celebration events to bring him to also.

Holidays don’t have to be completely secular and they needn’t be heavy on Scripture. They’re excellent opportunities for you to fellowship with your Buddhist friend in a meaningful way. By making use of purposeful church programmes, you can maximise the chance to articulate your friendship and reveal a little more about the Christ that is in you. And not scare him into smithereens.

4. Learn as much about Buddhism before sharing our faith

Don’t ever think any outreach programme is a one-way street when it comes to wisdom. It is not. It’s normal to think that our Buddhist friends have lots to learn about who Christ is but it’s equally as valid to think that we also have much to learn about them beforehand. If we are to pitch our faith correctly and effectively to them, it pays to know more about their faith first. 

It pays to put a little time and effort and do some serious homework before we do any heavy-lifting. We have to have a clearer idea of what the Buddhist faith is all about, how it affects their way of thoughts and beliefs and what obstacles lay ahead so that we can be ready for them.

5. Tell good stories

Everyone loves a good story. Whether you’re at a party or a dinner table, great stories light everyone up. There’s always room for more such stories because they bring people together. And it’s not just about having a good laugh. Good stories can help us to see things a little more clearly but without a sledgehammer over our heads.

If you have a good story to tell that empowers Christ, then it’s constructive, purposeful and meaningful. And if you can find the right time to slip it into your dialogue, so much the better. Good stories of course require a good storyteller; so work on your delivery and train yourself to tell them well.

Good stories that centre on Christ and how we live by His grace are the best. This can mean miracles and they can also mean other things but essentially, they are all personalised accounts of your walk with Christ. 

While telling stories of other people are not unacceptable, the ones with the best effect are always those where you are centrally involved. That’s where the real power is. That’s the one where you put your life as a Christian for your Buddhist friends to witness. It is these testimonies that God has made possible for you to bring glory to Him. These are the ones that are always worth their weight in gold.


Image source: bpnews.net

6. Don’t assume prior knowledge of biblical concepts

Never think that your bible knowledge is all you need to impact your Buddhist friends. What is more important instead is how you make it simple enough for them to understand. If you’re not too hotshot in explaining things clearly, then you need to work on it first. It is important to understand that while Christians find the Bible easy enough to understand, that may not always hold true for unbelievers. This is where your role comes in.

The Bible is written for one purpose and that is, for the world to know and accept Christ. It is thematically about obedience, love, sacrifice, faith, grace and forgiveness. Your task is the same – break down Bible truths into little nuggets of simple-to-understand facts that your Buddhist friends can come to grips with and yet maintain their facts and truths.

7. Understand their objections

You’re not going to get away with a perfect sharing with anyone. There will always be someone who will not agree with you or have trouble accepting what you say. The hardest ones to deal with are invariably those who keep quiet and won’t tell you about his disagreement. All of these constitute objections to varying degrees and they’re going to rear their ugly heads every once in a while.

The most important thing is don’t fight over them. Avoid heated exchanges. And don’t think negatively about your Buddhist friend either. He’s here to learn from you and so long as he is willing to do so, then exercise patience, tolerance and perseverance as you try to find headway with him. 

Sharing the truth of Christ is never easy for anyone who doesn’t know Him. If it were, missions wouldn’t have been necessary because everyone would see the light effortlessly. You wouldn’t be needed to go reach out to your Buddhist friends too.

At the same time, do not ignore their objections. Don’t sweep them under the carpet. Don’t promise them that you’ll find answers to their objections and then conveniently overlook them the next time you meet up. All objections are worthy of your attention. You must listen attentively and you must properly understand what it is that he disagrees with. 

To do that, give him the necessary room to explain himself. If he’s reluctant, encourage him. Tell him that you’re concerned and interested to know. Assure him that it is okay to disagree because it gives you the chance to set the record straight for him.


Image source: International Mission Board

In any such disagreements, always be courteous and diplomatic. This is not about losing face. There is no room for Bible blowbacks. So don’t use his objections as an excuse to throw counterpunches. Even if you’re well known for your theological expertise, apply restraint and instead, be gentle and compassionate. 

If you have no way of addressing his objections, don’t lose faith. Be honest and let him know that you don’t have the answer off the cuff but make amends to find out and let him know when you next return. And then make sure you do that and not disappoint him!

8. Be culturally sensitive

Ignorance isn’t bliss. Instead, it can be downright embarrassing. It can cause people to be uncomfortable or unsettled. When it comes to outreach, ignorance may not be unforgiveable but it is terribly disconcerting and totally unnecessary. For those of us who turn up for outreach with hardly any homework done, ignorance would crop up without much effort. Therefore, it pays to respect our Buddhist friends and avoid clashing.

When it comes to outreach, ignorance can stem from a lack of understanding or awareness of cultural sensitivities. This can mean a lot of different things. It may be because our jokes are too offensive or that our comments on their religious beliefs are simply out of place. Maybe it’s because we are too blasé over the sense of importance our Buddhist friend places on certain things. Whatever it is, they’re all done in poor taste.

When it comes to the Chinese community, Buddhism is so interwoven into the cultural fabric that it is hard to separate it from tradition and custom. It gets even more complicated once it is conjoined with Taoism and/or Confucianism. As for the Indian community, Buddhism can also be seen to blend into Hinduism in some cases. When all of this happens, it is very difficult to separate them.

For example, the Chinese tradition of draping a piece of ‘red cloth’ over the top of the front door frame of a house or building appears to have a host of possible reasons why. 


Image source: Cru

One legend is that it is to protect homes from a mythical beast. The colour red is meant to scare it away so that it won’t enter. In another version, it mimics the custom of throwing chicken blood on to the rooftop of the house to dispel misfortune and prevent sorcery. Many Chinese consider this as nothing more than a custom or an integral part of its culture.

But equally as many are ignorant about the red cloth being symbolic of the Jewish Passover. In fact, the phrase, “to celebrate the (Chinese) New Year” is literally “to pass the year well” (过年好!). In the above legend, the mythical beast is called ‘Nian Shou’ where the Nian (年) is taken to mean ‘year.’ So ‘pass the year’ to the Chinese might actually mean to get pass the beast.

Since legend says that this beast supposedly terrorises and eats people up, ‘to pass the year well’ could then mean you have done well to get past the beast and congratulations is in order! And since the beast abhors the colour red, adorning the door frame with a red cloth makes a lot of sense to traditional Chinese in much the same way as the Jews of the Exodus who were told to paint the front of the doors with blood from an unblemished lamb so that God would ‘pass over’ their homes and not kill their firstborn in Egypt.  

These are of course pretty tall tales. To us, we could laugh about them but we need to be sensitive enough not to mock our Buddhist friends in case you find one who might take offence. All it takes is for one to be offended and we’d have a problem on our hands. So, do your homework and avoid stepping on anyone’s tail. If you’re not sure what to say, the best is not to say it. The worst you can do is to say the very first thing that comes to your mind. So, it’s better to hold back and think first.

An ethnic religion (or is it a philosophy?) as complicated and interwoven with traditions and customs as Buddhism can be a minefield to negotiate. We can find ourselves in a situation where it’s almost impossible to separate one from the other. What is custom to someone might be religiously connected to another and for Christians, that’s too difficult to discern.

9. Be patient

As I’ve said earlier, someone once said it takes an average of seven years to see a Buddhist come to Christ. Whether that’s true or not we don’t really know for sure but without a doubt, it’s a long process and not an overnight thing. When we make a decision to reach out to the Buddhist, always know that you’re there for the long haul.

So be patient. Don’t be in a hurry and don’t try to force change on to our Buddhist friends. Remember, unlike how many Muslim countries think, change – especially when it comes to one’s choice of faith – can never be forced upon anyone. 

Instead allow the biblical truths to slowly and gradually sink in with them while at the same time, make ourselves available to take up the questions and answer them as best as possible.


Image source: prayingthelectionary.wordpress.com

While all this is happening, we must remain tolerant and understanding because real change takes time. Accepting and embracing a change in one’s choice of religion is far more significant than making a decision to replace the car in your driveway or even switch allegiance to your favourite football club. 

Religion is a serious consideration for those who are conscious of their faith and to them, it’s not something anyone will do out of turn. Therefore, a commitment to Christ requires your Buddhist friend to make a life-changing decision in the same way as all of us did when we, too, accepted Christ in the past.

Developing patience in our outreach to the Buddhists helps us to be dogged but yet gentle and thoughtful. And part of that requires us to be trusting of the Holy Spirit, relying on him to move according to His will. Let’s trust in Him to do the right thing. 

Let’s have God lead our effort from the front at the best opportune time and not do things on our own terms. 

We know how that would turn up if we did.

To return to Part 2, click here
To return to Part 1, click here

Sources for further reading

Burke, Daniel (Jul 2009) Episcopalians Reject Bishop Who Embraced Zen Buddhism (Norfolk, VA: Beliefnet Religion News Service). Accessible at http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/news/2009/07/episcopalians-reject-bishop-wh.php#

Jenn (nd) How to Read the Bible as a New Believer (The Purposeful Mom). Accessible at https://thepurposefulmom.com/2017/12/the-best-way-to-start-reading-the-bible-as-a-new-believer.html

Kang, Rev. C.H. and Nelson, Dr. Ethel R. (Aug 1979) The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language (St Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Genesis-Truths-Chinese-Language/dp/0570037921/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HFWGEG6GE2XP9R70QNH0

Keener, Craig S. (Mar 1996) Matthew (he IVP New Testament Commentary Series) (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Ivp-New-Testament-Commentary/dp/083084001X

Koester, Helmut (nd) The Gospel of Matthew: Jesus as the New Moses (PBS). Accessible at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/matthew.html

Patterson, Christina (June 2016) Top 5 Places to Start Reading the Bible (iBelieve). Accessible at https://www.ibelieve.com/faith/top-5-places-to-start-reading-the-bible.html

Quinn, William Wilson (Jun 2012) American Buddhism is Booming (Transcultural Buddhism). Accessible at http://seanrobsville.blogspot.com/2012/06/american-buddhism-is-booming.html

Tan, Dr Chic Kaw (nd) Can One be Christian and Buddhist at the Same Time? (Loganville, GA: American Anglican Council). Accessible at https://americananglican.org/featured/can-one-be-christian-and-buddhist-at-the-same-time/

Wellman, Jack (nd) Best Place to Start Reading the Bible for a New Christian (What Christians Want to Know). Accessible at https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/where-is-the-best-place-to-start-reading-the-bible-for-a-new-christian/

White, Ellen G. (1940) The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Pub. Assn. Gift Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Desire-Ages-Ellen-G-White/dp/0816305242