A Major Difference Between Christianity and Buddhism

   

     A Major Difference Between Christianity and Buddhism

                   
              Christianity and Buddhism are radically different in multiple ways. One way is clearly displayed in this quotation:

"If you see something horrible, don't cling to it; and if 
you see something beautiful, don't cling to it."

                                Dudjom Rinpoche


               Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje is the supreme leader of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was appointed to his position by the 14th Dalai Lama. The quotation represents the Buddhist concept that clinging to the passing and ephemeral phenomena of life produces suffering.

Suffering is eliminated when the clinging is eliminated. This has been described in numerous ways. Here are two of them: that which is left after a flower has been crushed and the hand removed; that which is left after a candle has been extinguished.

               Christianity totally disagrees. Christianity calls for a deliberate choice to focus on positive things, because that pleases and glorifies God. God is involved in every aspect of the life of the believer. He knows how may hairs are on your head.

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 
whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and
if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
                                                     
                                   Philippians 4:8


"Whether then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, 
                        do all to the glory of God."

                              1 Corinthians 10:31

Scriptural quotations are from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.

He Numbers Your Hairs

                                                               He numbers your hairs

                                                 Birds sing to please Him.  He smiles.

                                                              The stars His garden.

All This Just For Us?

 

                                                      All this just for us?

                                               Glory of God's nature shows His

                                                        smiling love displayed

The Purpose of Christianity

Dr, Atul Gawande is an internationally known surgeon and author working in Boston, Massachusetts. He writes books and articles about performance and the human quest to do and be “better.”

Dr. Gawande has said that, despite the best efforts of his parents, he is not a very good Hindu. He did, however, find the Hindu rituals meaningful when his father died and the family gathered in India to scatter his father’s ashes into the Ganges River which is sacred to Hindus.   The rituals gave Dr. Gawande a sense of solidarity with his family and a feeling of continuity with his history; a sense of belonging to something bigger than himself.

I think that many Christians also see this as the purpose of religion. That, and also the civilizing effect that religion can have on their children. They totally miss the point!

Here is a list of some of the things which Christianity is NOT about: Making us feel good about ourselves. Connecting us with our families. Socializing our children. Making us into nice people. Creating social justice. Fighting abortion or sex slavery. Fighting poverty. Continuity with our traditions. And many more.

Christianity is about bringing glory to the Lord God. All the other good things, important as they are, come about because we wish to obey and glorify God. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

Do you think that you have no skills which can be used by God for His glory?

Do you think that you have no skills which can be used by God for His glory? He has given each of us skills and abilities.

http://www.alabamas13.com/story/25751305/cutters-for-christ-helping-bessemer-bounce-back-from-tornado

Mike Royer, the news anchorman who appears in this video, is an outspoken and committed Christian. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cutters-4-Christ-Inc/245762302169254

The similarly named Cutters 4 Christ, Inc., is a for profit professional lawn and landscaping service in Marietta, Georgia (USA). Their Facebook page shows that they do excellent work.

Are You Bored With Your Life?

If we are bored with life there is something wrong with our concept of God and His involvement in our daily lives.  Even the most dull and tedious days of our lives are ordained by God and ought to be used by us to glorify Him."  Jerry Bridges, The Navigators

Every job is meaningful, every life is meaningful.  God may have you in place to perform one action in His plan for the life of one person, or numerous persons.  You may never know what you have done.  How do you know that you have not already done it?

Joseph probably was not thrilled when his brothers sold him into slavery.  He was being placed into a position in which he could save his people.  Esther probably was not thrilled to be forced to become essentially a sexual slave for a brutal king.  She was in position to save her people from genocide. Brother Lawrence was an uneducated man not suited for any monastery duties except cooking and washing dishes.  He cheerfully devoted his duties to the Lord and became known worldwide for his pious example.

Trusting God

"We must see our circumstances through God's love instead of, as we are prone to do, seeing God's love through our circumstances." Jerry Bridges in Trusting God Even When Life Hurts (1988)

Our focus should be on God and not on ourselves.

"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."  Lamentations 3:22-23

1000 Hours of Staring

The multimedia artist, Tom Friedman , has unwittingly produced what I believe to be the ultimate statement of modern Western popular culture; his artwork, “1000 Hours of Staring .”  The concept is that the work, a 32 inch square of white paper, creates “the history of an object.”  It expresses intense concentration and mental activity.

Personally, I believe that, like the films Video Fireplace  and Video Aquarium, “1000 Hours of Staring” expresses the total vacuity and emptiness of much of modern popular culture.  The modern culture pursues fame, money, fun, and “self-realization.”  The underlying constant is SELF.

The Christian realizes that the true meaning of life is the expression of the GLORY OF GOD .

Did You Break the Rock?

My three year old granddaughter fell face first at the park recently and hit her forehead on a large rock.  Her parents did all the right things and had her checked for a concussion   Other than a large swollen place on her forehead, she seems to not have been seriously injured.  When I saw her, I asked her if she broke the rock.  She smiled and nodded "Yes."  She was back up and going strong.


When Christians hit a rock, how do we respond?  Do we lay on the ground and moan or do we get back up and "go strong?"  Do we do it under our own power, by our willpower?  That is a glorification of self.  As Christians, we are to glorify God.


A very detailed discussion of the Christian response to adversity can be found here. 

When we face difficulties, we can try to overcome them in our own power, and often, we will fail.  Or we can remember what Paul said,  “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

We may not have "success" from a human standpoint, but "success" from God's viewpoint is obedience to and dependence on Him.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,   Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

We can do this because we do not have to rely on our own fallible willpower.  As Christians indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we have the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16

The Glory of God

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." John 20:21

"For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Leviticus 11:45

What does it mean, that our only purpose is to show the Glory of God?  What is the Glory of God?

These questions come to the ultimate question: what is the true nature of God?  Obviously, He is not an old bearded man with scary intense eyes and a massive grey beard.

God is a Spirit.

God is personal, not some indeterminate “force.”

God is infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-sufficient, and utterly perfect and holy.

God is just.

God is eternal.  This does not mean “timeless,” but independent of time, not bound by linear time as we are.

God is unchangeable.

God is One God in Three Persons; the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, who exist in a community of Love.

God is Love.  God does not love, He is Love.

So what is the Glory of God?  The Glory of God is in His act of sharing Himself with His creatures, us.  As created beings we are imperfect and therefore excluded from the presence of Perfection.  We are incapable of correcting this situation, though in pride, we try.

Though he is complete in and of Himself and has no need for us, God has chosen to correct the situation and to include us in His Love.  Only He is capable of fulfilling and satisfying the Law and so He sent His Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Because of God’s Act of Love, He has “given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4

The True Purpose of the Church

"The very purpose of the church is to be a vision of who God is and what God is not. ... we are to make the one God visible first to ourselves and then to the rest of the world."  D. Brent Laythem 


"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." John 20:21



Why did God, who is all-sufficient and all-powerful, send Jesus into the world?  He did not need to, He has no "needs,"  He does not even need us.  He sent Jesus into the world as the revelation of Himself.  He sent Jesus into the world to reveal His glory.  We exist individually and corporately (the Church, the ekklesia) for one reason only; to declare the glory of the Lord.  In tomorrow's post, I will talk more about what this means.


"For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Leviticus 11:45

The Jesus Vine

I do not for one second believe that this is a divine manifestation, but it is very interesting.  Every time something like this happens people rush to declare it a "sign."  To me it is a sign that people are desperate for "proof."  The problem with "proof" is that knowing is not faith, knowing is not trusting.  The devil and his demons know, and they believe (James 2:19).

A self-described non-believer noticed that a patch of kudzu vine on a telephone pole in Littleton, Colorado resembled Jesus hanging on the cross .  Pause the video at 00:55 and look at the clearly visible face.

The signs are all around us for anyone who has not intentionally shut their eyes and ears.  We don't need to see Jesus in the water stains on a wood door, on the browned portions on a piece of toast , in the shape of a cheese puff , or in a vine hanging on a telephone poll.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork." Psalm 19:1