A couple days ago I stood by the skytrain tracks, talking with my friend, Jian Di about the Christmas program happening at my church that evening. Jian Di, if you havne't kept up, is my Taiwanese monk friend in my language class. He understood the basic idea of Christian Christmas. He said, "So, you believe Jesus is coming back?" You know, I read the Bible, and hear it at church, but its an enlightening experience to be able to say, "Yes, I do." I know its a crazy idea, but I believe it! We talked about what He'll look like and how many have distorted his words and promises.
He asked about Jesus's disciples too, if they will go to heaven as Gods. I believe this question came from some Buddhist thoughts that when you study enough and do enough good work, you reach a "state of enlightenment" and reach heaven as a "god." Pardon my lack of understanding, that's why God's given me this friend. Jian Di helps me understand Buddhism. I explained that in Christianity, we can't ever become "gods" or be good enough. It was an excellent conversation motivated by Jian Di's personal questions....yet, surprising to us both, the skytrain was at his stop and he had to go.
I'm blessed with that friendship. I'm blessed to understand Jian Di's life, his perceptions, his religions, his pursuits. May I be an encouragement to him. May I continue this conversation or at least somehow he may learn about Jesus. Jesus came to die for us because we can't ever do enough or study enough to reach heaven alone. What a blessing it is to discuss these things with people, making my beliefs more real to myself.
1 comment:
Why did Jian Di move to Thailand? That seems a little weird.
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