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Christianized Karma
.
Unlike the Hindu system of karma and its effects, we know
even our pain is used by a loving God - because of that, we have real hope for
tomorrow – because our future doesn’t depend on us - no matter what trials we
experience, we can rest in the knowledge that even when we are not good, God is
by
Katherine Britton
Crosswalk
the Devotional
“… but sanctify
Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone
who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you…” – 1 Peter 3:15
Christians give really good hugs during trials
and tragedy.
As my own family has experienced recently,
the body of Christ has long arms to embrace those in need, easing the burdens
of bad times.
The church at work offers silent – and strong
– evidence of grace when we pick each other up off the ground.
Now, imagine for a moment that your community
didn’t provide any support during a trial.
Imagine that instead of offering encouraging
words and providing meals or other support after a tragedy, the whole community
pulled away.
Imagine if they acted like you were a disease
they didn’t want to catch while you shouldered the burden alone.
And not only that -- they believed that your
problems were your own fault, pure and simple.
That’s karma at work. And it’s a lonely road.
A missionary couple recently visited our
church before heading to London, where they planned settle in an immigrant
community that’s mostly Hindu.
The wife expressed her desire to see people
set free from the bonds of karma.
That caught my interest. I’d slipped into
viewing karma through an Americanized lens, as a pseudo-Christian philosophy of
reaping what you sow (Galatians
6:7).
Faithfulness and selfishness often have their
rewards in this life, after all, and good deeds are often repaid with a smile
and expression of gratitude if nothing else.
Karma may not be the full picture, but it
seemed like an innocuous truism to me.
The missionary went on to describe the ugly
side of karma, in which the community pulls away from its members who are
suffering.
Lose a job? It’s a karmic effect – you must
have cheated your employer or at least talked badly about him.
Did you – heaven forbid – lose a child?
Somehow, that’s your fault too, as the universe balances out some evil you’ve
done.
If such horrible things are somehow your
fault, it would also make sense for people to pull away. That’s the bond of
karma.
Christians rely on
the promise that “all things work for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
We fight to believe
that, while “no discipline seems pleasant at the time… later on it produces
a harvest of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
Like Job, we may never know the reason for our earthly suffering.
Like Job, we may never know the reason for our earthly suffering.
But we know that, because of grace, suffering
is not a quid-pro-quo retaliation for our sins.
Even our suffering has been redeemed by God’s
grace through Christ’s supreme act of love.
Intersecting Faith & Life: Unlike the Hindu
system of karma and its effects, we know even our pain is used by a loving God.
Because of that, we have real hope for
tomorrow – because our future doesn’t depend on us!
No matter what trials we experience, we can
rest in the knowledge that even when we are not good, God is.
That’s mercy, and that gives hope.
Are you ready to give an answer for that
hope?
