wats.

The past two weekends I have ended up at wats (Thai/Buddhist temples) and the question begs to be asked... why so many wats? Well, part of it is because I let Thais plan the excursions, so they always include a wat or two for good measure... it's part of their culture.

For me, it's a good reminder why missions matter: because there are still lost people. It pains me to see so many Thais (and tourists) sprinkling their heads with lotus flowers, lighting incense, sticking gold-leaf on statues, ringing bells, giving offerings, "making merit"... but there is also no better place to have organic spiritual conversations. My intention during this wat-time is to always bring the conversation to Christ.

["Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold." Exodus 20:23]

Recently after one of these trips, I was able to share with my Thai friend, K, why I did not participate in these "merit exercises". This, in turn, opened up a dialogue for both of us. She shared some specifics regarding what she believed and I was able to share the Gospel... that God is the Creator and He is good. He has stated the standard is perfection and as a just God can tolerate nothing less than that. As sinful people, we fail to meet His standard, and the punishment for that is death and separation from God. It's not about doing more good than bad, it's about being perfect. And, bad news, we're not. But, (the great "but" of the Gospel!) God is also a God of love, and so He made a way for our sins to be punished and for us to be able to have a relationship with Him. That way is through His Son, Jesus. Jesus was punished by God for our sins, so that justice was served, and we can now receive God's forgiveness and a relationship with Him...

I wish I could tell you that we pulled over the car, prayed, and that you have a new sister-in-Christ. But, that didn't happen. What did happen, however, is that she heard the Truth again. Thais tend to be slow to hear and slow to respond to the Gospel. Why? Maybe due to their heritage of spiritual darkness and deafness. Maybe because it is so foreign to them. Maybe they just take longer to process things. I don't know. But if it takes her hearing it 16 times before she accepts it, then praise God for the 8th time! And if she hears but never responds, then praise God that He allowed her the opportunities to hear.

[Idolatry] consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather in the heart, which stands gaping at something else, and seeks help and consolation from creatures, saints, or devils, and neither cares for God, nor looks to Him for so much good as to believe that He is willing to help, neither believes that whatever good it experiences comes from God. 

— Martin Luther

Pray that her heart and our hearts would gape only at Christ, seek only from Him, and look only to Him as the sole source and provider of all that is good.