Christianity is not about religion which teaches doing good deeds and getting rewards from our deeds. But it teaches how to share what we have already got. We have already got grace from God to be set free from the sin and be forgiven. This grace and love are priceless. And God offers it to us as a gift.

Being a Christian means that we follow Jesus Christ as our teacher. He gives many practical pieces of knowledge dealing with this world. He is wise and full of love towards people. He teaches us to love our enemy and people who persecute us.

Being a Christian also means that we have Jesus Christ as our friend. He also knows how being a human is like. He is also there for me when I need someone to talk with and when I need support. He is the one who makes me confident to do well in this world. Lastly, He is the one who sacrifices himself for my redemption. There is no better friend than a friend who wants to die for us.

Following Jesus is not easy, there might a lot of temptations. But, for He is God, he enables us to fight against the temptations. We can do just believe in him and receive the grace of His salvation. Through a life process, we will be transformed to be more like Christ in his teaching and attitude. Christ salvation is the greatest gift for humankind. Nothing is worthier than Christ in this world. For me, Christianity is the way of life and Christ is the only way to life.

I had a chance to interview my Buddhist friend. He is currently working in a university as a research fellow in biology. He is kind-hearted and curious also on how I can become a Christian. I asked him for some clarification questions because I was not sure about the meaning of certain words. To begin the interview, I asked him to tell his understanding of human’s origin. Then we talked about his view on the existence of god. He based his explained much more on what his guru or teacher told him. I have a better understanding of his worldview because he can explain it systematically. But I also challenged him on the topics of “absolute standard of morality” as well as “the existence of God”. I know that it is hard for him to change his worldview, but I can see that he is open to a discussion. I pray that the Holy Spirit works in his heart to enable him seeing what is true.

Worldview Summary

• Origin: Human is a product of evolution. Current human species is not the only species living in the earth; there were some prehistoric human species which evolved to become a human like now. Although this different human species can have a different level of intelligence, they can still be considered human. Many Buddhists including himself can live happily and meaningfully without belief in a god. Humans are not weak, but humans can overcome their difficulties through their inner resources and efforts. The origin of the universe in Buddha’s perspective corresponds closely to the scientific view, e.g., all the existence of the universe has no beginning or end and is set in motion by natural causes.
• Meaning: Buddhism is the supreme philosophy that teaches human to develop love and kindness to all beings. Buddha was not a god, but he was a human being who perfected himself. We should follow his teachings and examples in order to perfect ourselves too. The main teachings of the Buddha are centered on the Four Noble Truth, i.e. (1) that life is suffering, (2) all suffering is caused by craving, (3) suffering can be overcome and happiness attained, (4) the path leading to the overcoming of suffering which is called the Noble Eightfold Path. The steps on the Noble Eightfold Path cover every aspect of life such as socio-economy, ethics, intellectual and spiritual.
• Morality: To know what is right and wrong in god-centered religions, we depend on what you have been told. But in human-centered belief like Buddhism, to know right and right, we need to develop a deep self-awareness and self-understanding. Thus, a Buddhist often looks at three factors such the intention, the impact of action will have on oneself and the effect it will have on others. For example, if the intention is good (with giving, loving and wisdom motives), if it helps myself and others become wiser and loving, then my deeds are good. Buddhism has a code of morality, The Five Precepts, i.e., to avoid killing or harming living beings, avoid stealing, avoid sexual misconduct, avoid lying and avoid alcohol and other intoxicating drugs.
• Destiny: The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to escape the reborn cycle and attains mind-state called Nirvana. The most critical factor influencing of our reborn and what sort of life we will have is karma. The word karma means “action” refers to our intentional actions. Our future is determined very much by our thoughts and actions in the present life. In order to escape the rebirth cycle, we need to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. Also, meditation is one of the techniques used to develop good mental habits. If we can perfect ourselves, we can be released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. And finally, we can achieve a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering nor a sense of self.

A baby is born without knowing what is good and evil. But a baby can cry so loud if what he wants is not satisfied even it is a bad thing for him. No one told the baby to be a selfish man, but the self-centered attitude that comes from his sinful heart is the root. He grows amid sinful people where he acquires more knowledge slowly about goodness and also evil.

A human heart is basically wicked and deceitful, but it also can be good. Everything on the surface like our words, actions, is formed in our heart. All thoughts are created in our heart before it manifests in our actions. Sometimes it’s hard to see whether the thing that appears is good or not without looking into the heart. What seems to be good can be evil because our heart is very deceitful.

We come to know the standard of goodness from the knowledge of absolute morality. For me, the Bible is the standard of morality. Without the standard, we cannot separate what is right and what is wrong. There is no such “grey area” where we cannot decide whether things are evil or not. Although people who are growing in different cultures might have mixed standard of moralities for certain kind of actions, in fact, there should be only one standard of goodness.

The only solution for our sinful heart is Christ. With his standard, he showed us how to be good. He never committed sinful things although he was persuaded by the evil. He felt how being a human, but he was able to resist every temptation wooing over him. As for us, we might be falling short in temptations, but God enables us to fight against the temptations. He always provides us forgiveness as He knows our sinful heart nature. I believe in God’s grace that enables me to prevent me from doing evil things. Also, I know that I am not alone as a sinful human; I have brethren who encourage each other to be more like Christ every day. Hallelujah.

After my interview with my Muslim friend, I have thought about what a proper approach to telling my faith. He is quite diligent in doing his daily prayers, fasting and listening to sermons. Also, he routinely posts/shares articles on social media about Islamic teachings. He has a strong Muslim family background. I can sense that he has reason to look down on Christian’s teachings especially gospel. He still believes that only the Quran is the uncorrupted words of God while the Bible has been modified for some purposes. He cannot accept that Christian’s God is three persons. But I still have hope since he is quite open-minded to listen and accept things that are reasonable to him. I am still praying for him that God will touch his heart and his mind also the Holy Spirit will work in his heart to let him enjoy the grace of God and reasonable faith.

I had a chance to talk to one of my Muslim friends. He was my co-worker when I was working for a government agency. We used to talk about our beliefs. He is a practicing Muslim who has a good knowledge of what he believes. This is the summary of his worldview about the four questions. After the interview, he also asked me about my views on those issues. I thanked him and he also thanked me for sharing my views and asking questions. I hope that I can discuss more with him because he is quite open-minded to a reasonable faith.

Worldview Summary

• Origins: He explained to me that all of us came from Adam and Eve. Adam’s creation was initiated by physical formation by making it directly from dry land which the spirit then poured into it so that he lived. Also, the created Adam was to be paired by Allah (God) with the opposite sex created from Adam’s rib, namely Eve. Adam is God’s vice-regent (Kalifa), but not a God’s image. Other than that, he also told me that Allah created heaven and earth in six days. A day can be interpreted as thousands of years. He agrees about the billion years of the universe.
• Meaning: He told me that Islam teaches people, especially their followers, to fill this life with worship. We need to do good deeds like praying, giving money to the poor, fasting, reading the Quran, etc. He said that we should maintain a good relationship with Allah and human. Muslims need to do what Allah said in the Quran and Hadiths. Also, he explained that Allah would grant a Muslim with a higher possibility (even an instant way) to enter the heaven if he/she wants to do “jihad” (striving in the path of Allah to proclaim Allah’s name and its religion, Islam).
• Morality: To do things in life, he explained that Muslim follows what the Quran, Hadiths, and their leaders’ consensus say. There are a lot of laws (Shariah) in doing things in life such as how we should wear clothes, doing business, marriage or polygamy, how to decide the first day of the fasting month (Ramadhan), etc. If Muslims are unsure about what they should do, they should refer their decisions according to either what Muhammad did or their leaders’ consensus. For a Muslim, there are two categories of God’s commandment: compulsory and optional. It will be a sin if we don’t do a compulsory one but not for the optional one.
• Destiny: He explained that our good deeds and bad deeds would be weighted at the end of our lives. If good deeds are more than bad deeds, we can enter Allah’s heaven. Later, he also explained that we are required to always ask for forgiveness from God so that our sins will be removed from the “deeds scaling” or not counted if and only if God grants it. Life in heaven will be so good especially for men where beautiful angels will accompany them.