Youth Worship: Asian Religions Part 1
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Buddhism, Taoism, Hindu, Islam.
We're surrounded by many religions aren't we? Especially in Asia, with our culture, upbringing and influences, it's no wonder it's hard to share the gospel with people around us.
Or is it?
Today at YF we learnt what the word Animism is. It's basically the term given to any religion that has many gods or doesn't believe in a ONE true God. The belief that spirits are around us and embody things such as trees, kitchens or maybe even portable P.A. speakers! It's funny to think how we can easily separate them in our minds now and say we're Christians and not animistic in any sense. However, Elder Vincent Lee, our speaker for the day, showed us with examples how Animism has crept into our lives without us even knowing it. Take for example, he quoted an example of how when he picked up money from the floor, he had to bring the money symbolically under both his legs before he could keep it. It was meant to ward off curses or charms that someone might have put on the coin. Or how when we choose handphone numbers or car numbers, to always look out for the number '8' in it for auspicious value. Such is society now and it's hard for us Christians to be wary of such practices if we're not careful enough.
Animism isn't just a chinese or asian 'religion' but it is also apparent and evident in Western countries. The example of Nancy Reagan [Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's wife] was brought forward as she was an avid and die-hard chaser of the stars. She consulted Astrologers and Star-Gazers when an assassination attempt on her husband was 'predicted' by the soothsayers. Or the example of Shirlet MacLaine who firmly believed in re-incarnation and many other doctrines.
However, we were also treated to God's view on such issues by taking a small glance at Colossions and Ephesians which had many insightful quotes about how our battles are not against man but Principalities and Powers.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12
With such in mind, we were given a sneak peak of what's 'akan datang' [coming soon] in the next session. We'll be touching on topics such as Yoga, Meditation and non-confrontational and impersonal 'religions' that are around us. However, we'll have to wait for part 2 to learn more about such. This first session has not only given us a brief taste of what's around us but has also whetted our appetite for the next session.