The Karma of Christ (Cambodia 2006, Part 2)

Over 90% of Cambodians are Buddhist. Buddhist philosophy, ritual, and architecture pervade this country. On day 3 of our trip, while in the northern province of Siem Reap, I took this picture of some Buddhist monks walking along the road in their traditional orange robing. I am thankful that now, more than ever before, such men are beginning to hear a message that is the exact opposite of Buddhist teaching. They are beginning to hear, Cambodia is beginning to hear, the gospel.For a very long time Buddhism has been the worldview held by the majority of Cambodians. Central to Cambodian Buddhism is the doctrine of karma. Karma is the belief that one's status in life now and in the future depends upon one's own deeds, behavior, and performance. The basic karma equation works like this:

• good behavior and performance = reward

• bad behavior and performance = punishment.

This is a tragic way to live. Most people, be it in Cambodia or America, live under a default religious mentality that their good behavior will earn them "Godpoints" and their bad behavior will reap "God demerits." This, however, is the opposite of the Christian gospel.Karma is bad news. The gospel is good news.The gospel is good news. It's the best news we humans could ever hear.However, before the gospel tells us good news, it first tells us bad news. The gospel declares that all people have a badly damaged relationship with God, one so badly damaged that we can't fix it ourselves. Even worse, we are at fault for this broken relationship. Worse still: God will justly and severely punish people for the treason of breaking relationship with him.According to the Bible, we all have very bad karma.According to the Bible, we have no hope of saving ourselves through keeping our performance or karma. Yet the good news is that God can fix this relationship. The gospel tells us that God has acted to fix this relationship through Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.Jesus is the only one who has ever had perfect "karma." Jesus is the only one who ever lived a life of perfect obedience, righteousness, and sinless-ness. Jesus lived the life that you and I could never live. To speak in Buddhist terms, Jesus never lived a day or committed a deed of bad karma. Yet, the bloodline of the gospel is that despite his perfect life, Jesus purposely died the terrible death of a bad karma criminal--the death you and I ought to have died. Instead of sending us to the cross to punish us for our sins, God the Father sent Jesus to the cross and punished him. Jesus lived the "good karma" life we sinners are unable to live and died the "bad karma" death that we sinners deserve to die. And what's more, after three days in the grave Jesus rose again and showed himself to be victorious over sin, bad karma, and death.Buddhism teaches that you must save yourself from sin. The only Savior in Buddhism is yourself.Christianity is the exact opposite. The gospel teaches that you cannot save yourself. The gospel teaches that your only hope is laying claim to a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. And he is the perfect, one and only Savior for sinners like you and me. And now, more and more Cambodians are encountering and being transformed by this message.I am thankful that the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the move in Cambodia. While in Cambodia I heard many stories of Buddhist monks who have heard the gospel, repented of their sin, and laid claim to Jesus the Savior.The gospel first came to Cambodia in the early 1900s. But little progress was visible until the terror of the Khmer Rouge came in the 1970s. Under the genocidal Khmer Rouge very large numbers of Cambodians sought refuge in Jesus the Savior. But it appears that now, more than ever, more and more pastors and churches are being raised up in Cambodia to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and bring many to a karma-less way of living found only in Jesus. I count it a great honor that I got to spend time with 50 of these men. In their churches and communities they are witnessing the gospel get a hold of and transform many lives. In that I rejoice.