The flute-playing god.

A few weeks ago, I was up in L.A. meeting my sister and her friend for dinner. Before we went out to eat, we went to a Philz Coffee to finish the rest of our work for the day. While taking a call in the plaza outside, I saw a middle-aged Indian man standing behind a table full of books. I immediately knew I had to talk to him.

His name was Sastri and he was there to share with people about his faith. We connected immediately after I shared with him that I had not too long ago visited his home town of Chennai. Sastri went on to explain to me that he was a Vaishnava, a devotee to Vishnu as the 'Supreme Being'. Vaishnavism is one of the largest major Hindu traditions. It considers itself to be monotheistic (one unitary divine who takes on many forms) and its main end is Moksha, essentially describing eternal united existence with Vishnu.

We ended up talking for quite some time. He shared some of his life story along with his beliefs about god and this world. He has had many enthusiastic young men come and share about Jesus with him. We chatted about the Kingdom of God, I shared with him the hope that resurrection life brings, and ultimately the conversation ended with me trying to help Sastri understand why on earth someone like me (and the young man he talked with the day before) would care to share with someone like him. It was a good exchange.

There is a lot that could be said about the content of my conversation with Sastri that day, but one thing has stuck with me and I regret not having shared it with him. As Sastri described to me his god, he referred to him as the 'Supreme Enjoyer' or Bhokta. The Supreme Enjoyer embodies enjoyment so perfectly that he is understood to live playing his flute to himself in such a beautiful and magnificent way so as to be utterly caught up in the present moment. Sastri went on, looking more intensely at me than he had before, "Bhokta is so playful and caught up in his enjoyment that only when one is a 'pure devotee' will he think to look down (to the earth) and intervene. He will either seek to bless him, or to bring kharma the one who comes against him."

You may already see where I am going with this. This picture that Sastri shared with me is not one of the God we worship. In fact, it couldn't be further off! Jesus Christ has never been caught up in self-enjoyment, not even for a moment. The message of the Gospel tells us that God desires, pursues, and completely gives himself up for his people. During His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus never took his eyes off of the people He came to save.

I wish that I had shared this news with Sastri. Not because I think it would have converted him, only God can do that, but because I should have been appalled when I heard those words. And I don't think I'm reaching very far by saying that. Shouldn't those of us who profess faith in Jesus be absolutely heartbroken over the deceptions of culture and religion that distort the truth about our Creator?

The misconception of a distant flute-playing god extends far beyond the ancient eastern Hindu tradition. There are many who claim to know Jesus Christ, yet find themselves going about their lives as impotent deists with whom God has little to no concern. This callous idea which creeps up and finds shade in our minds must be ruthlessly exterminated at all costs. The message of the gospel speaks directly into this: you are loved with an everlasting love, you are without hope, and God has done, will do, and is doing something about it.

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." - John 13:1b