In this article, we want to introduce a relational, experiential approach of sharing the gospel with Hindus. One assumption we bring to this topic is that the Christians who interact with this article are coming alongside Hindus and sustaining meaningful relationships with them. Experiencing the manifest presence of Jesus Christ can transform these relationships between Christians and Hindus into a pathway that leads them all toward explicit and shared discipleship to the Lord Jesus. Our vision for this article is to see Christians more fully devoted to the person of Jesus Christ and to see Hindus discover that Jesus accepts them as Hindus and is passionate about joining them as Lord of their world.
It is vital for Christians who love Hindus to understand the role of experience in gospel witness. Hindus who are in a meaningful relationship with devoted Christians may interpret experiences that bless their lives but cannot be attributed to any of their cultural or religious norms as experiencing Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Hindus will interpret an experience of Jesus as evidence of the startling fact that Jesus is alive, he accepts them, and is relevant to their spiritual life, indeed, he could be relevant to every facet of their life. These experiences may even lead Hindus to surrender their lives to Jesus, the last thing they ever expected to happen.
Furthermore, Hindus will interpret an experience of Jesus as evidence of the startling fact that Jesus is alive, he accepts them, and is relevant to their spiritual life, indeed, he could be relevant to every facet of their life.
Experiencing Jesus Christ Together
What do we mean by an experience of Jesus Christ? Hindus experience Jesus when the events which characterized Jesus’s life are happening either around or within the Hindus themselves in our modern, every-day world. The record of these Jesus experiences are narrated in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Because Hindus are not generally conversant with these texts of scripture, they may not know that the Gospels are coming alive in their experience, but they have come to believe that Jesus lives within the lives of their Christian friends. This leads them to “suspect” that their own life is being touched by the benevolent power of Jesus.
All of this takes place through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. He reveals to Hindus that Jesus is acting on their behalf in benevolent power rather than these occurrences simply being “lucky breaks”, random serendipity, or good karma. Examples of Jesus’s benevolent power include, for example; a sense of hope rises in their fearful or despairing heart despite there being no reason for it; a pristine truth begins to shine in their personal darkness; they are treated with unexpected kindness by people who want nothing from them; prosperity that has no other explanation apart from God’s blessing arrives in their life; they are gripped by a revelation of moral failure that is not hateful but merciful; a wise word shows them the way forward. The Hindu people are experiencing mercy and justice, grace and truth, faith, hope and love. The Hindu people are experiencing Jesus Christ.
The Long Understood Importance of Experience
An experiential approach to alongsiding among Hindu people is not radical, mystical, or deeply missiological. It is fundamental. Christians who have lived among Hindus have long known that spiritually minded Hindus will be open to experience Jesus Christ. E. Stanley Jones was a venerable missionary in India whose evangelistic ministry focused on educated, forward caste Hindus. His famous book, The Christ of the Indian Road, has an entire chapter dedicated to explaining the role of experience in sharing the gospel with Hindus. It was written about a hundred years ago, but it is still profoundly relevant. My first mentor was Dr. Samuel Gamadia, a wonderful Gujarati pastor and missionary. When he tried to help us understand how to effectively share the gospel with Hindus, he usually emphasized narrative, worship, and prayer. He never mentioned experience, he simply assumed that we knew how foundational that was, and he focused on teaching us how to share the gospel in such a way that Hindus could experience Jesus. H.L. Richard is an influential missiologist in the realm of gospel engagement with Hindus. He advocates for them to become Christ bhaktas or devotees of Jesus apart from converting to membership in the Christian cultural community. He has come alongside hundreds of these people and written extensively about many others who are figures of church history in India like Narayan Vaman Tilak, Pandita Ramabai Saraswati, and K. Subba Rao. The stories that he tells about these people are filled with accounts of experiencing Jesus Christ. Experiencing Jesus has always been a fundamental tenet of making disciples within Hindu communities.
The word that much of South Asia uses for this experience is anubhava. Anubhava is a Sanskritic word that can mean “experience” in the common, everyday sense that people use it, “our vacation in Hawaii was an amazing experience.” The core definition of anubhava, though, is to experience the reality of something, especially spiritual reality. Anubhava can also refer to wisdom, perception, feeling, or intuitive understanding. In Hindu ethics and spirituality, anubhava is accepted as evidence that something is true.
The core definition of anubhava, though, is to experience the reality of something, especially spiritual reality. Anubhava can also refer to wisdom, perception, feeling, or intuitive understanding. In Hindu ethics and spirituality, anubhava is accepted as evidence that something is true.
S. Radhakrishnan brilliantly explained the role of anubhava in the spiritual life of Hindus in his classic book The Hindu View of Life. He makes the point that experience is a response of the entire personality to God, “Religion…is a kind of life experience. It is insight into the nature of reality, or experience of reality. This experience is not an emotional thrill, or a subjective fancy, but is the response of the whole personality…Religious experience is of a self-certifying nature. It carries its own credentials,” (1927 pg. 13). Radhakrishnan also shows how experience and reason work together to create faith and devotion in the soul of Hindu people, “In order to be able to say that religious experience reveals reality; in order to be able to transform religious certitude into logical certainty, we are obliged to give an intellectual account of the experience… The chief sacred scriptures of the Hindus, the Vedas, register the intuitions of the perfected souls. They are not so much dogmatic dicta as transcripts from life. The truths revealed in the Vedas are capable of being re-experienced in compliance with ascertained conditions,” (1927, 14-15).
In Disciple Making Among Hindus, I summarize Radhakrishnan’s explanation and apply it to sharing the gospel this way, “Hindu people look for truth in the sense of a reality that someone has intuitively experienced, and which they can explain and demonstrate how to reproduce. Truth is found within the reasonable narration of the experience, and the proof of the legitimacy of the narrative is that the experience can be reproduced in the real world,” (Shultz, 2016, pg. 68).
Radhakrishnan teaches Christians several things that can help us introduce discipleship to Jesus into our meaningful relationships with Hindus. First, experience is based on faith. Evangelical Christians believe the Bible. Hindus believe the experience. Faith is at the center of both points of view, and each of them are very good. When Hindus believe that they have experienced Jesus Christ, that is a personal response of faith in Christ, and it is real. Second, the faith which the Hindu people have in the experience needs to be clarified. In order to do this, the Christians carefully listen to the Hindu family’s explanation of their experience. When it is appropriate, they compare the experience of their Hindu friends to the Biblical narrative of Jesus that comes closest to this experience. If the Hindu people want to discuss why this happened, the Christians tell their Hindu friends about the initiatives of grace which Jesus extends for everyone. He wants all people to experience his benevolent power so he acts on their behalf. These experiences are demonstrations of grace. Third, the Christians should be prepared to narrate their own experiences of Jesus. Of course, the Christians need to be able to do that! Sometimes, this is a growth point in which we need to expand our thinking about Christian faith to include the experience of Jesus Christ.
Examples of Anubhav
Experiencing Jesus for Hindus can be awe inspiring, miraculous or seemingly mundane, but the essence is that Hindus see Jesus through the experience. I will share several examples, all very different from each other, of how I have seen Hindus experience Jesus. Once in India, I was in a very tense situation in a village where half the Hindu families who lived in the village had converted to Christianity. The other half remained Hindu. There was a threat of violence between the newly Christian families of the village and those who had not converted. I had accompanied two pastors who had been called there to meet with the leaders of the newly Christian families to try and ameliorate the scary situation. I listened to the pastors try to urge the leaders of the newly converted families to avoid violence at all costs, but nothing seemed to be working. Suddenly, the two pastors simply began singing songs about Jesus. The angry leaders of the newly Christian families listened to the songs and began to join in. As they sang about Jesus, their countenance brightened with his presence. They began to calm down and soon the pastors could enter into meaningful dialogue with them because the singing had facilitated an experience of the reality of the peace of Jesus. This was an amazing, almost miraculous experience of the reality of Jesus.
Several examples happened in Hindu immigrant communities in the US. A lady who came to an emerging gathering of Hindus who were following Christ had a vision of a man sitting in a chair floating in the sky and asking for prayer. His face was shining like the sun and a voice whom she recognized as God told her to listen to this man. That night, I sat in a chair in the middle of the gathering and asked for prayer. The woman realized that the person in the vision was me, and she began participating in our small group. Another example, we used to teach ESL classes for Hindu people. We did so in practical ways. One day, a man told me that the lessons and vocabulary in every class was exactly what he needed to know that week at his job. He saw this as an experience of the reality of the love of Jesus and surrendered to Christ! Another man told me that his father was dying in India, and he had to go there. He was relatively new to life in the United States and didn’t have the money to travel and pay for everything in his family. I asked if we could pray about this to God in Jesus’s name, and he agreed. The next day, he received a large and unexpected bonus at work which paid for everything he needed. Over time, this man also surrendered to Christ and became an effective witness to his entire family.
Anubhav’s Link to Deeper Discipleship
I can share so many stories about how Hindu people have experienced Jesus. What is key, throughout my lifetime of walking alongside Hindu people, is that introductory experiences of Jesus like these examples are often the Hindu family’s first in-breaking realization of Jesus and His relevance to their lives. We alongsiders can develop relationships with Hindu individuals and families, and through these relationships, the reality of Christ’s presence shining out of our own lives becomes a close, visible witness to the Hindu family. The proximity of Jesus to the Hindu family, brought to them through their friendship with a faithful and loving alongsider, provides many opportunities for the Hindu family to experience an anubhav moment. Anubhav is the link between these relationships and further, deeper discipleship to Jesus.
The proximity of Jesus to the Hindu family, brought to them through their friendship with a faithful and loving alongsider, provides many opportunities for the Hindu family to experience an anubhav moment. Anubhav is the link between these relationships and further, deeper discipleship to Jesus.
Can we help Hindu people to have an introductory experience of the reality of Jesus Christ? Yes, absolutely, but this is not an evangelism technique, something that we do to kind of steer Hindus toward a prayer of accepting Christ. Nor is it a crass method, simply “one more of the tools in our ministry toolbox.” Facilitating experience should be a natural part of the alongsiding relationship. But in order for this to take place without any emotional or interpersonal manipulation or vain attempts to control the experience, Jesus will perform surgery on the soul of the alongsider whenever necessary. Jesus explicitly said that fruitful disciples will be pruned by the Father so that certain false or immature ways of thinking and doing are cut out of our lives. God often does this so we who are coming alongside Hindus can have a more experiential relationship with Jesus – he abides in us and we abide in him. As our relationship with Christ is purified in this way, as we experience Jesus ourselves, he can use us to help Hindu people to have their own experiences of Jesus Christ. This living connection between who we become in Christ and how we serve his interests in our relationships with Hindus is how we can truly embody the Lordship of Christ.
Facilitating Experiences with Jesus
Maybe the best way to facilitate anubhav is prayer. Because you have developed a relationship with your Hindu friends, they may share some personal issues that they have in their life or their family. Because you have been pruned by the Father, you can be trusted not to judge them or provide them with simplistic answers to complex problems. You are not controlling in your relationships or afflicted with a savior complex. The Hindu friend accepts you, a follower of Christ, into their own life as their friend; Jesus is loving them through you. When they share their concerns with you, you may be inspired by the Holy Spirit to offer to pray for them. There are a number of ways to do this. You may feel it is best to tell them that you will pray for them in your private, personal prayer life, or you may offer informal but sincere prayer with them at that moment. You may even arrange a time of formal prayer for them at a later time. The Lord will show you what is best.
When you pray, the Lord may directly answer your prayer. If he does, everyone will be thrilled and, probably, shocked! He may not answer the prayer, at least not immediately, but your Hindu friends may share how they experienced a peace during the prayer and afterward that is just as blessed as a direct answer to the prayer. Christians often feel that something bad will happen if God does not answer the prayer, but that is unlikely. You are praying for your friends. They won’t reject you. If they do, grieve the loss and entrust yourself to God.
Inviting your Hindu friends to functions that include the overt worship of Jesus can also facilitate an introductory anubhava. You may invite your Hindu friends to a gathering of family and friends where prayers and testimonies and even worship are conducted. They may experience the presence of Jesus and want to learn more about him. Inviting your Hindu friends to a candlelight service during the Christian holidays can also be a powerful introductory experience of the reality of Jesus. If possible, a time of worship that is led by other Hindu people who are disciples of Jesus or Indian Christians who love Hindus and are able to lead worship in a way that Hindus can relate to can be a powerful introductory anubhava of the reality of Jesus Christ. These are some seed thoughts about how to facilitate an introductory experience of Jesus, but the main thing that we need to know is Hindus will interpret an experience as the reality of Jesus drawing near. The anubhava could be anything that speaks to them. This is why your sustained relationship is so important.
It is possible to transition from a ministry philosophy devoid of experience, or nearly so, to one in which we experience Jesus ourselves and help Hindus to experience him, too. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit works in the world to reveal Jesus to people. He can correct our spiritual vision, and we may begin to see Jesus everywhere! The realization that we have been experiencing Jesus for as long as we have been aware of his reality in our lives can dawn on us. The joy of worship, the conviction and clarity of Bible study, and answers to prayer become anubhav for us. This is a gift and we should embrace it fully. Jesus is the essence of true, biblical faith. Experiencing Jesus and then clarifying that experience is the essence of faithful, orthodox, biblical discipleship. Facilitating the biblical and reasonable experience of Jesus in the lives of others is the essence of spreading the gospel among Hindu communities.
Jesus is the essence of true, biblical faith. Experiencing Jesus and then clarifying that experience is the essence of faithful, orthodox, biblical discipleship. Facilitating the biblical and reasonable experience of Jesus in the lives of others is the essence of spreading the gospel among Hindu communities.
Experience is the link between relationship and discipleship, but it is only the beginning. Jesus approaches Hindus through introductory anubhava because he loves Hindus. He wants them to have a strong relationship with him. In order for this to take place, Jesus is willing to meet Hindus on their own ground. The road of discipleship is meant to be a lifelong journey of developing that relationship. In fact, one of the reasons God leads some of us into relationships with Hindus is because he wants to transform us into people who experience the sovereign reign of Jesus Christ in our daily life.
May the grace of our anointed Lord Jesus fill you ।
May you experience his joy and confidence each day ।
May your service and devotion be purified like the finest gold ॥
Tathastu.
