[Editor’s Note: The following article is a part of a new series of articles centered on the broader subject, “Speaking of Jesus with Hindus.” Other articles that Marg Network has published on reading the Bible with Hindus can be found here, here, and here.]
“Hey, bro, I brought you a gift.” I said to my friend *Dhruv. “I realized I have shared how much Yeshuji has changed my life, but that change really started when I began reading his Holy Scriptures. So I wanted to give you one small book from the Holy Scriptures as a gift!”
(*Name changed for anonymity.)
“Oh, wow, bro, thank you so much! I should have brought you a gift, also.” Dhruv said sheepishly.
“No bro, no worries! Your friendship is enough of a gift for me, haha.” Dhruv then took the small book of John I gave him and immediately thumbed through the pages with apparent interest. This particular Book of John was written in English but used some common Hindi religious words in place of several foreign-sounding Christian terms. Dhruv immediately noticed these Hindi words and his interest grew.
As he investigated his new gift, I continued, “When I first started learning about Guru Yeshuji I found it really helpful to read and discuss the scriptures with my friend. It was way more fun, actually! I think no one can be on their spiritual journey alone. I was thinking next time we meet we could read together and see what Prabhu Yeshu Ji actually says. Do you want to join?”
“Yes! Why not?!” Dhruv replied. He seemed genuinely excited about it. After this, we continued hanging out and joined some of his friends at a large party celebrating a regional culture of India. We all had a great time riding carnival rides, dancing traditional dances, and listening to beautiful regional music.
This real story illustrates what introducing the Bible into your friendship can look like. As disciples of Lord Jesus we all agree that the Scriptures are vitally important. In this article we are going to explore some ideas that can help us read the Scriptures alongside our Hindu friends.
A Book-less Devotion
My experience with Dhruv is admittedly not always the norm. There are many times I have invited my friends to join me in the Scriptures and they have been less enthusiastic. There are several reasons why. Over the years, I have noticed the vast majority of my friends have never read the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and certainly not the Vedas. Even my particularly devoted friends rarely raise their hands when I ask if they spend regular time reading the various scriptures of the Indian sub-continent. The reason is simply that most Hindu traditions are much less book-centered than the western Christian tradition. Listening and telling stories, respecting elders, fulfilling societal roles, and participating in festivals are significantly more prominent in most Hindus’ devotional lives than directly reading, memorizing, or studying scriptures.
Even if our friends don’t often read the Hindu scriptures, though, they are very familiar with the stories they contain and value them greatly. Hindus often have a deep reverence for all scriptures (including the Bible) and consider them as important. But the Hindu tradition has developed into much more of a ‘book-less devotion’. It’s neither right or wrong, good or bad. It just is.
A friend of mine once explained to me that ‘book-less devotion’ was the reality for all faiths, including the Christian tradition, until the year 1440. In 1440 the Gutenberg printing press was invented, and with that innovation came the Gutenberg Bible. This event made mass production of literature possible, including the Bible. For the first time in history common people had immediate and personal access to the Bible. Since then the Christian tradition, specifically in the West, has developed into a much more ‘book-centered devotion’. Individual Bible reading has been elevated to a strong indicator of devotion and spiritual growth in the Christian tradition. This is neither right or wrong, good or bad. It just is.
Typically, your Hindu friends will not have that same emphasis. It is okay when they don’t jump for joy at your invitation to read the scriptures with you. If your friend doesn’t appear interested in reading, don’t worry and don’t force it. Keep building into the friendship and sharing stories about Jesus in an engaging and fun way. Listening to spiritual stories is common and familiar to your Hindu friends and can often stimulate genuine interest in the Bible over time. As you share a meaningful Bible story and your friend really connects with it, you can explain to her this is a true story directly from the Bible. If there is particular interest in one of these stories you have shared, it may be a good time to invite her to read with you once more! Since she has grown up in a ‘book-less’ devotional setting, however, she may take some time to warm up to the idea.
So they said yes, what now?
Despite the previous disclaimer, many of your friends will accept your invitation to explore the Scriptures! What, then, should you do? Please consider this advice. Just like a Hindu festival celebration, adopt the mentality of the more participants, the merrier! If your friend does express interest in the scriptures I encourage you to invite their family members and/or friends to join you both. Having a group of friends and family is both more fun and further reinforces the truth that no one can walk their spiritual journey alone.
You may notice a lot of word repetition of ‘invite’ and ‘explore’. This is intentional. I recommend that you maintain an ‘invitation’ framework when it comes to reading the Scriptures with Hindus. We want to avoid pressuring, forcing, or awkwardly forming a pop up seminary class. It is much better to invite your Hindu friend and their family to explore the scriptures with you side by side.
A mistake I have made many times (with the best intentions) is taking on the role of a grossly underqualified Bible teacher. It’s hard to explain. Something just comes over me where I feel so strongly that it is my God-given duty to convey every sermon, greek translation, or Bible Project video I have ever seen to my friend; it is a strong personal desire for an almost USB-like digital transfer direct from mind to mind! For those of you who have some experience alongsiding, you might have experienced this same urge before. If you have, it is okay to laugh! Though my feelings are understandable, they are not very helpful. We want to avoid teaching as much as possible. It is totally fine to add a touch of context here, or clarify a confusing word there when they ask. But when we get shackled to pure information transfer, giving unending answers to questions our friends are not asking, we are actively working against ourselves. It creates an undesirable dependency upon the alongsider as ‘the expert’ and discourages any confidence your Hindu friend may have in repeating the process with their family and friends later.
Instead of embodying the posture of a figurative “Bible-answer-man”, commit to diving into the scriptures, shoulder-to-shoulder, with your Hindu friend. Ask questions of the text and let the scriptures do the teaching! Stay present in the current passage and don’t bring in other texts, cross references, or 1st century contextual insights. Learn from your friends and how they interpret the text. Ask them questions when you genuinely don’t understand and see how they can give insight. If you keep the focus on studying the passage at hand, elevating Jesus, and strengthening your friendship, you will do well!
Where should we start?
I think it is really helpful to have some suggestions, but this is not a mandate. 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is breathed out by God” (ESV), but starting a study of scripture with your Hindu friend in Leviticus 9 may not be your best approach. As many may already assume, starting with the Gospels can be very natural and helpful for Hindus. Any of the four are great; I have usually started with the Book of John. As you work together through the stories of Jesus you will have a solid foundation to build your shared devotion upon.
When you reach the crucifixion and resurrection it may be a good time to switch over to the Matthew account. This suggestion comes from the excellent book Disciple Making Among Hindus. The account that Matthew gives is very detailed and eye opening; it may help your Hindu friends see how distinctly unique Jesus truly is! Work through this slowly without rushing to the end. This is a weighty, meaningful, emotionally heavy section of the scriptures. Allow the text to create good discussion and see how this account of Jesus’s death and resurrection speaks to our hearts.
If, after working through a gospel account together, your Hindu friend is still interested to go further, a great next step can be reading the Book of Acts. With some friends in the past I have said something like, “this book is all about the original Yeshu bhaktas (Jesus devotees) and how they lived their lives. I think it can help us understand how we can follow their example!” It has helped my friends see the connection and relevance to our own experience.
It is a wonderful thing to read the Scriptures, shoulder to shoulder, with our Hindu friends. As wonderful as it is, be thoughtful that you continue to spend time together outside of your Bible reading. Keep growing the friendship with shared experiences, fun memories, and times of friendship. In most cases, try avoid your connection devolving into a one-dimensional ‘Bible only’ time together. This may be obvious but I find it a helpful reminder because it’s easy to unintentionally have Bible blinders on.
Conclusion
The context of a trusted, growing friendship provides a great opportunity to explore the Scriptures with your Hindu friend! Even though most Hindu traditions practice a more book-less style of devotion, many friends will accept your offer to read the Bible. Telling Bible stories orally can be a great way to start and can create some interest in reading later on. As you read the Scriptures with your friends, refuse to be the teacher. Look to the text as the teacher and focus on asking good questions, not providing good answers. As you read and ask questions together, you will learn together with your Hindu friends what God is saying in the Bible. And one last thing, receiving from your Hindu friend a different and fresh perspective on the Bible is an exciting gift that they will happily give to you!
[Photo credit to Sudhakar Chandra, Unsplash]
