I know that I do not write often so if no one reads this – I will live on still!
On Monday, January 3, Jay Bell, a friend of mine in ministry in Winona Lake, and I went to lunch together and then to visit a new local Sikh temple. What? A LOCAL Sikh Temple? Wait a minute…. What's a "Sikh" Temple?
I know… I had all of those same questions so here are a couple of places to find out more about what in the world this is. (www.sikh.org and www.gurunanakdarbarsahib.com ) First, Sikh (said "seek") is a religion that has some very unique beliefs (they worship a "Holy Book" and treat it as though it is alive physically). Second, when I say local I mean that is less than six miles from our church located on Day road just west of Bittersweet (12800 Day Road, Mishawaka, IN 46544). Third, we went in and spoke with the priest that leads this congregation of thirty families in our area. He was dressed in traditional garb with a turban, the appropriate metal wrist band and a long beard. You can search out the "articles of the Sikh faith" and learn more.
The Sikh faith seems to be a combination of the monotheism and Hinduism and is the 5th largest world religion today. There is a Sikh temple in Merrillville, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo and Chicago. Now there is one that is almost complete, after a $1,000,000 renovation, here in Michiana. Jay and I were invited from the entry hall into the main temple worship area and were allowed to see their holy book. We were even invited to come back this Sunday to worship with them.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because they will arrange a "field trip" for up to 30 of us to come and hear about the Sikh religion and to ask questions that we may want to know about their religion. Let me give you ten great reason why this is a great thing for us to do.
- It's one thing to listen to a lecture on world religions, it's quite another to be able to ask questions of one who practices the religion.
- It's one thing to try to wade through a world religion textbook, it's quite another to talk to a devotee in person.
- It's one thing to study the "official" or "orthodox" version of a world religion, it's quite another to experience it at the popular level.
- It's one thing to read in the Bible "Love your neighbor," it's quite another to practice love to those who hold to such vast religious differences.
- It's one thing to try to strike up an initial conversation with an adherent of one of the world religions, it's quite another to say, "I've visited your place of worship (temple, center, mosque), can we talk?"
- It's one thing to read the statistics about the number of adherents in a world religion, it's quite another to engage them personally.
- It's one thing to read about idolatry in the Bible (like Isa. 44: 9-20 or Psalm 115:1-8), it's quite another to see it up close in person.
- It's one thing to visit a religious establishment while on an overseas short-term missions trip, it's quite another to be able to drive to one. No plane fare necessary! No U.S. passport necessary! No inoculation shots necessary!
- It's one thing to hear about the number of unreached people groups "over there" (41% of the 16,000 nations), it's quite another to meet them here.
- It's one thing to know they are lost in their darkness, it's quite another to walk into their lives as light.
Are you in?
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