Hinduism is the third largest and the fastest growing religion in Australia due to waves of the migrants from the countries in the Indian subcontinent—India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and Bhutan. With the rise of Hinduism has come an opportunity and a challenge. It is becoming more difficult for missionaries to go to the countries of the subcontinent to evangelise. However, God is bringing those nations in record numbers to Australia, opening up opportunities for the gospel. With the opportunity comes a challenge. Not many churches are equipped to evangelise people from a Hindu religious background.
Sharing the gospel with Hindus can be easy because they have a deep sense of needing salvation; they are open to accept Jesus’ teachings. On the other hand, difficulty arises due to the accommodating nature of Hinduism. Most Hindus revere Jesus. But in Hinduism, there is always room for any new deity. Hindus accept Jesus as just another god among many.[1]
How to Preach to a Hindu Who Already Believes in Jesus?
I lead Subbies: an AFES ministry reaching out to international students from the Indian subcontinent at the University of Tasmania. Here is an example of a common occurrence for us: a Nepalese student with a Hindu religious background has been coming regularly to our group. He is quite comfortable and receptive, accepting the teachings about Jesus from the Bible. He says, “There is nothing not to like about Jesus, he is a good god, helped people and even died for his enemies”.
I asked him, “Do you believe in Jesus?”
He said, “Yes, I do”
I then asked him whether he believed in Jesus’ death for the sins of all human beings including himself. He said, “Yes, I do believe Jesus died for our sins.”
I again asked him, “Do you believe Jesus rose again from the dead?”
He said, “Yes I do believe that Jesus rose again from the dead. This is what the Bible says.”
This man talks as you would expect a person to talk who professes Christ as their Lord and Saviour. But he is still a Hindu. He still believes in all the other gods as well. In Hinduism, there is a god for every aspect of life. If one needs wisdom, there is a goddess by the name of Saraswati to pray to. If one needs blessings (wealth), there is the goddess Laxmi. If one needs protection, Vishnu is the god to approach. Some Hindus are quite comfortable about accepting Jesus as the god of salvation to forgive their sins.
Why become a Christian if you already believe in Jesus? How would you preach to someone who says they already believes in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
Preach the Doctrine of Creation
The first few chapters of Genesis can be an effective way to begin presenting the gospel to a Hindu audience. The creation story shows God as the creator of everything in the universe. In Hinduism created beings are viewed as sacred and therefore worshipped. Christians do not worship created beings but the creator of everything. This is a significant challenge to the Hindu view of God and the universe. When they understand the Bible’s creation story they realise that our God has supreme authority, they learn that the universe has a purpose: to be fulfilled in Jesus (Col 1:16–20).
Preach the Lordship of Christ
The emphasis of our gospel presentation needs to be not only Jesus Christ as Saviour but also Jesus Christ the Lord of lords and God of gods. Jesus is greater and more powerful than all other gods (Phil 2:9–11). Christ died and came back to life to be Lord of both the dead and the living (Rom 14:9). Salvation is found only in Christ (Acts 4:12). This understanding of the ultimate lordship of Christ builds on the understanding of the doctrine of the creator God. And it is necessary for recognising the need for repentance.
Preach Repentance
Believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection is important. But turning away from worshiping other gods is also important. Repentance should never be downplayed. One of the most significant roles of grace is bringing sinners to repentance, which leads to transformation.[2] When we preach the gospel to Hindus, we need to communicate explicitly that repentance signifies the deliberate disapproval of a prior action requiring a change of heart.[3] Worshipping others is ungodly, sinful and corrupt. In order to receive the forgiveness of sins, repentance is required (Lk 5:32). Jesus says, repent and believe in the good news (Mk 1:15).
Receiving Jesus as Lord is necessarily more than including him as one god among many. It is receiving him as the God of gods and Lord of lords, the one who deserves all worship, the only one who can save. For this reason, receiving Jesus as Lord necessarily requires turning away from the many other gods and repenting of serving and trusting in them.
It is wonderful to see Hindus believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But believing that Jesus died and rose again is not enough. They need to believe in the lordship of Jesus and repent of their sins. Our gospel presentations need to emphasise the exclusive nature and authority of the creator God and so the exclusive nature and authority of the risen Christ. That is why repentance must accompany saving faith in Christ—repentance and faith that lead to both transformed worship and a transformed life.
[1] Kalarikal Poulose Aleaz, The Gospel of Indian Culture, Calcutta: Punthi Pustak (1994), 177–182.
[2] James Mark Beach, “Forgiving Like God? Some Reflections on The Idea of Conditional Forgiveness”. MAJT 26 (2015): 151-196.
[3] Beach, “Forgiving Like God?”, 162.
