Witnessing to a Buddhist

Witnessing to a Buddhist

While serving at a church in San Diego, I had befriended a young Asian man who was a Buddhist. He worked at one of the local restaurants nearby the church and we would see each other on a regular basis. Whenever I saw Biz I was very purposeful in how I used our time together. I would ask lots of questions in order to get to know him. I would talk to him about his family, life in America, and his dreams for the future. One day our conversation naturally shifted over to “religious” stuff, because he mentioned to me that even though he was a Buddhist, his wife was actually raised Catholic.

I remember thinking to myself this was the moment I had been waiting for, so I asked him a simple question. I asked him what he believed would happen to us when our life was over. He said he believed we would possibly be reincarnated. After dialoguing with him for a while longer I found out that even though he is not a Christian, he believes that Jesus was a great leader who did miraculous works. I began explaining to him why Jesus was so much more than a great leader, who did miraculous works. I explained to him that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and then He rose again on the third day. I explained to Him that Jesus was the only person to ever defeat death.

Using Apologetics that point to Jesus

I then asked him to imagine with me that Buddha, Mohammed, and Jesus were each standing before us. I reminded him that each one of them has had an incredible influence on the faiths of the world that have far outlasted their earthly lives. I then asked my friend to imagine that we were at the last day of our life, and we had to make a decision about which of these Influential religious leaders we were going to put our faith in, because when we die we don’t get a second chance to get it right. I told him that before we make our decision on this matter we would be wise to consider all of the facts.

I then asked my friend the following set of questions: "If we went to Mohammed's grave site what would we find?" He intelligently answered, "Mohammed's bones." I then asked, "If we went to Buddha's grave site what would we find?" He again had an intelligent answer, saying, "Buddha's bones." I then asked him, "If we went to the tomb where Jesus was buried what would we find?" I was shocked that this professing Buddhist said, "Nothing." This caught me totally off guard, and I almost didn’t know what to say. But I quickly gathered my thoughts and I said to him, "You are absolutely right! We would find nothing because Jesus rose from the dead.” I then asked him, “Do you understand the implications of that?" He said, "Yes, I believe so." I then said, "If Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed were standing here before us, the only one that would actually be here is Jesus, because the other two have been dead and buried for hundreds of years."

I then said, "If we had to choose today who we would want to follow, especially if this was our last day on earth before we took the leap into eternity; why would we choose anyone other than Jesus? He is the only person to ever rise from the dead? Furthermore, Jesus has invited us to join Him. He said the only thing we have to do is put our faith in Him, and turn from our sins.” I then finished with, “I have to ask you Biz, who would you put your trust in today, if these three great leaders were standing here before us?" With an aha look upon his face, and a genuine smile, my Buddhist friend said to me, "Now I get it!"

The reason my Buddhist friend "got it" was because he realized that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is what separates Him from not only the greatest religious leaders in all human history, but it also separates Him from all humanity in human history. In that moment, my friend came to the realization that if Jesus is the only One who has ever defeated death, and this was our last day on earth, we had better choose Jesus if we want someone with experience in conquering death! And just like we read in 1 Peter 3:15, God enabled me to use apologetics in order to be effective in doing the work of an evangelist, by pointing my Buddhist friend to Jesus.