Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I'm not familiar with Hindu weddings, but God looks upon the heart, and knows the faith of each believer. From a Christian standpoint, I would not necessarily regard the wedding as an opportunity for active evangelizing (although the attitudes and behavior of believers should be a witness to the principles of their faith at all times -- including contexts that are not specifically Christian or even religious in nature). But I also would not allow the difference in religion to serve as a deterrent from attending in support of the couple being married, since the focus of the wedding (if it is anything like a Christian ceremony) should be on their happiness, rather than requiring attendees to participate in words or actions that would conflict with the faith of a Christian. And, even if they would, a Christian firmly established in the faith (if he or she did not have the option of refraining from participation in those words or actions) would not (in my opinion) be judged by God for it. 

In that regard, I am reminded of the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was a general in the army of Syria, who also happened to have leprosy. Even though he was not an Israelite, and in fact had actually fought against Israel, the Bible specifically says that God had worked through him to bring victory to Syria (2 Kings 5:1).

A young Hebrew girl whom the Syrians had captured and carried away to Syria had been given to Naaman's wife as a servant. The Hebrew girl suggested to Naaman's wife that Naaman go and see the prophet Elisha to seek a cure for his leprosy. Naaman went to see Elisha, and (after some initial prideful resistance to what Elisha -- through a messenger-- instructed him to do) went and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan River, and he was cleansed of his leprosy.

Naaman then told Elisha that, from that day forward, he would worship only the God of Israel. However, one of his duties as a commander of the Syrian king's army was to kneel in the temple of Rimmon (the Syrian god), as the king leaned on his shoulder while also kneeling during worship, and Naaman requested of Elisha that he be pardoned for doing so. Elisha told him to go in peace.

Also, with regard to the general subject of avoiding exposure to openly non-Christian settings, it seems to me that a Christian should instead view them (when they occur) as an opportunity for witness, as Paul did when he was in Acts 17:16-34 when he was in Athens.

Rather than denouncing the Athenians as lost pagans because of their many statues and altars of various gods, Paul told the Athenians that he perceived that they were very religious, and used the presence of one particular altar that was inscribed "To An Unknown God" as a point of departure for telling the Athenians that this God whom they regarded as unknown was in fact the one true God whom Paul proclaimed, while even quoting the writings of Greek poets in support of his views.

December 01 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Pradeep Ivon Industrial sales engineer by occupation

I am a christian believer but living in India- a country of majority hinduism, and we as a minority, hence it is quite natural to have most of your neighbors and coworkers from this idol & ritual worshipping community and you cannot live in society isolated from others.

I believe we have to and we must as a social being, participate in their events (unless there is an option or we are constrained somehow) and try to project an image of a responsible and caring neighbor /colleague first of all.

This way we also get some opportunity to convey views of our faith, thus working as a witness, and also this way we can invite them to our prayer meetings, etc... so that they also learn what christian faith is about. Often these events at our home create curiosity also in them and they ask many questions. This way we get a chance to educate them about our faith and remove any wrong notions they harbor, of which the biggest misconception is that christians forcibly convert the others. 

With such attitude I have seen there are many "good hearted & godly" persons also in other religions/communities which all the more give weight to the assurance of Jesus that salvation is available to ALL & EVERYONE and not just the jews. Hope my answer has satisfied you.

July 28 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report