A Plea to Stop Visiting Temples/Mosques, Part 3: Answering Five Final Objections

Greetings, everyone and sorry for the delay but a lot has been happening. As promised, here are the second five actual and anticipated objections to my concerns about Temple/Mosque visit tours currently being conducted by some in our fellowship. This is also the last article about this phenomenon unless further developments occur. I am praying that many will heed these concerns and that we could relegate this hazardous practice to the past. Here they be…

Objection 6: “But my temple visit was so powerful, so moving, so out of the box. Now I pray fervently for these people like never before. I really learned about their lostness and saw it first hand.”

This may be a genuine response but re-think this for a moment. Was there any other way to be so burdened? The answer must be yes because most missionaries and intercessors for Hindus and Muslims didn’t receive this burden from going to a temple or a mosque Many receive it in prayer or a classroom or a moving sermon…or a trip to India. Just get off the plane here and you will immediately see all you need to know about Hinduism and the religions of India without ever setting foot in any temple. You will know what it is like to be vexed within when you see life here (as was Paul in Athens, Acts 17).My point is that while you may be forever changed by this experience rethink through and make sure your shoe removal or hijab donning might not have been the best and certainly not the only way to be moved for these dear folks.

Objection 7: “But the church needs this practice in order to wake up.”

The church needs to be biblical and honoring to the true God and there are other ways for this to happen.

Objection 8: “Steve, is your objection to these temple tours based on a belief in the sacred\secular distinction?”

Partially, yes. I know that this argument has been less than accepted by many lately due to the onset of more and more postmodern thinking but consider the truth that God definitely deemed certain things “holy” and other things “profane”. Pagan practices were actually and remain “abominations” before a holy God. There are other activities that fall into the categories of being foolish and unwise. Either way you slice it, these visits may involve some measure of willful/unwillful, knowing/unknowing participation in sinful practices. I definitely believe this involves that but let each one be convinced by the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit what they do and say. As for my counsel, don’t even risk the danger of being on the wrong side of this issue.

Objection 9: “What then, do you suggest, is the best way to go about witnessing to Hindus and Muslims?”

Share a bold and loving testimony with Hindus in the parking lot of their temple or street witness to them. Make friends with your local restaurant owners, waiters, gas station attendants and grocery store owners, and businessmen who are from these locales. I have had great conversations with Indians at home and abroad and a powerful testimony to them is a kind explanation to them as to why you cannot go into their places of worship. What an open door to share about the holiness of the true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. In India I refuse to enter temples or even say the customary greeting “Namaste” because of its spiritual implications (“Namaste” literally means “My spiritual atman (“god-self”) bows in reverence to your spiritual atman.”). Although it is a customary greeting we have an open door of opportunity for why we give a hearty hug or handshake instead.

Objection 10: “Steve, aren’t you just being an ill-informed, reactionary , preachy, etc…?”

This last reaction is an imagined one as everyone with whom I’m spoken with on this matter has been courteous and respectful but trust me, the answer may very well be “Yes”. I could be totally wrong with my concerns but I don’t believe so. I have seen and done many things in the nation of India since 1999 and even married into it with my beloved wife Supriya, who hails from Maharashtra, India. We are united in our concerns that, at the very least, these temple/mosque visits are not the best way to go about evangelizing Hindus and Muslims and may even be dangerous in terms of participating in a practice that compromises the Christian faith and sends a wrongful message to Indian believers and non believers alike. Of course these concerns apply to all religious backgrounds involved in these visits.

So, in conclusion, these are my thoughts about temple visits. My advice: “Don’t do it!” and really think about why it isn’t a good idea. This is a “for-the-record” series of blog posts and I encourage you to be vividly biblical on this and whatever proposals and practices come down the pike, even from respected persons in our own fellowship of churches.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, and thank you so much to those who have already responded.

A Plea to Stop Visiting Temples/Mosques, Part 2: Answering Five Objections

A Plea to Stop Visiting Temples/Mosques, Pt. 2: Answering Five Objections

I have dialogued at length about this issue with some in the FGBC including one of the main leaders of these temple trips. We have had fervent exchanges and good discussion but my concerns have been dismissed as reactionary and not based in any kind of real justifiable vantage point. These activities will continue unless others begin to speak out I am sure but I feel it necessary to answer a few counterpoints that have been raised to my concerns. Most of these were actually raised and some are anticipated but there are more than what I answer here. Let these “Top 10” suffice with this part being the first five. I feature the objection followed by my response. I let you the reader decide what is valid and worthy of your time and attention here.

Objection 1: “This is an example of what Paul did by “being all things to all men” and reminiscent of his visit to the Areopagus in Acts 17”.

Paul visited synagogues and was taken to Mars Hill where he clearly preached the gospel to those who were there. He even told the Areopagites of God’s requirement that all men everywhere needed to repent ( Acts 17:30). Everywhere Paul went he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ which directly opposed the false worship that was going on in these places. Participants in these temple visits, to my knowledge, are going to “learn about the Hindu or Muslim faith” and in the initial ventures from Momentum 2007, they were told specifically not to witness but to be observers only which is not the same intent Paul had for being found in those places. Paul also did not capitulate or compromise by participating in any form of pagan practice in order to gain entry to these places. Shoe removal and hijabs are a form of participation or at least send a message of mutual acknowledgment to some validity of the “faiths” being learned from.

Objection 2: “This practice is a “fast-track” that is worth weeks of classroom lectures to help people “see the soil” of the lost world and “get a heart” for those enslaved to foolish false religion.”

This sounds noble and pragmatically practical. How could anyone argue with the impact something like a temple visit has on Christians who see this, especially for the first time? My response is this: Is there any other way someone can receive a burden to pray for and evangelize Hindus and Muslims other than actually having to go visit their temples? YES. Is this temple/mosque visitation the only way someone can really “get a heart” for these lost souls? NO. There are other better safer ways for this to happen that don’t involve any sort of compromise or reverence to a false faith. Yes, one can learn about tenets of these religions in a classroom and it can be a tool that God uses to impart holy concern for these folks. A personal visit is an “in your face” activity but not necessarily the best one and I would caution even becoming too familiar with foreign religions in any case. You don’t have to actually do what they do. You don’t have to be familiar with the tenets of Hinduism or Islam to pray for and witness to people in those religions. Here’s the best way to get a heart for Hindus and Muslims: Pray this way: “Father, please give me a burden for those lost and on their way to hell who are trapped in any form of false worship.” Watch what He’ll do. I became a missionary to India because of praying like that, not visiting pagan temples. God can impart His burden for Hindus, Muslims, Jains, and Sikhs without these visits.

Objection 3: “Steve, there is no such thing as an actual pagan place or anywhere that’s forbidden ground for a Christian to go in. The geography of what is found inside or outside the temple belongs to the Lord and we need not be afraid of “evil places’ or temple grounds.”

While this is technically correct, the practice of removing our shoes or donning a hijab or any custom we have to do to enter these places sends the message to these adherents that we do indeed consider their temple or mosque “sacred space”. We are showing respect for what they do there which is worship a false god or goddess who is really a demonic spirit. Why would we do this? God does not have mutual respect for any other “faith” and doesn’t want His people displaying any form of veneration or acknowledgment to any other false beliefs. Israel was told “all the gods of the nations are idols”( Ps. 96:5) and they were not to do anything that smacked of or was actual pagan practice. we are to be separate from these things and I assure you this sends a greater testimony to those dear folks that any mutual acknowledgment of their “faith”.

Objection 4: “We need to extend the right to all people to worship as they please.”

Yes we do but we shouldn’t do anything that compromises or encourages what they are doing by acknowledging their practices as sacred or valid in any way.

Objection 5: “This practice of temple/mosque visitation was first suggested by an Indian believer.”

This may be true but there are a lot of unbiblical and unwise things suggested by leaders of any background. There are many more Indian believers who would object to what’s going on with these visits if made aware of this practice. Just because the idea is Indian in origin means nothing and a lot of what has been suggested and implemented in the name of contextualization and evangelism is unbiblical and borders on erroneous activity that is actually syncretistic in practice. There is no real weight to this argument.

There’s five objections to my objection to the practice of temple/mosque visitation. I leave them for your consideration and ask you to stay tuned for the conclusion of this series of posts where I will present five final objections and my responses.

Read and share as the Lord leads.