Can God Speak Through a Lama?

This week’s post is in response to Dr. Metzger’s recent Patheos post, Thank God for the Dalai Lama. Dr. Metzger seeks to model engagement of other religions through our convictions rather than around them.

We would be wise to heed all messages from God. In the Bible God spoke to his people a number of different ways, from the pre-fall walking together in the cool of the garden, to entertaining or wrestling disguised angels, dreams, visions, burning bushes, pillars of cloud and fire, donkeys, the Law, whirlwinds, psalmists, and prophets. Others in the New Testament enter into dialogue with Jesus Christ and have their words and actions become part of God’s message for his people today. People like the Samaritan woman in John 4, the Syrophonician woman in Mark 7:25-27, the Centurion in Matthew 8 and Luke 7, the other centurion at the crucifixion who recognized that Jesus must be the son of God, the Jewish teacher Nicodemus in John 3, and even a hated tax collector have their story and message included in that greatest story of all. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is God's final revelation to the world (Hebrews 1:1-3). Yet down through history there have been others who have spoken words of prophetic challenge to the church even through criticism from the outside...words that should direct us back towards Christ. Can we hear the voice of the Spirit blowing unexpectedly through those who don't claim to know Christ?

 

So can God use a Lama to speak truth to Christians? Yes and no. If you are a Tibetan Buddhist you would probably answer, “Yes.” If you are a Christian you would likely say, “No.” But I agree with Metzger that there is room for those opposed to his spiritual beliefs (myself included) to be challenged by God through the Dalai Lama— challenged to see how strongly we value human life and how free we are from bondage to material possessions. Jesus of course teaches both of these points quite clearly.

As one who has been made in the image of God and thus committed to the value of human relationships the Dalai Lama warns us against the impersonal and arrogant and as Metzger notes, “In the midst of his affirmation of scientific progress that furthers the well-being of our planet, he cautions scientists, business leaders and politicians, even society at large, not to play God.” Further Metzger summarizes one of the chapter highlights from the Dalai Lama’s work “Ethics and the New Genetics”,

Knowledge of genetic predispositions of disease may lead one to abort a child whose disease will manifest itself in twenty years; such knowledge of predisposition entails only a probability at best and does not account for the possibility that a cure may be found within ten years (page 191).

The Captain calls for any to join him in the effort against evil.

The thought of such a callous utilitarian consumer ethic as is being made possible by the new genetics reminds me of the Hydra/ S.H.I.E.L.D. Project Insight in the film, Captain America: Winter Soldier when they deployed Zola’s algorithm that would kill every person they considered a threat and every potential threat in the future. In the movie, Captain America was determined to stop such an affront to the humanity of the world, alone if necessary but also was betting that he was not alone. So in some ways the Dalai Lama is joining forces intellectually with the Captain against those that would “play God” over who lives and who dies. I am pretty sure no one has made this comparison before!

Devoted Christians have historically contended for the lives of others over extending their own. Yet in an increasingly temporal focused culture we can be conditioned to defend ourselves rather than display the strength found in biblical meekness (Matt 5:5).

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13)

We can be tricked into self-preservation instead of taking up the cross and dying daily participating in the great mission of God.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)

Is it not possible that the Dalai Lama who is no follower of Christ, can challenge us to become better followers of Jesus? I think so. If we allow his bold writing to challenge us to stand for the relational value [what we Christians call “the image of God”] in all mankind and simultaneously rethink how tenaciously we are living into the life God has for us, or if we merely love the things of the world too much to share in the love of Christ and need to repent.

I think that we can find lots of ways to work together for the common good humanity despite our clear disagreements. As Dr. Metzger concludes.

By challenging one another, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others can help strengthen our collective resolve and response to the challenges we face in search of a truly global ethic affirming all of life. As such, we become “trustworthy rivals”…

Are we humble enough to hear God speak through not just the Dalai Lama but through those thought to be the least likely of messengers…like two guys in the Bible named Saul--one was out hunting donkeys and the other hunting Christians.