From Buddha to Jesus: An Insider’s View of Buddhism & Christianity, by Steve Cioccolanti (Sweet Life International, 2007, 240pp.)

 

—reviewed by Larry Dinkins

You wouldn’t expect a pastor of an International Church in Melbourne, Australia with a name like “Cioccolanti” (Italian for “chocolate”) to claim an inside track to the mind and worldview of Buddhists. However, his claim to an insider’s view of Buddhism is substantiated by his Thai upbringing and exposure to a very religiously diverse extended family. Besides his Thai Buddhist roots, Steve has added to that a broad education in America and Europe which allows him to address Buddhist issues from both an oriental and occidental viewpoint.

It has been asked whether missionaries should support themselves with secular employments (rather than accept full-time paid support) for the sake of being a good example to believers?  A missionary working full-time in the secular world without monetary support from home would be a benefit to the church in two ways:  1) gives an example of living out the Christian life in the secular world, with integrity and hard work and Gospel witness, and 2) gives an example of how one can do ministry and work in the secular world at the same time.

Many Thai churches are very small (less than 50 people) and can not afford to support a full time pastor or church planter.  If the missionary church planter sets the precedent (whether intentionally or unintentionally) that “real” ministry can only be done by a full time paid professional, then the expansion of the church could be hindered as those with a heart for evangelism and serving the Lord think that they need to quit their job and go to Bible school before then can “really” be a minister of the Gospel.  For many Thai Christians with a heart to serve, and a call to ministry, bi-vocational pastoring and church planting is probably the most viable option that will not be a burden to them and their families, and beneficial to the planting and development of new churches.

For English speakers, there is a massive amount of Christian books and resources available but for many other languages in the world, it is simply not the case.  Two recent experiences really drove this truth home, as it relates to Thailand.  

I had the chance to visit Bangkok Bible Seminary (BBS), take a tour, and talk to some teachers and students.  When we went up to their small library to look around, I was surprised to see that only about one-fourth of the library was Thai Christian books and the rest were in English.  The students all know some English but the majority really don’t know enough to make use of these English books at any significant level.  So, about 75% of their seminary library is functionally unusable for the majority of the BBS student body.  If the English level of the majority of students is insufficient to make good use of the resources in the library, why not add more Thai books?  Because they just don’t exist.

What if Jesus responded to temptation like we usually do?  I have been reflecting lately on the nature of temptation and suffering, and the relationship between the two in the life of Jesus and my own life.  When the Devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4), how did Jesus respond?  “And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’” But he answered, “Well, um, I am pretty hungry, but really I shouldn’t.  I can’t do that.  Wow, I’m hungry.  How can I say no?  I have to say no.  Man shall not live... but, I do need bread, after all.  God knows that I need bread.  How can I survive without bread?”  Was this Jesus’ response? NO!  But I confess to my own shame that I often give that kind of response to temptation.  I reason it through in my own head, instead of giving a decisive instantaneous “NO!” like Jesus did.  Matthew does not record Jesus mulling over the Devil’s offer.  Jesus gives an immediate response in the negative, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4).  And that is the end of it.  The temptation was real but Jesus decisively said NO each time.

Despite 180 years of Protestant missions in Thailand, there are still relatively few churches and few Christians (less than 1% of the population).   Missionaries are still needed but we are just temporary catalysts in helping the Thai church attain to sufficient numbers and maturity so that missionaries won’t be needed.  And in many places, the LORD is raising up quality mature Thai believers preaching the Gospel of Christ.  I wanted to share a video of one such believer, my friend Off who is on staff with Thai Christian Students (TCS).  TCS is part of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).

 

The following video was taken this past August during an open air evangelism event at the market next to the Tesco Lotus mall in Lopburi, Central Thailand.  There were songs, skits, games, and more direct Gospel presentations.  Lots of tracts and nearly 500 Gospels of John were handed out.  The goal of this kind of evangelism is not to get people to decide for Christ on the spot, and as such there were no altar calls or decision cards.  The goal is to sow seeds and to get people thinking about spiritual realities that they may not have considered before, starting from what people already believe and moving them towards considering the claims of the Bible.

 

The whole presentation is about 15 minutes but I had to break it up into two segments in order to put it onto YouTube.  So, watch Part 1 and then move on to Part 2, which is the continuation of Off’s message.  If you’re interested to learn more about what Off and the other folks from Thai Christian Students in Central Thailand are up to, please visit their blog at http://tcscentralthailand.wordpress.com

 

If you have trouble viewing the above embedded videos, click here to watch directly on YouTube

 

Last Updated July 2012

From time to time, I have been asked by new missionaries which Thai Bible translation they should buy?  There are not that many available but for the newcomer to Thailand, and to the Thai language, it can be confusing to know which Bible is best to get.  Therefore, for the sake of those who are new to Thailand, or are interested in Bible translations in general, I wanted to give a brief survey of what’s available.