Christians and Karma

Throughout the history of the church, one common temptation has been to import pagan concepts & practices into the church and intertwine them with Christianity itself.  This can be done intentionally.  Case in point would be the Old Testament Jews as their sons married Gentile daughters, thus adopting some Gentile religious practices into their daily lives.  However, my guess is the majority of these cases are unintentional.  Overexposure to any worldly concept can lead to a general acceptance of the idea, thus propping the door open for incorporation into everyday practice.  I believe this has happened today in the Christian church with the Hindu concept of karma.


If you're not immediately familiar with karma, I'm sure you will be after you hear the definition. Dictionary.com defines karma as "action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation."  Hindu philosophy holds that if the karma of an individual is good enough, the next life will be rewarding, and if not, the person may actually devolve and degenerate into a lower life form. In order to achieve good karma it is important to live life according to what is right (About.com).  Basically, karma means this: Do something good and something good will happen to you in return.  The opposite is also true.  Do something bad and something bad will happen to you in return.

Karma has recently been popularized by the TV show My Name Is Earl.  In the sitcom, Earl Hickey is a petty criminal whose winning $100,000 lottery ticket is lost when he is hit by a car. Lying in a hospital bed he develops a belief in karma during an episode of Last Call with Carson Daly. To turn his life around, he makes a list of every bad thing he's ever done in an attempt to correct them, as he believes that this is the only way he can gain positive karma. After doing his first good deed, he finds the lottery ticket he had previously lost. He sees this as a sign of karma rewarding him and, with his newfound wealth, he begins doing good deeds according to his list (Wikipedia).

It is this same concept of karma that many Christians have incorporated into their daily lives, many times unknowingly.  And I am not immune.  It was one of my most common prayers growing up.  After I had sinned in some way, I was convinced that God was going to punish me by making me play horribly in my upcoming baseball game.  So I would ask God to forgive me for my sins and to please punish me in any other way besides that.

Do you see what my belief was in that moment?  I believed that because I had sinned, God was going to punish me in some tangible way.  Likewise, the opposite was true as well.  I believed that if I did something good, God was going to reward me.

This is not the only way karma has infiltrated our Christian beliefs.  How do you view your relationship with God after you have completed a good quiet time?  Do you think that God is pleased with your efforts and predisposed to bless you throughout your day because of your great quiet time?  Or what about on the days that you've neglected your quiet time with Him?  Do you feel that God is now disappointed with your efforts and will not allow you into his presence as a punishment?

Or what about the common answer to the question, "How to you get to heaven?"  Sadly, many Christians answer this question the same other nonreligious folk.  If we do enough good things in this life such that the sum of them outweigh the bad that we have done, then God will grant us eternal life in heaven.

Friends, all of these examples embody the Hindu concept of karma.  We have borrowed karma and molded it into our everyday Christian practice.  In its basest form, karma is legalism and anti-Christian.

In fact, God shatters the concept of karma.  Despite all of the bad we do in our lives, God is patient with us in our sin.  Sin against a holy, just, & eternal God requires immediate & eternal death.  Yet we are still alive, eating God's food, living in shelters He has provided for us, hanging out with friends & family that He ultimately has created. And not only that, but God even goes so far as to offer us redemption & salvation from this impending death.  If karma were true, the moment we first sinned, we should have been struck down by God himself.  End of story. 

But for the Christian, God has flipped karma on its head. For those who love God, everything that happens to us is for our good.  "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  Therefore, if you do good or bad, only good will come to you.  God's blessing & discipline alike are meant for your good.

I believe what is needed to counteract this disease of karma within the Christian church is a healthy dose of two doctrines: our adoption as sons & daughters into God's family and Christ's imputation. 

When you became a Christian, you were indwelt with the Holy Spirit and adopted into God's family.  You became a son of the Most High.  God now regards you as son!  A member of my church put it well in the sermon that he preached today.  "If my children disobey me, I love my children.  If my children continually disobey me, I love my children.  And if my children run to me and beg for forgiveness for their disobedience, I love my children."  As a Christian, God's disposition towards you does not change, sin or no sin.  He is your Father, and he is totally for you.

And secondly, when you became a Christian, something miraculous happened. Christ took all your sin - past, present, & future - upon Himself as He hung on that bloody cross and, in return, He gave you all of His righteousness, so that now, anytime God looks at you, he does not see damned sinner.  No.  He sees the righteousness of Christ himself.

So for the Christian who struggles with doing his quiet times, God does not distance himself from you.  No, God gets down on one knee and opens wide His arms to comfort His son.

For the Christian who struggles with continual sin, God does not see you as filthy sinner who has punishment coming.  No, He looks at you, counts you righteous because of the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf, and picks you up to carry you through your struggles.

And for the Christian who has done all he can to please the Lord in all he does, God treats him no differently than he does the previous two above.  He is His son, and good is coming to him.

If karma were true, we would all get what we truly deserve... immediate, eternal damnation in a place of isolation & torment.  Praise God that we live by the law of Christ and not the law of karma.