One Blog
Everyone is Going to Hell
That’s what my barber told me last week when I was getting my haircut. He is a professing Buddhist from Vietnam, father of 3, and has been cutting hair for years.
“So Mark (not his real name) do you have any spiritual belief?”
“I’m a Buddhist.”
He stopped cutting my hair and looked at me in the mirror. I could see that he seemed excited to tell me about his faith. I was glad since he was standing over me with a pair of scissors in his hand.
“You know, I don’t know much about Buddhism. Can you tell me more about what you believe?”
“We just try and be good, you know. Good deeds.”
His English is fine, but broken at times.
“That’s great Mark, doing good is important. What good things do you try and do?”
“Take care of my family, don’t do anything really bad, I wish I could give out free haircuts, but I can’t, you know?”
His facial expression began to reveal an internal struggle.
“If you ever want to do a good deed like that, call me up. I’ll take a free haircut anytime. That’s great you do those things Mark. How do you determine what is good and what is bad?”
“You just don’t do anything really bad…”
He went back to cutting my hair.
“What’s really bad? Stuff like murder, rape. Would you say those things are bad?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What do you believe happens to people who are bad?”
“They go to hell,” he said.
He stopped cutting my hair and seemed more interested in the conversation.
“So you believe in a hell. Do you believe in heaven?”
“Yes,” he said
“What happens in hell when you get there?”
“Well, everyone goes there. When you get there, they beat you because of all the bad deeds you have done in your life.”
He started cutting my hair again.
“Whoa. REALLY?!? EVERYONE goes to hell, Mark? What do you mean?”
“Yes, everyone. Everyone goes to pay for the bad stuff they did in their life.”
“Who goes to heaven then, Mark?”
“After you spend time in hell and pay for your bad deeds you go to heaven.”
“Okay. Who decides when you can go to heaven?” I asked.
“Buddha does.”
“How does he decide who goes and when they go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid of going to hell, Mark?”
“Yes, I’m very scared.”
“If you could go right to heaven would you want to do that?”
“Yes.”
He stopped cutting my hair again.
“Has anyone ever told you about the gospel and what Christians believe?” I asked.
“No.”
“Can I tell you?”
“Sure.”
He went back to cutting my hair and seemed less interested in the conversation.
I proceeded to tell him “we’re all bad and do bad things. None of us can get to heaven by our good works, because our bad works deserve to be punished. We all deserve to go to hell. We need someone to save us and live the life we can’t live. This is why Jesus came. He came to live our life and die our death because of our sin. And now, he calls us to place our faith in him as God. When we do this, God accepts us and declares us—the guilty party—not guilty because Jesus took our punishment on the cross. You see, heaven isn’t going to be filled with good people, but bad people who have been saved by Jesus and his work for us—not our work for him.”
“I see,” he said.
Mark finished cutting my hair. I paid him (and gave him a good tip), and told him how much I enjoyed hearing about Buddhism.
I am praying that God would save Mark. In the meantime, I am reading up on Buddhism so that I can continue the conversation with him next month.
Please pray for Mark and for me “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel…” (Eph 6:19)
Jon