No Other Name

Acts 4:12 (ESV) "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

On Saturday, July 4, 2009, the team and I headed up Doi Suthep (Suthep Mountain) with thousands of other Chiang Mai University students. Every year on the first Saturday of July, Chiang Mai University students run up the mountain with their respective departments as a school spirit event. However, this event is not only for school spirit. The largest temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Pratat, sits on top of Doi Suthep and overlooks the city. The thousands of students that run up the mountain (about 20,000), then proceed to worship at Wat Pratat to bring blessing upon themselves and their school for the coming year.


My team and I trekked the arduous 18 kilometers (~11 miles) in hot, sticky, humid weather in about three hours. (I may post some videos we took later) Along the way we passed by ornate ceremonial processions of flowers, statues, Buddhist urns and students dressed in traditional Thai clothing. At the same time, students drinking beer in the back of pick-up trucks flew past us as they laughed and cheered in celebration.

When we reached the top of the mountain, we came upon this flight of dragon stairs that lead to the actual temple. I could not help but remember Jesus' words, "For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many" (Matthew 7:13). Here was the gate that was leading thousands upon thousands to destruction.

When I'm at church at home surrounded by thousands of other Korean American Christians like myself, the reality that Christians are the minority is hard to grasp. But now, I witnessed with my own eyes that for every thousand members at Sarang Church, there were two thousand Thai students to match walking up these stairs to destruction. Truly, the people are God are too few in number for the almighty God we serve. I prayed that God would have mercy upon these students who knew not what they did, and that God would open their eyes and accept Christ as their savior.

Finally we entered the the temple (after paying a foreigner's fee), and we looked around. I saw the Buddhists passing by and ringing these bells in a row to invite the spirits. We prayed against these spirits and invited the Spirit of Christ to come reign in the hearts of the Thai people.




Here the students sit in front of the monk as they chant with him and listen to his teachings.









We entered the inner court of the temple and saw students walking in a procession around the central building holding lotus flowers with their hands in a prayer position. I saw Buddhists lighting candles of incense and praying to Buddha. There were others shaking a cup of sticks to see which falls out, which would correspond to a matching blessing or good luck charm.

I took this picture of this lone female student lighting incense candles and soon after I was shocked to realize that this was one of our friends, Pukpik. I've known Pukpik for three years now, having met her on my second mission trip to Thailand in 2006. She's been very open to Christianity and comes out to many of the events here at Grace Fellowship. She's even visited Sarang Church when she visited California.

But here she was devoutly praying to Buddha, not the living God. I realized that as open as people may be towards the gospel, and as much as people may be "seeking," until Christ is accepted as their lord and savior, all is meaningless in the end without Christ. She may come out to our events and even sing our songs, but without knowing Jesus personally, she is still destined for hell.

I looked to the left and saw my friend Art whom I've known for four years, since STEM 2005. He was walking in the procession with the other students. However, Art was talking on his cellphone and waved to us. Buddhism for him was obviously cultural, and he was partaking in the activities just because everyone else was.

Just like seeing students going up the mountain either religiously or just for fun, here in the temple there were devout Buddhist worshipers and others that just did so for the sake of it. But whatever path these students were choosing, religious or secular, it was not the path of eternal life.

God reminded me about the passage I had meditated on this morning. Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

It's so easy to overlook the gravity of the situation. When I think about the prostitutes on the streets and the gender confusion that's literally everywhere, you realize that the Thai people need Jesus. But when I look at some of the nicest, friendliest, most hospitable friends that even come out to our Christian events, I sometimes fall into the lie of Satan that they might not need Christ. Why do these generally "good" people need Jesus? Aren't they living decent lives and not hurting anyone?

But God showed me on that mountaintop with thousands of students worshiping a false god in a false temple, that there really is no other name by which we can be saved. In the end, everything and everyone falls short of the glory of God. Buddhism, secularism, living a good life, having a nice family, being a nice person - these things do not restore our relationship with the creator of the universe. Only what Christ has done can bring us to God.

Please pray for Thailand, that God would shine His light in the darkness and that they would know and worship the name of Jesus Christ our savior.