 Karma has become increasingly relevant, especially in mainstream media. Due to its popularity, many Christians have become aware of it. Though talk of karma is more prevalent today, is it okay for Christians to believe in it? Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma, karistiiiian! Sorry, couldn't resist. Hello, weirdos! I'm Pastor Darren. Welcome to The Church of the Undead. Here in The Church of the Undead, I can share ideas which are relevant to those who suffer with depression, need some encouragement, and for those who love or are just curious about the God of the Bible. And it doesn't matter if you are a weirdo in Christ or just a weirdo, everybody is welcome here at The Church of the Undead. And I use the word Undead because here we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. If you want to join this weirdo congregation, just click that subscribe or follow button and visit us online at WeirdDarkness.com-church. Full disclosure, I might use the term pastor because I've branded this feature as a church, but I do not have a theology degree nor did I ever go to Bible college. I'm just a guy who gave his life to Christ in 1989 and has tried to walk the walk ever since, and has stumbled a lot along the way. Because, like everybody else, I am an imperfect, heavily flawed human being. So please don't take what I say as gospel, dig into God's Word yourself for confirmation, inspiration, and revelation. That being said, welcome to The Church of the Undead. This week's message is adapted from an article by Vivian Bricker entitled Simply Should Christians Believe in Karma, and I've placed a link to the article in the episode description. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines karma as the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate trans-migration and its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence. It's an important part of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. This belief teaches that if a person does good things, they will obtain rewards. However, if they do bad things, they will be punished. In other words, you will get good karma if you do positive things and bad karma if you do wrong. What you do will be returned to you. Within the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism, the goal is to attain good karma, and to do this, they will make nice gestures for the sole purpose of earning good karma. In this way, they are not doing good things for the right reason. I would agree. Doing good things is, well, a good thing, but what's your motivation behind it? Personally, at least as a Christian, we should do good things because it's the right thing to do, not because we are hoping to get good things back. If you study the Bible, you'll quickly find there is no occurrences of the word karma, and that's because karma is not a biblical concept, nor is it true. Just because someone does something terrible does not mean it will result in a negative outcome, and this is shown to us through Jesus coming to die for our sins. John 3, verses 16 and 17, for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that He whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. We had done nothing good to warrant salvation, yet Jesus left heaven to pay our sin debt. If karma were real, only terrible things would happen to us because we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3, verse 23. However, as it is, bad things do not always happen to us, and thank God for that, literally. Sometimes we have good things to happen, and occasionally bad things to happen. Neither the good nor the bad, however, is caused by karma. Throughout the accounts in the Bible, many people believed in false beliefs. While karma is not a specific belief described in the Bible, the same condemnation stands. God tells us not to believe in false gods or idols. Exodus 20, verses 3-5. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Karma can be classified as a false God and an idol because people are placing karma above God. Israel always went astray from God, serving and worshiping other gods. Instead of following the true God of the Bible, they followed the work of their own hands. Believers on the modern day are making the same mistake when they choose to worship karma rather than God. Look at how you go about your everyday life. Are you doing things to get good things returned to you? Did you open the door for someone to be genuinely nice or to try to win good karma points? Start looking at these things in your everyday life and they will help you decipher whether you are living with a karma mindset. When you do something nice, you should do it for the sole purpose of being nice. The Lord wants us to do good things and bring glory to Him through it. Jesus says that by our fruits, others will recognize us. Matthew 7, verses 16-20, By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Fruits are the good things that we do for Jesus. If a tree is good, it will bear good fruit. If it is terrible, it will bear bad fruit. As Christians, we do not do good things to win good karma. We do good things because it is a natural outpouring of the Holy Spirit's work in us. Karma has a way of hardening your heart in a way. You are not doing something good to help that other person. You are doing it to help yourself. It is a very selfish concept. This is why we must guard our hearts against karma, which we do through Bible reading, prayer and spending time with other believers. By reading the Bible, you will learn more about God and listen to his gentle whisper. Prayer is the blessing of getting to talk with the Lord directly. Going to Him, being honest with your struggles about karma, if that is an issue for you, and repenting of these practices, it can strengthen your heart. Put on the whole armor of God and don't protect yourself from all the flaming arrows of the devil. Connecting with other believers can help guard your heart, too, because they can hold you accountable. Let them know that you are struggling with letting go of this karma concept and they can help you. Through the help of other believers, they will also be able to pray for you. Daily strengthening of your heart will keep it safe from the attacks of false beliefs. Karma for a Christian is wrong. It is unbiblical. It is dangerous. Believing in karma does not align with a Christian worldview. Since God condemns false beliefs, false teachings and idols, Christians should not believe in karma. If a person does continue to believe in karma, it is going to impair their relationship with Christ. Once our relationship with Christ is impaired, we are going to struggle in all areas of our lives. While many people might think that karma is harmless and at first look it does appear that way, it can lead a person to start following a false religion such as Hinduism or Buddhism, and it could also cause a person to drift away from Jesus, concentrating more on doing things for karma rather than doing them for the name of God. When we reflect on these things, we see that Jesus is the one we should be following, not karma. Christ, not karma. Instead of focusing on how you can earn good karma, following Jesus and doing all you can to glorify him is good. Trying to earn karma is useless because karma is not accurate. It is more beneficial to spend time serving the Lord and helping others get to know him. Only through focusing on Jesus will we be able to glorify him in all that we do genuinely. If you find it hard to give up the idea of karma, remember where your allegiance lies. Your allegiance lies with Jesus. God does not want us to bow down to any idol, including karma. If you choose to practice karma, you are going to be going against the Lord and disobeying his word. So, if you are opening a door for someone, don't do it for karma. Do it for Christ. You are still doing good things, and that is what Jesus wants us to do. You just now have a better motivation, a more accurate motivation. Believing in karma is not part of the life that God has for you. God has a far greater life in store, but it is only found in him. Here are a few other verses which disprove the idea of karma. Hebrews 9 verse 27 says, Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment. 2 Corinthians 5 verses 9 and 10, So we make it our goal to please him, whether at home in the body or away from it, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that we may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Psalm 126 verses 5 through 6, Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. By all means, go out and do good, always. Just keep in mind who you're doing that good for. If you like what you heard, share this episode with others who you think might also like it. Maybe the person you share it with will want to join this weirdo congregation too. To join this weirdo family yourself, find us on Facebook, listen to previous messages, even find out how to join me in my daily Bible studies, visit WeirdDarkThis.com slash Church. That's WeirdDarkThis.com slash Church. You can find the sources I used for this week's message in the show notes. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me, weirdos, and until next time, Jesus loves you and so do I. God bless.