Chances are, you have misused a word or phrase in the course of your life, and the result was probably pretty comical (well, I suspect that somebody probably laughed!). These misuses are known as malapropisms, and some people are well-known for them. Yogi Berra, for instance, was a veritable fount of malapropisms. Some of his more well-known “Yogisms” include, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” “Baseball is 90% mental; the other half is physical,” “It gets late early out here,” and “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Indeed, he was so famous for these that just about any such phrase was attributed to him, leading him to have to set things straight: “I never said most of the things I said.”
Usually, malapropisms are harmless phrases that, at the worst, simply lead to embarrassment for the one who utters them. Sometimes, though, we misuse words by appropriating terms that we think are harmless, but in actuality can result in confusion. That is why when it comes to theological terms and concepts, believers must take great care to use language as precisely as possible. One example that I have been encountering more and more among Christians is the use of the term “karma.”
What is unique about this particular usage is that believers are not so much misapplying the term outright as much as they are attempting to conflate a Biblical principle with a decidedly pagan one. The term is usually deployed when describing a situation where someone is engaged in behavior that is unethical or malicious without any apparent consequences. This unethical person will be the unwitting victim of karma, it is declared. I try to give the benefit of the doubt as much as I can to my brothers and sisters, and in these cases I suspect that they are trying to say that the Biblical correlation of sowing and reaping applies. However, by bringing the term “karma” into the conversation, they are actually muddying the waters rather than making Biblical truth clear.
Karma, you see, is a term that has a very clear definition in Eastern religions and philosophies, and that definition is actually quite well understood by our culture. Karma is the belief that good deeds will result in happiness and blessings while bad deeds will result in suffering and afflictions. It is, in effect, a balance sheet of works, where you can build up a bank of good deeds that will cause you to be happy and successful in not only this life, but in your future lives as well. Your bad deeds have to be worked out in this life and future lives, as it draws down your good karma. Karma, then, is nothing more than an outworking of a dualistic good force/bad force that is trying to maintain balance in the universe (think of the yin/yang symbol). While the pagan roots of the concept might not be fully understood, the gist is.
On the contrary, the Biblical concept of sowing and reaping tells us that actions have consequences, to be sure, but those consequences are determined by the sovereign God of the universe, not some impersonal force. But a Scriptural understanding of this concept doesn’t end there. If it did, there really wouldn’t be any difference between the two. You see, the Bible goes on to tell us that though we may have sown evil deeds in our sinfulness, we do not have to reap the consequences (death and punishment in Hell) because of grace. Jesus Christ took on the consequences Himself on the cross, when He bore the full wrath of God for us. So, whereas karma says that everyone will get what he or she deserves, grace tells us that we can have what we don’t deserve – forgiveness, healing, salvation – all through the Savior, Jesus Christ. So, the next time you’re tempted to use the term “karma,” choose “grace” instead. You’ll find that it really does change everything – including your attitude and perspective toward the person you believe has wronged you. Just something to think about…
0 Comments