Leaving Everything I Knew: My Stigma With Christianity | Ep. 43

Almost everyone has met a Christian who made them want to run the other way — and this episode doesn't pretend that isn't true.

Rahul shares what it was like growing up Hindu and being cornered by kids on a school bus who used fear instead of love to try to convert him. Van, who was turned off by Christianity herself for years, asks the questions most people are afraid to say out loud.

What follows is an honest account of what it actually took for Rahul to leave behind everything his family and identity were built on, and the moment that changed his mind wasn't logical at all. There's a quiet, specific memory near the end about what he had and didn't have on the day everything shifted, and it says more than any argument could.

If Christianity has ever felt hypocritical or pushy to you, this conversation meets that feeling head on. If you are open to a real relationship with God, we want to encourage you to pray this prayer or one of your own.

"Dear God - is it true that there's only 1 God? Please speak to me in a way that I can understand. Remove the confusion, distractions and ideologies that aren't true and give me the raw truth. Speak to my heart so that I may know you if you do exist. And if you do then what is your Name? Reveal it to me." Amen

We believe that if you pray this prayer from a sincere place God will come and encounter you in a real way. When that happens, we have one favor to ask please come back and let us know in the comments. Because your story can help others that have the same hang-ups with christianity encounter this same God in a similar way. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And I just thought to myself, well, I'd rather be in hell if you're not gonna be there. And they started getting more rude and rude and rude, and it just got to a point where they were so forceful. Like, don't you wanna be in heaven? Like, you're gonna rot in hell and you're gonna get burned in hell, and this and that. Their lifestyles were very I don't want to say non-Christian, but their lifestyles were unhealthy. To me, it was hypocritical, it was unattractive. Faith is not a logical thing. You can't learn about Jesus just by reading about him. When you are considering understanding who God is, you have to be open to this idea that you're gonna step off of a cliff, because that's truly what faith is. Hi everybody, thanks for joining us at the Pillay Place podcast where we talk about faith, family, and finance. You know, guys, um, if this is if this content is benefiting you, please subscribe, hit the like button because it helps us spread the word. And really, our heart is to share about faith, family, and finance, some of the things that has made us successful in these things, these traits, um, that that also helps you leave a good legacy for yourself and your family. Uh, so please help the subscribe button so that that way we can spread the word. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Hi guys, welcome back to the Palay Place where we talk about faith, family, and finance. Have you ever met someone like a Christian that something just doesn't feel right? I know. I mean, being a Christian myself, I think in my earlier years, like especially in college, I was not I I was actually kind of turned off by it myself. And but today we're actually gonna dive into my husband's brain, um, which I very much enjoy. So uh because he went from Hinduism to Christianity. And so I want to know, babe, for you, what were like what were some of maybe not some, I guess your perception as a Hindu looking into Christianity from the outside, what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah. I'll start with when I wasn't looking into it.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Right. So when I was like, I don't want anything to do with Christianity.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Um it I was why why why was that?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Well, that it was my experience with these, uh with a few missionary kids. I used to ride the bus with uh these missionary kids. They, you know, dressed apart, they wore the tie and a suit and the whole nine. Uh but at one point they were sharing about Jesus with me. And I was young, I was like 11, 12. I didn't I didn't know um anything about Christianity, but they were telling me, you know, how amazing Jesus is. But I was so young, I was like, well, I was born, you know, a Hindu, or this is what my family knows and does, and I don't know. Like my my my posture was really, I don't know, and I don't know what to do with this. But the moment that I said no, I'll put some objections up, they started drilling me. Well, do you want to go to heaven or hell? Right? And I and I was like, I was unsure of either of what these things are, and I was like, and they kept and they started getting more rude and rude and rude, and it just got to a point where they were so forceful, like, don't you want to be in heaven? Like, you're gonna rot in hell and you're gonna get burned in hell and this and that. And I just thought to myself, well, I'd rather be in hell if you're not gonna be there. So that's was my first.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

But did you know what hell, like what exactly is hell at that time?

SPEAKER_00 3:44

No. I mean, Hindus believe in reincarnation. Okay, right. So that's what I have heard at the temples and or even at home from my parents. So, so um when I thought about heaven and hell, I was just like, okay, well, that's some, that's something. I don't really know what it is. Maybe that's some sort of a reincarnation, and I'll just, you know, I I don't want anything to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

And then what about as you get older and having like Christian friends?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah, so um I had I had um both sides of the coin Christian friends, meaning that I had Christian friends that were um that were like pronounced Christian, but their lifestyles were very I don't want to say non-Christian, but their lifestyles were unhealthy.

unknown 4:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Okay. And unhealthy like parting, uh maybe drugs, I don't know. I didn't have evidence, but like it was just so unhealthy for me, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

That uh So their lifestyle wasn't like attractive.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

It wasn't attractive at the time, because I ended up, you know, indulging in all those lifestyles, right? But but at the time it was negative, it wasn't the experience that I wanted, and I was like, I'm not attracted to this. I don't, you know, like they they seem to be all put together outside, but you know, Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays was a little different in behavior. And to me, it was hypocritical, it was unattractive, so I didn't want anything to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Yeah, I mean I think back in like college, there were we we probably have common friends, right? And where a lot of what they do don't really match what they say. Yeah. And to me it's just it feels inconsistent. Right. Right. I mean now now thinking back now thinking back, I think we all fall short. Like the truth is we Yeah, no one's perfect. No one is perfect. And just because you are a Christian or you have accepted Christ, you're still not you still fall short.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Right? You still struggle with things.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

You still you're not and I'll distinguish this. You know, I learned as I in my faith walk as a Christian, this is after crossing over, okay, is that it's not about the lifestyle you portray outside of your home to others. It's not that's not what Christian Christianity is about, right? Like that's not a recruiting device. Yes, it can be shiny, it can be appealing to people. What the true Christian life, or what we call the faith journey, is about, is a constant course correction inside of you, right? And it's a constant walk and relationship with the Father, the God of heaven and earth, the it's so that he can work through you, right, to make your life better.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

So, what was it like for you when you were on that verge? The verge of I'm gonna stay in Hinduism.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Or am I gonna cross over?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Like what was that battle like?

SPEAKER_00 7:19

That's a that's an important question. That's a very important question because I, you know, that's actually what I what I reflected on when I prepared for this. And for me, it was um the battle was very much about what I knew versus what I did not know. Okay. I didn't know anything about Christianity. But what I did know was I was born a Hindu, I was raised as a Hindu, and and you may not be Hindu, but you may be raised in whatever, you know, Catholicism or whatever other religious, religious um beliefs are out there, right? And for me, it was like this is where I belong. Like this is what I've been taught, this is what I've, you know, in Hinduism, we're even taught that you're born as a Hindu, you were reincarnated, and you're gonna get reincarnated again after death. So that's what I thought, that's what I believed, right? That's what my understanding was. Okay. And for me, the battle was really in the mind of how can I betray what I know and what I understand for something I have no clue of.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

And then so that battle, because what you're leaving behind is everything that you knew. Yeah, everything that you think that you believed and told and have trained yourself. Your philosophy has been viewed as a certain way. That's right. And here you are having to make the decision to cross over and change your entire belief system.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

That's right. And and just just so just so we are clear on this belief system, right? I I'm not gonna get into Hinduism, but I used to follow my religion fairly well, I would say, right? But that the core of it is it is what you do, it is what you pray, it is the the things that you bring to the table, is how you get blessed in Hinduism.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Your own works, your own works effort.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

And and just so everybody knows, that's also present in many Christian circles. It's what we do. So that's actually not true Christianity. The gospel of Jesus Christ is completely opposite that.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

And that's what he did.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

It's what God did for us. He created us in the beginning. And before I get into that, like let me just get into my mind. Yeah, my mind was struggling with this. What am I supposed to do? What am I gonna do with what I know, right? And what if this is not the way? So I got into trouble a little bit, okay, because I asked, I didn't know who, right? I was like, if you, and I was thinking talking to God, but I was like, if you are real, reveal to me what the truth is. Because I'm in this battle in my mind between, oh, I'm supposed to leave something towards something, right? And as a matter of fact, I wasn't even fully left. Like, I would go to a church and attend a service, but I didn't want anything to do with Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Right? And uh, as a matter of fact, my brother-in-law got me in trouble, and it's not trouble, it's really a blessing. But Thomas Tran said to me that, hey, if if you know, if this Jesus thing is real, what is your response? And that that was the piece. What are you gonna do with it? What are you what are you gonna do with it? Like you seem to have some sort of a experience. What are you going to do with this experience, right? And that experience is supernatural. And you know, we can get into what that was, but like the this experience was supernatural, and I was like, well, what is my response? Now the responsibility is on me. That's my responsibility. The gospel presents a responsibility to us to actually make a decision about what God did.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Okay. And that decision is very important because it determines where you end up. And for me, it was is Jesus truly God?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

That was the question.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

That was the question that how did you how did you know like that Jesus is truly God? And that that is not just another God that you just shelve.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yeah, so that that is this is the this is the you know, I don't want to call it the hook, line, and sinker thing, but like this is so important because if you are struggling with this question, if Christianity is the way, if God is real, if Jesus is God and there's only one God, so Jesus is it. If that is your question, this is the peace that answered it for me, is that when I opened up my heart to receive the truth, not that Jesus is God, just the truth, I didn't know what the truth was, whether it be Hinduism or whatever, and I would be okay. I would be accepting of the idea that maybe there's multiple gods and one is through Hinduism and one is through Christianity. Like I was okay with that. Um, but what showed up in my heart was this encounter, and the only way I could actually experience that encounter was my openness to actually jumping into what we call faith. What I'm not trying to say, I'm trying to say that when you are considering understanding who God is, you have to be open to this idea that you're gonna step off of a cliff because that's truly what faith is. Faith is not a logical thing. You can't learn about Jesus just by reading about him. You can learn about somebody, but you don't know who the other person is until you meet them. And in order to meet God, you gotta take a faith step. I said too much.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Well, that faith step, right? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 13:30

It's trusting that he's gonna show up, right? And if he's already working in your heart.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

And maybe even in that moment is not even trusting that he's gonna show up. It's hoping.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Right. It's like, okay, I'm gonna leave my everything that I have been taught and believe, and everything that I have known.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

And I'm gonna believe what's old and going into something that I don't see, that I don't know, but that because I think what's so awesome about your journey is that you're just following the truth.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Yeah, I mean, I'll I'll be very honest with you, right? Like the the idea, what will your parents say? Probably the worst. What will your friends think? Probably the worst. What will what will happen to your reputation? I don't know. It might be worse, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:27

And frankly, did you ever ask the question, what are you thinking about yourself if you're to like when you left Hinduism?

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Yeah, it was those ideas like what is my parents gonna think, what is my friends gonna think, what is all these things, right? It was all these, and it was it was a it was like a storm inside of my mind.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

I and I think babe, tell me if I'm I'm wrong here, but like when you're asking yourself that, what does it say about you for leaving? It probably meant to you, like, okay, I'm betraying my family. Yeah, that's right. I'm betraying my friends.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

My my mom. I'm betraying my entire identity. I'm betraying, I'm leaving that, I'm letting that go.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Oh, I'm sure many people still call me a traitor, but like that's not the point for me. It became more heavy. I took a deeper responsibility in knowing the truth than actually letting my past hold me back. And and that was priceless to me.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Did it feel scary?

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Of course. Of course, yeah. What did you think that was? I didn't have like when I received Jesus Christ, I just had love in my heart. My bank account was still negative, probably that day. Right? Like I still had a huge debt, right? I didn't have anything to my name. I had a girlfriend, like I had you, and I was like, I think I'm gonna marry her. And that was it. It was just you and I. And the dog that we were given. Like it was we didn't we didn't even buy the puppy, but like that was our life, and that's all I had.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

So like the uh the so it wasn't even like, oh, I'm gonna be a cr I wanna be a Christian because it looks like they are doing great, or it looks like they are wealthy and happy and wrong.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

No, I went to a we were we were going to a religious church, right? So like it was it was not necessarily they were focused on the gospel, they were not focused on some of the other things that we have learned since, right? Like it's it's the and in there's not no harm in that, like I'm not pointing blame. I mean I'm very grateful for where we were. It's just that was not the that was not on the menu.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

In the in the at the at the restaurant. Yeah. On the menu was truth.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

I I think it's so cool that you um You know, I remember maybe one of my brothers-in-laws or it was like is trying to sell Christianity to you.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:09

It was like, oh, they are the one of the wealthiest people in the world, or they're very happy and joyful, and you know, they they're very disciplined, they're like good people, right? But none of that, none of that is what pulled you in.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

No, because I mean I'm also in investments. I see Uber wealthy people all the time that are non-believers. Like that's that's not right, like you can get to places without being a Christian, but yeah, that's not the point.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Like But you were drawn to the truth and you were drawn to his love.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

I needed to know the truth.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Which brings me back to what happened when you were on the bus and the missionary kids was not very loving.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Right. And so how to draw in is actually love.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

And that's and we'll end with this if that's okay. But the gospel is simply this is that God loved us so much that He sent Jesus so that he could die for our sins and be raised from the dead. And none of that logically will make sense until you open up your heart to understand what the truth is.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Well, guys, if you are enjoying our podcast, please click the like button and subscribe, share it with a friend. Um, that would be super helpful. If you find this helpful, please do um share it with a with people, and then we will see you in our next episode.