Who Doesn’t?

Do you believe in karma?

View all responses

Well, firstly, I read that Karma comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “action” or “deed”. It’s basically the principle of cause and effect where an individual’s intent and actions influence their future. Different Eastern religions might understand it in different ways. But in any case, the principle of cause and effect is clearly true. What goes around comes around 😀:

From a Biblical perspective, the notion of good or bad behaviour having consequences is everywhere. Sometimes, there is a clear divine response to an action. Other times, consequences just occur, even if you don’t see divine involvement.

Here’s an example of a verse about consequences:

Proverbs 22:8: “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity.”

Galatians 6:7:
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

Of course, one difficulty is that here on earth, we don’t always see karma working effectively. So many have done great evil without clearly suffering the consequences. Or maybe the consequences didn’t match the evil that they did. For example, things went badly for Hitler after the Nazis killed six million Jews and caused the deaths of millions of others. But did these match the evil that he had done? I once asked a girl if she believed in hell. She immediately said “No”. Then, I immediately responded by asking her if she believes Hitler is in hell. And she said “Yes” 😀.

Well, in my view if someone truly repents and believes in the closing moments of their lives, they’ll receive forgiveness – even Hitler. Some find that upsetting, but God’s sense of holiness and justice is far beyound what we can comprehend. In His eyes, any sin might offend him in the way that Hitler’s sin offends us. So even if none of us is as bad as Hitler, we’re in the same broad category – that is, we choose our own path rather than obeying God. Surely Hitler thought was doing good for Germany and maybe for the whole world – just as Lenin and Stalin wanted to make the world a better place.

The early Christians might have seen Saul of Tarsus as being a bit like we see Hitler. But He repented – and became the Apostle Paul. But if someone doesn’t repent, there are different levels of punishment in hell – just as there are different levels of reward in heaven. We give God all the credit for our salvation. We don’t boast about our merit – but it’s clear that some will have greater rewards.

Matthew 11:23-24
 ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

Hebrews 10:28-29
“Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God…”

Revelation 22:12
¹² “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

Like so much else, Karma can be complicated. But I agree with the broad principle. I remember a Tweety record that we had when I was a kid. I can’t find the song on the web, but here are the lyrics that I remember – and a video of Tweety:

If you do a good deed every day every day,
You will succeed every way every way, 
And if you are thoughtful in what you do,
Only the best things will happen to you.

“Only the best things will happen to you 😀”? I don’t see how that can be literally true, but the broad principle is true. I’ve seen what generally became of the nice and nasty kids in my neighbourhood.

And I draw comfort from the fact that sometimes bad things, such as Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers in the Old Testament, and the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament, ultimately have good consequences. But we need to trust God in that.

And here are some hymns about consequences: