STOP SAYING “KARMA!”

…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.  Hebrews 9:27

Often we see someone on Facebook employ the term “Karma!”—usually in response to someone getting their “just desserts.” A motorist carelessly splashes a pedestrian, and soon the offender himself slips on a banana peel—triggering the verdict of “KARMA!” 

The concept has successfully penetrated our pop-culture, from the Beatles’ Abby Road album to the sitcom “My Name is Earl,” in which the protagonist engages in an episodic quest to “balance his Karma” through good deeds. 

To be sure, the Bible does speak of a Divinely superintended “cause-and-effect” principle of reciprocative justice (Hosea10:13; Gal.6:7-8), and Mosaic ("eye for an eye") jurisprudence endorses proportional retribution.

But karma is quite different, serving as a cornerstone of Hindu-Buddhist-Taoist spirituality that governs the concept of reincarnation—supposedly determining the quality/status of a person’s “next life.” Good karma results in rebirth to a higher caste, but bad karma results in future misery. A person who was cruel to animals in this life may be reincarnated as a lab rodent in the next.

In contrast, the Bible affords no post-mortem “second chances” (Heb.9:27). Jesus said the dying thief went to Paradise that very day (Luke 23:43); he was not reborn to another earthly existence.

Further, karmic law—unlike Biblical Justice—is an impersonal cause-and-effect principle. The pantheistic “god” of Hinduism is not a Person, but an impersonal “Force.” Thus, there can be neither clemency nor flexibility associated with karma, because there is no gracious Personality offering forgiveness.

Christianity affirms that sin is an attack upon a Personal God, requiring an appeasing propitiation (1John 4:10). Jesus’ blood satisfies God’s wrath, bringing forgiveness.

Christians should prayerfully labor for the salvation of billions of pantheists—and quit invoking “karma!”

Terry L. Reese