Nirmala Rajasekar is a world-renowned artist of Carnatic (South Indian) music. I met her when she gave a presentation at our local library as part of a state arts grant. We’ve kept in touch, and she sent me an email inviting me to a concert she was giving at a local Hindu temple.

I’ve never been to a Hindu temple, and I asked her if it was okay for non-Hindus to attend. I was nervous because I used to accept invitations from other Christians to attend their services, and one time a Pentecostal friend told me that I was not welcome at her church for a second visit. They felt that I was “not ready for Jesus.” (Let’s just say they didn’t get my humor.)

If other Christians are telling me that I’m not welcome, what hope did I have at a Hindu temple?

When I was in the local Rotary club, one of our members invited the group to his newly-built synagogue for a tour. I went and learned a lot, and the people there were very nice. Still, it was not an actual synagogue service. I don’t have the courage to show up for a service at the synagogue.

The Husband and I visited a Buddhist Temple in China when we adopted BaoBao. The Buddhist priests offered to give blessings to the little girls who were joining their forever families, and we thought it was a very kind gesture.

Some of the other Christians, though, were appalled at the thought. They felt that accepting a Buddhist blessing was a very un-Christian thing to do.

I decided to go to the concert at the Hindu temple and said a quick prayer that I wouldn’t embarrass myself. I entered the wrong door and walked smack into a room full of Indian-Americans eating lunch. All conversation stopped.

Even among white people, I stick out as WHITE.

A gentleman approached and asked if he could help me, and I told him I was there for the concert. A woman jumped up and told me that she was the person with the tickets, and after I purchased one, another woman offered me directions to the auditorium.

There were dozens of people at the concert. Three of us were white. (The other two white people at the concert study under Nirmala.)

On my way out of the concert, I ran into a musician who often plays in Nirmala’s ensemble, and we talked for a bit about the music. He mentioned that he attended a different Hindu temple and suggested that I visit it sometime. No one tried to convert me or tell me why my religion is wrong. The entire afternoon was about building friendships.

Christians invite people–even other Christians–to their churches with an eye to converting them. Do we ever extend invitations that include no ulterior motive?

Can we build relationships through religion without converting people?