There’s a flip side to the story of the dangers of Islam.
IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING
Let’s face it, when most of us think about witnessing to Muslims, we are fearful. We expect
the worst and don’t trust our ability to handle what may happen despite all our preparation. In this post, I hope to show why these fears are unwarranted. One simple verse of Scripture says it all.
…perfect love casts out fear…(1 John 4:18)
On my recent trip through the Balkans, I saw this lived out in vivid detail. Many pastors I met exemplified this verse, but one stands out. He ministers among Muslims and he genuinely loves them. He would do anything for them…and they know it. There is no fear in anything he does. He’s too busy loving them to have time for fear.
It was a real eye-opening experience for me. While he has strategies for various situations he may encounter, his basic approach is simple: display Christ’s unconditional love to these people and watch what happens. This man was daily living out the principles of the Kingdom of God as summarized in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He routinely loved his enemies and saw others as more important than himself. When asked to go a mile, he would go two. He was ready to sacrifice anything for the benefit of those he wanted to see set free.
AS I SEE IT
I wanted to write this because focusing solely on the danger Islam poses to America tells
only half the story. We must remember to separate the religion from the people. Christ died for everyone on earth, including those who are Muslims. He hates the religion that keeps them in bondage and desires that they be set free. I saw this firsthand while I was with this pastor. I met many “cultural Muslims,” those who were born into Islam but don’t really know what is in the Qur’an or what is expected of them. What they do know is that their religion does not bring them peace, joy, or eternal security. They love their mates and their children, but love beyond that is a foreign concept. When they see and experience biblical “loving one another,” they take notice. They can’t get enough of it. They want to know how they can experience it.
This sure sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is. It’s amazing what God can do through a radically transformed life. When he prayed, God answered. Muslims aren’t used to getting their prayers answered. When Christians pray for Muslims and God answers, it doesn’t go unnoticed. It makes a huge impact. It’s the reason many Muslims come to Christ.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had that kind of impact? So, why don’t we? I think it’s because our Americanized version of Christianity has no room for anything of this magnitude. We make too many subconscious excuses for why the mandates of the Sermon on the Mount don’t really apply to us, and we do it to the detriment of our effectiveness in ministry. We have dumbed down the gospel to something that doesn’t require is to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Christ. And we wonder why the Church in America is so ineffective. I’ll have more to say about this in a future article. Stay tuned.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Well it finally happened as Abbot & Costello predicted so many years ago. (You may have to be over 40 to appreciate this):
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