Several
years ago I was having a conversation with a coworker, and I mentioned how
desperately Muslims, worldwide, needed to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. I
found her response quite alarming. My colleague was an older lady who professed
Christ, was active in a local church, and was not afraid to discuss her
convictions at work. It was part of our daily routine to talk about the Bible
and how we should apply it to our lives. I had consistently found her faith
refreshing and encouraging, but this day was an exception. Once I mentioned
Islam, her tone and demeanor suddenly changed. She snapped back with, “Well, I
think we should just wait until they all gather together in Mecca, and drop a
bomb on the place!” My first thought was one of sarcasm, “Yeah, that’s exactly
what Jesus would do!” After quickly considering how to respond, I simply said,
“A Gospel bomb maybe,” and went back to work. Unfortunately, this seems to be
the mentality of many American Christians today, and it speaks volumes about
how far the church has drifted.
I
fear some equate following Jesus with attending church, reading the Bible, or
listening to a sermon on Sunday morning. Certainly all of these things are important,
representing valuable aspects of the Christian faith, but they are not enough.
Christianity is not a dead, mechanical, self-centered religion focused on,
“What can Christ and His church do for me? Instead, the church should exemplify
the love and compassion of her Savior, regardless of someone’s religion,
ethnicity, social, or economic status. Muslims are not the enemy. They are
people who need to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and the sobering
reality is, God wants to use us to reach them. I realize many in the church
today have little to no interest in this mission because their relationship
with God is not what it should be. We’ve all been there. So, it’s important to
understand my exhortation concerning Islam is not necessarily directed at these
people. They don’t need to know about Islam, they need to know Jesus Christ and
understand what it means to follow Him. Unless someone has an ongoing “hunger”
for the word of God and the conviction to act in obedience, there are bigger
and more important problems to attend to. However, followers of Christ should
be passionate about reaching Muslims and unbelievers in general. That is what
God teaches us through His Word and His Spirit.
1. Numbers:
Islam is the second largest religion in the world, after Christianity.
1 Timothy 2:4: God
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
This
chapter begins by instructing believers to approach God on behalf of “all men,” or all people. Even the evil kings and all who are in authority, such
as the notorious Roman emperor Nero who was in power at this time. Why? Such an
attitude is “good and acceptable” to
God. Verse four transitions to what God desires, connecting us to the standard
of His pure and undefiled character. We ought to have a heart for all people
because God Himself does. We simply cannot have an attitude of apathy towards
Islam, the second largest religion in the world today. That’s more than a fifth
of the total population with around 1.6 billion Muslims. According to some
sources, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. So, Islam is
big and getting bigger, and when that many people have been deceived,
Christians should stand up and take notice. We need to understand what they
believe, and love them enough to speak the truth about Christ.
Notice
how God’s loving nature will not, and really cannot, compromise the truth. This
is an important distinction, and one that needs to be understood if we’re going
to have meaningful conversations about Islam. A Christian can and should attack
the false ideas within Islam, but we absolutely cannot attack Muslims, the
people who adhere to this religion. God cares for these men and women, but He
stands opposed to the lies and deception keeping them from the knowledge of the truth.
2. Clarity:
Christians cannot communicate the Gospel clearly without understanding what
Muslims believe.
Colossians 4:5-6: Conduct
yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity.
Let you speech always be seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you
should respond to each person.
At
this very moment, the American church has an incredible opportunity to reach
Muslims with the Gospel. We have spent countless dollars sending missionaries
into Islamic countries, separating these men and women from their families and
loved ones, and many, if not most, faced numerous difficulties on the mission
field. I thank God for the sacrifices they’ve made, but we must realize Islam
has come to America. Right now practically any believer can freely interact
with Muslims. The problem is, many Muslims are often confused about
Christianity, and Christians are often confused about Islam. We need clarity. It’s
been said that Islam uses our Christian vocabulary, but not our Christian dictionary.
They are confused when it comes to biblical truth. For example, when Christians
refer to Jesus as the Son of God, Muslims think we’re talking about God having
a sexual encounter with Mary, resulting in the conception of Jesus. They
believe this because the Qur’an asks, “How can Allah have a son when he has no
wife” (Surah 6:101)? Yet, such an idea is not biblical and no Christian has ever
believed such an idea. There’s a similar example when it comes to the doctrine
of the Trinity. According to the Qur’an, Christians believe in a Trinity made
up of God, Jesus, and Mary (Surah 5:116). Even with all of this confusion, it
is common for Muslims to tell Christians, “We believe in Jesus, How come you do
not honor our prophet?” So, if we’re going to make the most of this
opportunity, we must have the wisdom to respond with great clarity. Such a
response requires us to learn and at least have a basic understanding of Islam.
3. Preparation:
Muslims are taught to challenge the core doctrines of Christianity.
1 Peter 3:15: But
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with
gentleness and respect.
This
verse is the classic apologetics passage that most people are familiar with,
and I want to point out what often gets ignored. As a Christian, we should be
prepared to defend the Christian faith because Christ is Lord of our hearts. I
do not think it is a coincidence that Peter begins there. Those who take the
time to prepare a defense are simply acting in obedience. God has called us to “always be ready to give a defense or apologia. This is a legal term as used in a first century court of
law, and it speaks of rational defense explaining why we have hope in Christ.[1] Jesus taught His followers
many things, but when they preached the Gospel in the Book of Acts, they
preached Jesus as the divine Son of God, who died on a cross for our sins, and
three days later He arose victoriously. At the heart of the Gospel message we
find the deity, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Yet Islam denies all three of
these, and Muslims are taught to challenge these core doctrines. You could say,
Muslims are taught to attack Christianity where it matters the most. They are
prepared. I have found that Muslims love to have a conversation about Jesus and
the Gospel. It’s usually not difficult to start a conversation with them, but I
have also discovered a readiness to defend Islam. While many of their
objections are based on a caricature of Christianity, the church should also be
prepared and ready to defend the genuine Gospel with gentleness and respect. It’s what Christ has called us to do.
4. Refutation:
Many Muslims are so confident that Islam is true, they refuse to take any
opposing religious claims seriously.
2 Corinthians 10:5: We
are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the
knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of
Christ.
This
is the passage dealing with spiritual warfare that practically no one talks
about. There are books, devotionals, and yes, even Christian films made about
spiritual warfare, but rarely does this verse come up. Verse four speaks of the destruction of fortresses or
ideologies. Unbelievers, like Muslims, have constructed a fortress or
stronghold of false ideas about God, and Christians should be able to expose
such deception for what it is. Muslims have been told their entire lives that
Islam is supported by science, mathematics, and history. They’ve been told that
the Qur’an has been miraculously preserved and Muhammad was the greatest man
who ever lived. They’ve been trained to have complete confidence in their
religion. So, when we share the Gospel with Muslims, why should they think we’re
telling them the truth about God? Why would they think they need to reject
Islam and embrace Christianity? The answer to these questions is found right
here in 2 Corinthians, chapter ten. There’s a spiritual battle taking place in
the minds of Muslims, and Christians are called to destroy these false beliefs.
Sometimes it’s necessary to show unbelievers that the evidence simply does not
support their faith. If we can do this, then perhaps it will allow them to
actually hear what we have to say about Jesus. However, once again, this
requires a basic understanding of what Islam teaches.
5. Illumination:
Islam thrives in an atmosphere of Ignorance.
Ephesians 5:11: Do
not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose
them.
Throughout this chapter we find a stark
contrast between believers and unbelievers, light and darkness. Believers are
those who walk in the light and therefore, produce fruit that is consistent
with the goodness, righteousness, and truth of God. These are not just the
attributes of God, but they are also characteristic of who we are as children
of the Light. Hence the warning of verse eleven, do not identify with the
unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. Just as light
exposes what may be otherwise hidden by darkness, Christians are to expose spiritual
deception and ignorance. In order for someone to believe a lie about God, they
must be ignorant of who He truly is. Whenever someone is converts to Islam, you
will almost always discover they really didn’t understand the religion. They
were in some sense ignorant of genuine Islam. Such an atmosphere of ignorance allows
Muslim preachers to say just about anything they want. There is no one to
confront or correct them. In fact, it is a favorite tactic of these preachers
to adapt their message to the values of their audience. If a Muslim preacher is
talking to people who are passionate about women’s rights, he’ll say, “You
believe in women’s rights? Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights.” If the
preacher is talking to people who are passionate about science, he may attempt
to make a connection between the Qur’an and scientific evidence. Since there is
a general atmosphere of ignorance, many people will believe what they hear, and
many people will convert to Islam. The only way this is going to stop is if the
Christian community turns the light of truth on and exposes these false ideas.
When a Muslim preacher says, “Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights,” hands
need to go up to challenge him and point people to the verses in the Qur’an
which expose him. This is what the word of God calls us to do.
Of course there are additional
verses we could discuss and apply to Islam, but I think you get the point by now.
Christians should consider (1) the sheer number of people who have been
deceived by Islam, (2) How Muslims often don’t understand the Gospel because of
what the Qur’an says, (3) Muslims have been trained to challenge Christianity
where it matters the most, (4) Many Muslims cannot take the Gospel seriously
unless their own beliefs have been challenged, and (5) people are converting to
Islam because there’s a general atmosphere of ignorance. All of these are
addressed in the Christian scriptures and are good reasons for Christians to
learn about Islam. In the words of Timothy C. Tennent, “Why do theological
scholars in the West continue to spend countless hours learning about the writings
of a few well-known, now deceased, German theologians whose global devotees are
actually quite small, and yet completely ignore over one billion living,
breathing Muslims who represent one of the most formidable challenges to the
Christian gospel today?”[2]
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