Reaching Muslim Men in Context: Ramadan Opportunity

Bruce, former Pastor of College Church in Wheaton(USA) offered the following contribution:

During Ramadan I was asked by a local Muslim society to give a talk prior to 'Iftar'. Here is what I said:

"Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about building friendship between neighbors.

One of the strengths of American society is that we are a multi-cultural society of indigenous and immigrant peoples. We all have a story to tell of our ancestral heritage and our lives in America. One of my ancestors, originally from England was the first woman off the Mayflower(1620).

My wife’s family more recently immigrated from Ireland and Germany.

America is comprised of people from nearly every country and region on earth. Walking down the Magnificent Mile in Chicago last Friday, I rarely heard English spoken.

How do Christians and Muslims get along as neighbors and friends?

In the Gospels Jesus is described as full of grace and truth (John 1:14-18). He interacted with people from all segments of society and with many different world views, yet his interactions were full of grace and truth.

How does his example instruct us?

Grace means God’s unmerited favor. He shows his grace to us by giving us good gifts that we don’t deserve. Forgiveness that we don’t deserve. Blessing that we don’t deserve. The promise of a restored relationship with him that we didn’t seek. God graciously pursues us out of genuine love and good will.

This is how we are to treat each other – generously extending love and good will towards others – even those different from ourselves. Grace is pursuing our neighbors with their best interests in mind--seeking to understand and listen to the other person; to hear their story and appreciate their unique perspective.

Truth means that we are honest with each other. Christians and Muslims have different perspectives on the deity of Jesus Christ, the inspiration and accuracy of the Bible and the way of salvation that God provides. Truth means that we can talk about these differences openly. Grace means that we can talk about these issues with respect.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”(John 14:6). Jesus also said, “Love your neighbor as yourself”(Matt 22:39). Right there – at the intersection of these two statements – we see grace and truth at work. We are to love our neighbors who may not believe that Jesus is the only way. This is how neighbors from divergent backgrounds can be true friends. Not hiding our differences but loving through our differences.

My wife was raised in Iran. We lived in Indonesia for 11 years. In both places Christians like us are the minority. But we both have wonderful relationships with Muslims from Iran and Indonesia. We enjoy many similar values with those Muslim friends. We also have profound differences on some core issues. But friendships based on grace and truth can not only survive these differences but talk about them in a constructive way.