John the Baptist's(Yaya) mission: I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Clear the way for the Lord's coming!' John 1:23
Isn't this our assignment too? So what are some obstacles in the way of following Christ for a Muslim?
The Watch!
Reaching out to Muslims is best done through a relationship. This isn't always convenient. My wife and I met a Muslim man whom we had been introduced to shopping for shelving. I offered to help him put it together. He was delighted and invited us to their house for dinner. So we arrived at 7 p.m. as planned. It wasn't till 11:30 that we actually ate dinner and had dessert at 1 a.m.!! Often an obstacle for a Muslim man is busyness with no time to connect. To effectively reach out does require a commitment of time on our part.
The Community
What keeps most of my Muslim friends in Islam is their own community. It is their identity, social contact, and at times their bank. It feels like home--speaking their heart language, sharing poets and culture and for men talking about politics and smoking shisha(bubble pipe). We underestimate the grip of 'sisterhood' and 'brotherhood'. I spent a lot of time with a friend from the Middle East. Someone gave him an Arabic copy of Josh McDowell's book 'More Than a Carpenter'--which speaks of Jesus being God in the flesh. He really didn't have any objections to the book. But he had trouble getting established. In his disappointment he began practicing Islam--going to the Mosque for Jummah prayers and keeping Ramadan. Practicing Islam seriously separates Muslims from non-Muslims. We combat that by always taking the initiative to connect with our Muslim friends to remain in the picture.
The Beliefs
I often encourage Christians wanting to connect with Muslims to read at least part of the Qur'an. The first chapter is repeated 17 times a day in the 5 obligatory prayer times. Since one of the sources of Islam is the Torah--we do have many things in common. The 6 basic beliefs resonate with biblical themes--God is one, holy books, day of judgement, prophets and predestination.
A Muslim is conditioned to accept Islam as the final and best religion. Typical objections: Christians worship 3 gods(God the Father, the Son and Mary), the Bible has been altered, Jesus didn't die on the cross and rise from the dead and that He is not the Saviour. It's best to answer the objections as briefly as possible. And it's best if further discussion waits until he/she actually reads at least the Gospels. Sometimes these are brought up as a smoke screen--they really aren't serious.
You and I ARE inadequate to do this on our own--to convince any Muslim to follow Christ. This IS a spiritual battle. But if we want to minister spiritually, we will need the Lord, the Holy Spirit to draw them to Himself.
It's all about two paths--are we made right with God through our own good deeds(law--the scales) or through the perfect sacrifice of 'Jesus, the lamb of God'(grace)?
Dear God, I thank you that we can tap into your power when we cry out to you on behalf of our dear Muslim friends for obstacles that keep them away from our gateway to God through Jesus. Amen.
