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Sharing Your Christian Faith with Muslims

We saw yesterday that the evening news does not reliably point us toward the things that are most on God’s heart. Why then should we trust it to give us our view of Islam? 

On the other hand, the proponents of Islam as a “religion of peace” may be projecting a biased view to suit their purposes.

The view we need is neither the violent view of the evening news nor the “peace” view of pro-Muslim people. Those sources try to describe Islam in global terms, and we need something personal, something that will help us engage with whatever particular view of Islam is actually the view of the Muslims whom God has brought into our world as neighbors, colleagues, or classmates.

We can ask them things such as:
• What is your impression of Jesus, and how do you understand His contribution?
• What is your view of the Muslims we see on the news? Do you understand why they are doing the violent things they are doing?
• What do you think a Christian is?

Granted, it helps if we learn a few general things about Islam first. For example, Muslims do know a little about Jesus from the Quran and may be interested to know more stories from the Bible. They may believe that Jesus, not Muhammad, is the Messiah who will return to judge all humanity. But they do not believe Jesus actually died on the cross or that He was more than a prophet and more than human. But even as you learn about Islam, remember that you are not trying to pass a test on Islam or win an argument about it. You are trying to learn so that you can build relationships and share truth with the Muslims God brings into your life.

Personal Reflection: 
• Have you said anything about Islam that Jesus would not say? Have you felt anything about Muslims that Jesus would not feel? 
• What is your attitude about Islam in general? How does that attitude affect your desire to get into conversation with Muslims who are close enough that you could?

Prayer: 
• God of grace, grant that we may be ambassadors of grace to people, especially Muslims, who are foreign to it. Let our grace-driven joy spill over to them.
• Father, forgive us for any ill will toward Muslims in general. May we not reinforce any Muslim prejudices against the gospel.