For many years, the church in the United States of America has sent missionaries to reach people in countries in the “10/40 window.” The “10/40 window” refers to a geographical region spanning from 10 degrees to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator, encompassing parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. This area is known for its dense population and high concentration of people groups with limited access to Christianity. The training and sending of missionaries to this region costs a great deal of money and requires a large amount of time for a missionary to learn the language and understand the culture.
For the last decade, the USA has been the recipient of a large number of refugees from all over the world, especially from the Middle East. Over the past decade, the number of refugees admitted annually has ranged from tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand. Some churches could be strictly adhering to the traditional, costly model of training and sending missionaries overseas, while overlooking the Middle Eastern community in their own backyard. There is no contradiction in doing both, but unfortunately many churches are likely to be neglecting the Arabs and other Middle Easterners right around the corner. It looks like God has brought the mission field to us! The question is, “How do we reach the Middle Easterners here in the US with the gospel?” To answer this question, we need to understand the background and major beliefs of our Middle Eastern neighbors, then we need to build bridges by forming relationships with them, and, finally, we must develop the ability to respond to their misunderstandings about Christianity in order to share the gospel simply and clearly.
I. Understanding the Background of the Typical Middle Easterner
The typical Middle Eastern individual comes from an Islamic background, although there are some Orthodox, Catholic, atheist, and other belief backgrounds. Note that most of these individuals consider their religion to be an inherited trait, not a choice. In fact, in most countries in the Middle East, your religion is printed on your national ID. In many ways the Orthodox and Catholic backgrounds are similar, with both believing in…
1. Infant baptism for regeneration
2. Sins must be confessed to a priest
3. The Lord's supper and/or sacraments are required for salvation
4. Additional good deeds are required for salvation
We want to share the pure gospel with our traditional Christian neighbors; however, the focus of the remainder of this article will be reaching our Muslim neighbors, as many churches already have at least an inkling about how to reach those from traditional Christian backgrounds.
The major Prophet and founder of Islam is Mohammed Ibn Abdullah, who passed away in ~632 A.D. Islam has two main written resources that define its belief, the Quran, and the Hadith (pronounced ha-DEETH, which is a plural word). Muslims believe that the Quran is the word of God, and that the Hadith contain the teaching and the sayings of their Prophet, Mohammad. Following Mohammed’s death there was a succession of four leaders of Islam, who expanded the Islamic Empire in the same fashion as their Prophet, with the sword. There were at least seven versions of the Quran in existence until the third Islamic leader, Uthman, burned all the versions except one, thus called the Uthmanic Quran. This is the version being used to this day.
The Hadith are the teachings and sayings of Mohammed, which began to be compiled about two hundred years after Mohammed’s death. There are sayings and teachings of Mohammed about nearly every aspect of life. From entering the bathroom, eating, drinking, sleeping with your wife, etc., thousands upon thousands of sayings and teachings.
II. Building Bridges and Relationships
The Bible teaches us to love our enemies. In Luke 6:27, Jesus commands, “But I say unto you which hear, ‘love your enemies, do good to them which hate you.’” Jesus also summarized the law in Matthew 22:37-40, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
Once you start to look around, you will likely begin to notice that there are Middle Eastern people everywhere in the US including in our workplaces, neighborhoods, and shops, like Walmart.
It is important to take the first step of building a relationship with your Middle Eastern neighbors. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his Great Commission commanded us to go! So, in my workplace, I can invite my coworker for a coffee or out to lunch to build a relationship with him. If I have a neighbor from the Middle East, I may invite them to visit my home. Building a relationship is the first step to sharing the gospel. It may take a long time just to establish a friendship or relationship, but it’s worth it. You might face some argument or discussion about lesser issues, but my advice is to maintain the relationship. Losing an argument is better than losing the relationship. Do not lose this relationship.
Paul the apostle became as a Jew to win Jews to the Lord as expressed in 1 Corinthians 9:19-21: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.”
You need to accept your neighbor as he is and show him the love of Christ from your heart before you can introduce him to Christ. Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ was mocked as a friend of publicans and sinners (Luke 7:34)!
III. Answering Muslims’ Questions and Objections to Christianity.
You must try to understand the thought process of the person you would like to communicate with. To speak to a Muslim, you need to understand his view of God, religion, and Christianity.
The vast majority of Muslims grow up with no chance or ability to ask or question their faith. They must obey what has been taught to them. Also, Muslims have been taught emphatically that:
1. The Christian Bible is corrupted
2. Christians worship three gods
3. Jesus Christ is not God, nor the Son of God; He is only a good prophet
4. God raised Jesus to heaven before being crucified; Jesus did not die
So, when you know a bit of background about these topics while you are speaking with your Muslim friend, it means you are beginning to understand his thought process. You need this background to know what he is thinking about your belief. I will not go into more depth here about these four topics, but you should investigate more to be prepared.
My advice to you if you are going to speak with a Muslim, start by showing that the Bible is not corrupted, even if he asks about crucifixion, bring the topic back to the Word of God. This is critical. Why? The answer is quite simple, because once you establish that the Bible is reliable, you can use the Bible to show him that Christians believe in one God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and to answer the other objections. To respond to the objection that “the Bible was corrupted,” here are some logical questions to ask him: “When was it corrupted? Who corrupted it? Where was it corrupted? Why? Have you seen the correct version?” There are no good responses to these questions. Pushing your Muslim friend to think logically and re-examine the thought process is a big gift for him. Then you can ask, “Did you read the Bible to examine the corruption?” Do not forget that he grew up being told not to argue or think critically about his religion.
IV. Conclusion
In closing, it seems that God has brought the mission field to us. Ministering to Muslims could take a long time and requires patience, but it brings joy to the heart. It could be that you plant the seed and someone else waters the seed, but God is responsible for growth and fruit. Just do your part. Build friendships with Muslims, ask questions, and begin the dialogue, ask him to tell you about Islam and you tell him about Christ. Preserve the relationship. Be a light.
Here is a command from the Lord Jesus, the friend of publicans and sinners! “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen’” (Matthew 28:19-20).
The best way to show this love with your Muslim friend is to share Christ himself, the source of love. The last two verses I would like to leave with you on this topic are the Lord’s command to Jeremiah, “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10)
The conclusion of ministering to Muslims, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:16: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”
Wagih Boutrus, Ed.D. is an Associate Pastor at Midtown Baptist Temple and leads Grace for All People (GAP) Fellowship at MBT.
