Sitting Among Them
It is important to spend time with our friends, not in a hurry. The busyness of Western culture is often a stumbling block to relationships. We need to love people for who they are and enjoy being with them. One of my friends asked me,‘Will you still love me and come to visit even if I don’t become a Christian?’
Listening
This is often the hardest part. We all need hearts burning with desire to share the good news, but timing is also important. Zeal must be controlled so that speaking is effective. If we speak too soon we may not be heard and may be totally irrelevant. Listening will help us know what our friends think about God and about Christians - no two Muslims are the same! Listening means we respect them as a person. They are not our preaching audience but our friend; we must know what matters most to them.
Religious Facts, Language and Customs
This is where the work begins. If we are to take seriously sharing our faith with Muslims, we need to learn about Islam. It is not necessary to be specialists but caring friends who want to know more about what their friends believe. Attend a seminar or a weekend on Islamics. Try writing down some important facts and practices which are essential to your Christian life. How does this compare to your friend’s life? Why not ask to go to the mosque or Islamic meetings. Learn some words in Arabic or whatever language they speak. This helps appreciate how difficult English might be for some who are not British.
Get your friend to teach you how to cook their favourite meal. What about relationships: are men treated differently to women? Are there special roles for each one? What is important to them? If we want our friends to value our personal opinion, we must value theirs, not just learning about them but from them. Learning makes us more understanding, more able to accept different ways and better prepared for speaking. It helps remove the misunderstandings our Muslim friends may have about Christians, Christ and the Scriptures.
What to Say
Sometimes you can start with a Bible story. Tell the story, asking questions about it. For example: before telling a story about Abraham, ask when he lived. Get the situation so they can understand. Abraham did not know about the law of Moses, the laws Jesus gave, nor the Qur’anic laws. Then continue. Abraham heard God call him to leave Iraq, where his family worshipped idols. He offered sacrifices and God accepted them. What did he believe? Why the sacrifices? What does it mean? In other words, you will need to prepare stories and make a list of which ones you would like to share. Think about the ideas which you will need to stress, especially when there is a conflicting idea in Islamic belief. The Qur’an has the story of creation, Adam’s sin, Noah, Abraham, Joseph and Jesus.
Do not be afraid to use stories, as Jesus did. For many people stories are the major means of sharing knowledge. People relate to others who are just like them, which is why your own testimony can be very interesting and relevant. For those of us who are so used to learning lists of facts and then analysing them, this may be unusual.
Plan a list of topical issues which are important to Muslims and Christians. What creed or words must you say to be a believer? How do you pray? How do you fast? What does forgiveness mean? These are of great interest and Jesus often spoke about them. Choose Bible passages which will help you to explain these items. It is good to prepare and think about how you would teach an issue. You will then be ready when your friend asks, ‘Do you fast?’
Think about which Scriptures to use. Matthew and Luke are good as the reader is not immediately confronted with Jesus as the Son of God (as in Mark). The imagery of John is good for Sufi Muslims. It may be very good to give your friend Scriptures in their own language. It is also good to do comparative studies, looking at the Bible and Qur’an together. For Qur’anic students there are some very good word studies available.
Music and video can be very effective means of sharing truth, as songs and images remain in people’s minds. The Jesus video has been immensely popular.
Asking Questions
This is a good teaching method. People remember what they discover better than what you tell them. Let them find the key message. It is easier for them to discover in the Bible that they need to change some ideas than for you to tell them.
Answering Questions
Don’t be afraid of this; it is not wrong to say that you will find out the answer if you do not know, but beware the red herring! Be careful that your friend does not just use questions to avoid facing deeper issues. Why not prepare answers to some common questions, eg ‘Has the Bible been corrupted?’
Prayer
Prayer is effective, both for Muslims and with them. They are often not sure when, where and how Christians pray. Praying shows that God can be known, experienced and seen as a loving Father. Can a Muslim tell God what is on his heart? Islam believes in prayer, both the liturgical form and intercession with God, but this second form is rarely developed and encouraged. Why not challenge them to pray?
Conclusion
There are no easy steps to lead a Muslim to Christ, but the giving of ourselves and of our time often brings fruit, as the love which Christ shed into our lives is powerful. It may cost us in time, in interruptions, in unfamiliar situations and in struggling to find answers to difficult questions. However, the joy of walking in obedience to Christ is incomparable.
Isa Masih Homepage
October 1997 Contents