Thoughts on the Need to Engage Islam

At a recent Christian mission conference, a speaker shared the following story: “An Islamic leader in Middle East told his followers that Christians believe in the words of a “special book” (the Bible). He said that Christians also believe that those who do not believe as they do will spend eternity in hell. The leader then proceeded to make the point that Christians must truly hate the Muslim people if they would not make any effort to share the word of God with them, ensuring that they would go to hell.”

While that leader’s statements are weighted with misconceptions, his point cuts deep. If we really do not hate Muslims, why are we not doing more to reach them with the Gospel? We spend so much time wringing our hands about the power of the Islamic world and the desperation we feel when considering its scope that we forget that Muslims are people who need the lord – they are our neighbors. Many believers have allowed themselves to think of all Muslims as enemies but Christ reminds us that we ought to love them more rather than less (Matthew 4:43-47).

What if we saw the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims for what they are – people who have not heard – instead of viewing them as somehow beyond the reach of Christ’s message. What is we loved them enough to put our lives on the line to reach them? It is unrealistic to hold out hope of reaching the world for Christ without considering that he wants us to reach the Islamic world with his truth and love just as much as any other part.

Loving Muslims in no way entails ignoring their unbiblical beliefs and practices or the failings of Islam. As Paul tells us in Romans 12:0, “Let love be without hypocrisy, Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” To truly love them, we have to show them where they are wrong and especially, the riches Christ has to offer in place of their “empty house” of belief. We need to show them that God is not impersonal, that it is our sin and no His whims that separate us from Him. We need to show them that God Himself was willing to give up his life out of love for them. In a very real sense, Muslims are captives of their worldview, but Jesus came to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1).

In regards to Islam, we have to practice the same “love the sinner; hate the sin” approach that we show to others. Why treat Muslims any differently than you treat someone who struggles with sin or any other flawed human being? We cannot wait for them to leave Islam before they turn to Christ – it is his task to effect the change in their lives; our job is to be a faithful witness to the Truth.

Taking the gospel to Muslims, like any other mission endeavor, begins in the hearts of those in our churches and pastors play a huge role in encouraging Christians to fulfill their calling through faithful exposition of the Word. This is not solely an overseas endeavor – the churches in America is positioned to have a tremendous impact on Muslims right in our own backyard – recent estimates show there is around 2-4 million Muslims in USA).

Islam is currently the world’s fastest growing religion, far outpacing any religion’s growth (even faster than the pace of Christianity in recent years), and it is our duty to reach them. We have to bring them the gospel – not to bring them “to our side,” not because we want to improve our lives or feel safe, and not to feel good about ourselves or to promote an agenda, but because we have the one thing they desperately need – The Truth!