John Klaassen - Engaging with Muslims: Understanding their World; Sharing Good News

John Klaassen

John Klaassen/The Good Book Company, 2015.

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The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The stories at the end of Chapters One and Five are taken from Jesus through Asian Eyes. Ivans story at the end of Chapter Three is taken from www.christianityexplored.org. Used by kind permission.

ISBN (ebook): 9781909919129

ISBN (print): 9781909919112

All rights reserved. Except as may be permitted by the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher.

Design by Andr Parker

Christians have a wonderful message to tell the world. As the angel said at the birth of Jesus, it is good news of great joy, for all people (Luke 2 v 10). But sometimes we have been slow to take that message of forgiveness and new life to others.

Sometimes its because we have become distracted . There are so many things that can push the need to tell others from its central place in our calling as individuals and churches. We get wrapped up in our own church issues, problems and politics. Or we get sidetracked by the very real needs of our broken and hurting world, and expend our energies dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause.

Sometimes its because we have lacked conviction. We look at people who seem relatively happy or settled in their own beliefs, and just dont think Jesus is for them. Or perhaps we have just forgotten just how good the good news is, and how serious the consequences for those who enter eternity unforgiven.

But sometimes it has been fear that has held us back from sharing the good news about Jesus. When we meet people whose culture, background or beliefs are so different from ours, we can draw back from speaking about our own faith because we are afraid of saying the wrong thing, unintentionally offending them, or getting into an unhelpful argument that leads nowhere.

This little series of books is designed to help with this last issue. We want to encourage Christian believers and whole churches to focus on our primary task of sharing the good news with the whole world. Each title aims to equip you with the understanding you need, so that you can build meaningful friendships with others from different backgrounds, and share the good news in a relevant and clear way.

It is our prayer that this book will help you do that with a neighbour, friend or work colleague who is an actively engaged Muslim, or who is from a Muslim back- ground and culture. We pray that the result would be great joy as they understand that Jesus is good news for them.

Tim Thornborough
Series Editor

I met him in a coffee shop near my house. He was from the Middle East, friendly as I expected, but nothing else went as planned. As we met together, I was astonished at how God had been working in his life.

Rachids father was a wealthy businessman who had studied outside his country and returned home a practical atheist. He raised his family to be wealthy but without religion, even though they lived in a predominately Muslim country.

Rachid grew up not knowing much about the Quran or prayer times, other than what he was taught in school. So when he went to college he was filled with questions. That was the time of the 9/11 attack in the US, and college campuses around the Middle East were alive with Islamic radicalization. But when Rachid asked what he thought were very reasonable questions, he was threatened for doubting Islam. He was called a kafer (infidel).

Because his father was wealthy, Rachid was able to travel. He visited the East to explore Hinduism and Buddhism, but he instinctively knew that there was only one God. As he continued his thinking, Rachid struggled to understand why Muslims kill one another and why they commit other immoral acts. As a result he began to study Christianity.

In his country they have a saying: Eat with the Jews, sleep with the Christians. You can eat with Jews as their food is kosher (equivalent to halal ), but you can trust Christians. When you are asleep, they wont kill or hurt you. A Christians moral compass is different. Rachid wanted to understand why.

Rachid was attacked and shot not long after returning from his travels because he questioned Islam and was intrigued by Christianity. The Muslims around him wanted him dead, so he fled to Jordan and managed to get refugee status to come to the West. While in Jordan, at an orientation briefing with other Muslims, he was told that when he got to America Christians would come to his house and give him things. He was advised to take what they gave him, but not listen to what they had to say. Secretly Rachid couldnt wait. He longed to hear the truth of the gospel. They also told him that if he ever went to a church he would be prohibited from entering Americans just dont like Muslims, he was told.

When he arrived in the US he was placed in an apartment with other Muslims and he waited for the Christians to visit. They didnt come. He moved to a new place, unable to live with the other Muslim refugees, and waited longer. He walked past a local church but was afraid to go in because of what he had been told. It would be shameful to be asked to leave. Nine months passed without one Christian coming to his house as he had been promised.

He began to think God was angry with him so he prayed: God, just let someone come to my house; please dont be mad at me. One day, not long after, he found a pamphlet on the ground near his door. It was for a free Bible. He immediately wrote and asked for a Bible and more information about Christianity. They sent him the Bible but it was in English and his language wasnt very good. He was frustrated once again. This time he wrote and begged:

Just send me someone to tell me about Christianity. I will pay for them to come to me. I dont need anything; just send me someone.

The woman who received this message, by Gods grace, happened to be the cousin of a pastor at my church. She called her cousin, her cousin called me, and I set up a time to meet with Rachid.

After meeting with me for six months and being at church with other believers, Rachid was baptized. What a glorious time of celebration we had that day, rejoicing with our church, who had grown to love him! Rachid continues to come, learn, serve and growa wonderful brother in Jesus.

In Matthew 9 v 37 Jesus tells us that:

the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

The harvest is plentiful? I worked in the Islamic world for over 18 years and it never felt plentiful, and yet there was a steady trickle of people coming to Christ. There were men and women who were ready to be harvested.

Over the course of the last few years the agency I was with discovered an amazing truth we dont see decisions for Jesus where we are not sharing the gospel ! Ok, thats not so amazing; perhaps its even a bit simplistic, but its powerful none the less. If we are sharing the gospel, even in the hardest parts of the world, we see people come to Christ. We see men and women make Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives. However, if we arent faithful in sharing the gospel, we dont see anyone come to faith. That must be what Jesus meant when he went on to say:

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.