By Michael Edens, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Theology and Islamic Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Edens served as an IMB missionary in the Arab world for 26 years.

A friend of this blog recently wrote, “I was wondering if you could have someone write an article for the SBC Today on what Muslims believe about witnessing.” The reader continued, “I have a . . . friend who is Muslim. When I write things on my blog about God, she writes that she likes what I say, but is always talking about no one knowing about the unseen.” At the time Dr. Lemke sent those comments to my email account, I was leading a seminar among Indonesian Christians on the subject of witness for Christ with Muslim neighbors.

So, what I think our reader is asking is, “What are the pitfalls in trying to be a Christian witness? What are some things to do or be in sharing a witness with Muslim neighbors?” As to what the Muslim lady means by, “no one knowing about the unseen,” I will take an educated guess about what she meant.

Motivational Pitfalls

“What are the pitfalls in trying to be a Christian witness?” These pitfalls are in two groups: motivational and conceptual. Concerning motivations or the abstract pitfalls, you will notice that I am not talking about witness “to” Muslims but “with” Muslim neighbors. There is much witness “to” Muslims. Witness “to” Muslims can take many shapes and forms and be valid. “With Muslim neighbors” is governed and framed. I use “with” to signify several things. The attitude of “with” is coming alongside: caring, compassionate, and understanding. We who by grace have heard and committed to the matchless Savior, Jesus Christ, NEED to be with or alongside of those who have not heard the truth or know it is personified in Him.

In addition, you can expect that a neighbor and person alongside might want to share with you also. “With” assumes and welcomes that sharing for two reasons. First, persons need to be seen and heard. Listening is a good activity for neighbors. Second, the varieties of Muslims are as plentiful as Christians. A witness with a neighbor must be informed as to who that neighbor is. Through this, I have assumed that we are committed to being a neighbor and recognizing a Muslim as a neighbor. In saying these things, I am seeking to define the abstract pitfalls of relating a Christian witness to our Muslim neighbors. Another way to think about this is to examine our motives. I have had friends and team members who were in some way against the Islamic religion or culture, and that was a major motive for their witness. They needed to settle a score or win a competition. “Witness with” is to be more about faith and the transformation that the cross of Christ brings into a human life than religion or culture. If our motivation for witness is that the matchless love of God, personified in Jesus Christ, has gripped us, and He died for our neighbor also, we will overcome obstacles to witness.

Conceptual Pitfalls

The second group of pitfalls are conceptual. For one thing, the concept of gender-specific witness is hard for most Westerners to accept. If your Muslim neighbor is a first or second generation immigrant or a visitor from overseas and of the opposite gender, consider your task to be light seed sowing and introducing that neighbor to a committed Christian of the same sex as your neighbor. Your role then is prayer partner. Don’t desert your neighbor after that introduction.

This leads to the second concept — we are part of God’s outreach to this neighbor. God has been working in our neighbor; join Him along with your Christian friends. Involve others with your neighbor. Trust God to have other contacts for the Gospel with our neighbor. Do and be your part in God’s network drawing our neighbor to Himself in Christ. The third concept relates to the first two. We do not need to “tear down” Islam or Islamic ideas or persons to share Christ and what He has done in our lives. Part of being “with” our neighbors is giving them the freedom to ask probing questions, like: “Have you considered leaving Christianity” (sometimes phrased “Why don’t you become a Muslim?”) or “What do you think of the Qur’an and/or Muhammad?” If we are tempted to give an angry, dismissive, or flippant response, we need to reconsider those first pitfalls again. We need to be able to answer these questions personally and respectfully. For instance, I continue to follow Jesus and trust my life into His hands in part because His love has touched me in every part of my person, and He continues to call me to a closer, more intimate relationship with God; His love forgives, encourages, and transforms me. We have many reasons our neighbor needs to hear.

“What are some things to do or be in sharing a witness with Muslim neighbors?” From all I have written before, it should be obvious we MUST be loving and open. Openly confess you are a follower of Christ or one of the “people of the Book” which the Qur’an mentions. If you identify yourself as a Christian be sure that you qualify the term as one who is committed to constant obedience of God through Jesus Christ. For many Muslims “Christian” just refers to Western culture. Open your family to your Muslim neighbor. Neighbors eventually know us warts, flaws and all. Trust that in our weaknesses they will see God’s mercy and grace. Quote and allude from your Bible appropriately. Few Muslims have any confidence in our Bible being God’s Word. You will learn what they have been taught. When you do, thank God that He brought a neighbor to you so you could live and speak out your respect for the Bible. You do not need to defend it. Just demonstrate that the Bible is your manual for life. Over time your neighbor’s respect for you as a person will be extended to the Book which anchors your life.

Varieties within Islam

As to what the Muslim lady meant by, “no one knowing about the unseen,” I will take an educated guess about what she meant. This Muslim lady is from one of the countries I have lived in; however, in that land several distinct versions of Islam co-exist, which may have much to do with her statement. But I think she is addressing one of the huge problems of witness with Muslims. One if not the central purpose of the biblical God in revealing the Bible, inspiring its translation, and preserving it for us is to reveal Himself. God’s love for lost humanity is a dominant storyline of the Bible. The Qur’an reveals things about deity and conveys decrees for humanity. God (Allah) is spirit, unseen and unapproachable in a relational way. I think this is her conceptual problem. We are talking as if we know God and walk in Him and actually belong to Him. If it were not His gracious gift it could not be; but how is she to know unless she observes a life so lived.

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or you can subscribe in iTunes by clicking on the image in this post or on the link in the sidebar. Share in the comments here your suggestions for how we can improve the podcast, and take a moment to give us a rating or a review on our iTunes page. Thanks as always for listening, and we’ll be back for more podcasting fun next week.

As I understand it, the Camel Method is part of a larger missiological movement known as “Common Ground.” As it relates to evangelism among Muslims, I suppose the name speaks for itself. Today I came across a guest post on the blog Biblical Missiology. It was written by a Christian from a Muslim background, and I was fascinated by his perspective on this “Common Ground” movement. Particularly intriguing to me were the questions he asked regarding the so-called “converts” that result from this approach. Here is his paragraph containing those questions:

And so following some years in closeness with Common Ground movement, still there were a lot of unresolved questions within myself!  Should CMBs (Christians from a Muslim Background) continue to attend mosques and would that be helpful for them? If that is the situation what happens after the Islamic congregation understands there are some different Muslims in their congregation? Will they tolerate, expel or persecute them? Where will they get their true spiritual nourishment? Perhaps they will meet in home groups in addition to attending mosque, but for how long that situation will last? What about church planting since they are supposed to stay within the Islamic culture and religion, will it be established at some point the Christian community or such a thing is not necessary? What about their identity, is it like Christian with Christians and Muslims with Muslims? Who are going to be their true brothers and sisters, Muslims or Christians or both of them? Is there any compromise in all of that? These were some questions I faced and am quite sure most of these believers do go through.

The entire post can be accessed by clicking here, and I encourage readers to take the time to read about the experiences of this former Muslim who believes that this deceptive approach is doing more harm than good.

Listen to the podcast using the player below, or visit our iTunes page to subscribe. A click on the link in the sidebar (or on the image in this post) will take you there, and while you’re at it, write us a review or give us a rating. And as always, we welcome your comments here on issues we discuss or on how we can improve the podcast. Thanks for listening.

Links to items discussed:

• Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary
• The Camel Method – Endorsements
• Great Commission Resurgence Task Force
• The Sacred Desk

We are grateful to Dr. Ergun Caner for providing to us his perspective on the recent firing of a Christian wrestling coach by a Muslim high school principal in Dearborn, Michigan. Ergun Mehmet Caner is the President and Dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and professor of Apologetics and Theology at Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia. A former Sunni Muslim, Caner writes and speaks in the area of Global Apologetics. He can be reached at erguncaner.com and twitter.com/erguncaner.

There is irony in every line of this article from Christian Post.

In every Islamic Republic, operated by Sharia law, not only do sports mix with Islam, they are guided by it. Regularly Islamic Olympians are told to represent Allah well by their efforts. Prayer time is performed together as a team, to build the team character.

Yet in Dearborn, Michigan, a Christian coach (Gerald Marszalek) is fired by his Muslim principal (Imad Fadlallah). Why? because of his friendship with a volunteer coach who led a Muslim student to Christ at a summer camp. When the principal heard of this, he punched the student and told him that he disgraced his family!

Often Christians are amazed when Muslims protest Christian activities at public schools. Why are they upset? Do we not allow them to practice Islam in the schools? Why would they protest a Christian activity?

The answer is simple– Islam has never allowed RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

In over thirty countries around the world, Sharia Law, based on the Qur’an and the Hadith, allows for complete Islamic practice in every venture of life, especially in the school systems. What about Christians in Islamic countries?

They are only allowed RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.

In Islam, this is called the Pact of Umar, named after one of the first Caliphs, after the death of Muhammed in 632 AD. In it, Umar outlined the rules for Christians living in Muslim countries. Some of them include:

• Christians must allow their daughters to date and marry Muslim men, but Muslim women may never date or marry Christian men. You cannot stop the marriage of your Christian daughter to a Muslim, and the required conversion which follows.
• Christians cannot build new churches, or even repair the outside of older ones.
• Christians may not publicly proclaim their faith or witness.

The dilemma of Muslims living in America is clear- they do not understand true religious freedom. They cannot comprehend how any Christian is allowed to witness to a Muslim friend without being arrested, fired or worse.

The city of Dearborn, Michigan is a perfect example of the consequences of giving Muslims unfettered power to self-rule, even in the context of American Constitutional Law.

A simple examination of history clarifies:

1. When Muslims are in the minority in a country, they scream “religious freedom” and demand their rights. They will use this to garner power and political influence, playing the “race card” to get their way. They will protest and march in the streets, especially when the cameras are on them.
2. When Muslims are allowed to operate by Sharia Law in a democratic country, they will recognize Sharia over the democratic laws of that country, every single time.
3. When Muslims are in the majority, Sharia is imposed and Christians are immediately repressed.

The irony of Dearborn? According to the article, approximately one-third of the city’s population is Muslim. This may be the first event we have seen, but it is not the last. 1300 years of history tells us this is inevitable.

Religious FREEDOM teaches that a Muslim can build a Mosque wherever the city codes allow…

Religious FREEDOM also teaches that I can stand in front of that Mosque with a sign that says “Jesus Saves.”

Either my kinsmen learn this distinction, or they need to leave.

Harvard, the United Nations, and Militant Islam:

How Liberals in the West Enable Islamic Violence

In an email intended to be kept private, Harvard Islamic chaplain Taha Abdul-Basser endorsed the traditional punishment for leaving the Islamic faith, the death penalty. The final paragraph of the email reads:

I would finally note that there is great wisdom (hikma) associated with the established and preserved position (capital punishment) and so, even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of hand. The formal consideration of excuses for the accused and the absence of Muslim governmental authority in our case here in the North/West is for dealing with the issue practically. And Allah knows best.

According to this educated cleric who serves one of America’s leading institutions, the only barrier in implementing Islamic law on America is the present “governmental authority” and the “modern rights discourse.” In other words, pesky democracy and anti-Islamic freedoms are rudely, and perhaps temporarily, standing in the way of true peace as defined by traditional Islamic thought.

Basser’s advocacy of violence should not be surprising, especially considering that capital punishment for apostasy was implemented by the prophet himself. Muhammad stated clearly, “If a Muslim changes his Islamic religion, kill him” (Bukhari hadith 9.57). In fact, the very next verse in thehadith – the sayings of Muhammad – details the execution of a Jew turned Muslim who reverted back to his old faith. Muhammad demanded this infidel’s death and then subsequently went to dinner and flippantly discussed various issues of the day. The peaceful prophet slept peacefully that night.

Now, fourteen centuries later, Western liberals are only enabling the violence wrought within traditional Islam. While an Islamic chaplain advocates the death of millions of infidels across the globe, Harvard remains as cowardly and silent as a Scandinavian government discussing the cartoons of Muhammad. Perhaps the leaders at Harvard will also apologize for the narrow-minded views of the West and their inability to understand the enlightening aspects of Islamic law. More likely, the administrators were blinded by the $20 million endowment given by the Saudi royal family to begin an Islamic Studies program. Receiving millions of dollars from a nation the proudly adheres to beheadings and maiming (Qur’an 5:33) has a way of being kinder and gentler with Islamofascists.

Of course, the liberal track record of bestowing privileges to the most deserving of nations is less than pristine. The United Nations gave Libya, which rejected the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the high honor of chairing the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In return for the privilege, Libya continued to follow Islamic law and exile, imprison, and kill innocent citizens. Surprisingly, Libya was not cited for any violations of human rights that year…

And now, America has changed. We no longer speak about a “war on terror,” but only contingency plans. Now, according to our own Department of Homeland Security, terrorists are defined as those right-wing, pro-life,anti-immigration, men and women who desire limited government and constitutional freedoms. Their definition of a terrorist makes it more likely that the government is watching a Southerner than a Saudi. According to our own government, you are most likely more dangerous to the world if you are named Bubba and not Osama. As Basser so aptly states, “Allah knows best.”

.