![\"10](\"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/10-Ways-Pastors-Can-Help-People-Think-About-Muslims.jpg\")
Pastors, I honestly don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to walk in your shoes. Back in college, I pastored a church of a dozen people. Elderly saints they were but with a remarkable propensity not to die. So I preached, and I dodged the rest of the pastoral duties. I never faced the stresses you do with budgets and staff and people who come to you with intractable problems, hoping you\u2019ve got a silver bullet to spare.<\/p>\n
Nor have I been in your place with goofballs saying, \u201cHey, your church should do more with Muslims!\u201d Maybe that feels like a burden you\u2019d rather let go. Maybe you have some personal anxiety about Islam or you can already feel the pushback that will come if you lead your flock toward engagement with Muslims.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why it might be worthwhile anyway:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Islam is a big deal. Over 1.5 billion people are Muslims, with a huge number being added every day. And Islam is talked about like crazy in America and all over the place. If the Holy Spirit nudges you in this direction, I\u2019d like to make it as easy as possible to obey, with ideas both for \u201cknowing\u201d and \u201cdoing\u201d and with varying costs in time and money. Ten Ways to Get Started<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Add to a sense of Muslims\u2019 lostness an understanding that God wants to find them in great numbers.<\/strong> 2. Share winsome stories of Muslim-Christian interactions.<\/strong> 3. Highlight similarities between Muslims and Christians.<\/strong> I probably go overboard in the other direction, happy that a typical Muslim and I both believe in just one God and both think Jesus was born miraculously of a virgin, is alive today, and could take Chuck Norris in a one-on-one match. Generally, we also believe that abortion is a bad thing, kids are a good thing, Jesus is coming back, and devotion to God should be above all else. Not bad starting points from which to invite Muslims back to the faith of their forbearers.<\/p>\n 4. Read and encourage others to read material that prioritizes engagement over fear and defense.<\/strong> 5. Host a seminar on Islam.<\/strong> 6. Encourage your people to connect with international students and refugees.<\/strong> Someone in your town also knows what\u2019s up with refugees. Same story. If you don\u2019t know how to find these people, shoot me an email and I\u2019ll give you a hand.<\/p>\n 7. Endorse a church-wide commitment to pray for Muslims during Ramadan.<\/strong> 8. Audit the \u201cMuslim impact\u201d of your missions budget.<\/strong> 9. Partner with Muslims to address a social ill in your city.<\/strong> 10. Offer to take some of your people to visit a mosque.<\/strong> Conclusion<\/strong> This article, written by Shane Bennett, was originally published as a blog post<\/a>. See the blog for contact information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pastors, I honestly don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to walk in your shoes. 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Back in college, I pastored a church […]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voiceofchristmedia.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2. Your people, at least some of them, are wondering how Christians should respond to this.
3. God, mostly on the down low, is inviting Muslims into His kingdom these days like we have never seen before. This might be the sort of harvest you don\u2019t want to miss out on.<\/p>\n
Not a pastor but know one? If you think it might bless them, please send this along. Tell them you\u2019d like them to read it, and understand if they can\u2019t get to it right away.<\/p>\n
You probably don\u2019t have to convince your people that Muslims are lost. Most evangelical Christians agree. They might not be thinking as much, though, that God has in mind to gather great numbers of them into his kingdom, that every blessing we enjoy is meant for them, and that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross works redemption for them with the same wonderful efficacy with which it does for us.<\/p>\n
While evil has certainly been done in the name of Islam and good Muslims have done very bad things, there\u2019s more to the story than that. Negative news makes it hard to imagine that Christians can connect with them. Read this short, surprising story as a counterexample.<\/a><\/p>\n
Sometimes, whether intentionally or subconsciously, we try to keep Muslims at arm\u2019s length as being \u201cother.\u201d In doing so, we might fall prey to thinking, as a woman at my church once told me, \u201cWe are completely different in every way!\u201d That\u2019s just not true. Your people need to know this.<\/p>\n
I know, I know. Everyone wants to give the pastor a book. Or ten. Here are two that will help you think in good ways about engaging Muslims and give you tools to pass along to your crew: Muslims, Christians, and Jesus by Carl Medearis and Connecting with Muslims by Fouad Masri. Both are practical and accessible. If you\u2019ve already blown your book budget for the year and can only give this a few minutes a week, I\u2019d be honored to have you read my 300-word weekly email, Muslim Connect<\/a>. It\u2019s designed to help normal Christians think about Muslims the way God does and love them like Jesus does.<\/p>\n
Crescent Project<\/a> offers a quick look at Islam and how to befriend Muslims in a weekend seminar or DVD-based curriculum. Encountering the World of Islam<\/a> is a twelve-week course based on understanding Muslims. I\u2019ve seen them lead to lives better ready to serve God among Muslims near and far.<\/p>\n
In any town with a sizable university, someone organizes care and connection for international students (Muslims and others). Find this person. Give them three minutes on the platform in early August to tell your people how they can befriend future leaders from other countries arriving next week. Decide together that they won\u2019t return home without enjoying a dinner in an American home. Be the first to sign up.<\/p>\n
Each year around a million Christians worldwide will use the same beautiful little book to pray for Muslims during Ramadan, their month of fasting.
<\/a><\/p>\n
Are you putting dollars toward work that cares for Muslims and invites them into the kingdom, either locally or far away? It\u2019s none of my business how your budget is set up or what you support, but a budget suggesting that the church, corporately, doesn\u2019t value reaching out to Muslims might limit what individuals will care about and do.<\/p>\n
A friend in San Jose, CA unites \u201cJews, Christians, and Muslims to serve the poor, suffering, and marginalized.\u201d I think he\u2019s onto something. Serving soup or cleaning up trash shoulder to shoulder with someone from another faith teaches things you\u2019ll never get from a book or video.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something about stepping into a mosque for the first time that is powerful, though difficult for many (Am I cheating on Jesus?). Your people will walk away with a sense that mosques are more the places where Muslims go to seek God in the best way they know and less the hothouses of religious sedition we\u2019re sometimes told they are. A little bit of reality goes miles toward reshaping imagination. Two key points for this: Go as learners, not evangelists. A first visit is not the time for a showdown. And make sure you have pre-planned a good 45 minutes to debrief the experience.<\/p>\n
Because these ideas are designed to be put into action, I\u2019m happy to help you consider and implement any of them. I\u2019d be honored to come alongside as you guide your people into obedience relative to one of the greatest challenges and opportunities of our generation.<\/p>\n