MOVING TOWARD MUSLIMS: Making a Convert or Pointing to Jesus?

Last month, I shared how I felt like a project when my Muslims friends try to convert me. But what if I turn the tables and ask myself: Should I, as a Christian, convert Muslims?

The short answer? No.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did a lot of converting. In fact, they traveled “over land and sea to make one convert.” Impressive, right? Not to Jesus. He said those efforts to impose religion were making the spiritual condition of their converts worse than before! (See Matthew 23:15.)

Instead of starting a new religion, Jesus of Nazareth ushered in a kingdom where he reigns as King. In this kingdom, people are healed physically and spiritually. The poor finally have some Good News. Dead people are raised to new life in Jesus.  

For any of us to move toward Jesus, the supernatural must occur. The Holy Spirit wind of God must blow through my life, regenerating my enemy soul. In Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”

Ephesians 2:4-5 describes the miracle: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (NKJV, emphasis mine).

As I interact with Muslim friends, I attempt to introduce them to Jesus Christ and the reality of his kingdom reign. With a growing admiration for Jesus, we can learn together what it looks like to obey him gladly. I look for the day when Muslims unburden themselves at Jesus’ feet, without taking on my religious baggage in the process. This is clearly supernatural!

In my years of building relationships with Muslims, I have shifted my focus away from winning converts to my religion. Muslims are not prizes to be won. We are all flawed human beings who desperately need Jesus. I am identifying more with John the Baptist, who saw his role as a “mere stagehand” in the drama Christ is unfolding in the nations (Luke 3:16 MSG).

With this shift in focus, I can begin to recognize God’s everyday miracles of stirring the spiritually dead:

• A friend in turmoil is comforted by a psalm of David.
• A family matron asks a question about Jesus and her attentive daughters and nieces listen to the answer.
• A light bulb goes on for a university student and she remarks, “God is showing me how much he cares about me!”  

I will never “convert” Muslims. Instead, by God’s grace, I will live wisely and take every opportunity to point to Jesus. I may be a player in the drama God is unfolding in my friends’ lives, but I want Jesus to be the star of the show.

He must increase, and I must decrease. Because, let’s be honest. If I tried to run the show, I would operate much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day and make my convert twice as much a child of hell as I am.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Do you agree with the author’s premise that Christians should not convert Muslims? Is it possible to make a convert worse off spiritually than before?

"Anna" blogs about friendship, culture, and Kingdom-living from her home in the Middle East. She loves Jesus and wants to see Him cherished by her neighbors and people everywhere. Anna will be posting on the Persecution Blog each month. Feel free to ask questions or suggest future topics in the comments section for this post. Anna is a pseudonym, and all names in her posts are changed for security reasons.

Comments

[sam]

But Jesus did not preach a religion called Christianity.Jesus himself was not a christian or called himself a christian. Jesus was a Jew that believed in the God of Abraham.

[Armand]

This is so funny to me. If it was not for the Crusaders that crushed the Muslims, the whole world would be run by Islam laws. If the Catholics had to make friends and smooth talk them, well, the Bible would not exist anymore. Thats why the Islam is taking over every country, like a cancer, slow and silent, and the Christians are on their love trip, so confused by secularity, excepting everything, they are blind what Satan is down.

[Simply Stacy]

Thank you for this post. I have been friends with some Muslims for three years now. I've told them I will be friends with them, even if they never become followers of Jesus. I would never want them to convert to Christianity just to leave Islam. Conversion to another religion is just that: a RELIGION. But I pray for the day they say "Yes!" to a a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus, the only way for forgiveness.

[Jeff]

No one becomes a true Christian by merely converting. A person can become a Catholic by converting. A person can become a Jesuit, or a Mormon, or a Jehovah's Witness by converting. In fact, a person can even become a Baptist or Presbyterian by converting. To become a Muslim, all you have to do is say, "I bear witness that there is no God worthy to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." But the only way to become a true Christian is to be regenerated, to have your life radically transformed by the Holy Spirit. There are millions leaving Islam every year, but not all of them are becoming Christians; some are becoming Atheists, etc. So to merely "convert" someone, for example, by joining a church, being baptized, etc., does not save them from Hell. They have to be transformed from the inside out, not by willpower or merely by some intellectual decision, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Christ Jesus, God the Son, Who died for their sins.

From another perspective, the way that many Muslims have become Christians is that they have seen the love of Christians vs. the lack of love from Muslims; they have seen that, in Christianity, there is love, whereas in Islam, there is no such thing as the Golden Rule. They have seen the way Christian organizations treat them (with love), vs. the way other Muslims treat them, or the way Muslims kill other Muslims. And, in the Middle East, many Muslims have come to Christ as a result of Christ coming to them in a dream or a vision, which leads them to find a Bible, or find a Christian Pastor, or find a Christian somewhere, in order to learn more about Christianity.

Muslims need Jesus. They are deceived and blind, and on their way to Hell. They need to be saved. They need to be shown the love of Jesus, and they need to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for nothing else can save them.

[Patricia]

she is correct - we convert no one. In light of this article, I am impressed with how many muslims are turning to Jesus Christ in their nations, seeing visions of him, and turning from Islam. As we go, day by day, we make disciples of whomever we meet, with a word here, and act there, and a prayer always.

[Retta]

I so agree. Convert puts us on the throne and actually we were called to spread the Gospel. As we share our lives with others we can be the light and salt.
If we would just obey God for afterall it is His Throne and His Kingdom.
Thank you 'Anna' and you also Stuart.

[Stuart Ibrahim]

I agree it's more of case of Christ converting those who are not Christian, rather then of us converting them.

[Christine]

When the Holy Spirit comes..He will give you POWER to witness. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin .righteousness and judgement. Don't worry about what to say when brought before kings ,Don't meditate on what to say before hand. the Holy Spirit will give you the words. It will be your Heavenly Father speaking through you. He who believes in Me, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. Jesus said If you've seen Me ,you have seen the Father. What I say is what I heard My Father say. What My Father does ,I do. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Yes! Yes! Yes! Lead them to JESUS ! I pray the Holy Spirits power rests on your lips. In season, Out of season. Speaking the right word ,for that individual at the right time and saying it exactly as the Holy Spirit directs. I noticed in my walk with the Lord that he would give me what to say and how to say it. The Lord manifested and spoke personally to the different individuals. What I mean is. It wasn't a repeated rehearsed word for them. It was a fresh word...Just for them. God knows the hearts of all people and so He always knows what to say that is exactly for that very person. I always say be my lips Lord, you know what they need and where they are at spiritually. What can I say that will impact them in some powerful convicting Way? What do You want to say ,Lord to this person?

[Christopher Mantei]

And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Jude 22-23

No "one size fits all" solution.

[Petra Carstens]

I believe it is more like building bridges. First of all make friends. Win their confidence. Find mutual interest like Abraham. Tell them how you understand the story and let them talk how they understand it. With patience and friendship you can lead them to Jesus and His love for mankind .