Building Bridges Pt.2

I was listening to a Christian radio talk show Thursday afternoon. I can't remember who the host was or who their guest was, but the topic was the evil of Islam. Apparently the guest was an author who has written about all of the verses in the Qur'an that talk about killing Infidels, imposing Sharia law, etc. I'm trying to figure out how the body of Christ is served by writing a book of this nature...how does this inspire followers of Jesus to reach out to a people that are obviously in need of the truth? One of the greatest deceptions of this modern age against the expansion of the Kingdom of God is that Muslims are an unreachable people. What does believing that lie say about our understanding of who God is?

To be sure, the Qur'an is not to be viewed as equal to the Bible...it's NOT! However, there are many parallels in the Qur'an to the Bible. And we have to keep in mind, followers of Jesus and Muslims share some of the same ancestry. Abraham is the common thread...these are not people who started off worshiping molech or baal, they were worshipers of the one true God. Rather than spreading fear among followers of Jesus who, by the way, posess the true plan of God for salvation, shouldn't we be equipping ourselves and one another with the truth to set these people free from the deception of a dead religion? Some might say that they are terrorists. Keep in mind that before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul was a Hebrew terrorist. He persecuted the church...and God saved him and used him to write most of the New Testament. Prior to his conversion, the church was afraid of him.

Is the church actually waiting for Muslims to just wake up one day and say, "Wow, we're mistaken! Jesus IS the answer!" on their own? It could happen by divine intervention for sure...but I think God is calling His Church to step up and start bridging the gap between followers of Jesus and Muslims. We cannot expect people who are lost to be the ones who bring peace and unity. It must be the Church of Jesus Christ that takes the initiative.

Blessings,
Brandon