Good morning once again! I hope you are all well and enjoying life! I just finished a great conversation with the men this morning about chapters 3 - 4 of the book "Muslims, Christians, and Jesus" by Carl Medearis. We had a wonderful conversation, mainly, on the topic of chapter three - the Qur'an. Medearis writes a lot of interesting things in this chapter and they are helpful in our understanding of Muslims and how we can share the Gospel of them.
First, I have realized that for some members of the group, this book has been like sandpaper to them, and they're not enjoying. And then there is the opposite - there are men who are very glad to have this book and are learning immensely how to reach the people around them. I'm so thankful the men have stuck with it though and they are honest in how this book is working for them.
Chapter three, as mentioned earlier, is on the topic of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. Right away, as Medearis has already been mentioning, Medearis again mentions the misunderstandings and contempt that is there when discussing this book. He writes, "This can be difficult at first because of the amount of bias against and misinformation about Islam and its followers...there are misperceptions about it's holy book." (pg. 65 - 66). With this statement, Medearis then writes how this is our "greatest inroad" to reaching Muslims. A lot of what Medearis writes is the similarities between our the Qur'an and the Bible. And there are points that line up! Included in this chapter are seven pages of passages in the Qur'an that speak of Jesus (Isa). This is amazing! What a goldmine of places we can start to talk about Jesus with Muslims!?! This note was made by the group as well, and they found this interesting. They noted that sometimes we think we need to bring Jesus to people, and in fact, He's already there.
I wish I could say conversation continued very smoothly for the group, but it wasn't always this way! One point was one of caution as we shared. Their thoughts were on discernment, and trying to reason if this book is trying to do more than help in our understanding of Muslims or get us too close in a dangerous way to them. (I don't personally believe this at all, but I can understand where they're coming from.) I do agree that Medearis has spent a long time with Muslims, and he is a little favored toward them. (I say this to point out a fact; it's not a bad thing, but it one thing the men have recognized and are working through.)
From this, though Medearis does write about the contradictions that occur in the Qur'an. When you look at these contradictions, you see what doesn't work. A common thing that most everyone will know is that if you have contradictions within yourself, you don't have legs to stand on. This is a point to the validity of the Qur'an. Medearis's chapter has been insightful in looking at both sides, and taking an approach of using what they know to be effective in "seed planting."
One last thing from this chapter that was interesting was Medearis's approach to Muslims on a common level and not an apologetic level. The men spoke of how this strong approach isn't well liked by anyone, even themselves. Continuing on this, they noticed a flaw in American Christianity. It has become very common among practicing American Christians to have the mentality that they're right and they can argue all the points as to why they are. It has become very easy for us to be argumentative rather than have respectful discussions. Because America is such a place of individualism and arrogance, when we as Christians come at peoples of other cultures with the Gospel in an apologetic front, we not only breed into the ways of America (fanning fuel into the flame), we also are very hurtful in how we prove ourselves. Jesus never came across this way. He knew where He stood (He knew who He was!) and He cared for the people where they were at, all the while revealing who He was to them. This is something we can learn from.
As the men discussed this flaw, they also brought up a similar example that came about in the '70's, when, apparently (I don't know, I wasn't alive then), many Christians took this approach toward converting Jews to Christianity. They spoke of how this hurt a lot of Jews and turned them off to Christianity. Talk about spiritual abuse! It just goes to show that we have a special position, and we must be careful with how we work to reach the peoples of this world with the message of Jesus.
Chapter four deals with the women of Islam. This is a glaring piece of Muslim societies, and they know it. The chapter discusses the roles of women in Muslim societies and the way they live in these societies. There was not much discussion about the women, only on their dress and how they have been viewed as lesser. As men, we often like to give suggestions as to how things can be fixed, but the men didn't have anything to add this morning.
Lastly, there is one point that dominated conversation that is worth looking at. Our discussion revolved around one stumbling block to Muslims and many other people in the world: the Cross. Medearis did not write much about how to approach this topic in the book, but he does state this is something the Qur'an disputes.
The thoughts the men had revolved around the question, "Can you really discuss Christianity without the Cross?" This is a great question. The Cross of Christ is where we find our forgiveness, where we find our atonement, where we look so we can know who we are and what we've done. We need the Cross. And without the Cross, we don't have the resurrection, where all our hope is to be. This is a very profound question that I don't have an answer for, so I leave you to think more about it.
I'm glad to be having this discussion with these men and I'm glad to be reading this wonderful book. Medearis is sharing a lot of wisdom and, I only speak for myself but I do know, is creating motivation to be a real witness of Jesus - not only to Muslims, but to all peoples in need of Him. He is worthy of all our praise and affections. He is the one we are made to worship. I hope you are enjoying these posts, and I hope you can go pick up a copy of this excellent book!
God bless you all! I love you all.
Brandon
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