Witnessing to Muslims
3. You must have love.
The mass media in the West has done an excellent job of ensuring hatred toward the Muslim people through their portrayal of Islam. When the average Westerner or American thinks of the religion of Islam or of Muslims in general, what does he think of if not the Ayatollah Khomeini, the oil embargo, or terrorism? There seems to be little compassion, little concern for their need for Christ, and a lack of understanding that they are lost without the message of the Gospel. At times, there seems only to be the pervasive stereotype of the "fanatic Muslim terrorist." Are we to say that over a billion of the world's people are terrorists? And even if they were, would this be reason enough to hate them? We need Christian love to combat these misconceptions and to restore our burden for those who are lost without Christ.
Secondly, we need love because only love will keep us from losing heart when a Muslim rejects Christ. Without love, it is so easy to stop praying for him, or to lose interest in spending time with him. I have experienced several situations like this where I just did not want to see a certain person's face again. I remember a man from Tunisia named Mahmood. He grew up thinking, "Christianity is false," and while all his arguments were sincere, it was because of his rejection of Christ that I found myself rejecting him. But guess what! Two years later, Mahmood prayed to receive Chris! Muslims actually feel sorry for Christians; they consider us to be misguided blasphemers. They believe that we are preaching God, and want to bring us to the truth. However, it is through the love of Christ working through us that they can come to know Him personally.
The third reason we need love is because it is the only thing against which a Muslim cannot argue. You can talk about Iran and Iraq, two Muslim nations having fought a war against one another, and they will say, "What about Ireland, the Catholics and the Protestants?" You bring up the Bible, they bring up the Koran. You argue for Christ, they argue for Mohammad. Take any issue you like, and the Muslim will have an answer for it. However, reach out to them with unconditional love and acceptance, and there will nothing they can do except to love you back.
Mathew 22:37-40: "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.' "
None of these prerequisites may be new to you, but they must be emphasized before getting into details of explaining the Gospel to a Muslim. These three things - being Spirit-filled, being in prayer, and loving - are far more important than knowing all about Islam or the Koran. I know Americans who have led Muslims to the Lord with no knowledge of Islam and, while the more one knows the better, I doubt if there is anyone who can bring a Muslim to the Lord if he is not Spirit0filled, not praying, and not loving. It is by these three things that the Gospel will be proven true.