International
(MNN) — The month of Ramadan has begun, and it's a good time for Christians to
pray for and reach out to Muslims. A
simple gift of a New Testament to a follower of Islam has the power to change a
person's life forever.
"The
Bible is clear: faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," said
Fouad Masri of Crescent Project.
He
knows an Iranian-American who bought a Bible because he was nervous about
Christians' reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The man read a few chapters into Matthew and
came face-to-face with the Sermon on the Mount.
"I
was shocked; how beautiful are the words of Jesus," the man said. Within several weeks, he had become a
Christian.
Masri
explained why focusing on the Bible is so effective for sharing the Gospel with
Muslims.
"When
you offer a New Testament to a Muslim, you're not asking them to do anything
wrong," he said. "The Qur'an says they
have to follow it. So when I talk to
Muslims, I don't argue with them about politics and religious ideas; I talk
about one thing: Is the Bible from God,
or not from God?"
Muslims
believe in three holy books in addition to the Qur'an: the Torah, the Psalms, and the New Testament which they call the Injil. However,
Muslims grow up with the teaching that the Qur'an takes precedence because the
other books have been corrupted.
"The
imams, from the beginning, taught that the Torah came first, and that was
changed, so God sends the Psalms," Masri said. "The Psalms were changed, so God sends the Injil, the Injil was changed,
so God sent the Qur'an. So if you ask
the imams and the teacher, 'What if the Qur'an can be changed?' they say
'No, God keeps His Word.'"
This
gives Christians an opening to explain the credibility of the Bible. If the Qur'an cannot be changed by human
beings, then neither can the other holy books.
"Who's
stronger, God or the Christians?" Masri said.
"The answer is: God is stronger. And if God is stronger than anyone, then His word in the Injil will
never be changed."
Christians
are not responsible for whether Muslims accept this argument and receive the
Gospel — God is responsible for that. However,
the argument is very effective.
"That
approach always results in people asking for a New Testament, or at least never
attacking a New Testament again," Masri explained. "Because if you love God, you shall not
insult Him. You shall not insult Him by
saying that humans are stronger than Him."
You can use Crescent Project's
DVD-based small-group study, Bridges to learn more about sharing the Truth
with Muslims.
