How Do We As Christians Relate To People And Culture That Is Overwhelmingly Muslim?

HOW DO WE AS CHRISTIANS RELATE TO A PEOPLE AND CULTURE THAT IS OVERWHELMINGLY MUSLIM?

By: Rev. José C. Hernández, Jr.

Introduction:

As a person born and raised in a Western culture with its values and traditions in which the only thing that I knew was either Roman Catholicism or the Protestant Christian traditions it has been a journey for me to get to the point where I am today, beginning to relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim. My father was a Pentecostal preacher and my mother a homemaker. We grew up in an environment where Protestants refused to call Roman Catholics Christians. Hence, it was in our minds that the Roman Catholics were the enemy and in the minds of the Roman Catholics the Protestants were the enemy. Of course, Puerto Rico is not the only place on this planet with that kind of mentality. In Latin America the religious battle is always about denominations and which Christian tradition is the best, sometimes relegating Roman Catholicism to a cult and vice versa.

It took many years for me to understand that the family of God is big and diverse with people from different backgrounds and with a variety of theological points of views. Among the many other affirmations the church has made in its different ecumenical councils, we all have as our common DNA an understanding about the Divine nature of Jesus Christ, his virginal birth, the inerrancy of the message that the Bible contains. Nonetheless, because of the geographical distances and the efforts to battle heretic movements within and around our own Christian churches, the notion that there is something beyond the Christian faith that is attracting millions of people, namely Islam, is not in our immediate attention.

Today the scholarly minds of our society have been fascinated by the philosophies expressed in Oriental religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism. However, the oppressed classes and minorities have often been attracted by the message Islam offers to them. Meanwhile, Christianity is declining in places like North America and Europe, mostly because the Church has diluted her message in a effort to compromise her faith with a society unwilling to pay the price required in the Scriptures of following Jesus. Therefore, we must take a look at how we live out our Christianity. We must question ourselves, how do we proclaim the Gospel of Christ in a world filled with many choices? Additionally, we must ponder the notion of how Christ is the only one who can satisfy that thirst for knowledge, social justice, and righteousness that this world is seeking, regardless of language, skin color, geographical location, social status, or gender. Nonetheless, in our own religious cultures we continue to live a Christian existence without examining the rising of a faith like Islam that attempts to transcend stereotypes. As a matter of fact, David Noss in his book “A History of the World Religions” says the following; “The heart of Islam is hidden from most Westerners, and the outer images of Islamic countries present bewildering contrasts: stern ayatollahs ordering the lash for prostitutes, camels drivers putting down prayer mats in the desert, sophisticated royal princes discussing international investments, and fiery national liberators proclaiming equality and denouncing Western values.” 1

Regretfully, most Christians in the West follow unchallenged the bias newscasts from our country, and listen to the words of condemnation from angry people who disagree theologically and politically with most of the Muslim people. This keeps them from distinguishing the truth from biased opinions. Furthermore, there is no intention of seeing beyond our religious and cultural glasses into the reality of the Muslim people. By and large, we do not ask ourselves the following questions: Why do they believe what they believe? When did they adopted those beliefs? Can we, or should we, attempt to separate their culture from their faith? How can we develop with the Muslim people a relationship in which we can share our faith in Jesus Christ and the true message of our faith in One-Trinitarian God?

It is my intention with this paper first to describe my personal journey as a Christian, one dedicated to mobilize the Latino church toward world missions. Secondly, to present a general panoramic view of how the public in North America views and interacts with the Muslim faith. Third, how Christians in general relate to Muslim people and culture only from a distance. Lastly, I will respond to the question; “How do we as Christians relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim?”

My Personal Journey

As I mentioned before, I grew up in a Christian family with an unclear understanding of other major religions such Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam. We knew about their existence, but our daily battle was against the Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, and the Roman Catholics, among other religious groups that have as their heritage some sort of Christian understanding. Although I had been involved in world missions and the Latino Church mobilization in missions (mainly towards Latin America) since 1994, the first time my eyes turned to the Muslim religion was after the attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. It is at this point I decided to take a closer look at this religion and their diverse branches or sect groups that are among them.

In this process I discovered that Islam was founded by Muhammad who began to have a series of “revelations” around the year 610 A.D. Furthermore, after the death of the founder of this religion (632), Islam became fragmented into schools or branches. The most known among them are the Sunni, Shia, Kharijite, and Ahmadiyya. However, due to the terrorists events against the United States in Yemen, New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, I turned my attention to the fear campaign led by politicians, political commentators, and Christian leaders, taking several years of my life to contemplate the word “Jihad.” During this time I discovered that this is a term that describes a duty Muslim people have. It means “struggle”, or “striving in the way of Allah.” This is a way in which Muslims describes not just the “Holy War” but also their struggles to maintain their faith, and their Muslim societies.

During the summer of 2007 I was invited on a trip to China that would revolutionize the way I was involved in missions. Before my trip to China my evangelistic efforts were primarily toward nominal Roman Catholics who were not really attending any church. But once I visited China I got came to the realization that the most populous religion among the people in this Asian country is the Buddhist faith. And at my return the Lord opened for me doors to minister people that practice Buddhism here in the United States. Nevertheless, one of the ethnic minority groups I got exposed during this first visit to China were the Uyghurs. These are Turkish descendants that have been in the Western part of China for centuries. During my discovery process about this group I found out that they are Sunni Muslims. In fact, among the 3.8 million Uyghurs living in the Xingjiang Autonomous Region, only 50 Uyghur Christians were living among them. This is one of the saddest stories I have ever read since at one point in their history (during the Nestorian ministry in China) this community was predominantly Christian. Thus, since that time one of the ethnic groups that I pray for every day is the Uyghurs.

Interestingly, despite the fact I have been interested in ministering to the Uyghur, I never had the opportunity to study in more detail the Muslim faith. I had conversations with other Christians about the subject but had to confess to them many times my frustration at being unable to reach out to Muslims. On the other hand I was doing nothing in order to understand the basics of their beliefs. And in the midst of this personal struggle between a calling from God to get prepared in this area and my procrastination to respond, the Lord put me in an airplane and sent me with Dr. Bob Tuttle to Turkey.

I will never forget the emotional feeling of seeing from the distance the city of Nicaea, walking on the streets of Constantinople, standing at a place that once was the largest Christian church for a thousand of years. We saw minarets and more minarets, we saw Mosques, we heard the calls to Muslim prayer. I was overwhelmed by so much Christian history mixed with the reality of Asia Minor today, a Muslim stronghold. The Holy Spirit put in my face the reality of a part of the world that has not been reached with the message of Jesus Christ. Moreover, I got a daily rebuke from the Holy Spirit every time I heard the call to prayer at night or early morning in my room. One evening, Dr. Tuttle spoke about the “Five Pillars of Islam.” These are the declarations that there is no other God but Allah and Muhammad is his last prophet (Shahada), the daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, alms giving (giving to charity, the poor and the needy), and a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca at least once in a lifetime. And although he talks about them in the book “The Story of Evangelism” for whatever reason I never payed attention to such important facts about the Islamic faith. This was another rebuke from the Holy Spirit for being a procrastinator to what He wants me to do. Today, I have committed myself to respond to the calling of getting prepared in the studies of Islam and the proclamation of Christ’s Gospel among the Muslim peoples. I have made a covenant with God in which I will be reading the whole Qur’an within the next ten months and I am going to be aggressive in my study about the Islam. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!

The General View of the Public in North America Concerning Islam

As it happened to me, most people in North America are not paying attention to Islam Instead, the information most of them have in their minds is what they have heard or read on the media and what politicians and Christians leaders from the left and the right in this country mention in public appearances. In the spirit of this reality, according to the Pew Forum On Religion and Public Life, most Americans say they know little about the Muslim religion and its practices. About 55 % do not know much and 30% do not know anything at all about the Islamic faith. 2 In a society that does not seek the facts and rather has the tendency to take as the truth whatever a celebrity, a politician, or a well-known religious leader says, the result is not knowledge at all. Because of that, we have our military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting the Islamic extremists instead of winning them for Christ. Dr. Brian Russell once told me; “We must conquer the Muslims with the Gospel instead of weapons if we really want to win the war on terror.” To this statement, Dr. Bob Tuttle coincides when he told us inside the bus on our way to Antioch of Pisidia; “Folks, we do not win a war against the Muslims with invasions. We must wage our war in the heavenly realm if we want to change them.”

How North American Christians in General Relate to Muslim People and Culture from a Distance?

American communities in general have mixed emotions about Islam and the response from the Christian community is similar. When we see the numbers among Christians, the reality is at times even more dire since we are supposed to have an evangelistic spirit. According to a poll conducted by BeliefNet.com and the Ethics and Public Policy Center (a non-partisan think tank), 81% of evangelical leaders say it is very important to evangelize Muslims in other countries and 83% of them affirm we should evangelize Muslim communities here at home. However, the number drops to 54% when pollsters ask if they are willing to have a dialogue with Muslims. 3 Thus, the question that comes to my mind is; how we can evangelize Muslim communities without a dialog with them? Furthermore, the question made by Dr. Bob Tuttle; “How do we as Christians relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim?” could be a way for us to take seriously the responsibility of being a beacon of light in the midst of a society that thinks, behaves, and lives differently than we do because of the cultural, geo-political, and religious issues.

How do we as Christians relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim?

Based on the information presented above and my own experience I have to conclude that most Western Christians do not know how to relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim. Dr. Bob Tuttle in his book “Shortening the Leap: From Honest Doubt to Enduring Faith” makes the following statement: “We evangelical Christian types (like most Americans) usually lack humility and global perspective.” He also added: “We need to know the Qur’an and we need to make an honest attempt to understand the world from its perspective.” 4 The sad reality among most Christian communities in North America is that they lack the ability to relate either with the Muslims of Istanbul or the ones living in Dearborn, Michigan. Day and night what we listen to among the majority of the Christian leaders in our nation is a fear mongering campaign against the Muslim people. They regard all of them as terrorists, “little devils”, and enemies of this nation and the world.

It is crucial for Christians to build a bridge with the different Muslim groups in America and the rest of the world. Thus, we must get immersed in the understanding of the world according to their culture. If the followers of Islam pray five times a day, we should congratulate them for that an also pray to our Lord Jesus five times or more a day. If they fast, we should commend them and get onboard fasting in favor of the salvation of millions of people without Christ.I If they help the poor and do charitable work, we should celebrate that and do the same in our ministry as Jesus already ordered us to do (Matthew 19:16-26; Matthew 24-31-46; Luke 14:13). Because, if we build common ground with our Muslim friends in these very important areas of their daily lives, then, we have built the foundation to have a holistic missional approach among these Muslim groups here and abroad since our ultimate goal as Christians is to express God redemptive work in every creature living on this planet. Furthermore, if we contextualize the Gospel with these Muslim groups, we are going to have a far better chance of reaching out to them for Christ.

I understand it is difficult for any person that belongs to a cultural group to embrace the culture of a different group. This is the struggles of all immigrants that relocate to any other country. But at the same time, we, the Western Christian Church, are responding to the call of proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Thus, we must make the changes of embracing (or at least understanding) the culture we want to reach since, after all, we are the ones called to do so. A great example of this is seen in Acts, chapter 17, verses 16-31 when Paul spoke to the Athenians at Mars Hill. He noticed the Greeks of Athens had many deities; and among them they had one dedicated to the “Unknown God.” The Apostle was clever. He not only used this image of the unknown God to share the Gospel, but he even quoted one of the great poets of the city in order to make his point. I believe this is the perfect approach to relate to peoples and cultures that are overwhelmingly Muslim.

An example of this can be found in Randy Woodley’s book “Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity.” In this book Randy shared a story about how a Christian woman in Bangladesh ministered to the Muslim people. She was able to communicate successfully the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the indigenous people without imposing the word “Christianity” because the connotation of this word or term among many Muslims is a reminder of the Crusades and the negative things Christian nations have done to them. The result has been magnificent. Many of them have come to Christ, although they do not call themselves “Christians.” Rather, they embrace Christianity (without that identification), by simply following Jesus. 5

I believe that anthropologist, Charles Kraft, is right when he makes the following statement: “We need to employ mechanisms for change, not to destroy the culture and those processes along with it.” 6 Consequently, we must use creative methods of approach and evangelization to the Muslim people. I remember the story of a Venezuelan missionary that shortly after he got married in 1985 he and his wife decided to relocate to Morocco in order to serve as missionaries. Soon he discovered that proclaiming the Gospel among Muslim people in a nation where it is a crime to preach Christianity would be more difficult than he thought. Nonetheless, in the midst of his discouragement the Lord took him to Exodus, Chapter four where God asked Moses; “What is that in your hand?” That was the same question God had for this missionary. In Venezuela he was a Physical Education teacher and a Soccer Coach. Thus, he decided to make good use of his position as a coach. He began to train young kids in the art of soccer and eventually the community leaders invited him to become the coach of their local team. Every year his team was doing better and better, while he was at the same time planting the seeds of the Gospel among these young minds in creative ways. During 25 years of ministry among the Moroccans his four children were born and raised in this community and his prestige as a coach grew more and more every year. The latest that happened to him was during the year 2009 when he led his team to the Moroccan National Championship. And while he was shaking the hand to the King of Morocco, the leaders at the Pioneers Missions Agency were ecstatic to see one of their missionaries in the field taking Christ to every single member of that soccer team.

The story I just presented above proves once again the point Dr. Bob Tuttle makes in his book, “Someone Out There Needs Me: A Practical Guide to Relational Evangelism”-- that relational evangelism enables a person to make the necessary transition without embarrassment and within a context of genuine interest and concern. 7 This can be an effective weapon for reaching Muslim peoples within their own cultural context, either in their home countries or even within their local enclaves in America. Furthermore, relational evangelism is incarnational evangelism since we must get closer to the people in the same way Christ did when he left His Throne of Glory and became flesh with the purpose of reaching out to humans within their cultural context.

One of my dear friends is a Brazilian Pastor who has been a church mobilizer for global missions for over 30 years. His name is Edison Queiroz. Among his many missionary endeavors he and his fellow missionaries have a project to help equip the Chinese church to reach the Muslim world. Two years ago I went to Beijing and I was told that a group of Brazilian missionaries were close by. We invited them for dinner and sure enough, these four guys and gals from the Brazilian Amazon, dressed in Chinese traditional clothes showed up at the hotel. They were members of Edison’s church. Their work was to teach a group of Chinese missionaries the Farsi language to enable them to be ministers in Iran. And they told me that what they have done as missionaries in Iran is to dress, eat, and live in the same way the locals do. Furthermore, they have been able to create commonality in certain areas of the local community life. For instance, they use sports events such as soccer tournaments, to reach out to people. Moreover, since Iranian young people are very interested in learning foreign languages, they have been providing Portuguese language lessons as a way of establishing relationships.

One of the things that is most important among Arab, Turkish, and Persian cultures is commerce. However, the way people in the East do business is completely different than in the West. Most Western approaches to business relationships and transactions are impersonal interactions based on facts rather than relationships. Thus, anyone could purchase anything within minutes without knowing anything about the salesperson, since the entire focus of the transaction is the product and its quality. The Eastern approach is completely the opposite. Business transactions take hours, days, weeks, and even months because they are not just buying a product or are simply impressed by its quality. They need to be certain of the reputation of that salesperson. Hence, they begin to build a relationship that will take all the time necessary in order for the buyer to find that trust. At the same time, the seller needs that time to convince the buyer about his personal character. Thus, they drink coffee or have a meal together, they talk about each other’s families, they show pictures of their families, and they talk about sports--among many other things--while the business transaction is in the background. The result of all of this is more than a mere business transaction, but a long lasting relationship between two or more individuals.

For us in the Christian Church, I do not understand why we have not invested more time and resources to cultivate the reality I just described above. I believe with all my heart that business is one of the relational ways we could connect with Muslim people in their cultural context. In the book, “Prayer Evangelism: How to Change the Spiritual Climate Over Your Home, Neighborhood, and City,” author Ed Silvoso makes an interesting point. He says: “The Church was not born in the Upper Room, but in the Marketplace.” 8 The point the author is making is while the Church was conceived in the Upper Room, the Church was born when the Holy Ghost descended upon His people and they went out and spoke the Word and people came to Christ. How they did it? Well, at the beginning they started within the Jewish community, but the Holy Spirit’s plan was beyond that. Thus, He moved them out of Jerusalem having them emigrate to all the known world of that time in order for them to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles on three continents. They had to overcome their own cultural bias, ways of thinking, and ethnocentrism. They had to embrace other cultures and contextualize their message to the particular social group where they wanted to minister. The result was a church that exploded in growth in places as far as Spain, India, and Ethiopia.

Conclusion

Therefore, if as Christians we want to relate to a people and culture that is overwhelmingly Muslim we must be willing to get beyond the ethnocentric notions that have been planted in our minds by people with a political agenda, rather than a Kingdom of God agenda. We relate with the Muslim people embracing the parts of their culture compatible with the mind of Jesus. We build a friendly environment having clearly in our minds the people we want to reach realizing that they have an Eastern mindset. Our job is to reach them where they are, rather than trying to make them think and behave as Westerners. Dr. Tuttle in his book “The Story of Evangelism” says; “Basic to the understanding of evangelism is the realization that the Bible has culture, we have culture, and those around us have culture and they may all be different.” 9 This is a crucial component we must keep in mind at all times when ministering to Muslims or any other religious or cultural group. At the end of the day the success of planting the seed of the Gospel (not the results) depends on it.

Furthermore, we must be full of compassion, compassion for a people that in many instances will hate us because of the mistakes made by our own Government and by the Christian movement hundreds of years ago, or even by the radicalism that has attempted to hijack the Muslim faith in many parts of the world. I think Christopher J.H. Wright cannot say it better when he writes: “The community God seeks for the sake of His mission is to be a community shaped by His own ethical character, with specific attention to righteousness and justice in a world filled with oppression and injustice. Only such a community can be a blessing to the nations.” 10 And, we are called in such a time such as this to fulfill God’s desire to reconnect with His creation in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Works Cited

1. Noss, David S. A History of the World’s Religions. Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1994. (p. 528).

2. The Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life Public Remains Conflicted Over Islam. August 24th, 2010; pewforum.org/Muslim/Public-Remains-Conflicted-Over-Islam.aspx. February 3rd, 2011.

3. BeliefNet.com & the Ethics and Public Policy Center Evangelical Views on Islam. HYPERLINK "http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2003/04/Evangelical-Views-Of-Islam.aspx" www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2003/04/Evangelical-Views-Of-Islam.aspx. February 3rd, 2011.

4. Tuttle, Jr. Robert G. Shortening the Leap: From Honest Doubt to Enduring Faith. Anderson: Bristol House, 2007. (p. 57).

5. Woodley, Randy. Living In Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2001. (p.p. 51-52).

6. Kraft, Charles H. Christianity in Culture: A Study in Biblical Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2005. (p.276).

7. Tuttle, Jr. Robert G. Someone Out There Needs Me: A Practical Guide to Relational Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983. (pp. 103-104).

8. Silvoso, Ed. Prayer Evangelism: How to Change the Spiritual Climate Over Your Home, Neighborhood, and City. Ventura: Regal Books, 2000. (pp. 146-148).

9. Tuttle, Jr. Robert G. The Story of Evangelism: A History of the Witness to the Gospel. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006. (p.394).

10. Wright, Christopher J.H. The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2006. (p.369).