A Taste of Jesus

There are many things I analyze with agony when I think about Muslims being separated from the love and truth of God. I reflect with a great level of honesty and self evaluation about the battle I faced coming to know the Lord as a Muslim. I think about all the obstacles that kept me from giving myself to Him and I think about the crucial factors that allowed me to be pushed into His arms.

I have come to understand that we make reaching Muslims complicated when in reality, it is simply a matter of the heart. Of course, the matters of the heart are undoubtedly challenging and painful. I will be the first to say that Muslim ministry is frustrating and absolutely hard, and it requires an immense level of patience that most of us can not take on. In a rapidly paced and fast changing society, our time is too valuable.  Time costs something. Therefore, to invest our time and patience to build trusting relationship with a Muslim person means risking our valuable time especially when we are faced with the harsh reality that we may never see fruit. Therefore, building relationships with Muslims is seen as a risky, slow and time consuming investment rather than a Kingdom investment for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls.

Muslim ministry is ALL about relationships and like any strong and enduring relationship, it requires time and patience. Maybe we are no longer familiar with "strong standing" and "time tested" relationships because we are living in a time of instant gratification, including instant relationships. We can give social media, especially Facebook the credit for this. With a click of a button, you and I are now friends, without effort, emotional investment or even time. No wonder building relationships with our Muslim brothers and sisters can often feel like an eternal process. 

I have come to understand that there is a battle waging between the Muslim mind and heart. The Muslim mind holds the Muslim heart captive. From adolescence, the Muslim mind is religiously, socially and culturally influenced and trained to reject who Jesus is and what He did. Recently, God placed an Iranian couple in my life who have rejected Islam, but are genuinely and passionately seeking who God is.  An intense yet hopeful dialogue emerged between us, and when the discussion came to an end, I felt an incredible urgency from God to give them one advice. I said, "You are seeking God with your mind. This is an intellectual battle for you, but you must understand that God is not fighting for your mind, He is fighting for your heart. Seek Him and fight for Him with your inner heart. Don't make this an intellectual battle." You see, the mind demands logic and reason. The heart demands trust and faith. We walk by faith not by sight. Again, the Muslim mind holds the Muslim heart captive. As ambassadors of Christ, we must ALSO understand this in the hopes of reconciling Muslims with God.  We can not debate anyone into the Kingdom of God, yet Muslims are ready for a debate, and I will promise you that they will out beat you. Let them win that battle......for we are fighting for what God keeps His eye on, the heart of Man.

I have come to understand that after almost three years of fighting Christ, what finally brought me to His loving grace was not Christianity being defined, but Christianity being demonstrated. I have said this over and over and over again when I speak about my story and about reaching Muslims. Yet, it is the cornerstone lesson that came out of my battle with God and I carry this absolute vital lesson into my lifelong mission to take the light of Christ to Muslims. You see, defining Christianity is debatable, but demonstrating Christianity is undeniable. 

I have come to understand that when we demonstrate Christianity, what we are doing in essence is giving a Muslim person a taste of Christ. They taste Jesus through our lives and once they get a taste, they will eternally crave it.  They will hunger over it, opening themselves up for the Holy Spirit to feed them. I compare it to being given a nibble then a bite of the sweetest and juiciest fruit you have ever tasted, so how can one possibly go back to being content and satisfied with the fruit offered by the world? The key word here is "compare." We are all to an extent victims of all that we know. If you are born and raised in war and violence, then war and violence is all you know. I have always said, that the worst type of violence is when you know nothing but violence. Therefore, if a Muslim person is only ever exposed to relationships, ways of behavior and a type of love that is alienating, and not Godly, then how can they ever know what they are missing? Similarly, how can people know that they are missing peace when they only know war? WHEN Christians demonstrate and share the love of Christ with a Muslim person, we are giving them a taste of Christ, but more importantly, we are giving them something to compare!! Once they have a taste of this sweet eternal fruit, how can they ever go back to the dry fruit given by Islam? (Maybe that is why Muslim love their dried fruits!!! haha had to throw that in there) Once a Muslim person witnesses the love of Christ through us and our lives, they will crave and seek it too. They will finally be freed from all that they have ever known. They will taste the Lord and know that He is good!!! They will return to their families and Muslim communities and for the first time they will see that there is a better way, and that way is Jesus. This is why I believe that reaching Muslim international students is vital for Muslim evangelism. By coming into our lives, we demonstrate and give them a taste of the Lord which a.) they will take back with them to their home countries. b.) once they have tasted the Lord and visit/return home, they will compare and come to know the difference. 

I have come to understand that it was exactly that which brought me to the Lord. Once I tasted Jesus and once I came to witness Godly joy, peace and love in the lives of Christians, I would return home to my Muslim family / community and finally have something to compare. I became envious of what Christians had. They were different. They lived different. They acted different. They loved different!!!! There was something they had and I wanted it too. I now craved it. What was it?? What was the common thread? It was Jesus.

I have come to understand that we are the living, walking, breathing proof of Christ. We are the givers of His eternal fruit. Our mission is not to convert Muslims. Our mission is to give Muslims a taste of Christ and stand back and let the Holy Spirit replenish them. If we give Muslims a taste of Jesus, they will crave Him, seek Him and hunger over Him. 

Let us not define Christianity, rather let us demonstrate it.

Let us not merely know our faith, rather let us live out our faith.

Let us not force Christianity down the throats of Muslim's, rather let us give them a taste of Christianity.

Let us not focus our fight to win the Muslim mind, rather let us focus our fight to free the Muslim heart.

I pray that as a Church and Body of Christ that we see, feel and recognize the urgency to reach Muslims for the hope of the Great Commission.

I pray that we have the patience of heart and mind in building relationships with Muslims.

I pray that as a Church and Body of Christ that we do not become selfish with our faith by choosing to keep the taste of the sweetest fruit to ourselves without the willingness to share it with the Muslim world.  Let us not be the modern day Jonah's.