So A Christian Man Walks Into A Mosque

An experiment if I may. I was curious....

I know that as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. I am fortunate not to be a cat.

Let Me Explain:

Some of you may know that months ago the Lord put on my heart a ministry called BibleDump. A Holy Spirit driven ministry that looks to use the Spirits leading in getting the God News of the Gospel to literally the NATIONS! The blog (bibledump.blogspot.com) has been put to rest as of late as I have been leading teams overseas and been busy, without much internet access. 

The passion came directly from the Lord, and ever since it started, my brain has been itching for finding new ideas to reach the NATIONS that the Lord has given me.

Yesterday, I found myself itching to get my hands on a copy of the Holy Koran (Islamic Holy Book). To be honest, I was wanting to know if I could just walk into a Mosque and ask for an English Koran and walk out with one. This is where my mind was absolutely blown... appalled may seem harsh but I was quite agitated to say the least. Not with the Muslims. But with the Christian Church as a whole. I am by no means wanting to church bash, as I myself am not the biggest fan of it. But if this story would instead Church Motivate.

The story of my visit is as follows:
I start by entering the "back door" of the Mosque grounds. My heart was beating quite hard, and I found myself being super hesitant with each step I took towards the Mosque building. I peek my head inside to see about 15 or so Muslims in prayer. Some make eye contact with me, and as I begin to take a step to go inside, they all have a look of dread come over their faces. Before my foot hits the ground I knew that I was not to walk on the floor with my shoes on. A man comes over to me, and directs me to the other side of the Mosque where I found the "leader" from what I could tell. They then find a person named Joseph in the mosque who becomes a translator for me and the Mosque leader.

They begin by asking me why I am there and what they can do for me. I tell them I am a Christian, who's name is Chris, and I am looking for a copy of the Koran in English so I can read it. They are curious as to why, and I tell them that I am looking for understanding of their beliefs, and that I would love to share with them what I believe if that is something they are interested in. The Mosque leader goes inside to look for an English translation of the Koran, and after 10 minutes or so he comes out and tells me that they unfortunately do not have any English ones, but he will make phone calls until he finds me one.

Another 10 minutes pass and then he tells me, that a Mosque in a town about 5 hours away has one, and they are going to bring it to me right away. He set up a time and place to meet with me later that day, and they invited me to come back to pick it up at 4 that afternoon.

The reason I was set off by the Christian Church in that scenario is that multiple times I have heard churches say, "If you need a Bible, we would be happy to supply you with one." Though "Come back in a few days and we will have one for you" can be sure to follow. Or, "We only have children Bibles at the moment."

I have heard many Christians ask "Why Islam is such a very popular, fast-growing religion?" I think the answer is pretty evident if you are willing to go out and look.

 

In Africa, the Muslim population offers the impoverished with FREE schooling in many areas. While the most "fine schools for learning" (usually Christian Boarding Schools) cost much more than even many average wage earners could afford. The Muslim community is willing to get the good news (small g) into peoples hands, no matter what the cost or even the struggle of time.

They have proven willing to provide what they can to those who need it (schooling for the poor, scriptures for the "lost"). And they don't shove it in your face, force it down your throat or bash it in your skull. They see peoples needs and make make it evident that they would rather see you "see success" then failure.

DO US AS CHRISTIANS REALLY WANT TO ALLOW OTHERS TO SEE ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD? ARE WE WILLING TO DRIVE OUR RESOURCES INTO THE GROUND IN ORDER FOR EVEN ONE LIFE TO ENTER THE KINGDOM?

Think about it.