Leader Perspective
When the twin towers collapsed in flames on September 11, 2001, our world changed. The twentieth century illusion of isolation and safety provided by the Atlantic and Pacific vanished. We in America suddenly became aware that every culture and every religion impinged on every other. We could no longer live our lives in an isolated Christian context assuming that distant world religions had little to do with us. The difference between Islam and Christianity must be faced.
Some reacted to 9/11 with fear, anger and resentment. Every Muslim became suspect, a threat to peace and stability. In some of the worst cases, mosques within our own cities were attacked.
Some continued to close their eyes and refused to acknowledge differences in faith and religion and their impact on human conduct and action. They clung wishfully to the old adages: “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe it;” or “We’re all trying to get to the same place;” or “We all believe in the same God.”
Others realized Islam could no longer be ignored. If we were going to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ, we would have to understand Muslims and find a way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Like most Americans, I grew up with little or no exposure to Islam. The few Muslims I saw on the street never made eye contact and never spoke to me. … until 9/11.
Since then I have met many people from a Muslim background. One of the most remarkable was Amed (not his real name). He sat across the table from me at WorldconneX and told his story. He was born in the capital city of a Muslim nation where he was raised in a devout Muslim family. He traveled to Eastern Europe as a young man to convert people to Islam. It was there, in a University, that he met his first authentic Christian, a young woman from Texas on a two year mission assignment. Through her life and witness he began to question all he had ever believed and came to faith in Christ. Rejected by his family, he moved to the Dallas area to complete a PhD. He is preparing to return to the Muslim world as a Christian missionary.
Many of us may be like the layman in one of our Texas Baptist churches who recently confessed, “I had no use for Muslims. I resented them and had no desire to know them, until I went on a mission trip with my church. After a couple of weeks of ministering in a Muslim community, I discovered that I didn’t see them as Muslims anymore. I saw them as people.”
In this edition of The Insider, you will hear from two men born and raised as Muslims who later found Christ, an American woman who slipped into Islam and discovered a darkness from which only Christ could deliver her, and a Christ-follower who was born in a Muslim country and has lived and ministered all of his life among Muslims. I hope you will read them closely and pray about how God wants to use you as a witness for His love and grace in Jesus Christ.
Bill Tinsley