Overcoming Outreach FearsSýnishorn

SEEING THE POSSIBLE

How can they believe on the one of whom they have not heard?   And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:14

“We need to share the gospel with Saudis,” said a Muslim who had been in Christ for about a year. “Saudi people are so sweet, I know they will believe when they hear about Jesus!”

That outlook really surprised me. What about you? Do you think that Saudis are open to the gospel? I hadn’t, even though I actively shared with them.

Doubtless, this former Muslim spoke more from love than from statistical analysis; but it encouraged me to visualize more Muslims coming to Christ. How often have we heard negative things like: Muslims are resistant to the gospel, they will never believe, find a better way to serve, don’t waste your time, no one has come to Christ through argument?

An influential Christian man said to me, “Why are you sharing with Muslims? They are the enemies of God!” At a training we once gave in Texas, a traditional Arab Christian said, “They won’t believe you anyway. Just let them go to hell.”

What a contrast! A former Muslim has faith in seeing Muslims come to Christ; yet a “Christian” neither imagines nor seems to want them in heaven. As another former Muslim says, “Don’t share the gospel with Muslims if you don’t want them in heaven with you.”

It’s not just pew Christians who don’t see the possibilities. One longtime missionary in a densely Muslim region of America couldn’t see them either. When he received our notice that we would be in town to follow up with new believers out of Islam, rather than join us he was angered. He couldn’t believe that our Palestinian evangelist had actually won Muslims to Christ.

Rather than meet with us to discuss what we had done and the results, he spent time writing to the other Christian workers that our claims were not possible. Yet even while he wrote, our evangelist was at a Muslim event sharing the gospel, and one of the “impossible” converts was being persecuted for Christ.

Jesus commanded us to share his gospel with people of every ethnic group – not just those predisposed to accept it. In Revelation we read that in heaven there will be people of every nation, tribe, and tongue. Let’s have faith that that will happen, and we can be part of it!

Dear Lord, you graciously love all your creation. You want no one to perish. Show me the limitations of my thinking. Call me deeper into your love and purposes for my life. Please help me to see the reality of possibilities you set before me today.