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A. How Muslims Come to Christ 1. Introduction: two parts that may seem unrelated, but are closely related A. What does it mean “to convert”? 1. To change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product; transform: convert water into ice. 2. To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another; adapt to a new or different purpose: convert a forest into farmland. 3. To persuade or induce to adopt a particular religion, faith, or belief: convert pagans to Christianity; was converted to pacifism by the war. 4. To exchange for something of equal value: convert assets into cash. B. Of these four definitions, the one that comes the closest is . . . II. Two perspectives on conversion A. First, God’s perspective. Mt 6:17; 11:27; John 6:44; 12:32 new heart. B. I mentioned two perspectives. The first is God’s: he must draw us and reveal himself to us. The second perspective is ours: the human perspective. 1. The behavior of Christians. 2. The next most important influence was the power of God to answer prayers as well as healing. 3. The third most popular influence listed by respondents was dissatisfaction with the Islam they have followed. 4. It is also noteworthy that MANY said dreams and visions were a factor in their 1 decision to commit themselves to follow Christ. 5. Moreover many converts were attracted to the assurance of salvation and forgiveness. In Islam, B. Insider Movements 1. Introduction II. A story – LISTEN FOR SEVERAL IMPORTANT POINTS THAT WE WILL COME BACK AND VISIT AFTER THE STORY Tahwil and Jim III. The questions that shape the Insider Movements A. You don’t have to tell your family you’re a Christian because you’re not. Christian, which appears only three times in the entire Bible and is so commonly misunderstood today . . . is so common and so easy to use that it’s almost ludicrous to suggest we get rid of it. . . . I never refer to myself as a Christian although I have to use the word occasionally in reference so people will know what I’m talking about. To the average Muslim here, Christian means someone who worships three gods, believes Jesus is the product of a sexual liaison between God and Mary, drinks wine, eats pork, defiles himself with ritually unclean habits, betrays his cultural heritage, and uses religion to procure assistance from Westerners B. Missionaries are advocating for the insider movements These insider movements are not intended to hide a believer’s spiritual identity, but rather to enable those within the movement to go deeper into the cultural community—be it Islamic, Hindu, or Buddhist. My daughter, who loves our neighbors dearly, asked one day, “Daddy, can a Muslim go to heaven?” I responded with an Acts 15:11-type “yes”: “If a Muslim has accepted Isa (Jesus) the Messiah as Savior and Lord, he or she is saved, just as we are.” We affirmed that people are saved by faith in Christ, not by religious affiliation. Muslim followers of Christ (i.e., C5 believers) are our brothers and sisters in the Lord, even though they do not change religions. 2 Twentieth-century Muslims are forging an identity for themselves within Islam. . . . They have become ‘new creations.’ However, most of them never considered changing their religion. Some of their leaders, who also became followers of the Straight Way, taught them to remain in their Islamic heritage. After all, the Qur’an teaches that followers of Isa are Muslim (5:111). They are new creations within their old religious environment. Conversion is primarily a change of allegiance in which a Muslim becomes a follower of Jesus while retaining various Islamic forms that are given new meaning. I propose that there is also a significant element of divine involvement in the remote origins of Islam, beginning with Hagar and Ishmael. A true Islamic perspective would hold that the religion revealed by all prophets (e.g., Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad) was originally the same but later changed by Jews and Christians. . . . Some Muslim background believers could possibly consider that they are returning to the ‘true Islam’ as revealed through Jesus. . . . It would be understood that this ‘true Islam’ is what real Christians believe. The New Testament reveals great similarities between Judaism as practiced in the first century and modern Islam. C. I can continue being a Christian and a Muslim at the same time? In the book of Jonah it is ironically not the Hebrew Jonah who hears and obeys God. In addition, it is the pagan sailors’ prayers that are heard by Yahweh. When they cast lots, it is Yahweh who directs the answer. They are in relationship with Yahweh. The woman at the well in John 4 at first refused Jesus’ offer of eternal life because, as a Samaritan, she followed an Abrahamic religion that the Jews reviled as corrupt. As a result, she could not go to the temple or become a Jew. But Jesus distinguished true faith from religious affiliation, saying God was seeking “true worshipers who worship the Father in spirit and truth” (vv. 19-24). Realizing that Jesus was “the Savior of the world” (v. 42), not just of the Jews, many Samaritans in her town believed. Later in Acts we see that Samaritan believers remained in their own communities and retained their Samaritan identity (Acts 8:14-17). But at first the disciples did not understand that just as they could remain Jews and follow Jesus, the Samaritans could also remain Samaritan. 3 They become what we could call Messianic Muslims. In their own opinion, however, they are simply being better Muslims by submitting to the Messiah whom God sent to guide and save them. Saying that Muhammad is a prophet does not mean that Jesus is not the Messiah and the Lord. It also does not mean that Muhammad is Messiah or Lord Muhammad never claimed that. So someone can say the shahada and at the same time can believe in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. Their background would lead them to want to face in the direction of Mecca (and Jerusalem). They would probably be inclined to pray five times a day with particular postures at specified ties. They would probably continue to recognize Muhammad as a prophet, worship (without songs) at a mosque, and so on. I doubt that any of these things would bother God. IV. Conclusion The insider movements is an attempt by Western missionaries to give biblical support to what they have observed. Option A Option B “The Arab proverb says that the hand cannot hold two watermelons. The heart cannot hold two religions. Jesus showed His knowledge of human nature when He challenged His disciples to forsake all, to endure hardship, carry their cross, brave it out at all costs. The man whom Jesus despised above all others and consigned to the outermost darkness was the man who said, “I was afraid.” He buried his talent and his life in a napkin because he was a coward.” - Samuel Zwemer 4