Let me share my story of two men called Abdullah. One is His Royal Highness King Abdullah II of Jordan. The other Abdullah hires horses to tourists in the ancient city of Petra.
King Abdullah II of Jordan granted me an audience during a recent visit to the Middle East when our delegation shared with him the concerns of Jordanian Baptists for full religious liberty and recognition by the State. We congratulated the King on his eloquent address to the US Congress and shared our mutual concerns for peace in the Middle East. The King gave advance notice that 138 moderate Muslim scholars were writing an open letter to the Pope and the leadership of the Baptist World Alliance would be included as named recipients of this significant letter. The King shared that without peace and justice between Christians and Muslims there can be no meaningful peace in the world. We are now in receipt of the open letter from the Muslim scholars, and the General Secretary and I are consulting on a considered response to the important issues raised in the letter.
I met the other Abdullah during a visit to the ancient city of Petra. I had walked the hot and dusty trail into the heart of this amazing ‘rose red city half as old as time’ and felt I had stumbled on to the film set of Indiana Jones and the last Crusade. I opted to hire a horse for the return journey, which was how I met Abdullah. His first question to me was ‘Are you a Christian?’ which was swiftly followed by the enquiry ‘What aren’t you a Muslim?’ My answer to his friendly questions were returned while balancing on the back of a horse - my first time in the saddle for over 30 years! Abdullah was passionate about sharing his Islamic faith and I was sending up arrow prayers as I shared with him the reason for the hope I have in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15)
My encounter with two men called Abdullah was a reminder that talking with Muslims presents us with an opportunity to hear their concerns as well as express our own faith in Jesus Christ.
I suggest that the following should shape our conversations:
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We need a bold humility in sharing what our Christian faith means to us. When there is a meeting of different faiths it requires every party to be faithful to their own convictions and respectful of others.
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We need to give greater attention to mentioning the bible in our conversations. Other faith traditions have a place of honour for their sacred scriptures and frequently quote from a relevant passage. When Christians fail to do this it appears we do not honour our own holy scriptures.
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We need to be unafraid to confess our sins. Christian history includes bloody crusades and inquisitions, social intolerance and intellectual bigotry. Vinoth Ramachandra suggests that any sharing of the gospel has to begin with the humble acknowledgement of betrayals of the gospel by the church itself.
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We need to be truthful about the woeful lack of religious liberty in Muslim states. It is morally wrong for Islamic regimes to subscribe to the UN Declaration of Human Rights and to prohibit freedom of religious worship and conversion among their citizens. And it is doubly hypocritical for their citizens to enjoy those rights when living in a foreign country whilst denying the same liberty to foreigners living in their home country.
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We need to demonstrate the virtues and graces of Christian discipleship in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the history of the Church, the most fruitful witness is always the demonstration of humbly following Jesus with a spirit of joyful and loving service.
In a recent survey conducted at Fuller Seminary California, 750 Muslims who have decided to follow Christ were invited to answer an extensive questionnaire based on the single question - what attracts Muslims to follow Jesus? (See the article by J Dudley Woodberry ‘Why Muslims follow Jesus?’ ChristianityToday October 2007).
The majority of those Muslims responding ranked the lifestyle of Christians as the most important influence in their decision to follow Christ.
In the words of St Francis of Assisi: ‘It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching’.
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