How should I think about Islam?

Brother Daniel is a former Muslim, now a missionary in an undisclosed Islamic country. He conducts outreach efforts to Islamic leaders and pastoral training for new converts. My sister shared this sermon with me, after hearing Daniel speak to a missions conference in Kentucky (Fall 2009).

"From the time that there was no Time, there was God. He created man in his own image. All the offspring of Adam became sinners. Now it is God, who is sinless, took the form of a human being in order to restore us to his image. The Bible said that there is no mediator between God and man, only Christ Jesus. The Bible tells us that Christ was before all things. All that has been created is through Christ Jesus. All that you are doing is sharing the Light and bringing people to the Kingdom of God. It is not an assignment. It is not something you should even be worried about. It is telling people about Christ…he came to pay the penalty for sin. God is a just God and he must punish sin.

Islam does not know that Jesus Christ is God. That Jesus Christ came to save. Christ said, “The evil one comes only to kill and destroy…I came that you may have life.”
We have the words of Hope, but we are keeping them to ourselves!!!"

In His Words (a coversation with my boss)

Cate, your generation has been sold the bill of good about tolerance. "Tolerance is the highest ideal, the best way to live in peace, the American way." Is it? What about what Christ said, that we're all evil? Jesus Christ didn't preach a mantra of tolerance. But he did out talk about, and live, love. Our mistake is equating the two. Tolerance is NOT love. Love is sacrificial; love fights against anything that will harm the beloved; love is active, sometimes results in intervention, and comes personal cost.

Our country was founded on the very Christian idea that liberty is only possible when men are virtuous, as opposed to carnal, licentious, and indolent. Good and evil are realities, and virtue is virtue only when it moves from theory to practice. In my eyes, defending the freedoms enjoyed by American citizens, regardless of gender or race, is a virtue. And by "defending," I mean actively ensuring that no one abridges or abolishes these freedoms.

When Frank Gaffney investigates and reports that 80 percent of the mosques built in the U.S. are built with money from Saudi Arabia (Wahabbi Islam), as an American, I am concerned. Shari'a law is a revered cornerstone of their religion, and is incompatible with the rule of law here in the United States. When I ask for further information about what these mosques are teaching, or how they are being funded, I am not asking a bigoted question - I'm asking a national security question. I'm not adverse to the teachings of Muhammad because I hate Muslims, but rather because I love the liberty found in Christ and I want ALL men to experience it.

In Matthew 5:43, Jesus commanded us to emulate his example: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor & hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

On 9-11, what I was feeling was exactly hate. Throughout the hours and days that followed, I was praying, "Lord, take this hate away from me! Give me clear thinking, let me step up and do what needs to be done to defend this country- but let me not hate!

Several years went by, and I came to work here at Smyrna Ministries. Day after day, I read incidents of persecution, Muslims killing Christians, and I thought, "Is this going to lead me back to hate?"

I wrestled with this, but then I realized that these Christians dying at the hands of their tormentors are free, and it is the Muslims who are enslaved in bondage.

When Jesus condemned sin and commanded love, he was only echoing what his Father in heaven had said centuries earlier: "Do not go about spreading slander among your people, and do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. Do not hate your brother in your heart...and do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself, for I AM the LORD" (Leviticus 19:16-18).

When it comes to love and tolerance, the world is competing for your loyalty. It wants you to sell out to their definition, and enter an ethical arena where everything is gray, and virtue can claim no superiority to vice. Hold fast to what Christ taught, and remember: Tolerance is over-rated. Love is not.